Story #2The Hunchback of Hollywood and the Movie Murder
Writer:
Jack Kirby, Joe Simon. Penciler:
Jack Kirby.
Synopsis
Movie producer
Mark Carstein plans to shoot an anti-Nazi film set in the Middle Ages at a castle near
Camp Lehigh, using soldiers as extras. Shortly thereafter, a sinister hunchback murders Carstein to halt production, but the studio is determined to continue. Steve and Bucky are among the soldiers hired for the production. On the first day of shooting, an actor is killed by an arrow;
Captain America and
Bucky pursue the murderous archer but he is slain by the hunchback. Leading man
Craig Talbot identifies the hunchback as
Goris Barloff and the police go to arrest the horror star. Director
McAllister helps Barloff escape and a short time later the hunchback tries to kill leading lady
Carol Young. Foiled by the arrival of
Steve Rogers, the villain barricades himself in the castle and Cap has himself hurled over the wall on a catapult. He encounters Craig Talbot whom he realizes is the hunchback. The two men fight a sword duel, as the actor confesses he is a Nazi sympathizer. Cap defeats him; Talbot is arrested and Barloff is cleared.
Story #3Captain America Foils the Traitor’s Revenge
Writer:
Stan Lee. Penciler:
Jack Kirby.
Synopsis
Private Lou Haines is given a dishonorable discharge from the Army by
Colonel Stevens for lying, spying, and stealing. Late that night,
Steve Rogers and
Bucky Barnes hear someone moving around outside their tent; changing into
Captain America and Bucky, they go out to discover Haines and a couple of henchmen planning revenge against the Colonel. While Bucky deal with the thugs, Cap heads into the Colonel’s tent and overpowers the murderous ex-private. The next day, after finding the baddies bound for delivery to the police, Colonel Stevens questions Steve about what went on in the night but Steve claims to have slept though the whole thing!
Story #4The Queer Case of the Murdering Butterfly and the Ancient Mummies
Writer:
Jack Kirby, Joe Simon. Penciler:
Jack Kirby.
Synopsis
The villainous
Butterfly announces he will steal the fabulous Egyptian treasure from the museum. The curator,
Dr. Vitrioli, receives the shipment of ancient relics and carefully locks them up. That night, the Butterfly swoops down on a guard, kills him with a sting, and carries off the treasures. That night, he returns for
Cleopatra’s diamond, killing another guard. On a school trip to the museum, a bored
Bucky finds a secret passage; wandering down to the basement he finds the Butterfly’s colorful costume but is captured by Vitrioli’s hulking assistant
Lenny and locked in a sarcophagus. On his way to the museum to meet Bucky,
Steve Rogers comes upon the Butterfly’s men robbing a bank and overpowers them for the police. At the museum, Vitrioli denies him permission to search for Bucky, so he hides until the place closes, then emerges as
Captain America. He is attacked by Lenny whose thrown knife bounces off Cap’s shield; Cap, however, responds by hurling a dinosaur tusk which skewers the brutish henchman. The Butterfly swoops down upon him but Cap picks him off by hurling his shield. The Butterfly, mortally wounded by the fall, is unmasked as Dr. Vitrioli. Cap rescues Bucky from the mummy case and they leave before the police arrive.
Story #5Atlantis and the False King
Writer:
Jack Kirby, Joe Simon. Penciler:
Mac Raboy.
Synopsis
Tuk and
Tanir have reached
Atlantis (a land-based city) with the deposed
Princess Eve, planning to help her regain the throne. She disguises herself, hoping to enter the city unkown but the usurper’s soothsayer looks in his crystal ball and discovers she is coming so the false king has the gates locked against her. But she knows a secret passage into the city and they come out near the throne room. Tuk and Tanir capture the king but the guards fill the room. When the Princess unmasks however, the overjoyed guards swear allegiance to her and the hated villain is imprisoned. Princess Eve offers to reward the two heroes but they must move on in their search for
Attillan, Island of the Gods.
Story #6The True Story of the Bald Head Message
Writer:
Jack Kirby, Joe Simon. Penciler:
Jack Kirby. Inker:
Joe Simon.
Synopsis
Istiaeus of Miletus visits
King Darius of Persia under the guise of friendship but really to spy for his masters. The King does not trust him so posts guards around his tent to ensure that Istiaeus is unable to send any messages back home. One of his servants, who had shaved his head to cope with the heat, falls ill and is confined for months. After that time, permission is sought for the servant to return to Miletus; he is searched but when it is clear he is carrying no messages he is allowed to leave. When he arrives back home, his head is shaved again and Istiaeus’ secret message is seen on top of this bald head.
Story #7Satan and the Subway Disasters
Writer:
Jack Kirby, Joe Simon. Penciler/Inker:
Reed Crandall.
Synopsis
A series of mysterious subway wrecks brings the
Hurricane to
Groton City for another confrontation with his archenemy
Pluto. The hero finds an "
Infernal Death-Box" at the scene of the latest wreck and trails a suspicious figure to the hideout of gangster
Scarface Rispoli. Hurricane bursts in and subdues the baddies and learns that the mastermind is one
S. Devile. After dropping the crooks and a Death-Box off at police headquarters, the hero heads to Devile’s penthouse to confront Pluto (Devile = devil, get it?). The villain gasses Hurricane and knocks him out then heads to where the city’s top officials are dedicating a new subway line. Pluto flips the switch which will send the train full of VIPs to a wreck but Hurricane arrives in the nick of time, sends the train down the right track, and knocks the villain into the darkness of night.