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[Assistant]
(no title given)
Captain Marvel has been taken over by something called the Dark Tide and sprouted spikes. Now she's attacking Iron Man and Thor, and there are other spikey bodies lying around in what seems like a damaged New York. There's also an unexplained voiceover saying that the heroes must be ready for what is to come later. Carol Danvers punches the Thunder God into the sky and shrugs off a blast from the Golden Avenger. Tony Stark tries to talk her down but she says she's saving him because he'll be useful for Queen Arrok after the Bowmaster warps him. Thor returns to the fight.But we turn our attention to Captain America, Blade and Spider-Woman infiltrating what the voiceover tells us is an Obliterator-Class Sinnarian warship. They've teleported in (which Blade is not happy about) using Celestial technology. They take out some alien humanoid Sinnarians, some with beak-like masks covering their eyes, some not. Blade also can't remember how the battle started. The voiceover doesn't like that, and suddenly Eric Brooks has forgotten what he was concerned about. They break in to Queen Arrok VII's control room where they have to deal with more of both types of alien. The voiceover says Arrok has also been transformed by the Dark Tide and now she's the embodiment of evil.Cap tells her to leave Earth which she says she's quite willing to do once she gets her Scalpel back. He accuses her of wanting to use it to create wormholes to spread the Dark Tide to other parts of the universe. She replies that ruling the universe was her father's idea, and he used the Bow Of Gabriel that Grandmaster gave him to build an empire. The voiceover tells us that her father died and the empire crumbled and the Bow was lost. But Arrok's scientists created a lesser Bow with which she intends to regain the empire. However she needs the Scalpel to reach the furthest points of said empire.Cap points out that her single ship contains only a small number of Sinnarians, so she's not in a strong position. She explains that her people don't like to spend a long time in a confined space so she prefers to bring reinforcements when she needs them. The voiceover tells us that she has many wormholes back to Sinnaria which only require a Singularity Sphere to open here. And she tosses such a Sphere into the air, opening a portal through which more beaky aliens rush until the hole snaps shut. The voiceover expects Cap to deal with it, adding that Captain America was always his favourite.Back in NY Marvel and Thor are still duking it out. But then a different kind of alien with a bow appears. The voiceover reminds us that Gabriel, the Air Walker, was a Herald Of Galactus, and it seems that he used his Bow to make planets ready for consumption by his master. But this lesser Bow Of Attican can only transform small areas for a limited time, in this case turning NY citizens into spiky monsters to attack Iron Man.Up in the sky a small spacecraft approaches Arrok's Obliterator, piloted by Black Panther. Spider-Man thinks he's driving it too but T'Challa has deactivated the co-pilot's controls. The larger ship is firing at them but BP trusts the shields to hold out until they get there.Inside the trio as still fighting Arrok and her minions when 1 minion shouts that an unauthorised ship has entered the fighter bay ... and it's the Scalpel. Panther contacts Steve Rogers to tell him his group have 2 minutes to get out.  They run, and the Queen figures out what's happening and desperately sends engineers to the Scalpel. Our 5 meet up at the teleport point.On the ground IM attacks the Bowmaster and breaks his Bow. Thor is still fighting Carol but trying not to hurt his friend. Dark CM has no such compunctions. Then the Obliterator blows up. And the 5 who ported out can join the ground battle. Blade slices the Bowman's antennae off and Spider-Woman's bio-electric blast fries his brain. Thor finally downs Captain Marvel by tossing Mjolnir in the air so it lands on her head. But she's soon up and goaded into attacking Cap, who has 1 of Arrok's Singularity Spheres with which he opens a wormhole to Sinnaria in front of her hurtling form. Hopefully the Bowmaster's effect will have worn off before she makes it back to Earth.


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[Assistant]
(no title given)
Someone is putting Avengers through scenarios that will give them a chance to defeat an upcoming mega-menace. This time it's Black Widow, Captain Marvel, Hawkeye and Spider-Woman on an alien planet, and as usual we start in the middle of the action.Black Widow is falling into the gaping teeth of a Grexxle that lives in a hole in the ground. She is being hunted by Drahls on skymobiles. 1 of them dives after her because he needs her head for a trophy. Bad move because Natasha Romanoff kicks him into the Grexxle, takes his ride, destroys 2 others and leads a bigger craft towards Captain Marvel who wipes that out.They get a message from Spider-Woman who warns them of the approach of lots more Drahl warriors. And she also calls Hawkeye back to base where we see that she and some AIM troopers are defending 2 spacecraft. We learn that the Drahl are a peace-loving cultured race apart from their hunting season. Most of them are hunting honourably with low-tech weapons but 1 fires a big gun at the approaching women wrecking BW's mount, but she drops down to take part in the combat. Jessica Drew gets wounded by a spear and an AIM guy named Dave leaps to her defence. Carol Danvers lands with a thunderclap that bowls over many of the foe. Clint Barton turns up to take out more with arrows. No-one apart from the omniscient narrator notices a woman watching them.It turns out that the Avengers have been here for a few days and somehow in the interim Hawkeye has lost most of his uniform. BW has been on a scouting mission and has found the force-field emitter that is preventing them from leaving the planet. CM could go to destroy it but when they detect her approach all the Drahl warriors will come in for the kill here, and Hawkeye's own scouting mission estimates about 4,000 of them. So Carol suggests *she* stay to guard AIM and the ships while the other 3 go dismantle the shield.AIM tech Dave offers to come with them because they can't just smash it. We now learn that 1 of the spaceships is the Sinnarian Scalpel (from #1) whose wormhole generator is damaged. The lead AIM guy says they've nearly got it working but without Dave it will take them half an hour to finish rather than 10 minutes. Carol makes a command decision and agrees to Dave's plan.While they prepare the 3 AIMers have a private chat. The leader Anatoly really doesn't want Dave to go because they may not be able to keep the Scalpel working for long and they should leave as soon as they can, ie abandoning the Avengers. Dave is very much not happy with that because the Avengers came to rescue them when their own organisation wouldn't.The omniscient voiceover watches the mystery woman watch the 3 Avengers and Dave leave in their quinjet. He recognises her uniform as that of the Kharradun Royal Guard but the Kharradun Empire was wiped out 20 years ago, and he can't find any trace of her existence. En route Jessica and Natasha comment that they're suffering from a memory lapse again so they assume they're in 1 of the recent scenarios that T'Challa calls 'teachable moments'. And the Drahl's planetary defence shield is at least as good as the 1 the Red Ghost designed.They land and start breaking in to the emitter facility, and Captain Marvel is already fighting off a horde of Drahls. But suddenly the mystery woman attacks her. Hawkeye and Spider-Woman are holding off other Drahls at the facility while Black Widow takes Dave to the core which he deduces is powered by some crystals. He takes a gamble and pulls 1 out. He survives and the force-field is down, and he takes some of the crystals with him.Meanwhile Captain Marvel is fighting the mystery woman and asking who she is. The voiceover is interested to hear that she claims to be the emissary, right hand and wrath of an equally-mysterious master. But the 2 AIMers have repaired the Scalpel and now take off without Dave and the Avengers. Carol notices them leave and head for the wormhole they've created. She tells the others to hurry before it collapses.The 4 at the emitter site head for their quinjet. While running Dave asks Jessica if she'd like to grab a coffee sometime, but he gets shot in the back. Widow fires up the engines while Hawkeye gives covering fire to SW carrying Dave in.CM's still fighting the mystery woman who claims not to be on the Drahl's side. Her master doesn't care about them or the humans - he's only interested in justice and retribution. Carol breaks a hand punching her in the face, a symbol of their impotence against the inevitable future. But the quinjet arrives and blasts the mystery foe. It then heads towards the closing wormhole with CM close behind ...... and they all make it through back to Avengers Mountain HQ on Earth. AIM and the Scalpel have gone but Tony Stark has the crystals and can integrate them into the planetary defence shield making it even stronger. Enough he claims to hold back gods. The general consensus is that they were 'supposed' to get the Scalpel as well as the crystals but Carol has another theory. Maybe they gained the Scalpel (in #1) so that AIM could take it and they'd follow. And the whole purpose was so they'd meet the 'emissary'.Finally we see the 'emissary' joined by her large heavily-armoured master, face hidden by a full helmet. And the voiceover says the improved defence grid might 'delay' him.


