Daring Mystery Comics (1940 series) #5

Outside the city, the evil scientist Dork addresses his henchmen, promising them dominion over vast territories once his creation has destroyed humanity. From his tower he releases a massive, pink, jelly-like protoplasmic substance that oozes into the streets, dissolving the flesh of anyone it touches. The Fiery Mask spots the spreading mass from a window, leaps down, and lands near it. He notices that Dork's men move through the protoplasm unharmed in protective suits, while one of them drags a screaming young woman away as a specimen for their master. The Fiery Mask intervenes, lifts her attacker off the ground, and drives off the others. He then deduces that his own intense body heat repels the protoplasm, and plunges into the mass to pursue the henchmen to the base of Dork's tower. Inside, he fights his way through the men, then faces one of Dork's monstrous creatures, which he seizes by the foot and hurls into the stone wall. 

Dork traps the Mask in a steel-walled chamber that fills with water, but the Mask generates enough heat to boil it into steam, blowing the prison apart. He hears a girl crying for help from an adjacent room, melts the door, and bursts in to find Dork menacing the captive woman. He knocks Dork aside, melts her chains, and holds her hand to transmit his protective powers to her body. Dork fires his gun; the bullet misses and shatters the window, allowing the protoplasm to pour in. The substance engulfs Dork, who is consumed by his own creation. The Fiery Mask rushes to the engine room, tears a heavy mixing machine from the floor, and hurls it at the mechanism generating the protoplasm, stopping the flow and clearing the city. He carries the rescued woman safely back to the street, and she bids him farewell as he departs.

The Devil-Flower

Synopsis

By Arcturus Jackson
Rating:

Jerry Alton, who helped Trojak drive Nazi invaders from the Congo, lies gravely ill from his exertions. A wise native healer tells Trojak and Jerry's sister Edith that only the life-juice of the Devil-Flower can restore him to health. The Devil-Flower is the sacred god of the Gemba tribe, whose territory lies deep in the interior, surrounded by water. Despite Trojak's warning of danger, Edith insists on accompanying him. Gemba spies overhear their plans and set an ambush at dawn. Trojak catches a thrown spear in midair, and his tiger companion Balu arrives to help repel the attackers. One captured spy refuses to yield the flower's juice and impales himself on the spear-point rather than betray his god. 

Far away, the Devil-Flower flares with magical vapor, revealing to its priests that one of their own has died in its defense. The priests summon their animal servants in vengeance, releasing hyenas from a riverside cave. Balu fights them off while Edith shoots another, and Trojak notes that their unusual boldness signals something supernatural at work. At the river boundary, Trojak discovers a boat left on the bank has been deliberately sabotaged to sink. He swims across instead, wrestling a crocodile that attacks him and overpowering it bare-handed. On the far bank, Trojak and Edith build a raft and cross by night into Gemba country. A gorilla guards the Devil-Flower itself; Trojak silences it before it can raise an alarm, and Edith draws the life-juice from the blossom. The village rises in pursuit, but Balu has already ripped open the bottoms of the Gemba canoes, leaving the pursuers stranded and sinking. The three return safely, and Jerry drinks the life-juice.

Characters
Good (or All)

 

Trojak
(from 1940)

Plus: Balu (tiger), Edith Alton, Jerry Alton.

Antagonists
Gembas.

Strike Against the Nazis

Synopsis

By J.A.R.V.I.S. 2008
Rating:

K-4, the British flying spy and soldier of fortune, briefs his two lieutenants, René D'Auvergne and Ronald Wolverstone-Clodd, ordering them to photograph the Nazi naval and air base on the coast while he remains behind. The Sky Devils set out in their biplane, but a small Nazi patrol intercepts them over the base. René and Ronald man their guns, shooting down two enemy planes, but a third rakes their propeller with machine-gun fire. Forced to glide down, they are captured and locked in a cell by the Nazis. 

From their cell window they observe a massive fleet of ships and planes being assembled, and resolve to get word to headquarters. When guards enter with food, the two men overpower them, steal their uniforms, and walk out as disguised German soldiers. They reach the local telegraph office, knock out the operators, and transmit a message to K-4 warning him that the Nazi air and sea fleet is massing for an attack. K-4 immediately launches alone, cuts his engine high over the base, and glides in silently, dropping bombs on ammunition dumps, hangars, and warships. The Royal Air Force squadron arrives to complete the destruction, but René and Ronald, still in Nazi uniform on a fleeing train, are recognized by a radio operator. They fight their way to the roof. K-4 spots them and strafes the soldiers, then bombs the train itself. His assistants safe, K-4 reports back to his colonel, who complains he only wanted photographs.

