Nick Peron

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Sub-Mariner Comics #10

The Den of Serpents

Credits

On the outskirts of an Ohio town, a man named Dolvin warns the people of the city that if they do no engage in peace talks with Nazi Germany the "River God" will flood the state in punishment. His claims make the local press and eventually get to the Sub-Mariner who suspects Dolvin's claims as suspicious. As he swims through the rising rivers, he spots a man being attacked by a massive swordfish. The man is impaled and them dumped into the water and left for dead. Namor tries to go after the swordfish but it manages to lose him in a cloud of mud. Going back for the wounded man Namor pulls the man to shore and finds that he is dead. Calling the police, he accompanies the corpse to the local morgue where they puzzle over how there could be swordfish in the rivers. Examining the body they find a strange swordfish tattoo on the mans arm and soon learn that he was an undercover FBI agent named John Harris.

Suspecting foul play and a connection to the Cult of the River God, Namor goes to a local tattoo parlor and has a duplicate tattoo placed on his arm. Namor goes to their headquarters and knocks on the door. He is invited in but when she shows Dolvin his tattoo, he recognizes it as a fraud as the swordfish in the tattoo has one less tooth than the oifficial ones. Dolvin orders his strong men to attack the hero, but Namor easily defeats them and gives Dolvin chase. Following him into a back room, Namor falls into a trap floor where he finds himself in a pit of water filled with swordfish. Fighting off the aquatic creatures, he feigns defeat until Dolvin sends on of his men down to search for his body. Namor knocks out the man and chases after Dolvin. Dolvin manages to get away, and before Namor can pursue him the entire house explodes, throwing Namor into the Ohio River.

Rushing back to the blazing house, Namor searches through the flames and find that Dolvin did not die in the blast, but escaped through a sewer pipe. Following it he finds that it traveled beneath the Ohio River and leads to the secret meeting place of the cult. Stealing one of their ceremonial robes, Namor counters Dolvin's speech that they must surrender to the Nazis. Angrily, Dolvin enters a massive swordfish idol and uses its sharp beak to crack open the walls of their secret chamber causing it to flood with water, drowning his followers.

Dolvin flees the scene in a swordfish inspired diving suit and operates the controls that cause the Ohio River to overflow. Namor catches up to him and pulls off his diving helmet leaving him to drown while sets the river to drain the excess water, ending the threat.

Recurring Characters

Sub-Mariner

The Code of Death

In Nazi Germany, Heinrich Himmler is putting on a training session for a class of spies and saboteurs and is most impressed with the answers provided by Von Schmeer. He takes Von Schmeer aside and sends him to the United States on a special mission to have the spies there change their radios to a new frequency.

A few days later while Namor is patrolling shipping lanes in the Atlantic he comes across a merchant ship travelling along and goes to warn its captain of the potential dangers in the waterways. As he is doing so a Nazi U-Boat is spotted off port. A firefight begins, however the Nazis seek to sink the ship without using torpedoes as part of their plan. They succeed and when the American sailors begin abandoning ship they get gunned down. Only on sailor is let to live, who is pulled to the Nazi U-Boat. He is killed and Von Schmeer takes his credentials and dives into the water and begins calling for help. The Sub-Mariner, thinking Von Schmeer to be an American sailor, comes to his rescue and pulls him onto a life boat. Namor then dives off to get help, but as he swims along he begins to become suspicious of the lone survivor because he noticed that the mans hair was dry, something that would be impossible for someone who abandoned ship.

Namor flags an American destroyer to pick up the "survivor" none the less but decides to keep an eye on him. When a Nazi U-Boat is spotted off starboard and battle stations are called. Before the first shot is fired, Von Schmeer stuffs a handkerchief into the barrel of the turret of the gun causing it to backfire when used, causing damage to the destroyer and allowing the U-Boat to escape. Namor notes that Von Schmeer was the only one near the turret before the explosion which makes him even more suspicious.

When they land in the United States and Von Schmeer gets past security, Namor decides to follow him. Von Schmeer tries to rip off a cab driver by tampering with his meter, but when the cabbie notices the Nazi kills him and takes his vehicle. Namor only pauses in his pursuit long enough to note that the taxi driver was murdered. When Von Schmeer arrives at the hideout of some local spies, he tells them of their mission, but refuses to share his information as he wants to give it personally.

When Namor arrives and attacks the spies, he is easily overpowered, wrapped in chains with a bomb and taken out to the nearby water and dumped in. However the water revitalizes Namor's strength allowing in to break free and get clear of the bomb before it explodes. Namor tracks down Von Schmeer and his men and knocks them all out just after Von Schmeer changes the frequency of the radio and contacts Berlin. After leaving a mocking message for the Nazis on the other end of the radio, Namor calls the FBI and hands the spies and the new frequency over to them.

Recurring Characters

Sub-Mariner, Nazis (Heinrich Himmiler)

Killer's Last Stand

After being on the crooks trail, the Angel finally manages to nab mob leader Joe Scarpone. Over the course of his trail, he is found guilty of murder and sentenced to death row. After Scarpone is sent to prison, the Angel is invited there by the warden to be thanked for a job well done. As they are meeting, they hear a scream and rush outside of the office. There they find prisoner trustee Vince Hart. Prisoner trustee John Barlo enters the room shortly after but claims he saw nothing. When the Angel questions Barlo, he tells them that he didn't even hear the man scream leaving the Angel to wonder how Barlo could have known the man screamed before his death.

The warden tells the Angel that Heart had something to tell him that day, and they take the ice pick to search for prints. Examining files, the Angel learns that Heart was once a member of Scarpone's gang leaving them to believe that Scarpone might have a connection to the crime. Suspecting that Barlo might be the connection, the Angel pays him a visit in his cell and notices him looking out the window. When he accuses Barlo of killing Heart he is punched in the face. The Angel chalks it up to "his fault" and then asks the guard to place him in the cell next to Barlo's.

That night as he looks out the window, the Angel sees a light blinking off Morse Code in the distance and realizes that the Scarpone is planning a breakout. Going to the warden he attempts to warn him when suddenly Scarpone and Barlo burst in with a gun that was smuggled into the prison. They take the two men hostage to use as human shields for their breakout. In order to provide extra cover, Scarpone forces the warden to free all the prisoners starting a massive riot. He then leaves the Angel with Barlo and heads off with the warden as his hostage.

As the other criminals try to charge out the the main gate, the prison guards are too busy mowing them down with machine guns to pay mind to Scarpone and his men on the outside planting explosives to blow out on of the walls of the prison. The Angel breaks free but fails to stop the mobsters from blowing the wall of the prison wide open. But just then the military arrives and the Angel leads them to the hole in the wall, blocking Scarpone and his men from escaping. Scarpone threatens to kill the warden if he is not allowed to leave through the prison garage. The Angel attempts to stop him there and frees the warden. However, Scarpone manages to escape in the car, running down Barlo in the process and leaving his accomplice to die.

The Angel chases after him, and when Scarpone's car suffers a blow out and crashes he attempts to kill the Angel by setting the car ablaze. The Angel survives this attempt and follows Scarpone into the woods where he easily beats him in a fight. Ironically enough, as Scarpone is brought back to the prison he dies of internal injuries suffered in the car crash.

Recurring Characters

  • Angel