Xemnu the
Living Hulk, trapped in orbit around the sun, marshals the vestiges of his
great mental power to attract an asteroid so that it hits his ship, sending it
toward Earth. He lands, vowing vengeance on humanity but the exertion left him
the power to hypnotize only one more person so he chooses a carnival owner. He
takes control of the man and has him bring the Hulk to a small town called
Pineville, advertising it as a giant robot. When the entire population of the
town is gathered at the theater, Xemnu threatens their destruction if they
don’t help him with his mad scheme. First, Xemnu has them wall off the town to
prevent anyone entering or leaving. Then he sets them to work building a giant
reflector that will magnify his limited mental powers so he can hypnotize the
entire world. Meanwhile, Joe Harper, Xemnu’s nemesis from the previous story,
has noticed that the alien’s ship is no longer orbiting the sun; the news about
Pineville convinces him that the Hulk has returned to Earth. He tries warning
the authorities but no one will believe him. So Joe goes to Pineville himself
but he sets off an alarm that calls the Hulk to investigate. Xemnu recognizes
him and pursues him, yelling threats the whole time. Joe climbs to the top of a
tank at the oil refinery where Hulk has him cornered. The monster unleashes his
hypnotic powers to make Joe’s atoms fall apart. But Joe whips out a mirror and
reflects Xemnu’s eye beams so that Xemnu himself disintegrates. Joe and the
citizens of Pineville agree to never mention this again so Joe goes home and
tells everyone he was mistaken!
Story #2The Black Ray
Writer:
Stan Lee. Penciler/Inker:
Paul Reinman. Colorist:
Stan Goldberg. Letterer:
Sam Rosen.
Synopsis
A tramp can’t
convince anyone that his dog can really talk. Fed up with being taken for a
talented ventriloquist, he gives the dog to little Bobby and then Bobby is
taken for a talented ventriloquist!
Story #3The Thing Behind the Wall!
Writer:
. Penciler/Inker:
Steve Ditko. Colorist:
Stan Goldberg. Letterer:
Art Simek.
Synopsis
Synopsis:
Criminal scientist Hiram Drudd, serving a twenty-year prison sentence,
persuades the warden to allow him to work on a machine that emits healing black
rays. He is really building a time machine which will send him back into the
body of the richest man in the world. He activates it and finds himself in
another prison, as the richest man in the world: the Count of Monte Cristo!
Story #4The Thing Behind the Wall!
Writer:
Unknown. Penciler/Inker:
Steve Ditko. Colorist:
Stan Goldberg. Letterer:
Art Simek.
Synopsis
Synopsis: A
crook named Emil Fitch locks himself inside a bank vault so he can rob it. An
alien called Marak of the Dark Dimension enters through the wall and tells
Fitch they need a human to study to prepare for their invasion of Earth; Marak
gives him the power to walk through walls so he can travel to the other
dimension. But Fitch is caught by the police and sent to prison where he
convinces himself that Marak was all in his imagination—until he finds he can pass
through the wall of his cell. He then waits in terror for Marak to come for him!