The Human Torch in "Introducing: Toro, the Flaming Torch Kid"
Written, penciled & inked by Carl Burgos.
The Human Torch notices a circus while crossing the skies, and drops in to visit. There is a sideshow fire-breather, young Tom Raymond, whose stage name is Toro, who oddly bursts into flame at the arrival of the Torch. Odder still is that the fire doesn't harm him. The Torch takes Toro as a sidekick and trains him. Pops, the owner of the circus, is thrilled at the prospect of the new attraction, but Samson the strongman gets surly with Pops over pay issues, and the Torch must step in to protect Pops. Toro tells the Torch of how he became an orphan from a train wreck, and was rescued by Pops. Samson returns later to endanger Toro, and to steal a weapon, the Rayon Gun, that kills the flame of our crime-fighting duo. The Torch and Toro subdue Samson and his henchmen.
19 pages.
First appearance and origin of Tom Raymond, Toro the Flame Kid (Note: the name Tom Raymond is not given in this issue).
Reprinted in Fantasy Masterpieces #11.
Namor the Sub-Mariner in "Sub-Mariner Crashes New York Again!!"
Written, penciled & inked by Bill Everett.
5th Columnists have been busy with sabotage of naval projects in Baltimore, and Namor goes to investigate. He finds a Nazi U-boat in the harbor, serving as a base for the sabateurs. He tells the Navy, but so far America has not declared war on Germany, so his hands are tied. Namor's are not however, and he beaches the sub on the shoals to end its career.
12 pages.
"The Story of the Human Torch:
A text story.
Carl Burgos' Hot Idea" interview with the creator of the Golden Age Human Torch.
1 page.
"Bill Everett's Hurricane: the Story of the Sub-Mariner"
A text story.
ASn interview with the creator of Namor, the Sub-Mariner.
1 page.
The Falcon in "Extortion for a Bail-Out"
Penciled & inked by Paul Reinman.
Carl Burgess, Assistant District Attorney by day, finds the legal system unable to deal with all forms of evil, dons the costume of the Falcon and finishes the job. He takes on kidnappers who plan to use the ransom money for bribing judges. 7 pages.
An untitled Microman story.
Written by Paul Quinn, penciled & inked by Harold DeLay.
A Wish Come True.
Schoolboy Jimmy Everett visits his neighbor, chemist Mr. Schmidt. Schmidt has created a serum that will shrink people, and curious Jimmy tries it while Schmidt is napping. After an adventure while shrunken down to the size of a nickle, Jimmy gets Schmidt's attention, and an antidote is given, restoring Jimmy to full size. Jimmy becomes Schmidt's lab assistant. Note: this is a prototype for the character of Henry Pym, who would go on to become Ant-Man.
6 pages.
An untitled Mantor the Magician story.
Penciled & inked by Al Gabriele.
Mantor rescues a woman drowning in the river. She explains how she recently inherited her father's castle by the river, rumored to contain a hidden treasure, but she was being driven mad by ghosts in the castle, so she had jumped into the river to attempt suicide. Mantor discovers the butler and gardner behind the hauntings, looking to recover the treasure for their own.
8 pages.
The Fiery Mask in "The Strange Case of the Bloodless Corpses"
Written, penciled & inked by Joe Simon.
Dr. Jack Castle once tangeled with a mad scientist while helping the police. The ensuing accident left him empowered with super-strength and the ability to cast electric bolts, and now he fights organized crime. A wave of deaths across the city all bear the same trademark: the victims were drained of blood. The Fiery Mask investigates and finds a mad doctor whose experiments on replacing organs with mechanical parts inadvertently creates a horde of zombies, mad for human blood. 10 pages.
Cover art by Alex Schomburg.