Data courtesy of the Grand Comics Database under Creative Commons license.

Issue Details

Issue #8
Published January 1942
Frequency bi-monthly
Cover Price 0.10 USD
Pages 68
Editing Joe Simon
Notes DARING MYSTERY COMICS published bi-monthly by Timely Comics, Inc., Meriden, Conn. Entry as second-class matter pending at the post office, Meriden, Conn. Entire contents copyright 1941 by Timely Comics, Inc., 330 W. 24nd St., N. Y., N. Y. Vol 2, No. 8. January 1942. Yearly subscription 60c in the U. S. A. No similarity between any of the names, characters, persons and or institutions appearing in this magazine with those of any living or dead person or institution is intended, and that any such similarity which may exist is purely coincidental. Printed in U. S. A. Credits from or confirmed by the Masterworks reprint unless otherwise noted.

Cover Details

Characters Captain Daring; The Fin [Peter Noble]; The Thunderer [Jerry Carstairs]; Citizen V [John Watkins]; Blue Diamond [Elton Morrow]; Silver Scorpion [Betty Barstow]
Genre superhero
Pencils Jack Kirby
Inks Jack Kirby ?; Joe Simon ?
Letters typeset
Notes The Masterworks edition credits the cover purely to Kirby, but we had Simon down for inks, and Dr. Michael J. Vassallo's notes to the Timely-Atlas agreed, as did others replying there. Once again the reds and blues in the Thunderer's costume are reversed on this cover compared to what is inside.
Reprinted in Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Daring Mystery (Marvel, 2008 series) #2 (2010)

1 page credits "Daring Table of Contents"

Characters Silver Scorpion [Betty Barstow]; The Fin [Peter Noble]; The Thunderer [Jerry Carstairs]; Captain Daring; Blue Diamond [Elton Morrow]; Citizen V [John Watkins]; The Li'l Professor; Rudy the Robot
Synopsis Illustrated Table of Contents, relating small capsule synopses plus artist on each strip.
Pencils various
Inks various
Letters typeset; ? (captions)
Notes inside front cover
Reprinted in Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Daring Mystery (Marvel, 2008 series) #2 (2010)

10 page Citizen V story "V For Victory"

Characters Citizen V [Lt. John Watkins] (introduction, origin); Adolf Hitler (villain); Nazis (villains); Col. Franz Von Wehrheit (villain, introduction)
Synopsis British soldier Lt. John Watkins is injured and left behind at the retreat to Dunkirk. When he recovers he is mysteriously stronger, and returns to the battlefield in France as Citizen V to rally the conquered peoples to strike back at the Nazis. The "V" symbols he leaves everywhere soon begin to drive the enemy crazy.
Genre superhero
Pencils Ben Thompson [as Tom Benson] (from credits page)
Inks Ben Thompson ?
Notes Next appearance in Comedy Comics (Marvel, 1942 series) #9. Dr. Michael J. Vassallo believes there may be a separate inker involved, which might explain the "Tom Benson" byline instead of Ben Thompson. Alternatively, they may have just wanted to avoid having the same name credited twice in one issue.
Reprinted in Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Daring Mystery (Marvel, 2008 series) #2 (2010)

10 page The Fin story "Terror Reigns On the High Seas"

Characters The Fin [Peter Noble]; The Barracuda [Capt. Von Wolff] (villain, introduction); Nazis (villains)
Synopsis The Fin discovers a Nazi U-boat captained by the Barracuda finishing off the destruction of a freighter. He boards the sub, fights the Barracuda, and radios the allied military to pick up the defeated Nazis.
Genre superhero
Script Bill Everett (signed)
Pencils Bill Everett (signed)
Inks Bill Everett (signed)
Notes Next appearance in Comedy Comics (Marvel, 1942 series) #9. The full title of this strip is The Fin: Robin Hood of the Sea.
Reprinted in Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Daring Mystery (Marvel, 2008 series) #2 (2010)

1 page Marvel Comics promo (ad from the publisher) "Marvel Comics Bowls 'em Over!"

Characters Human Torch [Jim Hammond]; Toro; Sub-Mariner; Angel [Tom Halloway]; Patriot [Jeffrey Mace]; Vision [Aarkus]; Ka-Zar; Terry Vance
Pencils various
Inks various
Notes The ad is clearly for Marvel Mystery Comics, yet it's referred to as just "Marvel Comics" in all three places that the title is given.
Reprinted in Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Daring Mystery (Marvel, 2008 series) #2 (2010)

9 page The Thunderer story "Death Rides the Air Waves"

Characters The Thunderer [Jerry Carstairs]; Edward Wade (introduction, death); Mary Graham (introduction, death); Gore (villain, introduction, death); Harry (villain, introduction, death); Slim (villain, introduction, death); Mark (villain, introduction, death)
Synopsis A former radio engineer, who hates all of mankind, turns killer and devises a clever trap using Morse Code to kill people at random for revenge.
Genre superhero
Script Irving Werstein [as I. Werstien (sic)] (signed)
Pencils Ed Robbins [as E. Robbins] (signed)
Inks Ed Robbins [as E. Robbins] (signed)
Notes Next appearance as the Black Avenger in All-Winners Comics (Marvel, 1942 series) #6. The Thunderer's namesake gimmick of amplifying his voice is absent from this story.
Reprinted in Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Daring Mystery (Marvel, 2008 series) #2 (2010)

2 page none text story "Danny Makes Good"

