Tony Stark muses on the classic poem “Richard Cory” by
Edward Arlington Robinson; it concerns a wealthy and popular fellow who is
admired by all—and the shock to the community when he suddenly and inexplicably
commits suicide. As Iron Man, Tony flies over to the lab of inventor Gabriel
MacGregor before changing back to Tony. MacGregor lives alone, surrounded by
robotic servants and constantly mumbling to himself. Tony needs MacGregor’s
signature on some paperwork but the inventor is clearly unstable, referring to
his new project as “she.” He has created “Iria” to be his companion and he
removes the sheet covering her…to reveal a pile of random junk. Tony tells him
there’s nothing there. A few days later Tony learns MacGregor has killed
himself.
“The Bottle Imp!"
Writer/Art: Michael T. Gilbert.
Doctor Strange comes upon a street hustler showing
a little girl the shell game; Strange spoils the game by revealing the secret:
misdirection. He tells the girl a story from his earlier life: two kids on a
beach, David and Janet, find a magic bottle. When they open it, they are sucked
inside and Strange jumps in too to rescue them. He faces the Bottle Imp,
punished for offending a greater demon, spending his eternity by trapping and torturing
other curious souls. Strange casts a shatter glass spell on the bottle…but it
fails. He then casts a similar spell on the demon…and it fails too. The demon
douses Strange with honey and then unleashes the bees, then flattens him and
folds him. And then Strange catches on—the demon is not the villain facing him
but the bottle itself. So Strange casts the demon shattering spell on the bottle
and it is destroyed. Strange wraps up his tale by revealing that Janet is now
in school and an amateur magician—and David is the professional magician David
Copperstone.