Battling the Underground Factory Fiend

With Nazi Germany importing more prisoners of war to be forced into slave labor, Keen Marlow decides to get involved as the Destroyer. Later that day he happens down a street where he sees some Nazi soldiers beating on some slaves and changes into the Destroyer. Easily beating the Nazis into submission, the Destroyer leads the slaves to freedom in a safe house telling them he will be back with food an ammunition to defend themselves.

At that very moment within the German Chancellery, Adolf Hitler calls his loyal minion Herr Gruber into a meeting. He confides in Gruber that Allied Forces have managed to wipe out many of Germany's weapons factories tilting the war in their favor and asks Gruber to come up with a solution to the problem. Gruber instantly comes up with an idea: building underground factories in the forests of Germany using slave labor would make their weapons manufacturing factories impossible for the allies to find. Hitler likes the idea and gives Herr Gruber his consent to carry forward.

Outside, Gruber is spotted leaving by the Destroyer's fiancee Florence von Banger who goes back to tell Keen about what she had seen. Keen realizes that there must be something up that could give the Nazis the edge in weapons manufacturing and decides to follow Gruber as the Destroyer. Following Gruber to a Nazi base, he tries to overhear their plans but is spotted. He manages to fight off the Nazi soldiers, but will soon be outnumbers and so he flees promising Gruber that they will meet again.

Still not sure where the new weapons factories will be constructed, Keen decides to comb all the forests around Berlin to find them and comes across Gruber ordering slaves through the construction of one of the new underground factories. While snooping around a snapping twig gives him away and Keen fights off two Nazi soldiers that spot him. Wondering where the slaves went, the Destroyer then uncovers a secret passage into the underground construction site that was hiding under a large rock.

Inside, he fights his way to the main office where he orders the workers to unite and revolt against their Nazi oppressors. As the slaves fight the Nazis, the Destroyer and Gruber clash, until the Destroyer knocks him out by tossing a plane propeller at his head. With Gruber knocked out, the Destroyer orders the slaves to retreat out into the forest while he sets a fuse to blow up the factory. With the underground factory destroyer, the surviving Nazis are tied to the trees and the Destroyer and the freed slaves escape into the night. The Destroyer returns to Florence and as Keen Marlow tells her of his successful mission.

Recurring Characters

Destroyer, Florence von Banger, Nazis (Adolf Hitler)

Continuity Notes

• Per Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #3, this Destroyer story can be attributed to Kevin Marlow.

The Legend of the Headless Executioner

Explorer John Trent has returned from an expedition of India and is having the emerald idol. Showing a replica to reporters he tells them that the original is being shipped to his house that very night. As the reporters leave, John's aid Sidot warns him that the idol is cursed and that he should relinquish it as soon as possible. John dismisses this idea as nothing more than superstition and finalizes the shipping plans.

That night, John's friend Larry Scott is heading over to take a look at the idol for himself. Along the way he is driven off the road by a speeding car and decides to investigate the situation as Father Time. Arriving at the home of John Trent, Father Time witnesses Sidot and his men attempting to steal back the idol and are about to decapitate John to make people think the curse is true. Father Time attacks them and fights off John's would be killers sending them fleeing into the night.

Revived, John thanks Father Time for his help and thanks the hero for his aid. Father Time pretends to leave, but decides to stick around to make sure nothing more happens to Trent. Inside, as Trent finishes unpacking the idol he is suddenly attacked by a seemingly headless giant. Almost convinced that the curse is true, Trent is saved once more by Father Time who easily subdues the giant man and reveals him to be nothing more than an Indian warrior come to steal the idol. Before he can get information out of the giant a rock smashes through the window and knocks the massive man out.

Going out to investigate, Father Time finds nothing and when he returns inside the house the giant has come around and knocks him out with a sledge hammer. When Father Time comes around, John Trent tells him that the giant stole the idol. Father Time corrects him, showing him the real idol which he palmed in the middle of things, John then talks about how much of a fool he has been wanting the idol for himself.

Soon they are attacked by the giant and Sidot who demands the idol. Trent tells Father Time to just give up the idol as he put out a large insurance policy on it. However, Father Time is not one to give up in a fight and battles the two attackers again. During the fight Trent suddenly pulls out a gun and orders them to all stop fighting. Trent then reveals that he totally intended to have the jewel stolen so that he could cash in on the insurance.

The giant, furious at this double cross attacks Trent, but Father Time breaks up the altercation. With Trent subdued, Father time learns from Sidot that the jewel in their possession is a fake, that the real one is safe back in India and that Sidot had tricked Trent knowing that the greedy explorer would abuse ownership of the jewel.

Recurring Characters

Father Time

Continuity Notes

• This is the last Golden Age appearance of Father Time. The character is not seen again until years later making cameo appearances in All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes #2 and the Twelve #1.

The Demon's Rampage

Continued from last issue...

Following his defeat at the hands of The Prince of Good, the Demon is still alive and soon comes around. Breaking free from his underground tomb under New York, the Demon resumes his rampage across America destroying everything in his path and terrorizing humans that get in his way.

With the Demon working his way west, Davey Drew charters a plane to the last location the Demon was seen: The Grand Canyon. There Davey attacks the Demon once more, but despite the magic cloak that protects him he is still no match for the massive creature. Fleeing, Davey is lured into a secret cave that is acting as the Demons hideout.