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[Assistant]
(no title given)
In the past 4 issues teams of Avengers have found themselves in situations where their memories of how they got there, and probably reality itself, have been manipulated. And apparently we haven't seen all the occasions. A voiceover has continually assured us that this is all being done for the team and Earth's benefit, to teach them and give them tech to be ready for an upcoming mega-menace. But the Avengers have begun to figure out what's happening.Now they're in the middle of another of the scenarios where they (Black Panther, Blade, Captain America, Captain Marvel, She-Hulk and Thor) are chasing Spider-Man through New York. And the voiceover says he has a plan to get rid of the team's suspicions. Spidey is trying to convince them that a villain called the Grand Manipulator 'shuffled' the Avengers thoughts yesterday during a fight in a warehouse. He did it using a gadget called a Resequencer which Spidey has got hold of and is taking it to a friend at the University who'll deactivate it to mend their minds. And it must be done in the next 10 minutes or the change will be permanent. But CapA says it's Spider-Man's mind that has been messed with, and Thor asks him kindly to hand the device over because if it's deactivated badly it will fry all the minds in NY. Spidey says he doesn't want to fight them because he'd probably lose, which the Thunder God agrees with. So the lone hero chooses the only sensible option ...... he puts the device in his handy satchel and web-slings away. Straight into the gauntleted hands of Iron Man. But SM does something to short out IM's armour and he gets away. He's had 12 hours to devise ways to defeat each of them. She-Hulk doesn't see how he'll defeat a super-fist but he dodges out of her way, this time into the hand (around his throat) of CapM. Until he tosses a capsule into her mouth which bursts to fill her mouth and throat with webbing. As he escapes again he assures her it will dissolve within a minute. CapA hurls his shield which the amazing arachnid catches and uses to smash through a window into an office, where he finds Blade waiting for him. They exchange blows until Panther joins them, and then CapA. Spidey manages to hold them off until Cap grabs his bag, only to find it empty because SM has the Resequencer in 1 hand and a web bomb in the other. He throws it and it explodes to tangle the 3 foes in webs.He web-slings out the window to be met by Thor who grabs the shirt of his costume. Which Spidey wriggles out of and swings off. CapM and She-Hulk can't find him but Iron Man does. After a chase the Golden Avenger slices through SM's webline with a repulsor blast and then menaces the downed hero with another dose. Thor turns up and offers Spidey his shirt back in exchange for the device. SM accepts the deal and they swap. But the Asgardian thinks it's suspiciously easy, and CapA deduces that it isn't the real Resequencer. Spider-Man admits that this was all a delaying action while his University friend deals with the real thing. The fliers Captain Marvel, Iron Man and Thor zoom to the U just in time to hear Professor Samuel Crassus say it's deactivated. The 3 heroes find that their minds are still OK, and Spidey web-lines in to gloat that he was right.The slower heroes join them as Iron Man explains that things aren't as simple as Spider-Man thinks. He shows him footage downloaded by his armour from the warehouse security system yesterday which shows SM affected by the Resequencer. And then he shows the same footage downloaded *now* from the same source which shows it was the Avengers who were affected. IM and BP claim that *both* versions are real, as are the conflicting memories in their minds. 2 versions of reality coexist in the same timeline.Prof Crassus now starts to dissolve into Kirby dots as he admits to being the Grand Manipulator who can manipulate reality, and his long 'friendship' with Spider-Man didn't exist until yesterday. He's been messing with *their* reality in the past issues to keep them distracted from discovering his *true* plan. He claims to be a merger of a human with an alien dimensional explorer. And now he'll use the Resequencer to mould the world in the way he wants. He switches it on but it starts to do something to *him*. Spidey explains that his memories of their friendship didn't ring true so he'd made a few precautionary adjustments to the gizmo. And the 'Professor' collapses 'dead'.Spider-Man and the Avengers apologise to each other and go their own ways. The voiceover congratulates itself on a job well done. This will give him the extra time he needs before the Avengers are ready for the truth. However Captain America hangs back and addresses the empty room. He says he's not fooled by the 'Grand Manipulator'. He says he knows the real mastermind is still out there. And the level of reality control displayed here has made Cap sure he knows who it is - the Beyonder.


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[Assistant]
(no title given)
As usual we start in the middle of the action with 2 Red Skulls taunting Captain America (Steve Rogers) by destroying the key that was supposed to stop their plans. They claim that the world has welcomed the reign of their army of Skulls. But that doesn't stop Cap fighting back against the pair who now accuse him of trying to distract them so they don't notice Avengers coming to his rescue ...... but other Red Skulls are out there keeping Captain America (Sam Wilson), Black Panther, She-Hulk, Black Widow and Blade busy. We learn that these Skulls are all LMDs created by Arnim Zola and they seem endless. And the action is taking place in a relay station. Widow calls in Thor to clear a path through the foe, and he swoops in and beats up some of them before calling down a lightning strike which destroys part of the structure they are fighting in.Meanwhile the usual voiceover of whoever's behind the events of this series reminds us that he's preparing the Avengers to face a future mega-threat, which seems to be even more of a threat to *him*. He lets us know that Zola made these Super-Skulls from improved LMDs to be super-strong and durable, and cheap to mass-produce. He also slightly improved their AI's decision-making speed which inadvertently makes it possible to turn them into a self-oscillating defence-shield. And he needs Tony Stark or T'Challa to realise this and create such a thing before the threat arrives.We turn now to an orbiting space station where more RS LMDs have taken the captive real Red Skull, Johann Shmidt, who is apparently fighting them because the LMDs were supposed to be just backup bodies for *his* mind and they shouldn't have gained sentience for themselves. Suddenly Iron Man zooms in to rescue him. Shmidt grabs a gun off 1 of the LMDs and between them they dispose of the lot.Stark starts examining an LMD head and the voiceover expects him to make the necessary deduction. But instead Tony is concerned once again about his memory. As in the 1st 2 issues he 'knows' how they got here and what they're supposed to do, but he can't 'remember' how this team-up all happened. Johann tries to dismiss this as impossible, but then begins to realise that he's in the same situation. He posits that the LMDs must have psychically affected them, but Tony says it's happened several times before, and his armour's recordings have also been corrupted. (He says it's happened 7 times before that he's aware of, not just the 2 we know about.) Red Skull now accepts that they are all being manipulated and intends to do something about it. But when he pushes a button he gets electrocuted. And it seems that's caused by the voiceover, who's angry that Stark has been diverted from the required discovery.Back in the relay station the LMDs detect the intruders in the orbital station. Cap(SR) is disappointed that it didn't take them longer to notice. He and the other Avengers have just been a diversion to keep them distracted, but now he can stop pretending to lose to them and he efficiently disposes of the LMDs with him. Outside Cap(SW) gets shot down and the other Avengers rally to his aid. Panther contacts IM and suggests that they've got as many of the LMDs in 1 place as they're likely to and that he suggests initiating the pulse now. Cap(SR) tells a still-aware LMD that Zola built in a fail-safe that could be triggered from the satellite. He left them vulnerable to the real Skull's flaws. And Iron Man sends down a pulse of overwhelming weaponised neuroses which cause the LMDs to seize up. And then a code which drops them as inert bodies ready to be piled up and disposed of.Sam Wilson with his arm in a sling wonders if the LMDs' parts will be recycled in mobile phones. And they're all astonished when Blade says he doesn't use a phone. Thor too has detected memory glitches. He'd normally blame Loki but he doesn't sense his hand in this. Stark points out that they're not the only ones affected. There are news reports of them fighting the LMDs earlier in the day before their memories exist. Tony also reports that the real Red Skull escaped. BP and Cap(RS) have also detected the memory gaps. Tony wonders if someone is concealing events from them. T'Challa feels it's more like they're being put through a series of 'teachable moments'. The voiceover feels like his control is slipping away, which means they're all going to die.


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[Assistant]
(no title given)
We begin in Latveria with Dr Doom carrying Captain America's shield and Thor's hammer, and leading other Avengers (Black Panther, Iron Man and She-Hulk) into battle ... against another Dr Doom with mystic runes on his dark armour. The foe shrugs off Mjolnir blast and repulsor blast and then punches Shulk in the face. Friendly Doom stops a return blast with Cap's shield but bad Doom quickly overwhelms him. IM says the Avengers teleportation system is blocked so our Doom has to provide an escape portal.The voiceover from last issue repeats that there's a big menace looming in the future. We see images of Captain Marvel, Iron Man, Spider-Man and Thor dead and the heads of BP and DrD impaled on stakes. It is a menace from the stars coming for revenge and the voiceover swears to prevent it from succeeding.The good Dr Doom, Jennifer Walters and Tony Stark (looking more like Kang The Conqueror) convene in Avengers HQ (the body of the dead Celestial Progenitor). We learn that the 2 Caps (America and Marvel) and Thor are prisoners of the bad Doom, and Blade is missing. The only way to prevent bad D raising an army of demons is to destroy the Soulsplitter Stone which will remerge the 2 Dooms into the original. Jen and Tony aren't ready to try *that* yet, and Stark reveals that he's nicked a magic tome from Doom's library. Good D recognises it as the Book Of Wrath and starts poring through its unstable spells.Stark suddenly realises he doesn't actually remember the events of the previous 2 days where Dr Doom experimented with the Soulsplitter and split into his light and dark halves. He tells the others that he *knows* what happened but doesn't remember it happening to *him*. The 2 Avengers leave good Doom who finds it very interesting. The voiceover can't understand why this is happening again (like Blade last issue), and he'll have to keep tighter control.Iron Man now contacts the supposedly-missing Blade who we see still in Latveria killing demons, and he asks him to sneak back into Doom's castle while he himself makes a noisy entrance. Inside the castle dark Doom has the 3 other Avengers captive. Only Captain America is conscious and claiming with assurance that other Avengers will be staging a rescue any minute. Doom detects IM's approach and infiltrates the armour's AI causing it to crashland. But Doom didn't see She-Hulk coming and takes several punches before hitting back and taking her down. Then good Doom portals in. They trade blasts but it is g-Doom that falls, until he pulls out the Book Of Wrath. b-Doom pretends to be afraid, but then laughs because he knows nothing in that book can harm him.But all this was a diversion to let Blade grab the Soulsplitter Stone. He throws it to g-Doom. B-Doom knows that if the Splitter is even slightly damaged the Dooms will be merged and lose their identities in the return of the original. He tries to talk g-Doom out of it but g-Doom knows that b-Doom will kill him if he gives in. So he crushes the Stone in his fist ... and original Doom lives again.Iron Man's AI has recovered and he arrives to find his teammates all returned to base. Doom dismisses him and he goes to join them in Avengers HQ (including Black Panther who didn't seem to do anything this issue). There he discovers that his AI has lost all record of the last 2 days, which he finds interesting. And the voiceover is worried again.


