Story #2To the Land of Nod
Writer:
Stan Lee. Penciler/Inker:
Chad Grothkopf.
Synopsis
Jefferson Vandermeer and his pal
the Imp bed down fro a good night’s sleep. However,
Morpheus, God of Sleep, decides to have a little fun by putting some nightmares into their heads. First their bedroom furniture comes to life, causing Jeff and the Imp to panic until the table lamp (
Sir Reginald Lamp o’ Lime), acting as ringmaster, orders the crew to desist. Morpheus then conjures up a giant monster which terrifies Jeff and the lamp into the woods—and then the trees come to life to terrorize them Lamp o’ Lime summons to furniture to battle the trees—then
Gnomes capture the Imp and are about to drop him in a cook pot when the land is flooded. Jeff and the Imp are about to be devoured by sharks when Morpheus laughs so hard he falls off his cloud to the ground. Jeff and the imp wake up and everything is back to normal. Morpheus vows never to pick on the Imp again.
Story #3The Secret of Lost River Cave
Writer:
Unknown. Penciler/Inker:
.
Synopsis
Dave,
Sam, and their widowed mother are about to lose the family ranch to the banker foreclosing the mortgage. Mom sends Dave into town to sell her heirloom diamonds to pay the mortgage. On his way sudden flooding strands him in the middle of nowhere. He seeks shelter inside
Lost River Cave. There he discovers the Lost River full of unusual fish, forced up from underground caves by the flood. He catches and eats one and when the flooding subsides he continues into town where samples of the fish cause a sensation and he realizes that selling these fish at the market will bring enough money to pay off the mortgage.
Story #4The Invasion from Mars
Writer:
Otto Binder. Penciler/Inker:
Al Avison.
Synopsis
New York is invaded by giant green men from
Mars;
Bucky Barnes is there to witness the monsters but back at
Camp Lehigh no one—not even
Steve Rogers—will believe him. Suddenly a Martian appears at the Camp and punches out
Sergeant Duffy. Changing into costume,
Captain America and
Bucky pursue the fleeing monster to the City where they discover it terrorizing a family. They drive it off and find that its gun is a disguised Luger. Meanwhile, Martians have captured the Mayor and are forcing him to make a radio broadcast evacuating the city. Cap arrives but the Mayor is killed and Cap captured; the Martians want him to broadcast the message. Bucky heads back to camp and summons the army to come fight the monsters. He rescues Cap and they discover that the invaders are disguised Nazis planning to spread a panic a la
Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds radio show. They locate the Nazi base and beat them all up; Cap then calls out the Navy to sink the enemy ships.
Story #5The Substitute Secret Stamp
Writer:
Stan Lee. Penciler/Inker:
Don Rico.
Synopsis
Spud Sickles,
Roddy Colt’s newsboy rival, conceives a plan to impersonate the
Secret Stamp to gain some adulation too. Meanwhile, an elderly woman (working for the
Nazis to stop the Secret Stamp from inspiring the children of America) dispatches her two thuggish grandsons to capture the hero. They come upon Spud in his phony Stamp costume and capture him; back at the house they discover their mistake and Roddy, who had witnessed the incident, bursts in as the real Secret Stamp. He is quickly captured too. Coincidentally passing outside, reporter
Jerry Dash and Spud’s sister
Mary hear a cry for help and burst in. Jerry and the Stamp overpower the baddies and Roddy rushes off, leaving Spud to explain the situation. Later Spud tries to impress Roddy by claiming to be the Secret Stamp’s new partner.