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Issue Details

Issue #17
Published Winter 1945
Cover Price 0.10 USD
Pages 52
Editing Stan Lee?

Cover Details

Genre Superhero
Pencils Alex Schomburg
Inks Alex Schomburg

12 page Sub-Mariner story "The Black Phantom"

Characters Sub-Mariner [Namor]; The Black Phantom [Jack Halsey] (first appearance; villain; death); Captain Halsey (first appearance; the Black Phantom's brother)
Synopsis The Black Phantom is terrorizing the Mississippi river with a crimewave conducted from a boat covered with mirrors so it can't be seen on the water. During a tussle, Namor pulls back his cowl and gets a look at his face. When Betty Dean invites Namor to a party to relax, at first he declines in order to spend more time searching, but when she shows him a picture of a party guest he recognizes the man as the Black Phantom and resolves to attend the party. At the party, the Black Phantom captures both the man Namor had thought was the Black Phantom and Namor himself. At first this puzzles Namor, but when Namor is tied up, the Black Phantom reveals himself to be the twin brother of the party guest. Namor breaks free and pursues the Black Phantom but the evil doer tries to scare Namor away with TNT and only succeeds in blowing himself up. Namor and Betty resolve to keep the man's identity a secret to spare his mother the pain of learning that one of her sons became a criminal.
Genre superhero
Pencils Allen Simon
Inks Allen Simon

11 page Captain America story "The Curse of the Bayou Witch and Wizard"

Characters Captain America [Steve Rogers]; The Wizard [Frank Lavalle] (first appearance; villain); the Witch (first appearance; villain); Phillip Carreaux (first appearance; death); Dale Carreaux (first appearance); Marguerite (first appearance)
Genre superhero
Pencils Al Avison
Inks Vince Alascia

2 page text story "The Idol of Nokoa"

Letters typeset

12 page Human Torch story "The Voodoo Doll Murders"

Characters V: A voodoo priestess (I, D), Big Barry, Barnes (I for both)
Genre superhero
Pencils Al Gabriele
Inks Al Gabriele

8 page Whizzer story "The Bank Jobs"

Characters Whizzer; Jeff Blintz (first appearance; villain); Jock Blintz (first appearance; villain)
Genre superhero
Pencils Louis Ferstadt
Inks Louis Ferstadt