Story #2Origin of the Phantom Bullet
Writer/Penciler/Inker/Letterer:
Joe Simon.
Colorist:
Unknown.
Synopsis
Allen Lewis is a star reporter for the
Daily Bulletin whose editor is fed up with his absent, carefree ways. Drawn to a murder scene — a millionaire strangled in a locked room twenty stories up — Allan finds a clue the police missed: a brilliantly colored feather clutched in the dead man's hand. Back at the office he's dispatched to interview a screwball inventor who has built a gun that fires bullets of hard ice, which melt on impact and leave no trace. When the inventor is murdered and his lab ransacked, Allan keeps the gun and blueprints, then dons a cape-and-mask disguise to become the
Phantom Bullet — a self-declared private court of justice.
He intercepts one wealthy target about to be shaken down for half a million dollars to fund a shadow government, battles bird-like assailants, and traces the extortion ring to its mastermind: Monez, a bald crime lord who commands a squad of African warriors whose feathered headdresses and seven-toed feet explain the impossible crime scenes. Allan defeats Monez, sends the savages leaping to their deaths from a tower, and strolls back to the Bulletin the next morning — with the scoop.
Characters
Good (or All)
Phantom Bullet (Allen Lewis).
Antagonists
Alvarez Monez, Bird-Men (African warriors).
Story #3King of the Jungle
Writer/Penciler/Inker/Letterer:
Joe Simon.
Colorist:
Unknown.
Synopsis
As a dying tribal elder reveals to
Trojak the story of his origins: his father was a white explorer who saved the elder's people from a wicked rival tribe, improved their living conditions, and was killed in battle. The tribe raised the infant Trojak as one of their own. Now a fully grown jungle lord who speaks the language of animals and commands the loyalty of
Balu, his tiger, the elder sends him off to find his own people.
Swinging through uncharted jungle for many moons, Trojak stumbles upon a white expedition — a brutal party of gold hunters who shoot peaceful animals and abuse the local natives. Among them is a young woman who is disgusted by her companions' cruelty. When the party's leader fires on Balu, Trojak disarms him and vanishes. The panicked natives desert overnight, leaving the whites lost and helpless. The girl breaks from the group, and Trojak rescues her from a stalking lion. He nurses Balu back to health while the girl tends Trojak's wounds, and the two slowly form a bond as Trojak learns a little English. Eventually he leads the stranded party to a native village and safety — then disappears back into the jungle, leaving the girl to wonder if she'll ever see him again.
CharactersGood (or All)Plus: Balu (
tiger), Edith Alton.
Story #4Introducing K-4
Writer/Penciler/Inker/Colorist:
Unknown.
Synopsis
Capt. K-4 is a flying soldier of fortune — the youngest ace of WWI, veteran of the Spanish Rebellion and the China-Japan conflict — now fighting for Britain against Nazi Germany alongside two devoted aides:
Lt. René D'Auvergne, a French WWI ace and swordsman, and
Lt. Ronald Wolverstone-Clodd, a wealthy English actor skilled in disguise. After K-4 and his
Sky Devils turn the tide in a dogfight over the North Sea, routing a squad of Heinkel bombers, British command pulls K-4 for a solo spy mission: he must impersonate a captured Gestapo agent named
Gunther Hesseman and infiltrate the munitions depot at Kurtzberg on Germany's Baltic coast to destroy the anti-aircraft ammunition supply feeding the port's defenses.
K-4 bails from a German Henschel plane over enemy territory at night, parachutes in, bluffs his way past sentries on a motorcycle, overpowers a guard, locates the underground ammo dump, plants demolition charges, and fights his way out across open ground as Nazi riflemen close in. D'Auvergne lands a British plane to extract him just in time — and the depot erupts in a thunderous explosion behind them.
CharactersGood (or All)Plus: Lt. Rene D'Auvergne, Lt. Ronald Wolverstone-Clodd, Sky Devils.
Antagonists
Major Von Lutz, Nazis.
Story #5Who in Reality Is Mr. "E"?
Writer:
Joe Cal Cagno.
Penciler/Inker:
Al Carreño.
Synopsis
Several leading captains of industry have died under suspicious circumstances — all were partners in the Snead Oil Company. One man, wealthy sportsman
Victor Jay, suspects foul play and decides to investigate as
Mr. "E", a masked vigilante in a blue suit and cape.
He calls on J.P. Snead, whose terrified demeanor confirms someone is extorting him: a note demands one million dollars by Friday midnight or death. Mr. "E" snatches the burning note from the fireplace and discovers — through fading ink — the real address of the blackmailer, a criminal called the Vampire. En route he's ambushed: his car is forced off a cliff and plunges into a river. The Vampire believes him dead, but Mr. "E" survives, rides atop the messenger's car to the Vampire's lair, and is captured. The Vampire gloats: he killed all four oil partners after they refused his demands, plans to finish Snead, take his daughter Betty, and claim his wealth. He leaves Mr. "E" tied to a chair with a one-hour dynamite timer. Mr. "E" breaks free, returns to find the Vampire coercing Snead into signing over his company — and crashes in through the window to stop him.
Story #6Enter the Laughing Mask
Writer:
Will Harr.
Penciler/Inker:
Maurice Gutwirth.
Synopsis
Dennis Burton comes from a family of law enforcers, the latest in the line serving as a young Assistant District Attorney. Frustrated by corrupt politicians protecting gangsters from conviction, he takes the law into his own hands and becomes the Laughing Mask — a costumed vigilante in a red suit wearing a grinning golden face mask that glows in the dark.
When a passenger train called The Limited is deliberately wrecked by acid-corroded wheels — killing scores — Dennis investigates independently, disguised as a railroad oiler. He traces the sabotage to crime boss Lester Deeks, who plans to wreck the Streamliner Express next, bomb the Rapid Falls Bridge, and then buy the ruined railroad for a pittance. Dennis is caught spying on Deeks' gang, overpowered, and locked in an attic. He escapes, dons his mask, drops the luminous disguise through a skylight to plunge the gang's room into chaos, shoots Deeks dead for the lives lost in the train wreck, then races to the railroad yard and stops the two thugs from dousing the Streamliner's wheels with acid — as a third thug hijacks the locomotive itself.