Characters
Good (or All)

 

Captain K-4

Plus: Sky Devils.

Antagonists
Nazis.

The Origin of Monako

Synopsis

By J.A.R.V.I.S. 2008
Rating:

Monako, the Prince of Magic, is entertaining passengers aboard an ocean liner with feats of illusion as he makes his way back to America. After his act, two women in the audience introduce themselves: Lady Olga and Lady Anne. Monako explains his powers by recounting his origins — as a boy in India, a cruel tribe wiped out his missionary parents' camp by supernatural means, and the chief spared him, raised him, and taught him the full knowledge of their magic and the black arts. 

Later, when Lady Anne goes to her stateroom, two thieves named Mike and his unnamed partner ambush her, bind her, stuff her into a bag, and carry her toward the ship's rail to throw her overboard. Monako spots the suspicious bundle and uses his power to stop it in mid-air above the water, then levitate it back up to the deck. He frees Lady Anne, who reveals the men have stolen her jewelry. Tracking down one thug, Monako transforms his gun into a water pistol and magically strips him to his bathing suit, then conjures bars around him. When the second thug hurls a knife, Monako makes it reverse course in mid-air, and uses the returning blade to frighten the man into surrendering the jewels. Monako escorts both thieves to the captain's brig and returns the jewelry to Lady Anne.

Characters
Good (or All)

 

Monako
(Prince of Magic)

Plus: Lady Anne, Lady Olga.

Battle of the Robots

Synopsis

By J.A.R.V.I.S. 2008
Rating:

Marvex, the Super Robot, interrupts an East Side mob's hold-up, smashing through the wall and routing the gang. A newspaper report of the incident catches the eye of Dr. Narr, a scientist who concludes he must capture and dismantle Marvex to learn the secret of his life. Narr sends Marvex a forged note summoning him to the old hill tower that night. Marvex walks into the grounds and a massive steel-rope net drops over him; Dr. Narr's own iron robots carry the helpless Marvex inside. 

Once freed on a magnetic table that paralyzes his metal body, Marvex fights the robots in a fierce brawl but is struck by Narr's magnetic ray gun, which immobilizes him. Narr straps him down, announces he will take Marvex apart and make him a martyr to science. As a last resort, Marvex's radio mind broadcasts an SOS. His companion Clara Crandall receives the signal on a special radio tuned to his brain and races to the tower. She bursts in and, under fire from Narr's robots, smashes the control board to pieces, freeing Marvex. With the controls destroyed, the iron robots go berserk, attacking everyone. Marvex crushes them one by one. Marvex and Clara attempt to flee but find the door blocked by sheet metal; Dr. Narr, now raving, hurls a bomb at them and charges. Marvex sidesteps and Narr pitches through an open window to his death on the rocks below.

Characters
Good (or All)

 

Marvex
(The Super-Robot)

Plus: Clara Crandall.

Antagonists
Brad Lewis, Dr. Narr.

Planet of Black-Light

Synopsis

By J.A.R.V.I.S. 2008
Rating:

In his super observatory on Venus, Whirlwind, head of the Interplanetary Secret Service for both Venus and Earth, detects an invisible planet drifting off course toward the solar system. Tuning in his thought-detector, he intercepts the intentions of its inhabitants — the Black-Light Men, thick-skinned monsters from the coldest planet in space — who plan to drag Earth out of its orbit, freeze the population to death, and sell the planet to Mars. Whirlwind contacts his Earth assistant Brenda Hale, warns her of the threat, and dispatches a combined fleet of Venus and Earth dreadnoughts armed with fusing guns and demagnetizers. 

Before Brenda can act, the Black-Light Men focus their anti-solar ray on Earth, destroying gravity and sending people floating into the air. The allied fleets intercept the Planet of Black Light, and their weapons begin stripping the enemy of control, sending the rogue planet spinning helplessly away. Earth's gravity is restored, though millions are killed and injured in the chaos. Whirlwind's fleet lands on the icy surface of the Black-Light planet to finish the fight. The thick-skinned natives prove impervious to the fusing rays and drive the allied forces back in hand-to-hand combat. Brenda, unnoticed, builds a fire in an ice cavern and begins hurling burning embers — fire terrifies the Black-Light Men. One seizes Brenda and drags her away, but Whirlwind rushes to her rescue, knocks the creature down, and the whole allied force drives the enemy back with torches. The Black-Light Men stampede off an ice cliff to their deaths. Whirlwind and Brenda confirm the Earth has returned to normal.

