Four Color #44

In a 1944 adventure from Four Color #44, Connie and Big Stoop cash in on a $5,000 reward from Mr. Smythe-Heatherstone, hiring servants to take over for Pat and Terry. When their car crashes into a menacing figure named Baron De Plexus, Pat uncovers a surprising connection—De Plexus’s bodyguard is someone from his past.

In the jungles of French Indo-China, Pat and his crew—Terry, Connie, and Big Stoop—take on a mysterious assignment after being offered a job investigating the sudden disappearance of plantation manager Dillon Kane. As they journey through unfamiliar terrain, they cross paths with Slugger Dunn, a sharp-witted American safecracker working for the elusive Baron De Plexus, whose shadow looms over the region.

In the sweltering heat of a Southern plantation, Pat and Terry encounter April Kane, the mysterious younger sister of a missing man, her quiet presence stirring something unexpected. When Terry finds her alone later, his gaze lingers with a sudden, unspoken pull. Meanwhile, Pat and Connie venture into the dense jungle, only to plunge through a hidden trap door into a shadowed cave—where the real mystery begins.

In the jungles of a forgotten corner of the world, Pat and Connie stumble upon Dillon Kane trapped in a hidden cave—just as Baron De Plexus, baffled by Pat’s sudden absence, gears up to airlift three warlords from China and transport a fortune in gold. With a mysterious map leading Terry and Big Stoop to the captives’ location, the rescue unfolds amid shifting loyalties, culminating in Madame Sud revealing her true self as Sanjak, a long-time adversary of De Plexus, who’s been using the captives as bait.

In "null," Jo and her allies race against time when Sanjak hijacks a plane loaded with gold, taking April captive and leaving a trail of chaos in his wake. With Dillon Kane injured and the plantation under scrutiny, Terry and Pat take to the skies in De Plexus' second aircraft, chasing Sanjak across the jungle while a clue left behind offers their only hope of catching up.

In the 1944 adventure "null," De Plexus and his thugs descend on the island of Yankuk, hunting for clues about the elusive Sanjak—only to find the entire town, even its underworld, united in silence. When Terry and Pat arrive, they track down a former pupil of Sanjak, a dance hall girl now bitter and distant, while both groups converge on the same isolated island. As De Plexus corners Sanjak, the girl’s sudden defiance throws the situation into chaos, and Sanjak’s desperate escape ignites a chain reaction of explosions across the island.

In the tense, sun-drenched climax of "null," Pat lies wounded after a betrayal at the dance hall, and Terry must race against time to save April as Sanjak’s island threat looms. With the island rigged to explode, Terry, Pat, April, and Slugger Dunn make a desperate swim to the mainland, clinging to hope as the waves close in—only to be pulled from the water by a passing boat and the unexpected rescue of Connie and Big Stoop.