Millionaire
Kyle (Nighthawk) Richmond and his date Trish Starr are out on the town,
chatting with the paparazzi—and a bomb planted in their car explodes, injuring
many….
Doctor Strange and Valkyrie arrive at the hospital and surgeon James Wynter, an old
colleague of Strange’s, asks him to consult on the operation on Kyle. It’s a
strain on Strange going through such an experience with a friend’s life at
stake but the operation is successful. He leaves the OR to find that Hulk has
crashed through the wall, looking for the person who killed his friend
“Bird-Nose;” Strange and Val manage to convince the big guy that Kyle will
recover. Hulk carries Strange and Val back to the Sanctum Sanctorum, revealing
that Strange’s concern over Kyle’s chances in the OR accidentally summoned
Hulk….
At
home, Hank and Janet Pym see the news reports on the explosion and Hank is
shocked; Trish Starr (then Trixie) saved his life in battle with her uncle the
villain Egghead. Believing Egghead was still alive and responsible for the
bombing, he dons his Yellowjacket gear and goes out in search of him.
Yellowjacket arrives at the hospital, entering through the hole Hulk made;
against doctors’ orders, he talks to Trish and finds she may lose her arm as a
result of the bombing. Trish also tells him that Egghead is alive and living in
the Bowery. Hank vows to avenge her….
Meanwhile,
Dr. Strange and Val are visiting Kyle who tells them the only enemies he has
that know his true identity are the guys from Squadron Sinister, the villains’
team he defected from to be a good guy. They leave to find Hulk, watching
Aragorn, Val’s winged horse, in an altercation with a traffic cop. Strange
smooths out the issue and they take off to find the Squadron….
Meanwhile,
Yellowjacket has found Egghead in the Bowery and forces him to confess to planting
the bomb. Eggy did it, wanting to maim his niece out of revenge. He then
punches the baddie’s lights out and returns to the hospital where he learns
Trish has lost her arm. As he leaves, Hank is spotted by Kyle and they talk,
Kyle learning that Hank is a friend of Trish’s. The problem is when he learns
that Egghead was the bomber, that the other Defenders are going after the
Squadron Sinister and he begs Hank to stop them….
The
Squadron is at their observatory hideout, plotting revenge against Nighthawk
and the Defenders when Hulk smashes in through the wall, followed by his
(non-)teammates. Hulk punches out Hyperion, Strange magically wraps up Whizzer
so he can’t move, Dr. Spectrum grabs a gun that absorbs energy from Hulk so
that he reverts to Bruce Banner. Then Hyperion knocks out Val, Spectrum frees
Whizzer and he clouts Dr. Strange so the good guys are captured. They wind up
in a dungeon, Val and Bruce chained, Strange gagged too. Strange sends out his
astral form, runs into Yellowjacket and brings him back to the dungeon. Bruce
turns back to Hulk, frees Strange and Val and the heroic quartet finds the bad
guys abducting Kyle from the hospital. Yellowjacket buzzes in Whizzer’s ear so
that he loses control and crashes into a wall, Hulk thunderclaps Hyperion, incidentally also smashing Spectrum’s Power Prism, and Strange drops him from the sky….
Epilogue:
Kyle and Trish reunite; she knows her loss of an arm will change her life and
career; she also knows that Kyle is offering to stand by her out of pity but he
won’t make a commitment so they break up.
(No
title given)
Writer/artist:
Bill Everett.
Synopsis:
Story reprinted from THE HUMAN TORCH (1940 series) #4.
An
influenza epidemic strikes Alaska but the weather is too bad for planes to
deliver the new serum to cure it. Namor, the Sub-Mariner, is asked to get the
serum through. With a pack on his back, Subby swims underwater until the sea
starts icing up, trapping him. Scout planes search for him and one crashes
nearby, melting the ice and freeing Subby. Icebergs threaten a small town and Subby
helps the scout planes evacuate the town. Subby takes a plane and tries bombing
the icebergs, setting the town on fire. So he bombs the icebergs causing the
town to flood, putting out the fires but, well, flooding the town. So Subby
blows up the town’s gasoline supply, destroying the icebergs and allowing the
flood waters to pour out. And then he delivers the serum to the hospital.
“Witchcraft
in the Wax Museum!”
Reprinted
from STRANGE TALES #121.