Human Torch Comics 10 (Winter 1942)

[StrayLamb]

HUMAN TORCH COMICS #10 (WINTER 1942)

Cover by Alex Schomburg

STORY ONE: “Death Dance of the Atlantic” by Mickey Spillane!

APPEARANCES:

Human Torch; Toro; Sub-Mariner; Commander of US Naval Intelligence (Unnamed); Karl Schmidt (a German seaman assigned to U-41); the Kapitanleutnant and other crewmen of the U-41; a US Naval Lieutenant and other US crewmen; officers at Gestapo HQ Berlin; Mr Blake and other guards of Deptford Castle; the Duke of Deptford; James and Robert Deptford (in a story which may or may not be true); British Naval Personnel; Baron and Baroness Kidersky; their chauffeur; US Army Officers; Passengers aboard a train; Employees at QGR TV Station; New York taxi drivers

SYNOPSIS:

CHAPTER ONE: When Nazi U-Boats intercept a US convoy, sinking five ships, Torch is called in by Naval Intelligence, who haven’t been able to locate the Sub-Mariner. Torch is told the Nazis are getting exact intel on their convoys, and his mission is to accompany the next convoy, and attempt to capture a u-boat crew alive for interrogation. Torch tells Toro this is strictly an adults only operation, but Toro shadows him to the docks.

Meanwhile, Namor has the same plan, and swims to the u-boat base at St. Lazzaire, where he disguises himself as a Nazi, and enters a waterfront bar, where he strikes up a conversation with a sailor named Karl Schmidt, assigned to the U-41, which sails at dawn. Namor accompanies Schmidt as he leaves the bar, knocks him out in an alley, then takes his clothes and identification, taking his place aboard the U-41.

As the US convoy sets sail, Torch is given a tour of his ship, when a periscope is spotted off the port bow. As the magazines are opened, Toro is discovered, having stowed away. As u-boats attack the convoy, Torch and Toro go into action. The commander of the U-41 orders the fleet to withdraw and orders one last torpedo to be fired, but Namor jolts the firing mechanism, sending it off course. Namor fights off the Nazi sailors, when the commander shoots at him, grazing his skull and knocking him out. With the tank controls out of order, the U-41 is forced to the surface. Torch and Toro board the sub, douse their flames, and get into it with the crew. Toro melts the commander’s gun, when he discovers Namor dressed in a Nazi uniform. Seeing the chance to avenge himself, the commander tells them Namor is the Gestapo’s best agent, and they were ordered to put him ashore on American soil. As Namor comes round, Torch tells him he’s under arrest, when the sub is hit by a shell. Toro goes topside to signal the US convoy, and a boat is sent to pick up the crew and Namor.

The convoy approaches the English coast, where they see Castle Deptford, given to the British government for use as a prison; at Gestapo HQ, they learn from a BBC broadcast that the Sub-Mariner was a member of the U-41 crew, and since he’s known to be a lone wolf, they believe he’s changed sides, and they contact Nazi sympathizer, the Duke of Deptford, at his town house. At Castle Deptford, Torch gets some sleep, while Toro sits up listening to Mr Blake telling a ghost story.

CHAPTER TWO: Toro and the guards are attacked by a headless armoured knight. Toro wakes up Torch and they follow the knight to the dungeon, where it enters Namor’s cell and turns a stone in the wall, opening a secret passage, thru which Namor escapes. Torch and Toro discover the passage, but as they approach Namor, the headless knight turns another stone, opening an aperture, thru which pours a torrent of sea water, deluging the hot shots, while a rock panel drops behind the headless knight and Namor, protecting them from the onrush of water. Torch and Toro find themselves dumped back in Namor’s cell, where they seal up the passage. Emerging in a cliff overlooking the sea, the knight doffs his armour, and tells Namor he’s the Duke of Deptford. Handing Namor a package, he tells him his orders are to go to America, but when Namor tells him not to release the rest of the crew, Deptford realizes he’s working for the allies and pulls a knife, but Namor belts him, and the Duke plunges to his death. A Nazi u-boat surfaces near a British dockyard, and launches an agent in a rubber dinghy, who plants a time-bomb on the U-41, which is blown up an hour later. Torch and Toro head to the dock, where the remains of the U-41 are being examined. In the commander’s cabin, they discover a secret compartment, containing parts for a TV receiver, and they take off back to New York.

