Sub-Mariner Comics #20
Moudini the Marvel
Namor and Betty Dean are checking out a waterfront carnival not far from New York City. When Betty decides to check out the freak-show, Namor passes on the opportunity in favour of watching a magic show being performed by Moudini the Marvel. Moudini does a trick where he makes the Constable Deputy's cigarette lighter to disappear. when Moudini refuses to make the lighter reappear, Namor spoils the trick in order to get the officers lighter back. Thanking Namor, the Constable Deputy tells him about a coming arrival of $100,000 in gold bullion that is being shipped into town. Namor decides to keep an eye on the shipment to insure that nothing happens.
As he does so, Moudini meets with a gang of thugs and prepare their plans to rob the gold shipment. Later, as the gold is being loaded from the rail line to a truck, Moudini's men rush in and steal the truck, however Namor arrives and quickly rounds them up. Using rope found in the back of the truck, the hero ties them up and loads them in the back with the gold while he escorts the truck to the police station. However, after they pass through an underpass they decide to check on their prisoners but are shocked to find that the men and the gold are gone, the only evidence left behind a single playing card. Suspecting Moudini, the Constable Deputy and Namor pay the magician a visit, but he claims to be uninvolved with the robbery. The magician is arrested on suspicion and locked in a cell. While Namor goes back to the magicians trailer to search for clues, Moudini vows that he will escape from his cell.
Meanwhile, Namor finds a threat on a chair that matches the clothing worn by one of the thieves. He takes it to the police lab for examination, and a police scientist finds traces of goldenrod on the threat. Told that the only place where goldenrod grows in the area, Namor swims down the beach to the Parker Lot. While Namor is gone, the officers check on Moudini but find that he has escaped from his cell. Meanwhile, Namor spots a group of men boarding a ship near the Parker lot and recognizes them as the thieves and attacks them. Easily dispatching the thugs, he is faced by Moudini who distracts him with trained birds while he escapes to the inside of the ship. Following after him, Namor finds himself in a room filled with mirrors, however, the reflections of Moudini are false and the villain drops down on him from above, knocking Namor out.
When Namor revives, he finds himself tied up and weakened from lack of water. Moudini then shows him one more magic trick: Filling up a glass of water on an empty table and drinking the water to mock the hero before leaving him aboard the ship with a time bomb to blow him to smithereens. Realizing that the table has a hidden pitcher of water inside, Namor manages to use a nearby cane to knock it over, spilling the water on him and revitalizing his strength. Namor then manages to dive into the water just seconds before the boat explodes. Namor then catches up with Moudini's getaway car, finding that the Constable Deputy has been working with the magician all along. The hero easily dispatches them and turns them over to the authorities. They admit to working together and using false bottoms and other magic tricks to make it appear that Moudini was able to escape captivity.
Later, Betty reunited with Namor after interviewing a two headed man and hears about the excitement Namor had while she was gone.
Recurring Characters
Sub-Mariner, Betty Dean
Crime's A Cinch
Along the eastern coast, a group of crooks flee from the authorities after robbing the First National Bank. At a dangerous turn on the road, the criminals drive off the road and into the water below seemingly perishing in the crash. The news gets to Betty Dean who gets into contact with the Sub-Mariner to get him to help with the recovery effort. When Namor arrives at the crime scene he dives into the water and finds no trace of the bus, money or criminals. When reporting back to the police chief, he jokes that the bus must have also doubled as a submarine, however Namor doesn't find the idea too outlandish.
Namor's hunch is correct as soon the crooks aquatic bus arrives at the island headquarters of their leader Baron Julius Aaroni. When the thugs report to their leader, he begins plotting their next robbery of the Central Savings Bank. The following day as Namor and Betty spend time in a nearby park they hear the gang beginning their robbery of the Central Savings Bank. Namor leaps into action to help the police in trying to capture the crooks, and is surprised when their getaway bus suddenly converts into a tank and drives over the police cars to escape.
Namor chases after the tank, but is knocked out when they blow up a gas station and escape into the water. Revived by a pitcher of water tossed on him by Betty, Namor dives into the water and is able to follow after the tanks trail. Entering through the secret tunnel under Castle Island, Namor attacks Baron Aaroni and his men, but Aaroni flees into the castle. Namor chases after him but falls into a trap floor and is attacked by who he thinks is Aaroni. Namor easily subdues him just as Betty and the police arrive. He turns them over to the police, but with the loot missing, they try to question Aaroni who spouts nothing but nonsense.
Searching the house, Betty and Namor hear noises from inside the mansion and find a man claiming to be Julius Aaroni's brother Gustaf. However, Betty realizes too late that it's really Julius and he attacks. However, Namor easily defeats him. Later at police headquarters, Betty explains that she saw through the ruse due to the fact that a man who is locked up for 10 years would not have been so adjusted to the light.
