Sub-Mariner Comics #28
A Case of King's Ransom
Betty Dean is covering the story of a series of mysterious thefts being committed at the home of Hiram King that has left the police baffled. She calls on her old friends the Sub-Mariner and Namora to help her crack the mystery. They all pay a visit to Hiram King's home where they pose as wait staff and are introduced to Hiram and his two daughters: Karen and Barbara. That night as Namora tries to sleep she hears noises out in the hallway and spots Karen sneaking out of the house with a briefcase. Before she can follow she spots Barbara following after her older sister as well. When Barbara confronts her sister about stealing her fathers valuables, Karen knocks her sister out and tosses her in the speedboat she uses to leave the property. Namora then goes to see Namor and tells him what she saw, however Namor isn't overly concerned about it.
The next morning Karen tells her father that Barbara's bed has not been slept in when suddenly Namor enters the room (posing as a butler) with a ransom note demanding $25,000 to be placed under the dock or Barbara will be killed. Before Hiram can call the police, Namor tells him to let him handle it. That night Namor and Namora stake out the property. They see someone moving around the house with a flash light, but before they can see who it is a thug comes up to the property, prompting them to hide. The thug asks the person inside the house why there was no money left at the docks when he spots Namor and Namora and tires to shoot them. They get away and then follow after the thug and the other person as they flee the property aboard a speed boat. They are led to a nearby ship, and climb aboard.
Inside they overhear Karen attempting to deal with a crook named Snake Wilson to release her sister and offers him a means to pay off her gambling debts. Namor and Namora come crashing in but they are soon overpowered and locked in one of the ships cabins. Coming around, they climb out of a porthole and scale the side of the ship until they find Barbara's room and find her alive and well. Swinging up onto the deck of the ship, they attack one of the guards and use a spot light to signal the Coast Guard. They are caught and overpowered once more and Snake Wilson has their legs tied to rope and tossed overboard and are dragged in along the water as the ship is put to full speed.
Meanwhile, the ships cook is bringing dinner to Barbara who manages to break out of her room. Distracting the crew, she then gets into a life boat and uses it to get close enough to the Sub-Mariner and Namora and free them from their binds. Climbing aboard Barbara's boat they spot the coast guard and board their ship and lead them to Snake's vessel. The coast guard fires upon the crooks gambling ship and he eventually surrenders. However when they get aboard, Snake shoots Karen dead before Namor can subdue him. In the aftermath, Hiram King learns of his daughters death, but tells them that she was adopted and never fit in the right crowd. Although his daughter his dead, Hiram thanks the two heroes for their help.
Recurring Characters
Sub-Mariner, Namora, Betty Dean
Kids! Kids! Kids!
With Betty Dean doing a fundraiser for the St. John's Orphanage, she and Namora convince the Sub-Mariner to take four kids from the orphanage on a trip to the Statue of Liberty. However when Betty and Namora get to the orphanage they cannot choose who to send so they instead bring them all.
Namor at first has no trouble, but has to break up a fight between two boys and rescue one of them when he's knocked into the water that surrounds Liberty Island. After a successful trip, Namor brings the children back to Betty's apartment for ice cream and dancing before bringing the high strung children back to the orphanage. When an officer asks Namor to stop the army of children from running around the street, Namor quips "Who do you think I am? Captain America?"
Recurring Characters
Sub-Mariner, Namora, Betty Dean
The Test of Fear
Test pilot Tom Clements loses control of his plane and crashes. Spotting this as she drives by, Louise Grant changes into the Blonde Phantom and pulls Clements from the wreck. When paramedics come to take Tom from the scene, the Blonde Phantom calms down Tom's fiancée Charlotte Frank and brings her to the hospital. Soon a doctor tells both women that Tom is expected to make a full recovery, but the Blonde Phantom wonders what effect the crash had on Tom's mind.
Sometime later, in her identity of Louise Grant, the Blonde Phantom accompanies her employer Mark Mason as he takes a security job for the Trans-American Clipper Company. Mark is hired to watch over the test runs of their newest plane the X-172 which keeps crashing and the owner suspects sabotage. When Mark wonders who the company will hire to fly the plane, Louise thinks she knows just the person. She spots Tom Clements and Charlotte on the airfield however when a plane lands near the two, Tom begins to freak out, having developed a fear of crashing. When Louise and Mark meet the owner of the company, Louise recommends Tom Clements to pilot the final prototype of the X-172.
As the Blonde Phantom, Louise visits Charlotte and the two plot a way to get Tom to overcome his fear of flying and crashing. The Blonde Phantom then pretends to run down Charlotte down with her car and when she brings her to the hospital, she tells Tom that the surgery will be expensive. Needing fast money, Tom agrees to fly the X-172. While in the air, he soon realizes that the wings of the plane are faulty and they crumple while in flight. However, Tom overcomes his fear and manages to safely crash the plane. With his fear overcome he is delighted to find that Charlotte is fine and that they played a trick on him to get him to overcome his fear.
Recurring Characters
Blonde Phantom, Mark Mason
Crime Makes the Writer
Writer Demarest Dodds has become completely bored and cannot come up with any new ideas for a story to write. Suddenly he decides to go out into the city and cause some mischief hoping it will cause him some inspiration. Elsewhere, the Sub-Mariner has grown restless due to lack of activity and Namora suggests to him that he should go out into town and try to find a crime to solve.
As fate would have it, Demarest Dodds and the Sub-Mariner happen to cross paths. Dodds believes this is the perfect opportunity to cure his boredom and punches the Sub-Mariner before fleeing down an alleyway. Chasing after the writer, Namor's guard is down when Dodds comes out from behind a garbage can and throws a tomato at the Atlantean and flees once more.
With observers coming to think that the Sub-Mariner is after a killer, Namor follows Dodds back to his hotel and gets the clerk to tell him what room he is staying in. Believing that a killer is loose in the building due to the gossip, the desk clerk then calls the police. By the time the police have arrived Namor has been in Dodds' room for quite some time and there has been no sound from within. Busting through the door, the police are shocked to find Dodds and Sub-Mariner having a peaceful conversation. They explain the entire misunderstanding and that Dodds and Namor have decided to work out their boredom by writing a story together.
Recurring Characters
Sub-Mariner, Namora