Arriving in New York ahead of them, Namor disguises himself, and following Berlin’s instructions, he makes his way to the Long Island home of the Baron and Baroness Kidersky, a pair of White Russian ballet dancers; Namor introduces himself to Boris and Natasha, who order him to sabotage certain factories in order to prevent material from reaching England and Russia; Namor leaves, but hides in the trunk of their car as the pair drive to Penn Station, where they meet with US army officers. As they board the commuter special, Namor hastily buys a ticket, boards the train, and “parks himself behind a newspaper”, but he’s quickly spotted. As Namor belts Boris, Natasha yells out that he’s a Nazi spy.

CHAPTER THREE: As the “train rounds a curve at high speed, Sub-Mariner hurls himself into space amid a fusillade of shots.” The train halts and the army officers give chase, but Namor dives into a stream and escapes. Namor slips into nearby Fort Harris, where the Baron and Baroness are performing a danse-macabre on stage. Namor shadows Boris and Natasha back to New York, where they enter a tv studio, and perform the danse-macabre again. Watching a tv receiver aboard a boat off the Atlantic coast, Torch and Toro see the dance, and Torch notices that together the dancers bodies form certain letters, comprising a code. As Torch and Toro head for the tv station, Namor follows the Baron and Baroness in a taxi, but they are spotted and his driver is shot thru the throat. “With a sickening crunch, the taxi crashes into a tree and Namor is hurled into the air,” hitting the pavement head first. Namor is carried into the house, where he is shackled to the wall. Namor tells the Baroness that he wanted to warn them the Torch is coming. Unsure if he’s telling the truth, the Baron and Baroness go into their dance, which is transmitted to a u-boat off the coast. Namor cottons to the code being passed to the Nazis, as the Baroness tells him she’s asked Berlin to vouch for him. Meanwhile, Torch and Toro land on the roof of the tv station, and learn that the dancers are Baron and Baroness Kidersky. Getting the address, Torch and Toro fly to Long Island, while the Baroness learns that the commander of the U-41 has escaped from Deptford and given proof that the Sub-Mariner is an American spy. Taking a red hot poker from the fireplace, the Baroness raises it Namor’s eyes, when the Torch and Toro burst into the room, and the Torch grabs the poker, melting it. As Toro watches the Baroness, Torch takes after the Baron, who tosses a bomb at him, but as the blast clears, Torch tells the Baron “he eats pineapples for breakfast.” Torch frees Namor, when the Baroness throws the code-books into the fire, but Toro grabs them. Torch forces the Baron and Baroness to perform a code dance, relaying false intel to the Nazis, and telling them to send every available sub. They hand the Baron and Baroness over to the FBI, then head to the area to which the u-boats have been lured, an area heavily mined, in order to watch the fireworks. Namor deals with a u-boat which manages to avoid the mines, while others which avoid the minefield are sunk by US destroyers.

COMMENT: This is one of the best stories from the 1940’s that I’ve ever read. No surprise, since it’s written by Mickey Spillane, and contains some of his great dialogue and narrative descriptions.

NOTE: This issue is not yet listed in Sub-Mariner's chronology. I have placed it by comparing Sub-Mariner's existing chronology with the Human Torch and Toro's existing chronologies.



STORY 2: "Trinket" by Clyde Yeadon

Appearances:

Trinket; Mitzy; Stubby

Synopsis:

Trinket and Mitzy argue over which one of them gets to keep a stray dog, Mitzy arguing that she found it on her porch this morning, while Trinket argues it slept in her shed last night. Stubby races over, telling them his gran'dad taught him a trick that never fails. He tells each of the girls to go half a block in separate directions, but Trinket says she wants to go home for a minute first "on accounta because." Racing home, Trinket ties a couple of steaks to the bottom of her shoes. Trinket races back, then she and Mitzy separate, and Stubby lets the dog go. The pooch chases after Trinket, but so do all the other dogs in the neighborhood.

Comment: Delightful.!



STORY 3: "Jimmy Jupiter: Vacation" by Ed Robbins and Bob Montana

APPEARANCES:

Jimmy Jupiter (Jimmy Jankovicz); John Jankovicz (his father); Mary Jankovicz (his mother); Jimmy's Uncle Fred; a Hired Man; Princess Pam (a fairy); The King of the Enchanted Valley (her father); a Fairy Knight; Courtiers at the Tree Castle; Picklepuss (a Toad Man); other unnamed Toad Men

SYNOPSIS:

