The city’s
underworld is all in a tizzy over Ant-Man’s foiling of their schemes. They hire
Egghead, a disgraced scientist suspected of selling atomic secrets, to destroy
Ant-Man for them. The self-styled genius studies ants until he has deduced how
Ant-Man communicates with them and builds a device that will allow him to speak
to the insects. He then visits an anthill and informs the ants that Ant-Man is
enslaving them and that he (Egghead) wants to set them free. He then outlines a
plan to set a trap for the diminutive superhero at the museum where the fabulous
Wentworth necklace is on display and tells them to spread the word to all the other
ants….
That night
at the museum, Egghead’s criminal cronies are stealing the necklace while
Egghead is waiting to spring his trap for Ant-Man. Ant-Man climbs in a window
and Egghead uses a bellows to blow him into a box lined with sticky flypaper.
But to the villain’s astonishment, Ant-Man does not stick to the box and uses
springs in his shoes to leap out of the box. Ant-Man then takes on the crooks,
tossing them around with his normal-sized strength until the ants drop a giant
section of flypaper on them from the ceiling. The crooks fight their way out
and try to escape, only to find their car’s tires are flat and the ignition key
missing. The police arrive to nab them and Ant-Man explains to the cops the big
flaw in Egghead’s plan: ants aren’t stupid and knew Ant-Man was their friend
and partner and not their master so they didn’t fall for Egghead’s scheme of
liberation, instead informing Ant-Man of his plan. So Ant-Man set a trap for
Egghead, having bathed in a chemical that kept the flypaper from sticking to
him; he and the ants let the air out of the baddies’ tires and swiped the key.
Egghead overhears all of this and departs fuming; later, we find he is in a
flophouse, hiding from both the police and the crooks, and the other residents,
seeing him muttering to himself, assume he is an idiot….
“Strange Mission”
Writer:
Unknown. Art: Joe Maneely.
Synopsis: A
fellow on his way to the dentist ends up in the wrong place where he is
mistaken for a volunteer in an experimental spaceship. He goes to another
planet, plants a flag, and returns home to be hailed as a hero. And looking
back, he’s happy that his own mission was accomplished, having lost his aching
tooth on the flight!
“I Found
the Impossible World!”
Writer:
Larry Lieber. Plot: Stan Lee. Art: Don Heck. Colors: Stan Goldberg. Letters:
John D’Agostino.
Synopsis: A
scientist uses a time machine to send himself one million years into the future
where he discovers that Earth has become a paradise with no crime, no illness,
no shortages. When he plots to get his hands on some wealth, he is caught by a
mind-reading device and imprisoned for ten years. He is pardoned, his mind
wiped of all memory of the future, and sent back to his own time, where he
believes his time machine has been a failure!
“Secret of
the Statues!”
Writer:
Stan Lee. Art: Steve Ditko. Colors: Stan Goldberg. Letters: Artie Simek.
Synopsis: A
sculptor residing in an old mansion is visited by an arrogant art critic who
tells him his sculptures are inferior. The sculptor and the statues are alien
invaders who decide their plan to impersonate humans has failed and they take
off back to their home planet and the confused critic is left behind!