[Assistant]
Carnival of Fiends
In New York’s Chinatown,
the citizens plan a festival to raise money to support the war effort against
the Japanese in their homeland. Axis agent Matsu
plans to sabotage the festival so the night before the event, the warehouse
where the fireworks are stored catches fire. The Human Torch and Toro, who were
passing by, manage to contain the blaze but the fireworks are a total loss.
Torch and his young pal volunteer to put on a show in place of the destroyed
entertainment. The amazing display of pyrotechnics inspires the guests to give
generously but the bad guys burst in and make off with the chest of cash. Torch
and Toro trail the getaway car to the crooks’ hideout where they are trapped in
a gas chamber and rendered unconscious. While dazed, Matsu
hypnotizes them into stealing a gold shipment (also earmarked for China)
from the local bank. Returning to the hideout, Torch tumbles down the stairs
and the spell is broken. Matsu orders Toro to attack his mentor but a smack in
the face snaps him out of it too and they mop up the gang, stopping Matsu from
setting off an explosive charge that would have destroyed the building in the
nick of time.“The Order of the Hood”
Writer: Stan Lee. Pencils: Al Avison.
Inks: Al Gabriele. Colors: ?
Synopsis: Members of the sinister
Order of the Hood, a gang of crooks who wear purple robes, are robbing banks in
Los Angeles in
an armored car. Young playboy Dan Lyons excuses himself from his pals Pat Casey
and Mary Nash to change into his secret identity as…the Black Marvel! He heads
to the reserve bank where a gold shipment is expected today and waits for the
Hoods to arrive. Sure enough, the gang makes a play for the gold and Black
Marvel launches himself into action and overpowers them, then vanishes as
mysteriously as he came. The Hood leader has henchmen break into the newspaper
office and plant a phony item about a jewelry display at a local shop to set a
trap for the hero. Black Marvel arrives on the scene and is conked on the head
and taken prisoner. Back at the hideout, the helpless hero is trapped in a ray
machine so his death by slow burning can be televised to the nation. Instead
Black Marvel uses the ray to burn through his bonds and overpowers his foes,
pursuing the leader to a nearby mountain where, after a battle, the villain
tumbles to his death in a rockslide.
“The Case of the Hollow Men”
Writer: Jack Kirby, Joe Simon. Pencil:
Kirby, Al Avison. Inks: Joe Simon, Al Gabriele, Syd Shores.
Colors: ?
Synopsis: Late one night in the
Bowery, a zombie stalks and kills a police officer; this is the final test for
the Lord of Death that his zombie-making experiments are a success. He contacts
Adolf Hitler directly (!) and offers his services to the Third Reich; Der
Fuhrer orders him to sabotage ships carrying Lend-Lease material to the
British. At the docks Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes are on guard duty when an
army of the living dead arrive to burn the ships. They change into Captain America
and Bucky to assist the troops in driving the zombies into the sea. The heroes
recognize one of the monsters as a panhandler they saw earlier in the day so
they go undercover as Bowery bums to get a lead on the villains. The Lord of
Death’s next assignment is to destroy trucks carrying Lend-Lease materials and
the bridge to the docks; the truck-driving zombies cause a massive pileup on
the bridge and begin attacking vehicles and pedestrians. Again, Cap and Bucky
arrive and use grenades to drive away the monstrous hordes but a stray bomb
ignites a cache of explosives and the bridge is blown up. Later, the Lord of
Death approaches the disguised Steve and Bucky and takes them back to his mad
laboratory where they discover how he can turn living men into unkillable
zombies. Steve and Bucky change into their hero costumes and defeat the
villain. When Hitler phones for a progress report, Bucky blows him a raspberry!
4. “All Winners”
Writer: Stan Lee. Art: Ed Winiarski
Synopsis: After reading his comic
books, young Johnny Blake wishes he could meet the superheroes from the
stories. Suddenly his wish comes true as the Human Torch and Toro fly in the
window then summon Captain America
and Bucky, the Black Marvel, the Sub-Mariner, and the Angel! After he gushes
about reading their adventures, they reward their loyal fan with a show: Bucky
and Toro do some flaming acrobatics, then Namor and the Torch play catch with a
ball of fire. Finally Cap, Angel, and Black Marvel have a three-way wrestling
match on the roof—until they all tumble over the edge…at which point Johnny’s
mother awakens him from his dream.
“The
Torpedo Boat Terror”
Writer: Bill Everett. Art: The Torpedo
Boat Terror. Colors: ?
Synopsis: Swimming off the Atlantic Coast, Namor the Sub-Mariner heads in to
a cove near Virginia
for a rest. There he discovers a secret Nazi base where they are building
torpedo boats to attack American ships. Namor boards a boat and sabotages the
weapons and tosses the crew overboard and takes the boat to ram another. He
falls overboard though, and decides to head back to the base and mop up the
Nazis, then he goes after the boat that was running free. As he comes upon it,
the boat rams a pleasure craft causing a blaze. Namor dives to rescue a sinking
woman but he is hit by the propeller and knocked unconscious. The woman ends up
saving him and he places her safely on an island, seizes the last remaining
Nazi boat, and returns to take her to shore, stopping off to warn the
authorities.
“The Case of the Mad Gargoyle”
Writer: ? Art: Paul Gustavson.
Synopsis: American passenger planes
have been disappearing over the Yucatan
Peninsula so the costumed
adventurer known as the Angel decides to look into the matter. Chartering a
plane to take the same route, the craft is seized by a magnetic ray. Angel
parachutes overboard and watches as the plane is taken inside a huge pyramid.
Angel enters and is captured by the natives who are led by the brutish Gargoyle.
Locked in with prisoners from the earlier flights, Angel learns that on the
nights of the full moon, one of the prisoners is catapulted over a volcano to
slam into a native as part of a sacrifice. Angel fights with the guards to make
sure he is the next chosen one to provide a distraction while the others
escape. Launched over the volcano, Angel manages to land safely and engages the
Gargoyle (who was capturing the planes to prevent the Americans from converting
them into warplanes) in battle which ends with the villain falling to his death
from the top of the pyramid. He then joins the prisoners as they take the
planes back to the USA.


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[Assistant]
Dulce et Decorum Est

This issue is divided into 2 strands, over and above the split between present day and WWII. Besides Slo-Mo Jones continuing to relate the WWII adventures of the Crazy Sues to writer Alyssa Bryon, we see present-day Captain America being briefed by a government agency about the current situation, and remembering bits of WWII himself.
Last issue featured the D-Day landings. The whole of Slo-Mo's story this issue covers more of the campaign in France in 1944.
The first scene on July 7th has the squad as part of the army working their way towards Paris. Recognisable characters apart from Slo-Mo are Sgt Byrd, Alyssa's grandfather Young Avenger, Blue Diamond, Merzah, Moon Man, Captain Flame, American Ace, Invisible Man, Archie the medic and Fin, plus Captain Strong is mentioned. They have been joined by the bow-and-arrow-wielding Victory Boys, one named Krzystof. But Taxi Taylor and Transisto-Mech have been taken away.
Merzah lets Slo-Mo know that they both know about the homosexual relationship between Captain Flame (Frank Cortez) and American Ace. He predicts that a time will come when Slo-Mo is tempted to betray Cortez, and warns him not to.
In the present Captain America meets DOD Intelligence agents Bradley, Palmore and Young. They ask him if he knows about Operation Firefly, and he denies ever hearing about it until Alyssa queried him about it in #3. They say it was connected to Project Alberta, which he does remember. Back in July 12th 1944 he has come to the US to demand Taylor and T-Mech be returned to the squad. He is told they are needed for other secret duties. He is also told that the Crazy Sues are part of a larger scheme called Project Alberta. As part of this scheme Cap is given orders to push Flame to his limits.
Back in Slo-Mo's story, the Crazy Sues take part in the liberation of Paris alongside Captain America. Relaxing in a bar afterwards, August 29th, Cortez is shocked to learn that Ace is married.
In the following days the Crazy Sues and Cap and Bucky are part of a force heading towards Belgium. Sometime during this period they get pinned down in a French town by a strong German force. Moon Man is killed and Invisible Man severely injured.
Slo-Mo and Cortez are separated from the rest. Byrd shouts for Flame to destroy the Germans (by redirecting their fire back at them), but Cortez can't bring himself to do his thing again. Slo-Mo blackmails him into it by threatening to expose his homosexuality. Captain Flame faces the enemy troops.
In the present Slo-Mo says he had sent Cortez to his death. He doesn't believe Alyssa understands why he did it. He gives her a piece of paper and tells her to go visit the people on it. Then she'll understand.
But as Alyssa leaves him she is hustled into a car, where she faces Cap and Nick Fury.


