Sub-Mariner Comics #34
Sub-Mariner
When a sailing ship carrying a group of teenagers go missing at sea, the Coast Guard asks the Sub-Mariner to help in the search. Searching around the area where the vessel was last seen, the Sub-Mariner spots air bubbles coming out of an underwater cave and dives down to investigate. Inside he finds a massive wind tunnel that leads to an airlock. Before he can investigate further he is struck over the head and knocked out. When he comes around he finds himself in an underground realm and a prisoner of the Queen of the Sub-Sea Realm. The queen suspects that the Sub-Mariner is a spy from a rival tribe. When Namor refuses to talk the queen orders him locked in the dungeon to be tortured.
He is left under the supervision of a guard who is ordered to torture him. However the massive dimwitted man recognizes the Sub-Mariner and lets the Atlantean go due to the fact that the Sub-Mariner was his hero when he was a child. Free, the Sub-Mariner rushes to the queen's throne room and takes her prisoner and forces her to agree to let the captured teenagers go free. Using the wind tunnel, the Sub-Mariner ejects the youths and their boats to the surface and follows after them with the Queen as his prisoner. Ordering her to stay put, Namor then boards the ship and uses the radio to call for the Coast Guard.
The Queen begs the Sub-Mariner not to hurt her, explaining that when she died she vowed to torture every living being she found. Namor does not believe the woman's story and swims back down to her realm. He then uses the wind tunnel to blow all of the Queen's minions to the surface as well just as the Coast Guard arrives. He then forces the Queen to board the Coast Guard boat when it arrives, but suddenly the Queen collapses dead and instantly decays to nothing more than a skeleton. Namor realizes that taking the Queen out of the water had killed her.
Suddenly, her subjects begin fleeing back to their underwater home as somehow the wind tunnel has been reversed allowing them to return. Namor tries to follow after them, but just as the last member of the Queen's society is sucked into the cave it suddenly explodes killing them all, the blast knocking Namor clear.
Recurring Characters
Sub-Mariner
Sub-Mariner
The Sub-Mariner and Namora pay a visit to their friend Betty Dean, but have to end their visit for important business. Betty becomes jealous as the Sub-Mariner is seldom alone these days and Namora is always around. Believing that Namora is a rival for Namor's affections, Betty grabs her diving gear and decides to follow after them to see what they are up to.
Meanwhile, the Sub-Mariner and Namora discuss Betty's strange behavior of late as they dive into the ocean. Namora asks the Sub-Mariner if they should tell Betty what they are up to, but Namor refuses to spoil the surprise unaware that Betty is following after them.
Following in a row boat, Betty dives down after the two Atlanteans to see what they are up to. However she is attacked by an octopus and begins banging a rock on the ground to send out a Morse Code call for help. Hearing the distress call, Namor and Namora rush to Betty's rescue and find her captive to an entire cave full of octopi. They easily defeat the creatures and rescue Betty, pulling her to the surface.
When Namor asks Betty what she was doing she confesses that she is jealous of Namora, and realizes that she has nothing to worry about when the Sub-Mariner reveals what they were gathering pearls to make a necklace for Betty. In the aftermath, Namor reminds Betty that his life is too hectic to settle down with any woman.
Recurring Characters
Sub-Mariner
Namora
Betty Dean
Human Torch
The Human Torch and Toro are called to a government project hidden in the woods of Maine. They meet with Major Cort the head of the project who tells them that the facility is being used to secretly test bacteria that the enemy might use on germ warfare, and that their location may have been compromised by Communist spies. This is dangerous Cort explains as enemy agents might steal the biological weapons that are being developed there.
Taken on tour, they are suddenly alerted to the sound of gun shots. The Torch and Toro flame on and rush to the sound of the shots and find that the Military Police on duty have killed a communist spy and captured another. Before they can get the spy to talk, someone standing outside the lab window shoots him dead and flees the scene before being spotted. Major Cort tells them that the spies were after Virus X, a powerful virus invented by Professor Elrick that is so potent it can wipe out the entire population of the United States.
Professor Ascher, Elrick's colleague accuses Elrick himself of being a spy in their midst, explaining that Elrick was once a prisoner at a Communist concentration camp behind the Iron Curtain. Elrick denies this, defending his past by saying he escape the camp and fled to the United States as a refugee. Suddenly, one of the MPs warns Major Cort that the forest outside the base is on fire. The Torch and Toro rush out to tame the raging inferno that is spreading to the secret facility.
As he surveys the situation, the Torch spots Dr. Elrick fleeing out of his cabin with documents and rescues him from the fire. Elrick tells the Torch a secret as he brings him back and soon with the help of Toro the Torch puts out the fire. However in the confusion someone has stolen Virus X. Dr. Ascher blames Elrick of doing so and makes an attempt to kill him. The Torch disarms Ascher and suddenly Elrick falls over unconscious because he has been infected with Virus X.
The Torch explains that Elrick used himself as a test subject for Virus X and had recently developed an antidote. Acting quickly the Torch uses the antidote to revive the doctor. The Torch then reveals that Ascher is really the spy as he was the only one not present while the others were fighting the fire outside. Ascher confesses and threatens to smash the bottle of Virus X, but the Torch throws a fire ball at him. It strikes Ascher's hand spilling the deadly virus in his face and kills him instantly. However, Elrick explains that he neutralized the sample of Virus X with his antidote and tells them that it was fear that killed the spy.
Recurring Characters
Human Torch
Toro
Sub-Mariner
The Sub-Mariner is called to assist the United States government to assist in a sensitive diplomatic matter: A prototype model of a new atomic sub-chaser has been stolen by communist spies and it has been hidden on the island of a neutral country, making it difficult for the United States to do anything to get it back. As the Sub-Mariner is a sovereign of his own country, the government has asked Namor to recover it for the sake of continued world peace. Although Namor has no love for the surface dwellers he agrees to help.
He swims out to the island nation and as he approaches their shores he finds that a submarine net has been left open in the area. Rising to the surface he quickly finds the prototype sub-chaser in the possession of some Communist agents. When they are not looking the Sub-Mariner quickly snatches the prototype and hides in in the reefs below the water. Noticing that the prototype has gone missing the commander of the spies orders his men to search for it but they cannot find it and fear it was lost out at sea.
Meanwhile, the Sub-Mariner sneaks into a cabin where the plans are being kept and kills the guard they have on duty in order to reclaim them. Leaving he is spotted and dives into the water and tries to escape, however the sub net has been closed and Namor does not have the strength to break through it. Doubling back, he takes the prototype sub-chaser and uses it as a battering ram to break through the net. Namor then swims the plans and the prototype back to American waters and turns them over to the Coast Guard.
Then, deciding to deal with the spies he swims back out to sea with a portable radio and calls the Communist agents pretending that he still has the plans and prototype and offers to sell it to them. Namor then meets with them with a copy of the plans but refuses to hand them over until they pay first. The communists agree but soon realize they have been duped as they have been sold nothing but the plans for an ordinary life boat. Before they can do anything the island is swarmed by American forces who quickly take the Communists prisoners. Back in Washington, the Sub-Mariner is commended for a job well done.
Recurring Characters
Sub-Mariner
