Man Comics #28

As the story opens, the city is gripped by a wave of mysterious bank robberies. The police are stumped, because everyone in the bank dies horribly, but without a mark on them. Lance Brant is assigned to the case by the Intelligence Department; his father's office is also involved. Meanwhile, Bob, the Troubleshooters, and the girls are invited to a party for brilliant but mysterious classmate Roger Carstairs by his doting father, who is concerned about his son's social skills. Mr. Carstairs tells the boys that Roger has "always been a strange boy! And he's been making some new friends, lately...older men...and I don't like their looks! He needs good wholesome friends." When Bob gets a look at one of these new pals, and realizes the man is a member of the criminal gang they battled previously, led by that master of disguise, False Face! Bob and the Troubleshooters confront Roger about his poor choice of friends, and the cold-hearted teen boasts that he is indeed behind the bank robberies. He tells the gang, "I am a super being...A new step up in man's evolution...I have powers you petty mortals never dreamed of!" Feathers adds, "Roger is a mutation, a super-being, with intellectual powers far beyond our present day understanding! ...Roger...has turned his mutant powers toward evil, in a world of people he despises!" Roger's power? He can create images of big swarming insects in people's heads. The sensation of being attacked by these horrible creepy-crawlies is more than the human mind can handle and his victims die of sheer fright. Once a bank is cleared of potential witnesses, he sends in False Face and his gang to grab up the money for him. Roger's father debates killing his obviously evil son, but False Face gets him off the horns of that dilemma by obligingly gunning down the kid before making his escape. Once again, the role of Bob and the Troubleshooters remains unknown to Lance and the authorities.

Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).