Marvel Mystery Comics #75 (1946)

The Human Torch and Toro are watching a ventriloquist act put on by Bert and his dummy Ollie, however his jokes are so bad that he is booed off the stage and is fired from his job. Bert vows to his boss that he will come crawling back when he finally makes it big. At his home, Bert decides to turn to crime and uses his technical know-how to rework Ollie into a mechanical robot that runs by remote control. He then goes on a crime spree, using Ollie to break into wealthy homes through tight places. After a string of successful thefts, the Human Torch and Toro begin investigating the case. While out on patrol, they spot Bert acting suspicious on the streets and chase him down. However, while Bert stalls for time, Ollie returns and knocks out the two heroes with a bus stop sign. When the two heroes revive, the Torch recognizes the pair of attackers as the ventriloquist act they saw earlier in the week. They rush to the theatre and ask the owner if he knows where they can find Bert, but he doesn't know where Bert lives. He sends them to Hal Peter's home but learn that Peters, a regular night owl, is either at the Tony's Tavern or Marty's Blue Room. The two heroes decide to split up to find Peter's unaware that Bert is watching them and plotting against them. To this end, Bert dresses Ollie up as Toro and sends him to assault a man on the street and then flee. When the man gets the police they nab the real Toro and he is brought to court. The Torch rushes there when he hears what happened, he rushes to Toro's aid and pleads his case. Convincing the judge to stay sentence until the Torch can find the real culprit. Torch finally tracks down Hal Peters, who does not know who where to find Bert but suggests they talk to radio announcer Sammy Starbright. They learn that Bert came to him for publicity a few weeks back. The Torch suggests they use the radio to lure Bert into a trap. Using Sammy Starbright's radio program, they put out a false report that Hal Peter's is looking to track down Bert. Bert calls Hal immediately and provides them with an address. During Hal and Bert's meeting the Torch storm in to try and capture them, but Bert activates a trap door. Then spraying the Torch with a fire retarding chemical called "32O" and places both men on a hydraulic press to die while watching a camera feed of Ollie's current robbery and are left to die. Meanwhile, the authorities bow down to public pressure to release Toro, who races off and catches Bert and Ollie and tries to stop them, but his flame is also doused with 32O. Back at Bert's hideout, the Torch and Hal witness as Bert is about to shoot Toro. Torch gets Hal to mess with Ollie's remote controls by tossing his cane at the device. This causes Ollie to run off and Bert to stop his attempt to kill Toro to chase after him. Then using his hat is able to collect nearby oil to douse the Torch with, reversing the effect of 32O and free them from the press. The Torch quickly catches up with Toro and the pair easily capture Bert, destroying Ollie in the process and turn him over to the police.