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Quote1 You stay right there gorgeous ... or I'll break every bone in your body! Quote2
Sub-Mariner

Appearing in "The Reprehensible Riddle of... the Sorcerer!"

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Synopsis for "The Reprehensible Riddle of... the Sorcerer!"

A new villain known only as the Sorcerer is causing problems for Spider-Man. First he tests his power by giving Spider-Man terrible headaches, then uses his power to control Spider-Man and send him all the way to New Orleans where he forces him to battle a robot he calls the Synthetic Man. The Synthetic Man's downfall comes when he attempts to send a taunting package to Spider-Man through the mail and the post office workers, assuming it's a gag, return the package to sender. The mailman rings his doorbell, the very sound of the doorbell causing a malfunction in the Sorcerer's equipment that feeds back into his brain, and apparently kills him. With the Sorcerer dead there is no one and nothing to control the Synthetic Man, who walks into the Gulf of Mexico and sinks to the bottom.

Appearing in "Sub-Mariner"

Reprint of the 1st story from
Sub-Mariner Comics #34

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Synopsis for "Sub-Mariner"

Reprint of the 1st story from
Sub-Mariner Comics #34

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.

Appearing in "The Return of... the Human Torch"

Reprint of the 1st story from
Young Men #25

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Synopsis for "The Return of... the Human Torch"

Reprint of the 1st story from
Young Men #25

A youth crime spree has exploded all over the city, and the Human Torch and Toro rush to the scene of a bank robbery in progress. They attempt to stop the young hoods trying to hold the place up until one of them threatens to shoot a girl he has taken hostage unless they surrender. The Torch and Toro comply and are locked in the time locked vault and left to suffocate to death while the robbers flee. However, despite the fact that the vault cannot be opened while the time lock is active, the Torch and Toro use their flame powers to melt through it and chase after the crooks. Using their flame powers the getaway car is incapacitated and the youth gang is apprehended. When the Torch and Toro turn the young men over to Chief Wilson they find it puzzling the amount of young men have been incarcerated and why they are apparently happy about it.

With no apparent answers, the Torch and Toro go back out on patrol and as they pass by the old folk's home where Toro's uncle Julius lives they notice that it is being boarded up. They decide to land and learn from the owner that all the old people suddenly disappeared and he was forced to close, and that he has no knowledge where Toro's uncle went. The two investigate this further and learn that old people have been vanishing all over the city. Wondering if there is some sort of connection between the disappearance of elderly people and the spike in youth crime, the Torch and Toro disguise themselves as elderly men and go out on patrol.

While walking the streets they are approached by a young hood who offers them the opportunity to be young again. Interest, the incognito crime fighters join the young man back to the secret hideout of Doctor Markov. Markov is having a meeting with a group of old men offering to use his device on them in order to reverse their ages. Markov offers them this service in exchange for the youthful men to carry out crimes for him. He rationalizes this to the elderly men by telling them that they will get at most five years in jail and will be released and be physically 25 and have the chance of a renewed youth. To show his device works, Markov demonstrates de-aging a 70 year old man until he is 20 years old.

Suspecting something is up since the such a device could be used for great good, the Torch and Toro reveal themselves. As Toro grabs the hood that brought them there he is shocked to learn that the young man is his uncle Julius, who had already undergone the process. The Torch meanwhile quickly nabs Markvo. They then strap him into his machine and threaten to use it on him unless he explains what the deal is. Afraid to be subjected to his own device, Markov explains that he had been conning the elderly people, that a side effect of the de-aging device only keeps people young for 30 days before they die and crumble to dust. Having undergone the process 29 days previously, Julius becomes enraged and fires his gun at Markov's device causing a massive explosion that everyone inside the hideout except the Human Torch and Toro who are blasted free.

Appearing in "Mercury in the 20th Century"

Reprint of the 3rd story from
Red Raven Comics #1

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  • Vulcan (First appearance)
  • "Aeolus"
  • "Diana"
  • "Apollo"
  • Numerous unnamed soldiers from various armies

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  • Prussland U-boat

Synopsis for "Mercury in the 20th Century"

Reprint of the 3rd story from
Red Raven Comics #1
Red Raven Vol 1 1 030

As war rages on Earth, on Olympus, Zeus believes that the war is the work of Pluto. Deciding that Earth needs a defender to protect the planet and stop the war, he sends Mercury to track down and stop Pluto. Examining the chaos on the world below, Mercury manages to find Pluto, who is posing as the warmongering dictator of Prussland.

Confronting Pluto in his office, Mercury seeks to stop his insane cousin who is taking great pleasure in the human casualties caused in the conflict. Mercury tries to strangle Pluto, but he calls for his guards, forcing the hero to flee. Mercury decides to start attacking Prussland's army, using his superior speed to wreck military operations and steal military plans and secrets. Pluto eventually sends his agent Thea Shilhausen (alias L-5) to deal with Mercury as his operations have called a halt to the conflict.