However, Davey stands his ground and battles the Demon there, when their battle is suddenly cut short when an underground river suddenly floods into the caved. Davey manages to flee the scene, but the Demon is seemingly drowned in the raging waters. In the aftermath of the battle, Davey wonders if the Demon is truly dead.

Recurring Characters

Davey Drew, The Demon

Continuity Notes

• As per All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes #2, Timely Comics was commissioned to create superhero comics by the United States military in order to tell fictionalized stories based on the real-life exploits of superpowered individuals that were enlisted in the military. This is the case with this Davey Drew story presented here. How much truth there is to this story remains unexplained, however one thing is for sure is that the Demon was not killed. In fact, as AWS: BOH reveals, the Demon is was not only still alive, it actually has a symbiotic relationship with Davey.

• That said, this is Davy and the Demon’s last Golden Age appearance. They are next seen in All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes #3-4.

Story Conference

Comic book writer Red Skeleton meets with his editor Stanley Dee at Crimely Comics, Dee demands that Red come up with an interesting story quickly as there is a deadline looming. Rushing home, Skeleton accidentally knocks himself out exiting out the office. At home, Red has lost his keys and is forced to pick the lock to his room. Inside, he is assaulted by the camera flash of his friend Deena Drayson who still wants to be Red's assistant but has taken up a job as a newspaper photographer for the Daily Press in the meantime.

Red begins to puzzle over what to do for a story when Deena tells him that she has been assigned to take pictures of showgirls and that he is more than welcome to join her. Liking the idea of seeing all the pretty girls on display, Red is suddenly inspired to write a murder mystery wherein a young show girl is murdered and the hero has to solve it.

To Red's surprise, soon his story becomes a reality when a show girl gets murdered. Through his quirky luck, Red manages to discover that the killers were jewel thieves Tony Conville and Big Sutton. Captured and about to be executed, Red is saved by the timely arrival of Deena who arrives with a gun and Red's bumbling manages to allow them to round up the crooks for the authorities.

When Red returns home and phones in his story idea to Stanley Dee, Dee tells him the story seems too unbelievable.

The Death List of Mr. Z

Bull Murdock and his men begin considering what racket they should take up next when they are visited by the mysterious Mr. Z. See offers his assistance, telling them that they could earn a large amount of money killing those who have taken out large insurance policies. Bull agrees to take Mr. Z on, agreeing to give him a percentage of the payout and they begin work.

They first pay a visit to the home of wealthy Gregory McCall. Breaking into his home as he brags about his $200,000 life insurance policy, they force McCall to sign over his plan so that Bull (under the alias "John Jones") is the beneficiary. With the legal paperwork done, Bull and his men gun down McCall and his wife and children in cold blood.

As they flee the scene, the sounds of gun shots attract the Terror who watches as they flee the scene. Transforming into his monstrous form. While the Terror manages to beat up some of the mobsters, one of them gets away with the paperwork for Bull. The following day as "John Jones", Bull claims the $200,000 life insurance policy and reports back to Mr. Z who tells them of their next heist.

They decide to deal with this job personally, which ends up being their undoing as the man who put out the life insurance policy is none other than the Terror himself. When Bull, Mr. Z and his men arrive at the house, the Terror transforms and attacks them. They manage to overpower the Terror and decide to kill him by tossing him on the roaring fireplace. They are unaware that the Terror gains strength from fire, and the revitalized hero attacks the mobsters and easily knocks them all out. With Mr. Z defeated, the Terror unmasks him, revealing him to be W.C. Tuttle the owner the insurance company. With the authorities on their way, the Terror flees into the night.

Recurring Characters

The Terror

Continuity Notes

• This is the last Golden Age appearance of the Terror. He is not seen again until Sensational She-Hulk #17

The Lizard

After many years in prison, Lon "The Lizard" Draga is being let out of prison on the condition that he promises to go straight. Lon agrees to these conditions but harbors a grudge against the people who sent him away to jail and begins planning to murder them all.

Learning how to use a bow and arrow, Lon tracks down his first target Commissioner Golden, killing him with an arrow to the back. In order to make Golden's murder difficult to connect to himself, the Lizard then uses a machine gun to mow down a bunch of innocent people on the street. This is all witnessed by the Challenger who vows to get the Lizard for his crimes.

Meanwhile, the Lizard has planted explosives in the home of District Attorney Peters, who is killed in the explosion. Reading about the death in the papers, the Challenger realizes what the Lizard is up to and in his civilian guise of Will Waring gets access to police files and learns that the next target on Draga's list is Lieutenant Pat Quinn.

Visiting Quinn, the Challenger's warning are dismissed as Quinn truly believers that Draga has gone straight and demands that the hero get out of his office. The Challenger then decides to trail Quinn and that night as Quinn walks through a park and is attacked by Draga, the Challenger is there to save Quinn's life. The Challenger challenges Draga to a duel to the death, and their battle takes them to a pond covered with thin ice. The ice breaks under their combined weight and the Challenger drowns Draga. Rising to the surface he is pulled out of the water by a thankful Quinn.

Recurring Characters

Challenger

Continuity Notes

• This is the last Golden Age appearance of the Challenger. He doesn’t resurface again until She-Hulk #11. He also makes some wartime cameo appearances in Avengers/Invaders #10 & 12.