At Avengers Mansion, the heroic team (Captain America,
Vision, Scarlet Witch, Goliath (Clint Barton)) watches on television as the
events in San Francisco unfold. They consider heading out to the West Coast to
avert a catastrophe but Thor says them nay. The God of Thunder tells them he
must go alone to deal with this matter for unspecified reasons; Cap tells the
others Thor can be trusted so he goes….
As the disguised Medusa, Gorgon, and Karnak watch from a
distance, Lionel Dibbs tells the crowd that for years, his people have
protested the terrible living conditions in this neighborhood but had never
seen any action. So now Dibbs makes a gesture, Black Bolt opens his mouth and
buildings fall. The Inhumans are shocked that their king would use his power in
the service of violence. A delegate from the Mayor pleads with Dibbs but he
won’t listen: he had vowed to see these tenements torn down before he died and today
that has become a reality. The tanks fires a smoke bomb at the National Guard
and the Inhumans rush forward, hoping the sight of them will shock BB out of
his amnesia. The Inhumans battle the militants and then Thor arrives. He
announces the militants are under his protection; Medusa wraps him in her hair
and Karnak strikes at Thor’s wrist, causing him to drop Mjolnir….
Joey escapes from the room where Dibbs has him a prisoner
and he kicks the chair out from under the guard who falls and thumps his head.
Then Joey checks on the other prisoner and discovers [Spoiler: Black Bolt]….
Gorgon kicks Thor, hurling him a distance. Dibbs removes his
prosthetic hand to reveal his gun; Medusa wraps him up, the National Guard
arrives in force and Thor, to simplify matters, calls down a thunderstorm that
scatters the soldiers. Thor then confronts Dibbs, telling him he understands
the man’s anger and pain; Dibbs doesn’t believe him but we find out how: it was
Dr. Don Blake who told Dibbs he was dying of cancer and had only two months to
live as well as amputating his diseased hand. At that time, Dibbs mentioned
going to Tony Stark for a new hand for his next move. Dibbs calls to Black Bolt
to destroy the rest of the tenements. By now the Inhumans are close enough to see
that it is an impostor wearing Black Bolt’s suit. The fake BB, Roscoe, draws on
the suit’s power to emit another shout but the suit’s feedback kills him….
Joey and the real BB watch the news in a television store
window and discover the results of the day’s protest. They learn Roscoe is dead
and that Lionel Dibbs has been arrested and will face trial in two months—which
made him smile….
Story continues in AVENGERS #95.
“How Shall I Kill Thee? Let Me Count the Ways!” 3/5
Writer: Roy Thomas. Plot: Gerry Conway. Pencils: Don Heck.
Inks: Bill Everett. Colors: ? Letters: Jean Simek.
Synopsis: Black Widow receives an urgent call from
Ivan Petrovich, summoning her to a remote hunting lodge. She enters and rings the
bell and is immediately attacked by two men in red-and-gold armor; she holds
them off…until their master arrives and stuns her with a blast. The Watchlord
then causes the planks in the floor to surround her and put her in a
strait-jacket. She sees Ivan Petrovich held securely to the ceiling by a
strange wooden device. Watchlord explains that he was a German war orphan whose
parents were killed by the Russians; a friendly priest hid him in a warehouse
where the Nazis had been experimenting with radioactive isotopes. Exposure gave
the boy the power to mentally alter inanimate objects; he is pursuing the goal
of exterminating all Russians in the United States—even the ones who fled the
Communists (Nat asked). He then mentally sets the lodge on fire and departs.
Natasha wriggles around until she can free a hand and shoot Ivan free with her bite.
He frees her and they escape the burning lodge; they come upon the Watchlord’s
henchmen and overpower them in a scuffle. Natasha pursues the baddie but he
sees her first and has tree roots and branches try to grab her before calling a
huge rock down the hill. She jumps out of the way but a shot from the bad guy
grazes her head. As the Watchlord takes better aim, boulders that he had
inadvertently loosened roll down the hill and crush him. Natasha wonders, did
he bring his fate on himself…or was it her curse?