Sub-Mariner Comics #25

Aug 3

Aug 3 Sub-Mariner Comics #25

Firebrand, the Scourge of the Pacific

Sub-Mariner and Namora recount one of their most recent adventures out on the Pacific Ocean.

The story begins many years ago with the lives of Magda Malone and her pyromaniac brother Damon who loved to light fires. One day, Damon lit fit to a local club house leading to a fight with local boy Eric Hodges. The struggle ended when Damon was pushed into the flames and horribly burned, and rescued by Eric.

Years later in 1948, Damon had gone missing in the Pacific Ocean. By this time Magda and Eric had become famous aviators who were to be married. Wishing to find her long lost brother Magda went searching for him before her wedding and went missing prompting Eric to go out looking for her as well. Meanwhile, out at sea Namor and Namora come across a burning ship, the most recent vessel attacked by a looter calling himself the Firebrand. Spotting the villain's submarine, the two Atlanteans catch up with it and open the hatch while it is submerged, forcing Firebrand to raise his ship to the surface. There Firebrand is confronted by the Sub-Mariner and Namora. During the fight, Firebrand's crew manages to knock Namora out, distracting Namor long enough to be knocked out by Firebrand and the pair are tied to a torpedo that's launched out to sea. Namor revives on contact with the water and uses his strength to break the ropes and save himself and Namora from an explosive death when the torpedo strikes a nearby island. With Firebrand's sub long gone, the pair decide to go to nearby island Gura-Lui to investigate where Firebrand might be hiding.

On another island, Eric Hodges is visiting with the consular office who cannot provide him with any answers at to the whereabouts of his fiancée, telling him that she was last reported leaving the mainland. Undaunted, Eric leaves to try and resume his search and is tipped off by a beachcomber who tells Eric that the locals are too scared to talk about a man called Firebrand. Explaining that Magda did arrive on the island and was likely captured by him, the beachcomber tells Eric where Firebrand's island is located.

Meanwhile, on Firebrand's island fortress, the villain gloats over his most recent haul to Magda, who is his prisoner. He is interrupted by his men who have captured Eric and haul him in. When being interrogated by Firebrand, Eric gets a good look at Firebrand and realizes that he is Magda's brother Damon. With his two childhood enemies prisoner, Firebrand gloats how he is going to kill them. Elsewhere on the island, Sub-Mariner and Namora come to shore and find a crashed air plane and decide to investigate further. Finding Firebrand's estate they storm the guards and arrive just as Firebrand is about to burn Eric and Magda at the stake. While Namor attacks Firebrand, Namora goes to rescue his two victims. Firebrand gets away, and after Sub-Mariner and Namora rescue Magda and Eric they fight through Firebrand's guards. Chasing him to his docks, Sub-Mariner confronts Firebrand who keeps the hero at bay with a thermite bomb. However, Firebrand trips over a coil of rope and falls off the dock onto his sub, where the thermite bomb goes off killing him. In the aftermath of the battle, Eric and Magda are reunited and they later thank the beachcomber who explains that he helped because Firebrand ruined his ship. Flying back to America, Eric and Magda are glad that the Sub-Mariner and Namora came to their aid.

Recurring Characters

Sub-Mariner, Namora

Murder Through the Mind

Mrs. Potter is throwing a benefit tea party and has invited master hypnotist Dr. Macabre as a guest to show off how he has managed to use hypnosis to cure criminals of their lawless urges. However, Dr. Macabre is not what he seems and has utilized his powers to enthral a mere thief named Willie the Dips to steal silverware from the party. With the aid of his assistant Larry Keen he sends the crook off to distract the party while Larry makes the real theft. However, as Willie flees is stopped outside the party by the Sub-Mariner and Namora, who were brought there from some local kids who spotted Willie at the party. As Namora and Namor give the crook chase Dr. Macabre wonders to Mrs. Potter how much he had stolen. Namor's chase is stopped when he spots a woman named Toni Clivedon jumping from the Potter balcony into the river below in an attempt to drown her.