When L-5 and her minions attempt to gun Mercury down, he proves immune to their bullets and tells the agent that peace is on the march. As Mercury returns to Olympus, he sees that the armies, unable to fight, have begun talking to each other and are fast becoming allies, foiling Pluto's plans.

Appearing in "Tournament of Doom!"

Reprint of the 2nd story from
Black Knight #2

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  • Mordred
  • Hawkes
  • Numerous unnamed Mordred hirelings

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Synopsis for "Tournament of Doom!"

Reprint of the 2nd story from
Black Knight #2

Mordred has won a series of jousting competitions proving that he is the champion among the people of Camelot. As Sir Percy once more try to woo Lady Rosamund (and fails, as usual), Mordred challenges King Arthur to a jousting match, reminding Arthur that it is his right to ask as champion of the match and King Arthur agrees. While King Arthur prepares for the match, Mordred slips into his tent where he meets with an loyal alchemist who gives Mordred a potent poison to coat his joust with it, telling Mordred that one single scratch from the poisoned weapon will cause King Arthur to die slowly and painfully, but yet appear to die of natural causes.

As King Arthur feats before the match, Merlin retires to his chambers and views his crystal ball, learning of Mordred's plot. He then returns to the banquet hall to warn Sir Percy, telling him to change into the Black Knight. Shortly thereafter as the King and Mordred prepare to duel, the Black Knight suddenly interrupts challenging Mordred to a joust instead, pointing out that Mordred cannot be named the champion until he bests him in a joust first. Mordred is forced to agree, however he believes this is his opportunity to rid himself of the Black Knight as well.

During the first charge of the competition, the Black Knight's lance is broken against Mordred's shield. However, when Mordred attempts to stab the Black Knight with his own on the reverse pass, the Black Knight slices off its poison tip with his Ebony Blade, winning the match. King Arthur calls for a feast for the Black Knight's victory, and Mordred takes this as an opportunity to try and learn the Black Knight's secret identity. He orders his men to slow down the Black Knight as he returns to the castle so that he can do a room-to-room search to try and uncover this identity. Returning to the castle, Merlin warns the Black Knight of this plot, telling the warrior to use a secret passage in his chambers to return to his room. The Black Knight is jumped by some of Mordred's men along the way but he easily fights them off. Using Merlin's secret passage up to his quarters Sir Percy strips off his Black Knight armor just as Mordred -- finding it hard to believe that his cowardly cousin could possibly be the Black Knight -- bursts into his room. He finds Sir Percy climbing out from under a desk, and Sir Percy claims that he hid under there to get away from all the loud noises from the jousting competition, allaying any suspicions Mordred might have had that Percy is the Black Knight.

Appearing in "The Girl Who Was Afraid"

Reprint of the 2nd story from
Men's Adventures #27

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  • Replica of Captain America's Shield

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Synopsis for "The Girl Who Was Afraid"

Reprint of the 2nd story from
Men's Adventures #27

Steve Rogers and Bucky are part of US Army detail dispatched to Egypt to root out communist elements in the area. While riding on camels they are greeted by the wealthy Adu Bey who tells them that he loves Americans and welcomes them back to his home as his welcomed guests. Riding in Bey's limo, the pair listen as Adu tells them that he dislikes war and hates communists that are creating conflict. At Bey's luxurious mansion, a show is put on for the two Americans and they watch a female dance put on a performance for them. Steve suddenly realizes that the woman is tapping out Morse Code in her routine and that the message is asking them for help, asking them to meet her that night at the old well.

Retiring for the night, Steve sneaks out of his room to meet with the woman who tells them that she is a prisoner of Adu Bey and that he really is a supporter of communism. Believing the girls story, Steve tells her that he can get the aid of Captain America and tells her to wait for the hero in the stables. Returning to his room, Steve wakes up his partner and they change into Captain America and Bucky and go to meet the girl. When they arrive they find communist agents trying to take the girl away and fight them off. The girl then leads them on horseback to Adu Bey's family crypt where she tells them the communists are hiding out.

Inside the tomb they find a bunch of radio equipment that the communists are using for spying. Suddenly they are attacked by communist agents and taken prisoner. When Adu Bey appears in his crypt demanding to know what is going on, he too is taken prisoner. Captain America and Bucky are then shocked to learn that the woman whom they came to aid is really the leader of the communist cell. Cap and Bucky break free of their bonds and fight their way to freedom, rescuing Adu Bey in the process. As they flee, the woman tries to shoot them, but the shots cause the fragile tomb to collapse, killing the communists and smashing their equipment.

In the aftermath, Cap and Bucky realize that Bey was genuine in his love of Americans and when they apologize for the destruction of his family crypt, he brushes it off telling them that he was glad it could be used to wipe out the communists hiding in his midst.

Notes

  • The Spider-Man story in this issue was originally intended for Amazing Spider-Man when John Romita injured his wrist, and Ross Andru had to step in and create a fill-in issue. However, John recovered in time and was able to draw the previously planned story.

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