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[Assistant]
Days of Glory
This issue concentrates more on the present-day storyline than the WWII events.Writer Alyssa Bryon has been transcribing the memoirs of her grandfather Bill, who revealed that he was the WWII hero Young Avenger, and a member of the army unit the Crazy Sues (Specialized Unit Enhanced Soldiers). But he didn't get very far before having a heart attack. And then Loki materialised.Last issue Alyssa got cryptic messages on her laptop from someone mentioning Project Firefly. The Norse god of trickery wants to know who this was. Alyssa genuinely doesn't know. Loki warns her not to investigate the subject. And if she's contacted again, to tell her mystery informant to contact Loki.Gramps is taken to hospital but dies. His funeral is attended by Captain America (Steve Rogers) and wheelchair-bound Sgt Byrd (joint leaders of the Crazy Sues). When Alyssa questions him Cap claims to know nothing about Operation Firefly. She also spots aged Slo-Mo Jones and tries to corner him. But he escapes (presumably with a remnant of his old super-speed).On the way home her cryptic informant takes over her car radio. He tells her she is being followed by 2 men-in-black. He can't give her information directly, but he wants her to continue interviewing the few surviving members of the Crazy Sues. He gives her Slo-Mo's address.At first Slo-Mo says he can't talk to her because he signed an official secrecy document. But he relents through guilt, and tells her he killed Captain Flame.The WWII flashbacks this issue are on Guadalcanal 13th August 1942, a few days after the invasion by US Marines last issue. The 1st flashback is in the memories of the dying Bill Bryon. The 2nd may be in Slo-Mo's memory. Bill also sees some deaths:- a Victory Boy, Vagabond and Moon Man (but see my Comments).The squad is being led by Sgt Byrd. There are a lot of guys from last issue. Merzah (the Mystic), Cortez (Captain Flame), (Jap-Buster) Johnson, Slo-Mo Jones, Archie the medic, (Captain) Strong are mentioned. Moon Man was unidentifiable last time but comes to the fore this issue. I also spotted Young Avenger and the Invisible Man. There are 2 new guys Davey Drew and Vagabond, who are named and pictured in a helpful intro page. There is also an unnamed guy with flying helmet and goggles.Captain Flame does much of the work as usual with his ability to absorb and redirect energy, while Merzah detects enemy movements. Slo-Mo and Strong get injured. But white Strong carries black Jones out of danger, despite his racial bias shown last issue.Cortez is overloaded with energy and the flashback ends with him about to explode next to Johnson and Drew. Johnson seems to have a death wish.


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The Longest Day

This issue we're back mainly with the Crazy Sues in WWII. The present-day action is restricted to a few pages of Slo-Mo Jones narrating the story to Alyssa Bryon.
Slo-Mo denies being the person who's been sending Alyssa messages about Operation Firefly. He tells her it's dangerous to investigate. Alyssa knows this, having been warned off by Loki, and warned to be careful by her unknown informant. But she intends to keep her promise to her now-dead grandfather (who was Young Avenger in WWII) that she would write his story.
Slo-Mo tells her that Captain Flame (Frank Cortez) was the essence of Operation Firefly.
Last issue we left the Crazy Sues platoon of special soldiers in their first mission on Guadalcanal 13th August 1942. An injured Slo-Mo saw Captain Flame overload after sending Japanese fire back to the enemy. Davey Drew and Jap-Buster Johnson were close to Cortez, and Drew seemed to be welcoming death (maybe because of the demon I think he's merged with).
This issue picks up when Slo-Mo has returned from hospital, to rejoin his squad still in the Pacific. Johnson died when Captain Flame exploded. Drew suffered major burns but is still on the team (maybe the demon helped his recovery), crazier than before.
The Crazy Sues have lost other team members while Slo-Mo was away, but the survivors are now a seasoned group. Captain Flame has apparently made a habit of going off unpredictably. The rest of the squad seem
The issue opens in the middle of a firefight, as another soldier bites the dust. This time it's Vagabond.
We don't see any more of this battle, but the next day they are shipped to Europe. It seems to be part of the Normandy landings, so this is D-Day June 6th 1944. They are to parachute along with others into a French town Sainte-Mere-Eglise. This was a real WWII event Operation Boston to secure the strategic position on a major road to prevent German reinforcements.
Apart from Slo-Mo Jones, Captain Flame and Davey Drew, other guys identified on the team are Blue Diamond, Flash Foster, Captain Strong, Invisible Man, Moon Man, Young Avenger, Taxi Taylor, Transisto-Mech, Merzah, Archie the medic and the Fin. And they're still commanded by Sgt Byrd (Flame and Strong aren't real captains, that's just their hero names). Byrd says Captain America is leading a ground force to try to reach the town as well.
Slo-Mo makes it to the ground, but some unidentified men don't. He finds Cortez, who's exploded again. Captain Flame has been the squad's most effective weapon, and he is sickened by all the killing he's done. Then they are joined by some of the others, including Merzah and possibly Young Avenger and Archie. But we don't see any more of that operation.
The scene skips to a celebration where a bunch of new recruits joins the squad. The only one named is American Ace, a pilot called Ace Masters. Captain America, Bucky, Human Torch and Sub-Mariner are on hand to welcome the recruits. (Whizzer is mentioned also, but I don't see him.)
Induction of recruits has been a regular occurrence, and Davey Drew can always tell who is going to die. He manifests a spectral demon's head overlaying his own in this scene.
Apart from Captain Flame and Davey Drew I can spot Slo-Mo, Young Avenger, Blue Diamond, Moon Man and Merzah at the party. Sgt Byrd, Flash Foster, Captain Strong, Invisible Man, Taxi Taylor, Transisto-Mech, Archie and Fin aren't recognisably there. We know Sgt Byrd, Archie the medic, Captain Strong and Flash Foster make it to a December 1944 episode in #1. Invisible Man, Taxi Taylor and Transisto-Mech are seen in the other WWII part of #1, later in June. But we'll have to wait until next issue to find out if Fin died in Sainte-Mere-Eglise.
Captain Flame tries to find a sympathetic ear in the similarly-powered Torch, but meets only a formal response. Masters strikes up a conversation with him, and Slo-Mo sees them leave the party. Jones follows them outside, and sees Cortez and Masters kissing.


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Soldier -- what did you see?
Last issue we saw some 1944 exploits of a group of superheroes as soldiers in WWII. This time we will go back to the founding of the group in early 1942. We will also continue the present-day story of the central character Young Avenger as an old man. William Bryon is relating the story for posterity, recorded by his novelist granddaughter Alyssa.The WWII heroes have either enlisted or been drafted into the army, in a Ranger unit, the Specialized Unit Enhanced Soldiers, otherwise known as the Crazy Sues. They are to be trained and led by Captain America and non-super Sgt Byrd. Bucky is there, but I'm not sure in what capacity.As well as Young Avenger there are other characters from last issue in the squad:- Invisible Man (Dr Gade), Merzah the Mystic, Slo-Motion Jones and Captain Flame (Frank Cortez). Archie the medic can be seen in the background too. Captain Strong and Flash Foster were mentioned by surname in 1 panel each last issue, as was Sgt Byrd. We also meet some new characters:- Doug Johnson (interested in 'killing Japs'), Father Time (Larry Scott) (the guy with the mask that surrounds but exposes his nose) and Fighting Yank (who works the radio). We hear the name Moon Man but I can't identify him. And there may be other faces we'll put names to in later issues. For instance the guy chewing a toothpick with a scar across his right eye.There is racial tension between white Captain Strong and black Slo-Mo Jones. In the present Bryon says Slo-Mo was Whizzer's sidekick, and was actually faster than the white Whizzer, but was portrayed in the 40's comics as slow and stupid.Back in 17th May 1942 we see Timely producing official propaganda comics based on the heroes. A visiting Colonel Nevins mentions the possibility of drafting in heroes from the other Allied countries. He also wants the adventures of Captain Flame withheld from publication until further notice. (Last issue we learnt that the whole print run of his only comic will be trashed.) During the mission described below, telepathic Merzah tells Cortez he knows he has a secret.We now skip to the first mission of the Crazy Sues, including Cap and Bucky, to Guadalcanal 7th August 1942 (the date of the actual US Marines landing on the island). Slo-Mo takes out a machine-gun nest, but the squad are attacked by Zeroes. There are also more Japanese ground troops, Some of our guys give Slo-Mo covering fire as he returns, but Cortez freezes until Sgt Byrd tosses a live grenade at him. Captain Flame absorbs the blast, and redirects it at the enemy. As in #1 it takes a lot out of him. And he reveals that this is the first time he's killed anyone (which is probably true for a lot of the heroes).Taxi Taylor and Transisto-Mech (from last issue) arrive as air support. It is mentioned that the British have supplied 2 pilots for the squad. Sgt Byrd also talks about American Ace, currently working with the Royal Air Force. The squad have only 1 casualty, Secret Stamp.Meanwhile in the present Alyssa gets messages on her laptop from someone or something called Operation Firefly, Bryon is just about to reveal Captain Flame's secret when he has a heart attack. And then Loki turns up!