Namor and Namora leave the local kids to capture Willie and go to rescue the girl and she explains that her fiancée Larry Keen had slapped her tonight and she had lost all will to live for apparently losing his love. She explains to them how she and Larry met: Toni is the daughter of wealthy Hank Clivedon. When she was a youth she was enamoured by a young Larry who at the time was a boy from the "other side of the tracks" who sang on the streets for money along with his fiddle playing father. However, when Larry's voice began to change with puberty, thus affecting their performances, Larry's father became abusive. Taking sympathy, Toni and her father invited the boy into their home. Hank asked Larry what his ambitions where and learned the boy aspired to be an architect. Hank then took the boy in as his protégée and used his wealth to help the boy reach his goal. However, the other children in Toni's social circle resented Larry for the fact that he was poor, yet still managed to capture Toni's attention. Realizing this, Larry suddenly left, but realizing he had feelings for Toni soon returned to continue achieving his goals. Hank put Larry and Toni university and used his pull to get Larry into a fraternity where he was likewise not accepted. Larry soon began to resent being seen as a "charity case". After school, Larry managed to get a job designing low income housing and upon telling the Clivedon's, he learned that Hank had promoted the boy to his new employer before the job interview. Believing that it was this, not his grades and skill that got him the job Larry quit to try and find his own way.

The story is interrupted as the kids come back with the stolen silverware and turn it back over to Namor. Toni continues her story, telling them how Larry soon sought the advice of Dr. Macabre. The sudden change in Larry's behaviour was subtle. One night they attended a party being thrown by Mrs. Farrington who had also invited Macabre as a guest. While they were there, Larry asked Toni to suddenly leave and doubled back to the mansion when a shot was heard, and suddenly ran back to the car with a smoking gun and told Toni to leave. Later at home they heard a radio announcement that Farrington's $30,000 necklace was stolen and that her butler was shot dead. Larry convinced Toni that he did not shoot the man, but refused to turn himself over to the police. Then on the night of Mrs. Potter's party, Toni had followed Larry when he slipped away from the party and caught him breaking into Potter's safe and that was when she slapped him and she tried to kill herself.

With her story finished, Namor and Namora deduce that Larry is under the hypnotic control of Dr. Macabre who is manipulating him into stealing and that hey used Willie as a cover for the real theft. Namor promises to get to the bottom of things by calling Larry directly. Shortly, in the apartment of Dr. Macabre, Larry turns on Dr. Macabre, afraid of jail he strike Macabre down with a single punch just as Namor and Namora arrive at the scene with Toni. As Namor and Namora round up Dr. Macabre -- who will see the electric chair for his crimes -- they note that as Larry was a patient for Macabre, the judge will give him a suspended sentence. Many months later, Larry uses his architect skills to help build a Boys Club for underprivileged children.

Recurring Characters

Sub-Mariner, Namora

You Can't Get Away With Murder

At the office of Mark Mason, private detective, secretary Louise Grant finishes for the day and leaves. On the elevator she overhears a young would-be actress named Molly Day try to convince theatre producer Oscar Malone into giving her a role in his latest production "Music Time", but the producer ignores her. Exiting the elevator Louise tries to console the girl who expresses her frustration by wishing she could kill Malone.

Back at her apartment, Louise decides that Molly deserves a fair chance and decides to petition to Malone as the Blonde Phantom. However, she arrives at Malone's apartment just as someone shoots Malone dead. Busting down the door, Blonde Phantom she finds Malone dead and the pages of his scrip scattered around his body. Suddenly the hotel manager and Molly Day burst into the room to see what was going on. The manager explains that he caught Day fleeing from the scene, but she explains she had come to the hotel to once more try and convince Malone to give her the role and fled in a panic when she heard gunshots. The Blonde Phantom convinces the hotel manager to keep things quiet, appealing to his desire to avoid bad press for his business, promising him that she will catch the killer.

The next day at the office of Mark Mason, the Blonde Phantom calls together members of Malone's production: Mr. Rodney, the script writer; Faylen the director; and Miss Armand the lead actress. She explains that she deduced from reading the script who the killer was. She points out that Armand had killed Malone for cutting her character out of the play and explains that Molly Day overheard a woman accusing Malone of ruining their hopes of becoming famous before shots were fired. Armand pulls out a gun and is about to shoot the Blonde Phantom when Molly Day gets in the way and prevents the shot from being fired. When the police come to arrest Armand, Blonde Phantom convinces Mark to talk to his producer friend John McCoy to get her a role in his upcoming play.