Modern Comics #44

Blackhawk issues a radio challenge to Marshal Chikara after discovering the villain has executed a young woman who aided the Allies, demanding a fair air duel to avenge her death. When Chikara attempts treachery—first by sending an assassin to kill Blackhawk in his sleep, then by staging an ambush with submarines during their dogfight—the other Blackhawks arrive to turn the tide. Now Blackhawk must uncover what sinister plan Chikara has hatched as the Japanese prepare to abandon Jamil Island.

Choo Choo LaMoe returns to a Hollywood ice revue determined to become Queen of the Ice Carnival, but she's in for a surprise—the show has switched to a swim festival, and her scheming to set up fellow performer Cherry with the director Mr. Blatt backfires in hilarious fashion. When a con game meant to make Cherry look maternal goes sideways, it takes Peter's arrival and some quick thinking to sort out the romantic chaos and get everyone where they belong.

When Ezra's date with Myrna falls through and he's stuck entertaining the visiting Jackson family instead, a chance encounter with their daughter leads to an unexpected evening—but not before his prized model plane becomes collateral damage in the chaos. With the contest now postponed, Ezra discovers that sometimes the best-laid plans crash and burn in the most amusing ways, and that teamwork might be the real prize after all.

In the aftermath of his fleet's destruction by American PT Boats, the Japanese commander Fujara is rescued at sea—but his vengeance is far from finished. When Lt. Perry Tobias and Lt. Paul Harvey encounter a Japanese destroyer carrying explosives, Fujara forces Tobias into an impossible choice: pilot the ship through a minefield to destroy the naval base, or watch his friend die. What Fujara doesn't know is that the base harbor is packed with supply ships carrying enough dynamite to turn his suicide mission into something far more catastrophic than he bargained for.