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We Were Soldiers Once ... and Young
This series features the adventures of some 2nd-(or even 3rd-)string Timely heroes in WWII. This issue describes 2 wartime operations. One has a band of heroes led by Captain America. Young Avenger is in both scenes, and also in the present as an old man.In Saarlautern, Germany 6th December 1944 Cap and Bucky (wearing hardhats) lead a group of men apparently just as part of the ongoing invasion of Germany. Cap sends Sgt Slo-Mo Jones, Captain Flame (Lt Cortez - confusing ranks), Young Avenger (Bill Bryon) and the Victory Boys to the opposite side of the street, keeping Bucky, Merzah and someone named Strong with him.Slo-Mo is I think depicted as running very fast. Captain Flame, as you would expect, has some sort of flame power. Young Avenger doesn't exhibit any powers at this point, except surviving. The Victory Boys carry bows and arrows and have a V of red feathers stuck to the front of their helmets. Merzah wears a make-shift turban over his helmet, and has mystic senses.All but one of the Victory Boys are killed by a half-track. The last VB blows it up with an explosive arrow, but he is mortally wounded. Captain Flame is menaced by a tank. He appears to destroy a shell fired at him, and destroys the tank itself. But he seems to be severely injured by the exchange.Cap's subgroup come to their aid. Merzah helps Cortez. Young Avenger and medic Archie comfort the last Victory Boy, Piotr, but he's beyond help. Young Avenger sends Slo-Mo and Archie away before he puts Piotr out of his misery.We now switch to the present, with an old man whose cousin Piotr died a hero in the war, being looked after by his granddaughter Alyssa, a novelist. Gramps worked for Timely, and has a (complete?) collection of their output. In particular he has the only copy of Super Hero Comics #1 featuring Captain Flame and Transisto-Mech the Robot, which he 'rescued' when the whole print run was deliberately destroyed. Alyssa reads some of them, including an adventure shared by Blue Diamond and the Invisible Man, who get captured by the Nazis.Cut to Vimoutieres, France 25th June 1944, where Elton Morrow (the invulnerable Blue Diamond) is being interrogated opposite a seemingly-empty chair. The Nazi officer pretends to believe that Dr Gade (the Invisible Man) has escaped. But rather than hit Morrow's diamond-hard skin he keeps striking at the empty space above the other chair, until the beaten Gade starts to appear.The Nazi threatens to torture Gade unless Morrow tells him what his fellow operatives are up to. He goads Morrow by describing in detail the German troops between him and rescue. But that was the information Blue Diamond was waiting for, and he calls for someone named Taylor.An armoured vehicle plows through the wall, and Young Avenger jumps out to deal with the Nazi officer. As the Avenger is freeing the prisoners, Taylor the driver pops his head out to tell him to hurry up. Inside the vehicle Transisto-Mech calculates they only have 30 seconds before more Germans arrive.Back in the present Alyssa is still reading old comics while a mysterious man watches from outside. Gramps tells her the comics were government propaganda, but they were based on real people. The comics were eventually cancelled because many of the characters died in the war. Gramps then reveals that he was Young Avenger.


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Cross-Over
The villains of Omega Flight—Courtney, Diamond Lil, Flashback and Wild Child—are escaping their latest confrontation with Alpha Flight. In a mall parking lot they come face to face with Jeffries, who is upset that Courtney has killed and impersonated the Guardian. Jeffries uses his metal-shaping powers to subdue the gang and then destroy Courtney (who is a robot). Entering the mall, he spies Alpha Flight with the Beyonder, having just returned from the Void. Beyonder is puzzled that the hero team would still fight him, but Shaman is grateful that the alien rescued his daughter Talisman. After the Beyonder departs is a flash of light, Talisman is fed up with her father over all his lies, and teleports the team back to their headquarters in Vancouver. Shaman admits he was wrong, and Jeffries explains how he was caught up in Talisman’s spell too. Heather calls for a two-hour break, while she takes a bath and reviews the problems surrounding Shaman. Roger Fuchs and others, meanwhile, are probing other dimensions, seeking a new body for Walter Langkowski, whose soul has been inside the robot Box since the Sasquatch body was killed. Walter enters the dimension steam to possess the targeted body. Using their technology, they draw the huge humanoid form back to the base and discover to their horror, they have retrieved the Hulk!


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Dead reckoning (part 1)
Shaman, dressed in his original outfit, seems to be battling the demons of Ranaq when his daughter Talisman rips apart the veil of the Dreamlands to reveal that he is really sitting under a tree on Paradise Omega, in his current outfit, and demands he talk to her. Elizabeth Twoyoungmen tells him he may have fooled the Goddess but not her - she can tell he hasn't complete faith in her Crusade. Michael Twoyoungmen responds that he lost his faith in any god long ago - he's well aware that they exist but sincerely doubts their wisdom. Elizabeth accuses him of running away as usual to avoid his obligations. As he did when her mother died and he left her with others while he wallowed in grief. As he did when he told her she was the chosen Talisman and then dumped his responsibilities on her. And as he did when he abandoned Beta Flight after they got lost in a dimensional nexus (#98). Michael rebuts *that* 1 by telling her that while he was absent between that issue and when he got dragged into the Infinity War event in #110 he was continually searching for them.Talisman doesn't believe him and slaps his face. He automatically retaliates by causing a tree branch to hurl her away. He immediately regrets it and rushes to see if she's hurt, but she responds by turning the whole environment against him. And then she encases him in amber. But she's actually only trapped an image he projected and he's really behind her and drops her with a nerve chop.However he promises her unconscious form that this time he will stand up to his duty. He will go and bring a matter to Goddess' attention which he will offer to deal with. But he will do it for his daughter (and the universe) rather than Goddess.This leads to the 2nd story in this issue.Which opens with ex-Alpha Flight member Madison Jeffries flying in his Box armour in Toronto. He lands and enters his house, and his wife Lillian Crawley (Diamond Lil also ex-AF) punches him back out again. She's angry because once again he's proven he can't resist the lure of his metal suit.Then Shaman appears before them (again in his old duds but with an image of Goddess' face beside him). He tells them that the future of this and other realities is in danger as evil forces conspire to disrupt the coming glory (ie Goddess' Rapture), and he's here to recruit them to help him.Next scene they're with him (in their superhero togs) in an old native burial ground in Northern Ontario alongside Wyre (a recent addition to Beta Flight) and Nemesis (who used to lead Gamma Flight). Shaman tells them about the demon Carcass who has invaded the Sarcee Land Of The Dead where he has begun the Unmaking. Unless it is stopped it will spread into other spirit worlds and then to reality and it will dissolve everything back to the primordial chaos (which of course wouldn't suit Goddess). The 4 must put their faith in him as he takes them where no living mortal has ever gone. They all agree to it. But Michael tells himself that he is deceiving them just as Goddess has deceived her flock.A spell takes them to the Land Of The Dead where they are attacked by Carcass' skeletal minions. They aren't necessarily human-looking but Shaman assures his troop that they are really noble ancestors - but nevertheless they must be destroyed. Box saves Lil from some of them until she regains her confidence and fights back. Nemesis' mystic sword cuts through the foes. But Wyre is consumed by the guilt of the many people he's killed and that some of them may be here. In firing his big gun and using his organic 'wires' he maybe killing someone for a 2nd time.Now we see Carcass who seems to be made of lumps of flesh stuck together haphazardly and who's speech is made of letters in random styles and divided up into small chunks usually breaking in the middle of words. He congratulates Shaman on picking warriors without compunction against killing the dead but he knows that Michael himself is the weak link. And he faces him with the body of his dead wife Katheryn. Shaman can't fight her as she destroys the medicine pouch where he keeps his magic potions.As his self-confidence fades so does the invulnerability of his troop. Diamond Lil's body becomes cuttable. Wyre's wires turn on him. Jeffries is torn from his Box (where usually he would phase out). Nemesis' blade is taken from her and used against her. Wyre begs Shaman to take them home. But Michael says he can't, because he  misled them when he brought them here. To get to the Land Of The Dead they had to die.And we see their bodies lying in the burial ground.


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Cut Bait & Run!
An enraged Hulk does battle with Alpha Flight, who are at a disadvantage, as Aurora is shaken by the belief that Walter is dead, Shaman has lost confidence in his powers and Roger is terrified by the damage to his host robot Box. Hulk clobbers the one effective fighter, Puck, and leaves the building threatening to level Vancouver. The powerless Heather latches onto the Hulk to persuade him to simply go away but the Green Giant just shakes her off and departs. After a period in which the team members come to terms with their fear and insecurities, all except Shaman take off in pursuit of the Hulk. They find Jade Jaws downtown in confrontation with the police. Taking over, Puck and Box assault Hulk with their strength, Aurora and Northstar with their speed and light powers but Hulk easily defeats them. Snowbird arrives suddenly and takes on the form of Sasquatch to battle Hulk on his own terms. When the military shows up, Hulk flattens his foe and leaps off into the distance, as Snowbird pursues in the air. Her powers wane as Hulk crosses the border into the United States so she returns to Vancouver. Surveying the destruction to the city, Heather debates breaking up the team but Snowbird makes a speech in which she states that Alpha Flight will always be needed to stave off threats to Canada and the world. Gary Cody arrives to inform the team that their funding has been restored by the government so that they can remain together and fulfill the mission for which the group was formed.