Recurring Characters
Sub-Mariner, Betty Dean
The Web of Pain
Models in Long Beach, California are being murdered by what appears to be a giant spider, drawing the Sub-Mariner and reporter Betty Dean to the area to investigate. When Namor meets with Betty, they go to the Fashion-Rite Model Agency, the agency that employed all the girls. In talking to the owner, they notice that the first victim's name was Diana, and the first letter in the names of all the other victims seemed to be spelling out the word "Diana" was well.
Going through the files, they deduce that the next likely victim is a model named Nadia Kennedy, so Namor rushes to her home to see if she is all right. When Namor arrives he spots a massive spider and attacks it, however it traps him in a massive web. When Namor breaks free from the webbing he finds that he is too late to save Nadia's life.
Wondering what the connection could be, Namor rushes back to the newspaper office to see what Betty was able to dig up. Betty shows Namor an article from 1936 about a model named Lolita Dale, known for being in reproductions of the famous Diana paintings had married a man named Tom Hendricks of Catalina. Namor goes to Catalina and tries to find Tom Hendricks, but finds that he has hit hard times and moved out of his mansion to a smaller home elsewhere on the island. As Namor heads there, Hendricks is working on a new webbing formula while talking to his minions over the phone to plan their next attack. When Namor arrives on the property, he meets with Hendricks and inquires about a hole that is being dug on his property. Hendricks suddenly pulls out a gun and seemingly shoots Namor dead and buries him in the mound then goes to his hideout where his minions wait.
There he talks to his minion Hogy, who is wearing a spider costume of Tom's own design about their next attack and how he killed the Sub-Mariner when Namor suddenly bursts in through the window. As he beats Hendricks and Hogy into submission he tells them that Hendricks missed but the hero is then knocked out from behind by his other minion, a female assailant. When Namor revives he finds himself bound to a support beam by webbing and is too weak to break free. Hendricks explains that his murder spree is a way of getting revenge against his ex-wife who spent his fortune and left him. He then leaves Namor with Hogy and the woman to eliminate. They talk about how they are using Hendrick's for their own end and then leave Namor to die by filling the room with gas from a heater.
Left alone, Namor grabs a dangling cord and throws it at the heater, turning on its flame and causing it to explode. The explosion attracts the police who arrive with Betty. Betty douses Namor with water and he breaks free and then rushes off to stop the murder of Hendrick's next victim on the mainland. Namor arrives just in time to fight off the spider, which is Hendricks wearing the suit. Namor then demands to know what Hogy and the woman's plans are and Tom mentions a super-studio. Namor then learns from the model that she recently signed up for the Super-Studio that made her pay a $1000 advance to get photos taken. Namor then rushes to the Super-Studio and apprehends both Hogy and his female accomplice and they admit that they worked with Tom and manipulated him to kill the models they swindled before they had to pay them back. Later at the police station, it is revealed that the woman working with Tom was really his wife, having lost her beauty from illness. Tom begins to cackle like a mad man, believing that his revenge is complete now that his ex-wife will now share the same fate as him.
Recurring Characters
Sub-Mariner, Betty Dean
Give the Devil His Due
At a local opera house the latest performance of Faust has ended and the actor who plays the role of Mephisto is furious that the main actor and actress Marguerita have upstaged his performance and snaps. He is about to attack the lead actor, but he is subdued, fired and tossed in jail for the night.
While stewing in his cell, the actor becomes more unhinged and decides to not merely act the role of Mephisto, but to actually be him in deed. After he is released he begins attacking wealthy people and pinching a nerve on the back of their necks that make them his obedient slave, putting a piece of tape there to keep them in his thrall. Amassing an army of loyal subjects, he has them dig a massive underground "Hell" beneath his house where he rules over them.
When the maid of one of the captured wealthy victims goes to the police the Angel is called to the case to help solve it. Suddenly, a man comes to the police station telling them that "the Devil" is after him. The Angel agrees to follow the man back to his house for protection. However, unknown to the Angel this man is really the actor who thinks himself to be Mephisto. He knocks out the hero and then pinches the nerve on his neck as well and has the hero work as a slave driver in his massive underground "underworld" while he goes to get his final revenge.
While the Angel whips the other slaves a support beam suddenly falls and knocks the pinching tape on his nerve, freeing him from Mephisto's control. The Angel then frees one of the other workers and tells him to free the others while he goes after Mephisto. Finding a playbill for the Faust play, Angel rushes to the opera and arrives just as Mephisto interrupts the performance in an attempt to kill Marguerita. When he tosses the actress from a balcony, the Angel saves her and then quickly subdues the "Devil", turning him over to the authorities.
Recurring Characters
Angel