Characters Dan Carmody; Lucy; Big Ed Clayton; Peggy Moran (newspaper receptionist); Mr. Gilbert (newspaper publisher)
Synopsis Dan Carmody, who had spent his early life getting to know and use cameras well, wanted to go to New York City and get a job on a big city newspaper, such as the New York Globe. He applied for a position and was turned down.....that is, until he came upon the robbing of Pace National Bank, getting exclusive pictures and thus landing a job. He went to Spain in 1936 and then to China, taking some of the greatest photos in journalistic history, including dramatic pics of the evacuation of Dunkirk!
Genre adventure; fact
Letters typeset
Reprinted in Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Daring Mystery (Marvel, 2008 series) #2 (2010)

5 page Li'l Professor and Rudy the Robot story "The Groom Strikes"

Characters The Li'l Professor (introdution); Rudy the Robot (introduction); The Professor's Wife (introduction); Oswald (introduction); The Groom (villain, introduction); the Groom's gang (villains, introduction)
Synopsis The Groom, who commits all his crimes in a wedding suit, breaks into the Professor's home to steal Rudy for use in bank robberies.
Genre humor; science fiction
Script Frank Pretsch (signed)
Pencils Frank Pretsch (signed)
Inks Frank Pretsch (signed)
Notes next appearance in Comedy Comics (Marvel, 1942 series) #9
Reprinted in Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Daring Mystery (Marvel, 2008 series) #2 (2010)

1 page Captain America Comics #9 promo (ad from the publisher) "Smashing thru again!"

Characters Captain America [Steve Rogers]; Bucky [Bucky Barnes]
Synopsis Promotional ad for Captain America Comics #9, including the cover.
Pencils Jack Kirby
Inks Jack Kirby ?
Reprinted in Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Daring Mystery (Marvel, 2008 series) #2 (2010)

8 page Silver Scorpion story "Mahomad, the Sinister Spiritualist"

Characters Silver Scorpion [Betty Barstow]; Mrs. Miles Danting (introduction); Dennis Danting (introduction); Effendi Mahomad [Eddie Lorey] (villain, introduction)
Synopsis The Silver Scorpion investigates a fake medium who is tricking rich clients into giving him their valuables for "safekeeping".
Genre superhero
Pencils Harry Sahle (signed)
Inks Harry Sahle (signed)
Notes Next appearance in Comedy Comics (Marvel, 1942 series) #9.
Reprinted in Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Daring Mystery (Marvel, 2008 series) #2 (2010)

6 page Captain Daring story "The Thirty-First Century Blitzkrieg!"

Characters Captain Daring; Adolf Hitler (villain); Joseph Goebbels (villain); Hermann Göring (villain); Von Schalz (villain, introduction)
Synopsis Hitler, Goebbels, Göring and Von Schalz escaped death in 1942 by freezing themselves in a cave. Now, in 2050 they have revived. The capture and brainwash Captain Daring into leading their armies against the United States!
Genre superhero
Pencils Frank Borth (from credits page)
Inks Frank Borth
Notes Story continues next issue. Next appearance as Captain Dash in Comedy Comics (Marvel, 1942 series) #9. Note that the Captain Daring in USA Comics #7 is an entirely separate character. Story title revision by Craig Delich from "The Return of "Mad-Dog" Hitler!" to what is listed above (2010-4-26). The title "The Thirty-First Century Blitzkrieg" is clearly listed in quotation marks at the top as a new gripping adventure.
Reprinted in Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Daring Mystery (Marvel, 2008 series) #2 (2010)

1 page Tubby an' Tack filler "Didja see any suspicious lookin' characters around, Fuzzy?"

Characters Tubby (introduction); Tack (introduction); Fuzzy (introduction); their mother (introduction)
Genre humor
Script Ray Houlihan (signed)
Pencils Ray Houlihan (signed)
Inks Ray Houlihan (signed)
Letters Ray Houlihan
Notes Letterer credit added by Craig Delich 2010-4-26.
Reprinted in Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Daring Mystery (Marvel, 2008 series) #2 (2010)

8 page Blue Diamond story "The Hypnotized Ghosts"

Characters Blue Diamond [Elton Morrow] (origin retold in flashback); Dr. Eric Karlin (villain, introduction, death)
Synopsis A hypnotist sneaks his hypnotized "ghosts" into the museum as corpses to drill through the wall to the Federal Reserve Bank. But Dr. Karlin did not realize that the Blue Diamond works out of that very museum!
Genre superhero
Pencils Ben Thompson (signed)
Inks Ben Thompson (signed)
Notes Next appearance in the Liberty Legion story in Marvel Premiere (Marvel, 1972 series) #29. The full title of this strip as listed is Blue Diamond: The Bullet-Proof Man!
Reprinted in Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Daring Mystery (Marvel, 2008 series) #2 (2010)

1 page Human Torch #5 promo (ad from the publisher) "Battle of the Giants!"

Characters Human Torch; Sub-Mariner
Synopsis Promotional illustrated ad for Human Torch Comics #5, featuring part of the art for the cover to Marvel Mystery Comics #9.
Pencils Alex Schomburg
Inks Alex Schomburg
Letters typeset
Notes Found on the inside back cover. Since the art featured here was taken from MMC #9, the art above is by Schomberg (art credits revised from Alex Schomberg? by Craig Delich 2010-4-26).
Reprinted in Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Daring Mystery (Marvel, 2008 series) #2 (2010)

1 page American Specialty Co. advertisement "Prizes! They're Yours!"

Letters typeset
Notes Found on the back cover.