National Comics #40

When famous crooks across the city vanish into thin air, Uncle Sam and Buddy investigate a string of diamond thefts that threatens the nation's war effort—only to uncover a sinister organization orchestrating the crimes from the shadows. As the mystery of the Crime Syndicate deepens, Uncle Sam finds himself face-to-face with danger at Crayley's jewelry shop, where masked criminals strike with ruthless precision. Discover how Uncle Sam and Buddy work to dismantle this criminal empire and its mysterious leader, Number One.

Windy Breeze spins an outlandish yarn about inventing a super boring machine to tunnel toward China—complete with an encounter that left him battered—but his nephew isn't buying a word of it, especially after spotting a wanted poster that suggests Windy's "underground work" might be rather less imaginative than claimed. This 1944 humor piece by Ralph Johns plays fast and loose with the gap between tall tale and truth.

Policewoman Sally O'Neil accepts an invitation to relax aboard millionaire Jerry Jerome's yacht for a weekend cruise—but theft and murder quickly turn the voyage into a deadly mystery. When a servant is found murdered and suspicion falls on the ship's guests, Sally must use her detective instincts to uncover a web of deception involving Jerome's glamorous new companion and her mysterious aunt. This tale of "The Cruise of Death!" proves that crime has a way of finding Sally O'Neil, no matter how far she tries to escape it.

Ace reporter Chic Carter answers a summons to millionaire Higby Haye's residence, only to find the killer has already struck—and left advance notice of the murder, as if it were performance art. When the murderer begins issuing predictions about who will die next, Carter must navigate a twisted game of knife-wielding revenge while Detective Monahan struggles to stay one step behind a criminal who treats the police themselves as his perfect alibi. It's a race to unmask a killer who has turned homicide into exhibition.

During a blackout, Don Leash, G-2's ace army intelligence operative, witnesses a brutal crime spree: ruthless looters prey on defenseless families, using the darkness to rob and murder their way through the city. When a wounded thief stumbles back to the Kanes' home with a dying confession, G-2 springs into action to hunt down the criminal mastermind and expose a sinister Nazi plot hidden beneath the blackout chaos.