The Ringmaster Of Death * 1ST APPEARANCE "CIRCUS OF CRIME"
* 1ST APPEARANCE "RINGMASTER"
When a circus comes to town near Camp Lehigh, Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes decide to check it out, unaware that it is secretly a Nazi operation and that the Ringmaster has been charged with eliminating various military officials in the area. Using his "Wheel of Death" the Ringmaster sets his sights on General Blaine. When his assistant Tommy Thumb refuses to participate in murdering Blaine, the Ringmaster uses violence to force the dwarf to do as he is ordered. Tommy goes and lets a lion loose from it's cage and it mauls Blaine to death. Spotting the danger, Steve Rogers and James change into Captain America and Bucky and subdue the big cat and return it to its cage. Deducing that Blaine's death was not an accident the pair attempt to capture Tommy Thumb but are stopped by other circus workers. Overhearing them talk of a "ringmaster" in charge they become suspicious of the operation.
Returning to Camp Lehigh in their civilian guises, Steve and James get in trouble with Sgt. Duffy who assigns them to K.P. Duty. The following morning Steve tells what he believes to Betty Ross who decides to take Steve's suspicions to Defense Commissioner Newsome. However, Newsome is the next target on the Ringmaster's list and he sends Omir the Snake Charmer, Zandow the Strongman, and the Trapeze Trio to eliminate him. Newsome is bitten by a cobra and dies from the venom. Witnessing the Circus of Crime escaping from the scene of the murder, Betty Ross is attacked. When Captain America and Bucky attempt to rescue her they are easily over powered and the crooks get away with Betty as their prisoner.
Captain America and Bucky soon follow after them to the circus unaware that the Ringmaster has targeted them for death next.
Captain America And The Gruesome Secret Of The Dragon Of Death Steve is assigned to accompany General Haywood on a trip to Honolulu, and Bucky will be coming with since he and Steve are inseparable.
In Hawaii, a man named Anohu alerts the local military that he saw a dragon swallow a fishing boat. The patrol boat Winfield is sent to investigate the incident. The ship sees the dragon and radios the information back to the base, but the transmission is cut short. Planes are sent out to find the Winfield, but there is no trace of it.
Steve, Bucky, and General Haywood arrive on the volcanic island that houses the military base. General Haywood asks to be taken to Commander Phillips but is informed that Phillips was on the Winfield. Steve and Bucky overhear the story about the dragon and decides to investigate.
Phillips is being interrogated by Captain Okada, who states that they plan to activate the volcano to wipe out the America fleet. However, to get the dynamite into the base they need the password from Phillips. Phillips says he’ll never talk, so they torture him. Phillips resists, so the men plan to capture his daughter to get him to talk.
Phillips's daughter, Marie, is being trailed by Cap and Bucky, as Cap suspects the villains would capture her. She gets captured, so Cap and Bucky follow. As they take a boat out into the ocean the dragon appears, so Cap and Bucky swim into the mouth and realize the Dragon is a giant submarine holding the Winfield inside.
Okada brings Marie to Commander Phillips and has one of his men bend her arm far enough to hurt her. Okada says they'll cause her more pain unless Phillips talks. Phillips says he will, but then there’s a loud noise that distracts Okada. Calling up to the control deck, Okada is answered by Cap who states that he and Bucky are coming to beat him. Okada grabs Marie and goes into an armored barge to enact on his plan despite not having the password yet.
Cap and Bucky grab Phillips, and they find out what Okada is doing. Cap and Bucky go to try and stop it, telling Phillips to radio the American fleet and tell them to evacuate the harbor. Okada plans to blow the harbor and block the escape with the barge. Cap jumps into the ocean and quickly gets over to the barge. He catches the men lighting the dynamite and fights them off. He frees Marie and has her swim back to the sub. Cap goes to pilot the barge away from the harbor.
Bucky and Phillips see the barge explode. Thinking Cap was still aboard, Bucky is sad and enraged, so he goes up to the guns and fires it on Okada’s fleeing ship. Phillips learns that Marie is safe, and Bucky goes off in sadness, only to run into Cap who survived the explosion.
Cap and Bucky go back to base, and are told by General Haywood that they are being given KP duty for their absence.
Captain America And The Killers Of The Bund Fifth Columnists ask Heinrich Schmidt, an American citizen who's descended from Germans, to join their bund. Schmidt refuses, so the Fifth Columnists beat him. At the time Bucky is walking with Heinrich's son, Bob, back home. The two see the Fifth Columnists' car, but Bucky assumes everything is fine and heads back to camp. Once Bob finds out his father was beaten he runs back to camp and tells Bucky and Steve. Bucky and Steve go to the hospital and speak to Schmidt and learn what happened. That night Cap and Bucky go out and beat up a number of Fifth Columnists.
The next day Bucky and the Sentinels of Liberty make a pact to root out more bund agents. The sentinels identify a number of the agents and Bucky, in particular, overhears a plan to defeat Captain America. Bucky goes to find Steve to warn him but finds that Steve has already been captured.
Cap is imprisoned by the bund agents, who had captured him using a special knockout gas. They plan to shoot Cap and then use the same knockout gas to put the whole town to sleep, allowing Hitler to invade. Cap breaks free, so the agents run to the planes to enact the plan. Cap flies one of the planes and shoots down the others. When he lands he finds Bucky who had brought the Sentinals along with their fathers who are defeating the other bund agents.
Captain America And The Terror Of Devil’S Island Steve and Bucky go to a war camp to visit a pilot named Tom Jason. Tom had flown for France until France surrendered to Germany. The man in charge of the camp, Peop Laroc, has Tom brought in, and Tom lies saying he’s been treated well. Steve and Bucky can tell Tom was lying, so they change into costume and search the prison. They find Tom being tortured, so they rush to free him. Cap gets dropped into a watery pit that has three sharks in it. Cap uses the metal wing on his helmet as a knife and defeats two of the sharks, and swims out of reach of the third. When he gets to the top he finds Bucky about to be stabbed by Laroc. Cap defeats him and they release Tom, who says he will go to Greece to fight the Nazis. Weeks later Steve is reading in a newspaper and reads a story about an America flyer in the Greek air force who is shooting down numerous Nazi planes, and they assume it’s Tom.
Captain America And The Ruby Robbers (Text Story) The sentinels of Liberty just had a meeting and one of the members, Jerry Briggs, goes home to his father. Mr. Briggs shows Jerry a large Ruby worth $25,000, stating he was told by his boss to take it to the bank, but Briggs wanted to first show it to Jerry. Mr. Briggs asks Jerry where he was, and when Jerry tells him his father gets annoyed, saying Captain America isn’t real and forbids Jerry to go to any more meetings.
Two men crash in and demand the ruby. Mr. Briggs initially refuses, saying he’ll be sent to jail if something happens to it. Captain America and Bucky come in, defeating the villains. Mr. Briggs apologizes to Cap.
