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Amazing Adventures #4

Jan 1971
Jack Kirby, Jack Kirby

Amazing Adventures #4 cover

Story Name:

With These Rings, I Thee Kill!


Synopsis

Amazing Adventures #4 synopsis by Peter Silvestro
Rating: 4 stars

In the underground temple, the Inhumans (Black Bolt, Medusa, Triton, Karnak, Gorgon) have found the huge Idol of Yin and watched as its single eye opened. Black Bolt seizes the glowing eye to examine it but it flies off from his hands. He pursues it at great speed but it is soon lost in the temple’s maze of tunnels. The team splits up to search for it. But it is the Mandarin using the power of one of his rings to draw it to himself. The scholar who uncovered all of the details about the idol asks for his reward so Mandy surprises him by teleporting him to another dimension. Karnak comes upon the villain who uses ring power to open the floor up under the hero but Medusa is able to snatch him to safety with her hair. Triton joins them to fight the baddie who traps them inside an invisible chamber which he begins to fill with water. Black Bolt and Gorgon arrive and break open the water chamber. Mandarin reveals that he has absorbed the power of the idol’s eye into his rings and now he is capable of making the seas boil or destroying cities with tornadoes or even nuking the moon. Gorgon stomps the ground to stagger the baddie, Triton tries to jump Mandarin but fails so Black Bolt creates a hypnotic pattern in the air, immobilizing their foe. They carry the bad guy out of the tunnel but leave the ten rings behind as Black Bolt seals the cavern up forever….

“Deadlock” 4/5
Writer: Mimi Gold. Pencils: Gene Colan. Inks: Bill Everett. Colors: ? Letters: Jean Simek.

Synopsis: The situation has turned into a powder keg with the possibly of a violent outcome growing by the hour. Paul Hamilton is concerned that Natasha isn’t at the scene of the conflict and heads to her apartment to see what’s wrong….

Black Widow is held prisoner in her own apartment. She frees herself from her bonds and clobbers the two hoods left to guard her. Paul arrives to try to hurry her uptown but several more baddies enter to capture her again….

At the contested building, Carlos and the Young Warriors reaffirm their decision to fight for their goals as they can’t let shady politician Anthony Scarola win; the police give them fifteen more minutes to surrender….

The Don tells Natasha and Paul that arresting the radicals will result in support for the politicians at the ballot box, perceived as saving the public from a new danger. Paul puffs hard on his pipe filling the room with distracting smoke; Nat pulls out her Widow’s Web (a long thin cord) which she then uses to hang form the ceiling and swing around, kicking all the baddies in the head. Nat and Paul race uptown, presumably chauffeured by Ivan Petrovich, arriving with little time to spare. Nat asks the Mayor to give her ten minutes to persuade the Warriors to surrender and he grants it. And the Warriors leave the building as the Widow has told them not all politicians are bad guys like Scarola, with the Mayor being a good guy (suck-up), and she has promised to lease them a building legally. And the crimes Scarola has committed are brought to the attention of the authorities who promise to investigate, sending The Don, Anthony Scarola, into a rage and he vows vengeance….    


 

Review / Commentaries


Amazing Adventures #4 Review by (February 14, 2024)

Review: A nice goofy wrap up with the colorful heroes again fighting the Mandarin who doesn’t use the magic rings as much. The story does have a couple of standout moments: Near the end, Triton tries to grab the Mandarin but is blasted into unconsciousness just seconds before the bad guy is defeated. What was the point? To show that Triton is impetuous? Stupid? It looks like padding but it occupies only three panels thus not filling in a lot of extra space. What was the hero’s point? And where would a supervillain be without copious opportunities to punish an underling? There’s the unnamed scholar who discovered the existence of the idol and made the whole scheme possible but all Mandarin can think to do is to teleport him to another dimension for fun. Not the best or the easiest way to inspire loyalty but Mandy seems to prefer to rule by fear.

The Black Widow wraps up the “serious” story arc by finding a solution that is acceptable to everyone and having the bad guys thrown in jail. Would that it were so easy in real life. A nice primer for political action designed for the young readers of the comic book. The lesson: work within the system, there are decent politicians out there. And did anyone not know that the Don was Scarola? At least after we learned that it wasn’t Paul Hamilton? And he never gets his revenge either.

Comments: Inhumans story: Part two of two parts. Title is a play on the wedding vow, “With this ring, I thee wed.” Mandarin’s next appearance is in IRON MAN #57 where he seems to have recovered his rings.

Black Widow story: Part four of four parts. See previous issue for note on the Mayor.  Ivan Petrovich is not mentioned but presumably that’s him driving the Widow to the scene. Letterer Jean Simek credited as Jean Izzo.




> Amazing Adventures comic book info and issue index

Elektra

Excelsioring your collection:
statue
Holy smokes, Batman!
(The Boy Wonder)

Main/1st Story Full Credits

Jack Kirby
Chic Stone
Unknown
John Buscema (Cover Penciler)
John Verpoorten (Cover Inker)
Unknown (Cover Colorist)
Additional Credits
Letterer: Art Simek.

Characters

All stories. Listed in alphabetical order.

Black Widow
Black Widow

(Natasha Romanoff)
Medusa
Medusa

(Medusa Amaquelin Boltagon)


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