The Peacemaker #5

The Fire World

Christopher Smith, the Peacemaker, has just invented a formula that, when applied to cloth or flesh, makes the substance impervious to heat or flame. Smith announces his discovery to the world, via the media, and ships his chemical formula out, to be mass produced. Upon hearing of Smith's formula, an inept circus fire-eater, Mr. Blaze, plots to steal the formula from the United States Chemical Laboratory. Mr. Blaze uses a flash bomb to get past the guards, then ransacks the mailroom, until he uncovers Smith's package. With Smith's formula, and the sample of the fire proof cloth, in his possession, Mr. Blaze sets the mailroom afire to cover up the theft. Smith sends a duplicate of the formula out to the lab, then sets about finishing work on his latest invention, an absolute zero projector. Looking for a place to properly test Smith's chemical compound, Mr. Blaze journeys to an active volcano. When the ship's captain balks at approaching too near the volcanic island, Mr. Blaze is forced to take a dinghy, alone, the rest of the way. Spying the ship from atop the volcano, a creature, made entirely of burning lava, hurls molten rock down on the sailing vessel, sinking it. Mr. Blaze makes contact with the lava men, and garners an invitation to enter the volcano as one of them. After applying Smith's formula to his clothing and skin, Mr. Blaze journeys into the volcano. Fashioning jet packs, fueled by the intense heat of the lava men, Mr. Blaze leads his newfound allies out of the volcano. Their destination is a naval ship, miles offshore, in the midst of conducting nuclear weapons tests.

By chance, Christopher Smith, in his guise as the Peacemaker, is in the skies above the ship, to monitor the test himself. Mr. Blaze and the lava men attack the Peacemaker, rendering Smith unconscious. Under cover of the nuclear cloud, Mr. Blaze steals the naval warship, sending his lava men to destroy the one fighter jet, on patrol in the sky above them. With Mr. Blaze threatening to destroy Washington. D.C., the Peacemaker is forced to build a quadrisonic aircraft for his foe. Realizing that Mr. Blaze intends to follow through on his threat, the Peacemaker tries to bring Mr. Blaze down, but is felled by a molten rock projectile. The Peacemaker is thrown into a fissure in the volcano. As he falls, the Peacemaker uses the absolute zero projector to freeze a section of molten rock, within the volcano. The intense heat of the volcano quickly liquifies the frozen magma, resulting in an explosion that throws the Peacemaker clear of the volcano. While Mr. Blaze and the lava men lay waste to the United States' armed forces, the Peacemaker returns to his headquarters, to outfit his jet with an absolute zero projector. The Peacemaker reaches Washington, D.C. just as his anti-heat compound reaches it's atomic half-life. Mr. Blaze begins to burn. As his skin blisters and cracks, Mr. Blaze ejects from his aircraft, setting it on a collision course for the nation's capitol. The Peacemaker blasts Mr. Blaze's plane with a full volley from the absolute zero projector, bringing it down over the Potomac River in a million icy shards. The lava men are returned to their volcano, which the Peacemaker then seals, using the absolute zero projector. No sign of Mr. Blaze can be found, leading the Peacemaker to believe that the villain perished in the skies over Washington, D.C.

"The Card Carrier"

A trio of vandals destroy the main office of a conservative news magazine, known for it's strong stand against Communism. A card, belonging to a member of the Marchers, a local liberal political organization, is found at the scene of the crime. Rumors of Soviet spies being spotted in the city leads the powers-that-be to wonder if the Marchers are, in fact, under the control of Communist agents. The Fightin' Five are sent in to investigate. Tom-Tom thwarts an attempt by the vandals to destroy the news magazine's print shop. When the vandals flee, Frenchy takes the opportunity to follow them. Frenchy uncovers an underground arsenal, and comes face-to-face with the Russian spies. Frenchy attempts to escape, back up through the manhole cover that led him to the arsenal, but opposition forces are waiting for him on the street. In desperation, Frenchy radios headquarters, but is subdued before he can finish broadcasting his message. Responding to what little of Frenchy's message got through, Tom-Tom is sent back out into the field to try to pick up Frenchy's trail. Meanwhile, Hank gets progress reports on the investigation from the remaining two members of the Fightin' Five. Granite informs Hank that the Marcher whose card was discovered at the crime scene, was murdered two hours before the vandals struck. Sonya, who has infiltrated the Marchers, reports back that she can detect no Communist influence among the membership. Clearly, the Marchers are being framed. Returning to the print shop, Tom-Tom spies the Russian agents propping Frenchy up against a fence. Tom-Tom fires on the Russians, and soon finds himself in a very one-sided gunfight. Granite and Sonya arrive to help even the odds. Soon enough, the Fightin' Five put down the opposition, only to discover that the leader of the Soviet agents is Willard Luckby, the editor of the news magazine. A Jingoistic madman, Luckby was using his magazine to foster anti-communist sentiment, with an end goal that would have seen Luckby take over the United States government, then bomb the Soviet Union. The presence of the Soviet agents... really just mercenaries... tipped Hank off to Luckby's involvement, and, ultimately, unveiled the entire plot.