USA Comics #14
The Riddle of Stolen Buddah!
Steve Rogers and Bucky are stationed at a military camp on the border between India and Berma. There they are ordered by Sgt. Duffy to drive Colonel Saunders to a nearby Buddist temple.
Steve and Bucky comply and while the Colonel is inside the temple they spot a Burmese native sneaking inside. They almost dismiss this when they hear screaming from inside prompting them to change into Captain America and Bucky. Inside, they find Colonel Saunders has been injured and that the intruder had made off with a Buddha statue that is very important to the war effort. Although Captain America and Bucky agree to recover the stolen statue, they refuse to leave Colonel Saunders behind and take him back to their jeep.
Meanwhile, the Burmese native turns over the Buddha statue to a German operative before leaving to work up the local natives into a frenzy, making them think the statue was stolen by Captain America. Cap and Bucky defeat these attackers and take the thief captive. As they drive back to base, the thief is shot in the head by a hidden sniper just as they arrive. After turning the Colonel over to the guards, Cap and Bucky search the area to find the shooter. They follow footprints but are ambushed by the German spy who flees from Cap and Bucky on horseback.
Thankfully, the pair are able to follow the hoof prints to a rug shop in a nearby village. Inside, they are allowed to look around by a young woman who is working inside, although she denies that there is anyone else inside. In the back room they find the German has met up with some Japanese agents who are attempting to open a secret compartment in the Buddha statue but have failed to find it. When Cap and Bucky try to stop them, the pair are overpowered and tied up while the spies flee back across the Burmese border. That’s when the female shop owner frees Captain America and Bucky, telling them that she was forced to comply with the Japanese.
Disguised as a pair of elderly travellers, Cap and Bucky follow the spies back to their headquarters and force their way inside. There they ambush the leader of the Japanese soldiers, recover the stolen Buddah statue and flee the castle, blowing it up with a grenade. Crossing the border back to India they return the statue to Colonel Saudners who opens the secret compartment and reveals that it contains an ancient formula that teaches how to create gunpowder out of ordinary sand, something that could tip the scales of the war for whichever side has it. Changing back to their civilian identities, Steve Rogers and Bucky explain to Sgt. Duffy that they abandoned their posts under orders from Captain America himself. Although Duffy accepts this explanation, he still assigns the pair to KP Duty anyway.
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Bucky, Sgt. Duffy
The Death Singer!
Jack Robinson has bought tickets to watch a live radio broadcast featuring a singer named Bower. Robinson is bored until he notices the man sitting behind him has suddenly stood up and begins making strange faces at Bower. Suddenly, the singer collapses to the floor, killed by some unseen force. Suspicious of the strange man, Jack follows him outside and witnesses as the man kills another man Rickall. Jack also notices that whatever this strange man is doing it is also affecting a stray dog who begins to roll around on the ground.
Deducing that this strange man has some ability to kill people, Jack changes into the Whizzer and follows the man as he speeds across town where he claims yet another victim. Arriving on the scene, the Whizzer notices that the same dog has managed to follow the killer to the scene of the crime as well. Following the killer back to his home, the Whizzer is surprised to see that the dog has also found its way to this location as well. Suddenly realizing what is going on, the Whizzer deduces that the killer — whom he dubs the Singer — has found a way to sing at such a high pitch that he can cause the instant death of those he directs the sound at. This same high pitch sound is what has caused the dog to follow the Singer to the location of each murder.
Rushing back to the radio station, the Whizzer takes a soundproofed curtain and confronts the Singer in his home. He quickly overpowers the Singer and wraps the soundproof curtain around his head. When the police arrive on the scene the Whizzer explains the Singer’s strange power and has the killer write a full confession. As it turns out, the Singer was cheated out of his rights to the broadcasting studio that was owned by Bower and Rickall and he learned his method of high pitch singing in order to try and get away with murder.
Recurring Characters
Whizzer
Continuity Notes
In this story the Whizzer is called Jack Robinson instead of Robert Frank. As explained in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Golden Age 2004, Robert developed the Jack Robinson identity so the Whizzer had a public face.
