Young Men #25 (1954)

A youth crime spree has exploded all over the city, and the Human Torch and Toro rush to the scene of a bank robbery in progress. They attempt to stop the young hoods trying to hold the place up until one of them threatens to shoot a girl he has taken hostage unless they surrender. The Torch and Toro comply and are locked in the time locked vault and left to suffocate to death while the robbers flee. However, despite the fact that the vault cannot be opened while the time lock is active, the Torch and Toro use their flame powers to melt through it and chase after the crooks. Using their flame powers the getaway car is incapacitated and the youth gang is apprehended. When the Torch and Toro turn the young men over to Chief Wilson, they find it puzzling the amount of young men have been incarcerated and why they are apparently happy about it. With no apparent answers, the Torch and Toro go back out on patrol and as they pass by the old folks home where Toro's Uncle Julius lives, they notice that it is being boarded up. They decide to land and learn from the owner that all the old people suddenly disappeared and he was forced to close, and that he has no knowledge where Toro's uncle went. The two investigate this further and learn that old people have been vanishing all over the city. Wondering if there is some sort of connection between the disappearance of elderly people and the spike in youth crime, the Torch and Toro disguise themselves as elderly men and go out on patrol. While walking the streets they are approached by a young hood, who offers them the opportunity to be young again. Interest, the incognito crime fighters join the young man back to the secret hideout of Doctor Markov. Markov is having a meeting with a group of old men, offering to use his device on them in order to reverse their ages. Markov offers them this service in exchange for the youthful men to carry out crimes for him. He rationalizes this to the elderly men by telling them that they will get at most five years in jail and will be released and be physically 25 and have the chance of a renewed youth. To show his device works, Markov demonstrates de-aging a 70-year-old man until he is 20 years old. Suspecting something is up since the such a device could be used for great good, the Torch and Toro reveal themselves. As Toro grabs the hood that brought them there, he is shocked to learn that the young man is his Uncle Julius, who had already undergone the process. The Torch meanwhile quickly nabs Markvo. They then strap him into his machine and threaten to use it on him unless he explains what the deal is. Afraid to be subjected to his own device, Markov explains that he had been conning the elderly people, that a side effect of the de-aging device only keeps people young for 30 days before they die and crumble to dust. Having undergone the process 29 days previously, Julius becomes enraged and fires his gun at Markov's device, causing a massive explosion that kills everyone inside the hideout except the Human Torch and Toro, who are blasted free.