Jimmy and his parents drive to the country to visit his Uncle Fred. Jimmy asks if there are fairies in the woods, and Fred tells him there's an enchanted valley in the woods, where the fairies live. Jimmy heads off to look for the enchanted valley, but slips and falls down an incline. As he rubs his head, Jimmy sees a fairy, who introduces herself as Princess Pam, and tells him her father is king of the enchanted valley; Pan tells Jimmy she's lost, and asks if he can help her find her way home. Jimmy picks a path at random and they head off, when they see a band of wild Toad Men, who are at war with the fairies. Pam warns Jimmy that the Toad Men will kill them if they catch them; As they sneak off, Jimmy steps on a twig, alerting the Toad Men to their presence, and they run for it. It starts to get dark, when they hear wolves in front of them. Chased by the wolves, they're forced to run back the way they came, but find themselves trapped by the Toad Men. One of the Toad Men throws a spear at Jimmy, but he ducks and it lodges in a tree. Pulling the spear free, Jimmy uses it to kill a wolf as it lunges at Pam. They run for it, and Jimmy swings on a vine over the heads of the Toad Men, with Pam clinging to him, leaving the wolves and the Toad Men to fight it out.

Pam tells Jimmy she knows where she is, and takes him to her home in the treetops, by way of an elevator in a tree trunk. Pam explains that Jimmy saved her from the wolves and the Toad Men, and the King orders a banquet to be held in his honor. When Pam rewards Jimmy with a kiss, a young knight, enamored with Pam, can't stand it any longer, and challenges Jimmy to a duel. The duel is fought on the backs of racing turtles, with padded lances, but Jimmy falls from his mount, and out of the tree castle, landing under the very tree where he first met Princess Pam. Just then, his parents arrive with Uncle Fred, and when he tells his story, they just laugh at him, but one of Fred's hired men reports finding a dead wolf nearby, killed with a spear.

COMMENT: Another charming story!



STORY 4: "Tubby and Tack" by Ray Houlihan

APPEARANCES: Tubby; Tack; Sparkie; Captain Fuzzy

SYNOPSIS:

Tubby tells Tack they have to get a message to their men on the Eastern Front, but decides to give the note to Sparkie, his dog, telling him he must deliver it to Capt. Fuzzy, but Sparkie gets distracted by the enemy's cat and gives chase.



STORY 5: "Max the Magician" by Larry Antonette

APPEARANCES: Max the Magician; a man

SYNOPSIS:

Max sees a man in shabby clothes and uses his magic to give a new suit, but instead the man loses his shirt and coat. Max tries again, and this time the man loses his shoes and trousers. Max tries a third time, and the man disappears altogether!


NOTE: Also contains a text story: "Slave Driver," and a page of Funny Boners by Old Man Wolverton (Basil Wolverton)



CHRONOLOGIES:

HUMAN TORCH/JIM HAMMOND
---
CA5 43-FB
CA5 46-FB
CA5 5-FB
CA5 50-FB
[M/MC 40]
CAC 23/3
[ALLWC 7]
[HTC 10] * REMOVE BRACKETS
[M/MC 41]
CAC 24/2
CA 616/5
---


SUB-MARINER/NAMOR MACKENZIE
---
CA5 43-FB-BTS
CA5 46-FB
M/MC 36/2
CAC 20/2
[ALLWC 6/4]
[M/MC 37/2]
SUBC 7
SUBC 7/3
CA&N 635.1-FB
CA&N 635.1
CA5 5-FB
HTC 10 * ADD
[CA 616/6]
---


TORO/TOM RAYMOND
---
CA5 5-FB
CA5 50-FB
[M/MC 40]
CAC 23/3
[ALLWC 7]
[HTC 10] * REMOVE BRACKETS
[M/MC 41]
CAC 24/2
[M/MC 42]
---


JIMMY JUPITER/JIMMY JANKOVICZ
M/MC 28/6
M/MC 29/5
M/MC 30/6
M/MC 31/6
M/MC 32/4
M/MC 33/6
M/MC 34/6
M/MC 35/3
M/MC 36/5
HTC 10/3 * ADD
[M/MC 48/4]
CA6 1-FB
CA6 2-FB
CA6 1
CA6 2-BTS
CA6 3
CA6 4
CA6 5


JANKOVICZ, MR. * CHANGE TO JANKOVICZ, JOHN
M/MC 30/6
HTC 10/3 * ADD


JANKOVICZ, MRS. * CHANGE TO JANKOVICZ, MARY
M/MC 30/6
M/MC 31/6-BTS
M/MC 34/6
M/MC 35/3
M/MC 36/5
HTC 10/3 * ADD

[vanhornluke]

No breakdown for the Jimmy Jupiter story?

[StrayLamb]

No breakdown for the Jimmy Jupiter story?

You talked me into it - added into above.