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Holy terror (part 1)
Witchfire of Beta Flight often hears a voice in her head telling her she has a destiny, but she can't even remember her past. Now we see her in a virtual training session with her teammates, which she seems to be taking a bit too far. 1st she kills the newest 'recruit' Wyre the genetically enhanced assassin. Then when Goblyn leaps at her she puts her in a time-loop of that leap. But meanwhile Goblyn's sister Pathway (Laura Dean) creates a portal for Persuasion to get behind Witchfire to take control of her. However it doesn't work and the witch starts to utter a spell. But Wyre comes back from the 'dead' and chokes her throat while his wire tendrils grip her wrists. But energy bursts from her eyes and boils the skin of his face. He reflexively sprouts claws from his fingertips.At that point Guardian (Heather Hudson) switches the program off and demands to know what's going on. Goblyn and Pathway are supposed to doing school lessons. Witchfire is supposed to be recovering from the attack by the Hardliners (#119). And Wyre is supposed to be in a detention cell until the higher-ups decide what to do with him. But he's broken out 4 times now so Guardian decides to give him the run of Department H, but he's not allowed to leave. Whitman Knapp (Manikin) takes responsibility for the session because he thought the team was getting rusty. Heather responds that they should only use scheduled training sessions with an Alpha Flight member present. And she'd rather they fought the programmed hazards than themselves - this isn't the X-Men.The trainees disperse and Heather sees Aurora heading out. Jeanne-Marie Baubier says she's off to her apartment and social life, both of which she's neglected lately. She suggests Heather looks like she needs something similar. And Guardian mentally agrees.Now we turn to Walter Langkowski in the wilds of Algonquin Park. He is also thinking of how Alpha Flight has become his whole life, neglecting friends & family. And science has supplanted his Jewish faith. He changes to Sasquatch and wishes for something to believe in. And he gets a sign as a glowing golden Star Of David appears in the sky. (Several superheroes see the relevant symbols of their faith like this in Infinity Crusade #1.)Later back in Department H Talisman leaves her father Shaman ignoring her in a floating lotus position trance. She joins Sasquatch with Puck and Windshear as they receive a call from the Goddess (appearing as Nelvanna of the Northern Lights) to join her soldiers of light. Like all the others we see in IC#1 they enthusiastically answer "Yes". (She calls for Shaman too.)Heather Hudson is having a meal and exchanging gossip with Lillian Crawley (formerly in Alpha Flight as Diamond Lil). Lil says her marriage to Madison Jeffries (formerly Box) is going through a rough patch (I believe because he misses the old life too much). Heather admits to being attracted to 1 of her teammates but won't say who. Then she gets called back to work ...... where Northstar and Wildheart tell her about the vanished teammembers, and they get a call from Vision to join a large gathering at Avengers Mansion (in IC#1). Beta Flight are left behind.Goblyn and Pathway are in a virtual reality school lesson which is supposed to be Advanced Geometry when a red hand appears in the scenario and zaps them. They scream. Wyre is contemplating leaving but he might as well stay because his life is meaningless now he doesn't have the Breed to hunt down. Then someone interrupts his musing with coruscating energy, which causes him to scream too. Kara Killgrave and Whit hear the screams. Persuasion gets zapped and then Manikin finds himself alone facing a demonic version of Witchfire who claims that her father has told her to oppose the Goddess with extreme prejudice.Story 2: Brothers in arms, part 1 (starring Puck)Barry Kitson pencils. John Stokes inks.In a bar in Moosejaw, Saskatchewan a man violently objects to Robert Hagon's Super-Powers Registration Act which the news says Alpha Flight will enforce. And this starts a brawl. Puck sees a report of the fight and asks Guardian if she'll let him deal with this alone He admits to her that the man in the middle of it all is an old associate. By now we see that the man has moved on to holding off police with 1 of their own cars. A cop shoots at him and succeeds in exploding the gas tank, which sends the man, on fire, through a store window.Puck arrives and tries to talk him down. Heather Hudson obviously *didn't* let him go alone because Northstar and Wildheart are with him. The man, who Puck refers to as Cleft, recognises him and the Alpha Flight uniform. He can't believe that Eugene Judd has joined the establishment. Puck says his life has changed since the old days, but Cleft relies on their old bond to still be strong. Puck knows his friend is a paranormal and they've got to bring him in, so he tells the other 2 to take him down. Northstar gets in 1 super-speed punch but then the ground rocks as 2 more men join the confrontation. 1 called Depth Charge has just punched his fists into the ground. They appear to be 2 more old comrades of Puck and Cleft.


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Bare bones
The issue starts with the self-styled Master Of The World monologuing to what I think is his original skeleton. He describes (from info in the database of the alien Plodex ship that rebuilt him from the caveman he was) an ancient offshoot of humanity called the Ska'r who psychically enhanced the evil in normal humans and fed off it. Eventually their city was expelled from this reality after which they consumed what humans they had with them and went into suspended animation until they can feed again. We see a city which is a mixture of ancient and modern, the streets littered with human skeletons and the Ska'r hanging from overhangs in web-sacks.The Master is aware of the danger threatening the universe in the Infinity War event, and he intends to preserve Earth from it so that he can continue his plans to rule the planet himself. But he hasn't got time for his usual subtle methods so he must use a blunt axe instead of a fine chisel. (Of course he means the Ska'r.) At the end of last issue the main Alpha Flight team were called along with other heroes by Mr Fantastic to a meeting at Four Freedoms Plaza. Now we see Northstar and Puck with others waiting for the meeting to start (IW#2).But the trainees Gamma Flight weren't invited. Elizabeth Twoyoungmen, who's been working with them, is currently trying to distract herself with retail therapy. She blames her father Shaman for unleashing her Talisman power (#18) which has brought her nothing but trouble. And since last issue she's been having visions of a locked door behind which is an 'ocean of bones' and a hungry evil. Then she's attacked by a bunch claiming to be the new Omega Flight.Windshear has been left to look after things at the Flight's Canadian HQ. He contacts Guardian (Heather McNeil) and Box (Madison Jeffries) where they're still waiting for Reed Richards to tell them what's going on.Recent adversary Brain Drain (#108) was recruited by the MOTW at the end of that issue and has now returned leading Omega Flight, a team of new villains. Tech-Noir fires mini-rockets at Elizabeth. Miss Mass tries to land on her. The animalistic Sinew tries to slash her, but it is Strongarm who lands a kick.Tech-Noir says Elizabeth has something they want, and she can either give it to them or they'll take it by force. 2 security guards try to radio for help but a last team member Bile has been held in reserve and he kills(?) them with poisonous touch and spit. Brain Drain explains that he wants Elizabeth to let him into her mind so he can unlock a door. She realises that he's referring to the door in her visions, and she's not going to let him through. She turns into Talisman and literally blows the enemy away. Except for the immovable Miss Mass who KOs her with a punch.Gamma Flight are having an unauthorised night on the town in Toronto, but now Whitman Knapp (Manikin) is trying to restrain the girls who are beating up some men who were attacking a female. While Laura Dean comforts the victim her sister Goblyn gets physical. Persuasion/Purple Girl (Kara Killgrave) is making the men fight each other, and Witchfire is siccing extradimensional monsters on them. Kara loses her concentration and her victims attack *her*. Whitman unleashes his 3 avatars Proto, Apeman and Highbrow who finish the fight.Back in Four Freedoms Plaza a gamma bomb has destroyed the top couple of floors but the heroes are all OK (see IW#2-3). Box, Guardian, Northstar and Puck have gathered with Aurora, Weapon Omega and Walter Langkowski (not being Sasquatch). Wolverine is with them as is ex-member Shaman doing a silent mediation bit in a levitating yoga position. They now know that Iron Man and Mr Fantastic are evil doppelgangers and they believe Thanos is behind it all. Cyclops pops in to invite Guardian, Sasquatch and Wolverine to join a force to go after Thanos. Shaman should team up with other mystics. Before he goes Logan tells Weapon Omega he knows who he is inside the all-concealing costume.In Toronto Goblyn senses something which her telepathic link with Laura explains is the smell of a freshly opened crypt. They are confronted by fighting men, an explosion, and a man surrounded by flames. They dodge a drag race in the street which ends in head-on collision, and the fire-man is enjoying it all. (No prize for guessing it's all caused by the Ska'r.)And finally Windshear arrives at the mall where Talisman is being taken into an ambulance. She can only tell him "They're out!".


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[Assistant]
Dead reckoning (part 2)
Last issue Shaman led Box, Diamond Lil, Nemesis and Wyre into the Sarcee Land Of The Dead to stop a threat to the universe (and hence to Goddess' plans). A demon Carcass was unleashing the Unmaking which would reduce everything to chaos. There they had to fight dead Sarcee under the demon's control. But Shaman lost his magic medicine pouch when he was faced with his own dead wife, and this caused the others to fall too. Then he revealed that he couldn't take them back home because they died in order to get here.Understandably angry Wyre attacks Shaman who doesn't fight back. Diamond Lil tries to stop him because Michael Twoyoungmen is their only hope, while Nemesis looks after Madison Jeffries who has been forcibly pulled out of his Box armour without his usual phasing. Shaman admits that he didn't tell them the truth at the start because he couldn't risk them refusing the mission. But things aren't quite as bad as they seem. Their bodies are preserved until their spirits return. But because Carcass controls this realm they can't get back without defeating him.Carcass himself is now with them so Wyre attacks him with a clawed hand - only to see it dissolve, and Carcass returns the attack. Diamond Lil tries next but the demon causes her to vomit he innards up out of her invulnerable skin. Jeffries leaps to protect his wife without his Box armour but the foe says that he knows that Madison is 'addicted' to his armour so he grants his fondest wish by permanently encasing him in metal. The he turns to Nemesis but Shaman asks him to torture him not the others. Carcass 'obligingly' returns the others to their previous states (including giving Nemesis her sorcerous sword back) before turning to Michael.Shaman has aged through the effort of keeping the others alive here. Carcass now taunts him by turning his wife Katheryn from a corpse to a 'living' woman. But only briefly as she then reverts and attacks him. He gloats that Goddess chose the wrong champion to send against him, and now his chaos will prevent her dream of universal order.But now Shaman does the last minute turnabout thing. He suddenly rejuvenates and blasts the demon. He reveals that he absorbed all the magic from his medicine bag before Katheryn destroyed it last issue. He's been playing weak since then until Carcass came close enough for him to attack. Carcass fights back by wrapping Michael in barbed wire, but Shaman keeps blasting away. He also knows that all the tortures have been mere illusions and now he fights back to the reality.Unfortunately that reality still does include the reanimated Sarcee corpses who now mob him. But the other 4, including Box back in his armour, now attack the demon himself. They claim that they don't like the way Shaman tricked them but they understand why and will stand by him. Michael in turn admits that his deception was nearly their undoing by sowing doubt. But now he destroys the corpse of his beloved Katheryn and combats the chaos demon by encasing him in a structure of crystalline order. Carcass is defeated but tries to break out causing the mixture of chaos and order to explode, killing him.The 5 find themselves alive back in their bodies on Earth. The others tell Shaman to *ask* for help next time. Michael says that they've also helped him finally come to terms with his wife's death. He's cut himself off from everyone including his daughter Elizabeth (Talisman) while he nursed his grief. Now he can reconnect with her.2nd story:- Trial And Error, starring Feedback.Penciller Manny Galan. Inker Mark Stegbauer.Albert Louis is a mutant who previously appeared in #118-120 where Alpha Flight protected him from the Hardliners who captured superhumans for unrevealed purposes under the guise of the Canadian Super-Powers Registration Act.Now he takes the codename Feedback and Beta Flight are training him to use his bioelectric powers. We see him battling human-size robotic beetles. He can blast them or channel his power into them by touch. He can also generate a defensive shield or a separate energy body to attack with. But still 1 of them blasts him from behind. Whitman Knapp (Manikin) terminates the training session but Albert is angry about the way his life has been disrupted and wants to take that anger out on more practice foes. Whit says he's progressing really quickly but he wants time to study telemetry from the test to try to work out where Feedback gets his energy from.They join beta Flight's Goblyn, Pathway and Persuasion watching a pre-recorded interview with Albert about his experiences and the ongoing trial of the Hardliners. But then they hear that the charges against the Hardliners have been dropped after a mystery benefactor offered to pay for all the damages they did. Their leader Reginald Tork touts it as a victory. And we see that the benefactor is billionaire Joshua Lord who we saw in #119. And who now claims that time is nothing to him and his grand scheme.


