America's Best Comics #31

When Professor Ducayne discovers a 17th-century French manuscript mentioning a Black Terror from centuries past, Bob Benton and Tim Roland peer into an enchanted crystal ball—and witness a tale from 1640 Paris that shakes them to their very core. A gang of ruthless beggars led by the Beggar King has seized control of the city, forcing the king to give Captain Armand de Valeur just six hours to stop them, while the mysterious Black Terror and his companion Timothy work in the shadows to aid their friend. As Armand infiltrates the beggars' secret hideout—the Court of Miracles—the young captain finds himself trapped and in grave danger.

When Diana Adams witnesses an attack on sportsman Horace Barrett, she dismisses his cryptic assurances—but when he turns up dead days later, the mysterious Miss Masque suspects foul play and decides to investigate. Her curiosity draws her into a web of decades-old revenge, where a former jockey and his son will stop at nothing to settle an old score, leading to a desperate chase across the bridle paths that puts everyone in danger.

Buck Ranger and his sidekick Little Chico Charlie investigate when a mysterious gunman named Trigger Tule blocks off the water hole that the local cattlemen depend on, claiming legal ownership of the land. When Buck suspects the scheme runs deeper than a simple land dispute—pointing to someone with detailed knowledge of property values—he uncovers a plot that threatens to turn the ranchers against each other and tear the territory apart. It's a case where the range detective must prove what's legal isn't always what's right, and expose the real architects of the scheme before blood spills over water.

Bart Bradley's summer getaway at a mountain lake takes a dangerous turn when he and his pals stumble upon the hideout of escaped convict Rocky McGann, a public enemy bent on hunting down Judge Pascal Blake who sentenced him to prison. The young athlete must use his wits and courage to protect his friends from McGann's gang and warn the Judge of the threat closing in on him. Fast-paced action and real peril await in this 1949 adventure from America's Best Comics.