Hulk
is on a rampage through New York City, driving off the police who can’t stand
against him. The National Guard arrives and sets their new mechanoid soldier
against him and Hulk turns it to scrap in seconds. Their heavy artillery just
annoys Hulk into leaving; then in an alley, a little girl named Laurie offers
to help him. She leads him to a building of seemingly endless steps going
downward—until they reach Hell where Laurie reveals “herself” to be the demon
Laurox the Lecherous who sets an army of giant Bruce Banners on Hulk, beating
him and mocking him….
This
scene is being shown to Doctor Strange and the Defenders in his Sanctum
Sanctorum by a spirit being whose master demands their allegiance—and the
danger to the Hulk is their motivation. Strange, Valkyrie, and Nighthawk search
the city but cannot find the location of the house he is trapped in. Strange
decides to call in a specialist. His astral form heads to St Louis to meet with
Daimon Hellstrom and request his help. Hellstrom reluctantly agrees and
transforms into the Son of Satan. In New York, SoS easily locates the cloaked
building and they enter to find four staircases going down. Each hero takes one
and they are each led to a demonic assault: Dr. Strange faces the spirits of
the dead who perished through his medical malpractice. Valkyrie is attacked by
faceless giantesses who remove her face to symbolize her identity confusion. A
mob drags Nighthawk to a gallows to be punished for his criminal past. Daimon
sees his mother tormented by demons and he can’t save her….
Dr.
Strange fights off his guilt then rescues the others by helping them to see
their various torments as illusions, including Hulk and they drop into the
presence of the villain. He is Asmodeus who has offered the Defenders’ souls to
Satannish in exchange for a return to the world of the living. He tries to
destroy them directly but finds the Son of Satan is immune to his attacks. The
clock strikes twelve and Asmodeus’ deadline is up; the floor cracks open and
Satannish reaches up and drags him down to the lower realm. SoS thanks Strange
for the change to pay back the forces of evil and he goes home….
“Sub-Mariner”
Writer/artist:
Bill Everett.
Synopsis:
Story reprinted from YOUNG MEN (1953 series) #25.
There
is a spate of people seen jumping into the sea and vanishing completely,
presumably the victims of sharks. Betty Dean draws the attention of Prince
Namor, the Sub-Mariner to it and he investigates with the aid of the police and
the Coast Guard. At the scene of the latest disappearance, a weird looking
fellow mocks Namor; he sees the man going into the water later and follows him,
only to end up fighting a great white shark and killing it. The next morning
the weird guy is found dead on the beach. That night, Namor meets a woman
coming out of the sea and forces her to confess that she is one of a race of
water people from another planet who have projected themselves mentally to
Earth, using sharks as hosts and able to turn human on land. The woman escapes
and kills herself for betraying her race. Namor and the Coast Guard set a trap
for the shark people, capturing them in nets and dumping them on the beach to
die.
“Black
Knight”
Writer:
Unknown. Artist: Fred Kida.
Synopsis:
Story reprinted from BLACK KNIGHT (1955 series) #4.
An
enemy makes a suit of armor resembling that of the real Black Knight and uses
it to frame Sir Percy for various crimes. The fake one leads an attack against
Camelot and King Arthur demands that the two Black Knights settle the matter
with a joust. Sir Percy wins and is vindicated.
“Beyond
the Purple Veil!”
Reprinted
from STRANGE TALES #119.