John
Mahoney is an alcoholic on New York’s Skid Row, freaking out when he sees the
Fantastic Four battling the Monster from Mars. He is aided by his friend, a
bearded fellow everyone calls “the Old Man” despite his looking quite young.
Old Man tells him the crazy scene was real, but advising him to give up
alcohol, which has been responsible for losing his job and his family. At
Malone’s flophouse, Montana and Fancy Dan of the Enforcers, hired by
Norman Osborn to drive out the residents so he can buy the property cheaply, arrive to
cause trouble. The Old Man tries to put up a fight but John drags him outside,
he assumes to safety but they run into the third Enforcer, Ox. The Old Man rips
a massive water heater out of the ground and hurls it at Ox while the terrified
John persuades him to run away. They meet up with others from the flophouse
gathered under a bridge; John is now scared of the Old Man, who can’t remember
his past and so cannot answer any questions but again he takes away John’s
liquor bottle….
Later,
John goes to a pawn shop to hock the huge ring the Old Man gave him but the
place is closed; he discovers an old comic book in the trash and recognizes the
Sub-Mariner as the Old Man. When he meets the Old Man again, the Old Man gives
John a bottle, apologizing for having taken his earlier. John recognizes that
the Old Man was right and destroys the bottle himself. They return to the
flophouse to find Osborn there with a construction crew; they also learn that
one of the other residents has been murdered on Osborn’s orders though no one
will ever prove it. Late at night, John encourages the Old Man to destroy all
the construction equipment, bringing the project to a halt. Later, John
realizes that the Old Man’s fingerprints are on the ruined machinery and goes
back to try to wipe off the hardware but he is caught by Osborn who has the
Enforcers beat John to make him tell what he knows….
Meanwhile,
at the flophouse, Johnny Storm, hiding from his family, has shown up and,
recognizing the Old Man as the Sub-Mariner, burns his beard off and dumps him
in the river, restoring his memory. When the badly injured John shows up and
learns what has happened, he is determined to help his friend. Namor comes
looking for him to demands his ruing back; John thanks his friend, ignoring
Namor’s arrogant and hostile tone. Namor returns the pin John had given him,
which John interprets has Namor having some humanity….
When
we last see John, he is addressing the men at the flophouse about how he no
longer needs alcohol to deal with his inner demons….