Slow Burn

Originally Aired: February 23, 1950 Suspense #373, "Slow Burn," Johnny Wilson stands in a dingy hotel room watching the clock tick toward midnight, waiting for the moment when the slow burn that has consumed him for three months will finally be satisfied. As he prepares to make a fateful phone call to sports reporter Todd Sloan, Johnny recounts the events that led him to this desperate moment. It all began when he fought in a Pennsylvania coal town and met Chuck Masters, a clean-cut Medal of Honor winner who asked Johnny to participate in a charity boxing exhibition. Johnny's manager Lefty Wilkins saw an opportunity: sign the war hero as their new fighter, use his wholesome image and congressional endorsement as the exploitation angle to attract promoter Courtney Barr's money, and eventually finance Johnny's own shot at the championship. The plan seemed perfect until Johnny's cynical wife Dania entered the picture at the Copa Club, immediately antagonizing the idealistic Chuck with her bitter contempt for fighters and the parasites who live off them. As Johnny recalls how Chuck looked just like he did when starting out, the tension builds toward whatever terrible act drove Johnny into hiding, waiting for midnight to arrive so he can finally tell his story before the police close in.