Invitation to Death
Off the coast of New Guinea, Japanese soldiers have determined that American toops on the island of Lae are without air support and cut off from supplies and launch a surprise attack. Realizing what’s going on, the troops on the ground are also surprised to discover that the Japanese also have fighter planes in the air. A distress call is sent to military headquarters in Australia but there are no American destroyers in the area to provide aid. Instead a nearby carrier force is drafted into helping the soldiers of Lae.
Among those aboard the carrier ship is Jap Buster Johnson who leads the attack. With the sun at their rear, Johnson and his squadron are able have the element of surprise against the Japanese fighters. Unfortunately, Johnson’s plane is shot down and when a Japanese fighter trails his descent, he is forced to make a water crash landing as he is unable to parachute out of his aircraft. Surviving the crash, Johnson constructs a crude rowboat out of an empty fuel tank and rows to shore on a Japanese occupied island.
Sneaking over to the Japanese camp he overhears the commanding officers plotting to attack a supply convoy in order to prevent it from reaching the Americans trapped on Lae. When a siren warns the Japanese of a passing American bomber, Johnson rushes out to the beach and signals it to land by sending a message by Morse Code with his flashlight. Quickly picked up, Johnson is taken back to the ship and leads a bombing raid that destroys this Japanese camp, allowing aid to reach the soldiers on Lae Island.
Recurring Characters
Jap Buster Johnson
The Jap Serpent Strikes!
With Allied seaports being attacked by a new form of Japanese mine, the military calls in the Destroyer to help them stop these attacks. Meeting with the brass, the Destroyer is informed of strange activities happening on Kupan Island off the coast of Timor. Suspecting that this is where the new mines are being built, the Destroyer agrees to fly out alone to investigate. Sure enough, once he arrives in the air over Kupan Island, the Destroyer’s plane is shot out of the sky. The masked hero survives the crash and manages to get take control of a Japanese patrol boat that comes to investigate.
Still, the Destroyer is spotted and is forced to abandon the boat when he is shot at from the shore. The vigilante takes cover in what he thinks is an abandoned sailing ship but discovers that it is full of supplies and the newly developed sea mines that the Japanese have been using. Spotted by a guard, the Destroyer manages to subdue him before the alarm can be raised. Forcing the Japanese soldier to talk, the Destroyer learns that these mines are specially constructed to withstand more pressure than conventional sea mines allowing for them to be planted at deeper depths.
Stealing a uniform, the Destroyer sneaks onto the mainland and manages to steal a Japanese bomber and, when the sailing ship leaves to drop its cache of mines, the Destroyer blows the ship out of the water. With his mission a success, the Destroyer reports back to his superiors who thank him for his help.
Recurring Characters
Destroyer
Continuity Notes
Per the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #3, the appearance of the Destroyer here is attributed to Kevin Marlow.
The Ghost Zero
Sargent Dix is surprised when a new type of Japanese Zero Fighter, one that was allegedly incapable of being shot down has been captured. The man responsible for capturing this plane is a Chinese fighter pilot who claims that the so-called “Ghost Zero” could not be shot down was due to the fact that it was, in fact, piloted by a ghost. Dix dismisses this explanation as nothing more than crazy talk.
The next morning, the base is alerted when the Ghost Zero suddenly takes to the air and begins attacking. Dix and his troops try to shoot the plane out of the sky. True to the legend, the bullets do not seem to harm the Ghost Zero which mows down a number of soldiers before disappearing. Once the all clear is given, Dix finds the Ghost Zero still where they left it the day before. The Chinese pilot insists that the Ghost Zero hadn’t moved from this spot the entire night. Not seeing any visible damage to the plane, Dix has to accept this explanation although he is still suspicious.
Later that day, the Ghost Zero attacks the base again. This time, Sergeant Dix has a pilot take him up in a bomber plane to try and shoot the Zero down. Like before, the bullets do not appear to have an effect on the plane. Dix decides to parachute down and discovers the Chinese pilot flying the plane. During the struggle, Dix unmasks the man, revealing him to be a Japanese spy. Forcing the plane to crash, Dix parachutes to safety. Once safely on the ground, they examine the plane and learns its secrets. Reporting back to his commanding officer, Sargent Dix explains that the plane was constructed of a special rubber that reseals once pierced by bullets, similar material that they have been using on their bullet proof gas tanks.
Recurring Characters
Sergeant Dix