Rebuilding the World

Synopsis

By J.A.R.V.I.S. 2008
Rating:

Breeze Barton, returning from another dimension with his companion Ann Barclay, leads a small band of followers into a fertile valley where they plan to found the first city of a new civilization. Frenchy serves as one of his lieutenants. That same night, the nearby despot Chief Sabarr dispatches thieves to plunder the newcomers' camp. Breeze's radio alarm warns him in time; he, Frenchy, and Ann surprise the raiders, capture two of them, and release one with a message for Sabarr declaring that outlawry is finished. The second captive is shown Breeze's electric generator and other community marvels, and is converted to Breeze's cause. 

Sabarr, his direct raid failed and his men reporting the camp too well armed for open attack, opts instead to surround and starve the settlement. Breeze's televiso device reveals enemy forces closing in on all sides, and at dawn a sentry is shot down at the gate. Breeze straps on a rocket belt, takes Ann with him, and the two fly above the horde to scout and attack. Sabarr orders archers to fire; an arrow damages Ann's belt and she falls, with Breeze diving after her. The pair are captured on the ground, knocked out, and locked in Sabarr's stone-walled prison. With Breeze and Ann taken, Sabarr turns the siege into a full assault. Inside the prison, Breeze ignites the remaining rocket fuel to blow the door open. Escaping behind Sabarr's attacking army, he hurls a fuel tube at the chief, killing him with the explosion. Leaderless and demoralized, the attackers surrender. Breeze refuses leadership of the tribe, placing his converted prisoner as their new chief, and the two groups pledge to work together for the new civilization.

Introducing Little Hercules

Synopsis

By J.A.R.V.I.S. 2008
Rating:

Little Hercules, introduced as the smartest and strongest boy in the world, has just been awarded a doctorate by the world's leading scientists for inventing a new explosive he calls "Dynopop." Two foreign agents watching the ceremony identify him as their target — they need the Dynopop formula for their government and decide to club him and bring him in. The club blow barely fazes Hercules, who pops back up seemingly unaware of what hit him. The agent demands the formula; Hercules smashes him and sends him flying, then decides he had better deliver his formula to Washington before foreign agents can steal it. 

He loads a can of Dynopop and the formula papers aboard his self-built plane, the Sky Bird, and takes off. The two foreign agents tail him in their own plane and attach a time bomb to the Sky Bird's tail, blowing off the rear section. Hercules crash-lands safely, realizes who is behind him, and greets the agents cheerfully. They demand the formula; he brawls through both of them, shattering one agent's boulder with a single punch, then loads both unconscious men into the Sky Bird and flies on to Washington. He delivers the Dynopop formula and his two prisoners to the authorities, who praise him for his service to the country.

Meet the Falcon

Synopsis

By J.A.R.V.I.S. 2008
Rating:

Police are called to investigate the mysterious death of a man named Jeff Willen — no marks on the body, but a small skull-and-bat "Wand of Death" token left nearby. Carl Burgess, brilliant young assistant district attorney, takes the case and learns from police that all previous victims had also received these wands, and that each was an enemy of Dr. Sunga, a known racketeer-doctor. Burgess confronts Sunga directly; Sunga openly boasts that he killed Willen by sending a curse, then dares Burgess to prove it in court, knowing no jury would believe in curses. Burgess leaves — and transforms into the Falcon, the same man in secret identity. The Falcon captures one of Sunga's thugs, Turvy, and is about to learn how the wand kills when a special delivery package arrives addressed to Turvy. Before Turvy can reveal the secret Sunga sends the Wand of Death; Turvy opens it and dies. The Falcon examines the box and wand but finds no chemicals or poison. Sunga's plan shifts: he sends a fake wand package to the Falcon's address, hoping to use Burgess to legitimize the curse story. Instead, the Falcon x-rays the box and deduces its mechanism, then heads to Sunga's headquarters. Avoiding an ambush at the door, the Falcon climbs to the roof and attacks from above. Sunga triggers a trapdoor, dropping the Falcon into a flooded pit with a live crocodile. The Falcon grabs the crocodile's tail; its lashing flips him upward through the trap door. He retrieves the box, holds Sunga's men at gunpoint, and announces his solution: each box contains a charge of static electricity — whoever opens it is killed. He hurls the box at Sunga, who is killed by his own device. The remaining gang surrenders to the police, and back at the district attorney's office Burgess plays innocent as his colleagues marvel at Sunga's strange death.

Characters
Good (or All)

 

Falcon
(Carl Burgess)