Hawkeye
on his sky-cycle is pursuing motorcycling bank robber the Orb across the
California desert. Clint finally fires a suction-cup arrow which sticks to
Orb’s helmet and jerks him off of his cycle. Orb fires his eye blasts, shooting
down the sky-cycle but flying stone cracks open Orb’s big eye helmet, exposing
his disfigured face. Both the motorcycle and sky-cycle are destroyed so Hawkeye
fashions a stretcher to haul the unconscious villain to safety. It’s a long trek,
without water or shade, until they come to a valley containing a giant glass
dome. Entering through a nearby door, they discover a forest with a stream.
They drink and Orb sits by a tree which enwraps him in vines; Hawkeye frees him
with an acid-tipped arrow and then they are confronted by Plantman, ruler of
this realm and angry that they harmed a tree. So he sics a giant carnivorous
plant on them….
“The
Vanities of Philip Whitehead” 4.5/5
Writer:
Sandy Plunkett. Pencils: Sandy Plunkett. Inks: Scott Hampton. Colors: Sandy
Plunkett. Letters: Gaspar Saladino.
Synopsis:
King T’Challa hosts a weekend party on a small island for the dignitaries who
are meeting to discuss the financial problems of the nation of Zambia, a
neighbor of Wakanda. Among the guests is Philip Whitehead, a college friend of
T’Challa’s who feels his life has been insignificant compared to T’Challa’s. On
the way back to Wakanda, the plane crashes near a small island. Everyone makes
it safely to shore and T’Challa is concerned about the cause of the crash.
T’Challa finds Philip and begins cooking a pot of herbs as he tells his friend
a tale. A Wakandan shaman treats people’s pain and grief by draining it into an
ancient drum—but every ten years, a venomous beast is incarnated from the
gathered sorrow and it is the duty of the King of Wakanda to defeat it. But
T’Challa failed to note the date and so did not undergo the necessary
preparation for the contest; the potion is their only hope. He drinks it, dons
his Black Panther outfit, and goes off to confront the creature, leaving Philip
alone to agonize over whether to help him. The huge goblin-like creature is
more than a match for the Panther as it has venomous claws and can change to a
mist form. Panther is raked by the monster’s claws injecting venom; Philip, who
has drunk the rest of the potion, leaps into the battle and distracts the
monster so Black Panther can spear it through the back. As the monster
dissolves, T’Challa reveals he has been infected by the monster’s venom and is
sure to die. Philip offers to suck the poison out of him to save his life….
Later,
we see T’Challa relating the story of Philip’s death to his wife Rene. He says
Philip, who died from absorbing the poison into his mouth, was a brave and
noble man; Rene disagrees, calling Philip a little boy who wanted to be a
superhero. She dismisses her visitor and mourns in solitude….