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Bare bones (part 2)
Last issue, while Alpha Flight are away in the Infinity War event with the other big heroes in New York and in a distant dimension, their old foe the self-styled Master Of The World decided to throw a wrench into Magus' plans to take over the world he thought of as *his*. He sent his new Omega Flight to invade the mind of Talisman and open the door to a banished branch of mankind known as the Ska'r. The rookie team Beta Flight, recently demoted to Gamma Flight, sneaked out for a night on the town in Toronto but ran into some signs of the Ska'r including a man they nicknamed Firebug.The Ska'r are driving humans to unleash their dark side. Windshear, who's supposed to be looking after Gamma Flight, has just come from seeing Talisman taken to hospital and now stops a man from deliberately running down a female pedestrian. But she now seems more interested in exploring some other base instincts with the hero.Instead he flies over to the fire where Witchfire is trying to keep Firebug contained within a magic shield. But he keeps blowing himself up, straining her mental control. On his latest attempt she switches to surrounding the various parts of the foe with force bubbles, keeping him from reforming. As usual Windshear blames the young team for being here at all, ignoring any good they're doing. While Highbrow, 1 of Manikin's avatars, tries to warn his Prime Unit of the approach of villain Mad-Dog.In the distant dimension an expeditionary force of heroes have caught up with Thanos and Adam Warlock's Infinity Watch who they think are behind the Infinity War. The 2 sides are battling while AF leader Guardian (Heather Hudson) thinks she's out of her depth. She sees Sasquatch taken down and former member Shaman ignoring her. Wolverine advises her to drown her doubts in action, which leads to some fighting mirrored in IW#4 where Gamora kicks She-Hulk in the stomach and Guardian and Logan tackle her.Meanwhile the apparently stand-offish Shaman has actually been mentally contacting his daughter Talisman in her hospital bed on Earth. He makes her delve into her own mind to find the door that Omega Flight made her open so she can understand what she set free. We see some of the Ska'r on Earth having consumed some corrupted humans.Back with Gamma Flight another Manikin avatar Apeman has tackled Mad-Dog as he leaps at Witchfire. Windshear grabs her to drag her out of the way but this makes her lose control of Firebug who immediately regenerates. Windshear blasts the bad guy with solid air as he explodes but that just widely scatters him. Armoured Windshear survives the explosion but Persuasion fears for Witchfire, Manikin and his avatars. However Highbrow has teleported them to safety. The Apeman and Proto avatars keep beating on Mad-Dog while Witchfire lambasts Windshear. Colin Hume just blames *them* again until Persuasion possesses him to shut him up.The Master Of The World and Omega Flight are watching the carnage in Toronto from on high. Eshu stops his minions from squabbling and promises them the Earth (literally) when they are done. Canada will be lost to the Ska'r but that will be a small price to pay for thwarting Magus. Somehow his alien-enhanced mind is able to detect the villain in his fortress many dimensions away (not the same 1 where the heroes and the Watch are fighting), and knows of his plan to duplicate the Earth and take over the minds of its populace.Next we look in on other Alpha Flight'ers in the Fantastic Four HQ where other heroes are fighting their evil Doppelgangers. We see Northstar and Puck in the melee but we concentrate on Weapon Omega giving Aurora and Box (off-panel) tactical advice when he himself is attacked a Daredevil-Dop. He accidentally 'kills' the Dop, and his own Dop unmasks as an evil version of Wild Child to accuse him of still being his savage self. Kyle Gibney seems to prove him right with a vicious attack. Meanwhile Aurora is failing against the Aurora-Dop who is about to absorb her. But then she switches to her Jeanne-Marie personality who's light of peace dispels the evil Dop.Back in Toronto Witchfire suggests they stop fighting the symptoms and look for the cause. She reminds them that (last issue) Laura Dean said her sister Goblyn sensed an evil presence, and she sensed something similar mystically. Now she concentrates and sense foul beings. But MOTW has sent Omega Flight to stop them investigating.And Talisman finds herself in a pile of bones. And the Ska'r sense her and Gamma Flight.


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[Assistant]
Bare bones (part 3)
As a side part of his Infinity War master plan the Magus has begun to merge 2 realities including 2 Earths and their 2 Moons. And as part of that he has frozen Earth's population into stasis. The end result will be an Earth (and universe) under his total control. (All this in IW#4.) The self-styled Master Of The World, based in Canada, has reintroduced an ancient horror called the Ska'r in Toronto to fill the city with madness that makes them also impervious to Magus' stasis. He expects the Ska'r to spread throughout Canada, which should be enough to stop Magus' takeover. Then the MOTW can get on with his own plans for ruling the rest of the planet. He notes now that 4 telepaths (Prof X, Jean Grey, Moondragon and Psylocke) are also trying to foster resistance among the human minds. As seen in IW#5. We'll see how they fare in Sleepwalker #18.)Last issue the Master's minions Omega Flight attacked Gamma Flight who were trying to find the source of the madness in Toronto. But the bad guys aren't doing so well so Eshu decides to involve himself directly. Miss Mass is being held off by Windshear (currently under the control of Persuasion - don't ask) but it's a stalemate until P makes W stop blasting causing MM to pitch forward on her face. Strongarm is throttling Manikin, and if he succeeds Whitman Knapp's 3 avatars will disappear and Gamma Flight will be cut in half. Witchfire is dealing with Sinew, and the MOTW reckons it's her magic that is keeping them from being maddened by the Ska'r. He directs Bile to take her out but some drunks get in the way and he pauses to infect *them*, alerting his target. The avatar Highbrow teleports Persuasion behind Bile and she controls him to chase Miss Mass away. The other avatars Apeman and Blob have saved Manikin. (Goblyn and Laura Dean kept out of the fighting.)Elizabeth Twoyoungmen is in hospital after being severely injured by Omega Flight in #110. But her Talisman self is being shown the past where thousands of years ago the Ska'r ruled a Middle Eastern city whose inhabitants they corrupted and then fed on that corruption. But forces of good banished the city to another dimension where the Ska'r were forced to consume their victims and then go into hibernation. Elizabeth now realises that the power of the Talisman was used to imprison them, and as the current Talisman she had been their jailer. Until Brain Drain of Omega of Flight invaded her mind and let them out (#110). She awakes in her hospital bed knowing it's up to her to put things right again.Bile chases all the rest of Omega Flight away and Gamma Flight gloat over their victory. Their 'babysitter' Windshear isn't happy about having been possessed by Kara Killgrave but grudgingly admits they did well. Witchfire says they must now tackle the Ska'r but the Master steps forward to stop them. He's gathered the molecules of Firebug (who the team dispersed last issue) and uses them to create a huge explosion. Which Witchfire magically protects them from but it leaves them all unconscious.MOTW is about to kill them when Omega Flight's Tech-Noir arrives with a warning. The rest of the Flight are running back this way chased by the Ska'r. The Master has protected the OF against the Ska'r's corruption but their super-powered bodies will still make a fine meal. TN fires mini-rockets which blow some of them up. But Eshu punishes her for attacking his 'allies'.Talisman mentally wakens Gamma Flight and forges them into a weapon against the Ska'r. Meanwhile the Master tries to bargain with the evil beings, promising them Canada. But they just start to eat *him*, and he instinctively strikes back. However the conflict has broken the hold (that I didn't know) he had that was keeping Magus at bay. Then Laura Dean opens a portal back to the Ska'r's prison. Eshu begs them not to do this because it will give the Earth to Magus, and then he himself teleports away as Windshear blows the Ska'r back home. And they all fall into Magus' stasis.The issue ends with an epilogue as Alpha Flight return from the Infinity War and promote Gamma Flight (now including Talisman) back to Beta Flight. But Weapon Omega doesn't join the celebration because his fight (last issue) against the Wild Child Doppelganger has made him question whether he's really overcome his old feral nature.


