Marvel Mystery Comics #25
In "The King Crime Syndicate," a ruthless numbers gangster turns to black market drug manufacturing, targeting pharmacists with brutal force—kidnapping, shooting, and even hurling one into a vat of acid when they resist. With the city's medical community under siege, Torch and Toro take action, setting off a final explosion that ends the syndicate's reign. Written and drawn by Carl Burgos, this 1941 thriller blends pulp violence with early superhero justice, while Alex Schomburg's striking cover captures the menace of the syndicate’s lair.
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A numbers gangster decides to move into healthcare by kidnapping pharmacists and forcing them to create black market drugs. He shoots one of them at the hospital when he protests and he throws another into a vat of acid in his hideout chemical lab when the man refuses to produce drugs that are dangerous to people. Torch and Toro set off an explosion which kills the gangster.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).