Peter Parker is in Lake Placid, New York, to cover the Winter
Olympics for the Daily Bugle. A commotion wakes him up at night and he
dons his Spider-Man togs to investigate. He spies the Outcasts, four cloaked
and hooded weirdos abducting Soviet skating star Maria Karsov. He battles
Landslide (creates earth tremors), Digger (giant claws), Boulder (super
strength), and Water Witch (manipulates water). He spars with them, escaping
their clutches until Water Witch encases him in a block of ice. They recapture
Maria who pulls off Digger’s hood, revealing the Outcasts are monsters. Spidey
breaks free but he is too late: Maria is trapped in a giant gem which descends
into the Earth, too slippery for Spidey to stop it. Security guard arrive,
turning on the lights. The Outcasts and Spidey all take off. Pete returns and
his high school chum Brad Rossi, now a skiing champ, explains that Maria is the
third international champion to be kidnapped, the first two being French
bobsledder Claude Lebron and Canadian hocky champ Bobby Kyle. Pete vows to
stick around to make sure Brad isn’t the next victim….
Out in the wilderness, Hulk is jumping along when he is
suddenly trapped in a giant gem like Maria Karsov. But Hulk is strong enough to
break out. A band of Lava Men fight him with various weapons including a
lava-hurling catapult but Hulk overcomes them all. They retreat into a cave and
Hulk pursues. He loses their trail but is met by Kala, asking him to help her
defeat his enemies so that she can become Queen of the Underworld, with Hulk as
her king….
The next day at the games, Brad Rossi break a record for the
ski jump. But then Klaus Ritterling of Germany makes his jump and ties Bad’s
score so they will each have to jump again. But this time Brad’s jump ends with
him being encased in a huge gem and drawn underground. Pete changes to
Spider-Man and encounters the Outcasts again and this time, by working
together, the Outcasts overcome him….
Spidey awakens underground in the presence of the Mole Man
who explains the situation which Spidey clearly misunderstands. It is Kala,
Queen of the Lava Men and MM’s enemy, who is kidnapping the athletes; MM’s
Outcasts were trying to stop the abductions. Kala needs the Fountain of Youth
to remain young and is kidnapping the athletes to build an army to fight the
Mole Man and his Outcasts for access to the Fountain. And now Mole Man tells
Spidey he will be his fifth champion—or else he will use his Earth-Mover to
destroy the Olympic Village and everyone in it….
And then a pitched battle breaks out with the Outcasts and
the Moloids fighting the Lava Men. As the melee continues the Lava Men gain the
advantage as the mindless Moloids are too stupid to know they are being killed.
Kala decides to send in her champions but Hulk is eating (food laced with
mind-control drugs) and then wants to take a nap so she turns to the four
kidnapped athletes, commanding them to fight for her and as incentive, she has
kidnapped Brad’s girlfriend Heather as hostage, zapping her with a ray that
ages her so they will want to help reach the Fountain of Youth. She then
provides them with weaponized versions of their sports equipment (skis, skates,
bobsled, hockey stick) and sends them into the fray. But Mole Man contacts her
and proposes that they settle this by a contest of champions, his Outcasts
against her Champions, sparing their citizens. She agrees, holding an armored
Hulk in reserve….
So Mole Man uses his Earth-Mover to raise the Olympic Village
high into the air; MM and Kala take their places at the judges’ stand and the
games begin. Then the two secret champions are revealed, Kala’s Hulk and Mole
Man’s Spider-Man…. Brad must ski down a slope while it is being ravaged by
Landslide. Boulder hurls huge rocks that Robby must block from the goal. Maria
must skate on ice that his being manipulated by the Water Witch. Claude must
bobsled down a course with Digger trying to stop him. Meanwhile, the drugged
Hulk is trying to smash Spidey. Then Kala starts cheating by having the Lava
Men shoot fire onto the ice to wreck the Outcasts’ efforts. After several pages
of mayhem, the score is tied, two to two. Then Heather teleports up to the
field, looking young again. Then Spidey pushes Hulk off a cliff, he rolls down
gathering snow and crashes into the judges’ stand, causing Mole Man and Kala to
flee. Then it is discovered that Kala has severely aged; she demands access to
the Fountain of Youth. Heather explains that in trying to escape she found her
way to the Fountain and fell in—but the water all drained away after that,
eliminating the Fountain. Mole Man offers to marry the aged Kala, Hulk stomps
the Olympic Village back down to the ground, and Spidey praises the champions
for their efforts that day.