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[Assistant]
Faith
The unbeliever heroes have landed (in Infinity Crusade #5) on Paradise Omega in pairs in escape pods from the 2 quinjets Thor destroyed (in IC#4). Moondragon has sent groups of believer heroes out to stop them from reaching the Citadel of the Goddess.We open with unbelievers Guardian and Wolverine fighting Daredevil and Living Lightning. Heather Hudson thinks to herself that her blast defeated Daredevil because Logan's senses warned her of his attack (as seen in IC#5). But she checks that he's only stunned and then stops Wolvie from gutting LL with his claws. She leaves him to deal with the entranced hero more gently and flies off towards the Citadel.In another battle glimpsed in IC#5 Dr Strange and Shaman have Strong Guy trapped in a mystic bubble. DrS leaves and now we are reminded (as we learned in #125) that Shaman has only been pretending to believe in Goddess' Crusade to bring peace to the universe. He knows that higher powers exist in the universe but long ago lost any faith in their wisdom. Just then Guido's ability to absorb power used against him allows him to break free of the bubble. He launches an attack but Shaman freezes him in mystic ice.Michael Twoyoungmen has figured out a spell which will break Goddess' hold on the believers but he hesitates to use it. 1 of them is his daughter Talisman but he knows that Elizabeth's power depends on the strength of her faith (in general) and she might lose it. His spirit leaves his body intending to check out other Alphans' self-confidence but before he can go he's attacked by Guardian and Wolverine with Wonder Man coming to his aid (another tussle seen in IC#5). He pauses to allow himself to be easily beaten by Logan, but Heather has a harder time with Simon Williams.Shaman's spirit leaves anyway and looks in on Sasquatch fighting She-Hulk. He remembers how Walter Langkowski survives his transformations into the beast by his faith (in science and the Jewish religion). He sees Aurora battling Speedball and recalls that she has no religion while her alter ego Jeanne Marie does but their faith in each other is strong. While watching Puck and Spider-Man fight Firestar and Thing he notes that Puck's dwarfism means that he's in constant pain but it doesn't dilute his heroism. When Windshear fights Vision Shaman detects that Colin Hume has freed himself from Goddess' influence (see the backup story in #124) and is passively resisting her by allowing himself to be defeated. These examples steel Michael to do what he must.Back at the main fight Guardian manages to fight back against the superior foe Wonder Man. But it's all for naught as Goddess makes the Sun go nova consuming believers and unbelievers alike (as seen at the end of IC#5).But then after a period of sweet oblivion the Alphans (and everyone else) find themselves alive again, and Michael is reunited with daughter Elizabeth.Story 2:- Blind fury (featuring Wildheart)Penciller Keith Pollard. Inker Mark McKenna.During the multi-battle 2 unbelievers meet up, but Wolverine attacks Wildheart. Kyle Gibney tries to get Logan to explain why, but eventually fights back, organic claws against adamantium ones. We are privy to Wolvie's memory of finding Storm unmistakably killed by Wildheart's claws. And now he shouts that he should never have believed in Gibney's rehabilitation.They both remember back to when (in the 1992 Alpha Flight Special) Kyle as Wild Child was part of the original Department H. 1 day during a training session he slashed the face of fellow-trainee Stitch. James Hudson had to prevent Wolverine from 'putting him down', reminding him how Logan had needed 'taming'. But Kyle figured then that if he was going to be seen as a monster then that's what he'd be, and he went on to be a villain until his current stint in Alpha Flight.Now Wildheart figures something must have set Wolverine off and he uses his senses to follow Logan's trail backwards, with the other guy chasing after him. Eventually they reach the spot where Wolvie saw Storm's body, and Logan can see and smell that the body had never been there. He realises that Moondragon has messed with his head and he apologises to Wildheart. But Gibney requires no apology because these days he's secure in his identity.


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Torr
Astronomer Paul Ramsey is on court, accused of murdering his colleague John Carter. Ramsey claims guilty. While the jury prepares the verdict, he recalls when Carter and he met Torr, a mighty extraterrestrial creature who wanted to make the world a colony of his own, slavering humanity. Torr asked Ramsey to take him to New York City to study men. And he possessed the body of Carter to go unnoticed. Torr placed a wrist device on Ramsey to prevent him from revealing the truth to the others. Desperate to stop the alien monster, Ramsey grabbed a pistol from a police officer and shot Torr dead. Everyone thought he had killed Carter instead.Just as the jury was ready to give their verdict, Ramsey unexpectedly entered the courtroom unharmed and shared his story. Carter’s body slowly healed as the spirit of Torr departed. Ramsey’s wrist gadget vanished.--


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Spider-Man!
The
splash page opens by promising a very different kind of superhero
with Spider-Man,
while showing Peter Parker being ridiculed by his classmates.
The readers are given a look at the life of Peter Parker, living with
his loving Aunt May and
Uncle Ben and
adored by his teachers as an ace student.  His classmates, most
noticeably
Flash Thompson,
are not so fond of him, however, as they turn down his offer of
checking out the new science exhibit with him.  Frustrated by
his classmates’ treatment of him, Peter goes to the exhibit alone,
but is quickly enamored by the demonstrations regarding
radioactivity.

Unknown
to Peter or anyone else, a spider makes its way into the path of the
radioactive rays, before leaping off and biting Peter’s hand.
Startled, Peter notices the spider is glowing and suddenly starts to
feel strange and steps outside for some air.  Lost in his
thoughts over what just happened, Peter doesn’t notice a car
speeding towards him, which he leaps to avoid at the last second.
It’s a greater leap than Peter bargained for as he jumps straight
onto the wall of a nearby building and discovers he can stick to
walls as he quickly climbs up the building.  He then discovers
he has super-strength as he crushes a pipe on the roof of the
building.

Peter
contemplates how best to use his newfound powers, as he sees a poster
advertising a cash prize against wrestler Crusher Hogan.  Peter
thinks it’s as good a chance as any to test his powers, but
disguises himself in the event that he fails.  Peter challenges
Crusher and quickly makes short work of him.  This impresses the
audience, including a TV producer who promises Peter that he’ll be
a star.  At home, Peter designs a costume for himself, as well
as his wrist-mounted web-shooters, and decides to call
himself…Spider-Man!

Spider-Man
is a smash hit on TV, dazzling everyone with his amazing powers and
feats.  As Spidey is leaving the studio a cop calls out to him
to stop a Burglar that
he is chasing.  Peter reasons that it’s none of his business
and lets the crook go by.  After many more TV appearances, Peter
returns home one night to find that his uncle has been shot and
killed by a burglar.  Overcome with grief and anger, Peter dons
his Spider-Man costume and vows to catch the burglar.  He swings
over to a warehouse where the police have the burglar cornered.
Spider-Man startles and quickly subdues the burglar, finally getting
a good look at his face.  It is then that the sees that it was
the same crook he chose not to stop before.  Spider-Man webs up
the burglar for the cops and laments over his guilt.  Peter
sadly makes his way home, having learned that with great power, there
must also come great responsibility.
The
Bell-Ringer

Writer: Stan
Lee. Artist: Steve Ditko.

On
a small Mediterranean island, old Pedros faithfully rings the bells
every morning. When the island's volcano becomes active and threatens
to destroy the village, the villagers evacuate but Pedros refuses to
leave, staying behind to ring the bells. And for his faithfulness, he
is taken to heaven just moments away from death!
Man
in the Mummy Case

Writer: Stan
Lee. Artist: Steve Ditko.

A
criminal on the run from the police ducks into a museum. A mummy
offers to hide him where he will never be found; the crook agrees and
the mummy puts him in a sarcophagus. The police enter and search the
museum, even looking in the sarcophagus but they can't find
him--because the crook is now a slave in ancient Egypt, helping build
the pyramids!
There
are Martians Among us!

Writer: Stan
Lee. Artist: Steve Ditko.

A
spaceship from Mars is discovered wrecked in a forest but no one is
aboard. A search is made for the Martians but without success and
fear grips the community. A husband and wife are nervous as he has to
go out late at night but he assures her he will be okay. When she
discovers they are out of coffee, the wife dashes out to the store
but is caught on the way back.... When the husband returns home and
finds his wife missing, he panics, knowing she must have been
recognized as the Martian--and he, with his two extra arms, will be
discovered next!


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[Assistant]
Mastermind Excello

Amadeus Cho wins the title of Mastermind Excello in an internet game show; that night
his house is blown up and his parents killed. Despite the pleas of Agent
Sexton, Amadeus doesn’t trust anyone and goes on the run with his coyote pup
Kirby, adopted when its mother was killed by a car. At a diner, he is spotted
by Bruce Banner who warns him to be careful; when Kirby is spotted, there is
concern over a rabies outbreak and a police officer intervenes. Amadeus uses
his intellect to quickly puzzle out how to avoid capture and escape. An enemy
helicopter fires on him and Hulk arrives to punch the missile away before
leaving; Amadeus calls Agent Sexton to tell her he’s coming for them….
“Blackjack:
Heavy on Action, Light on Plot”Writer:
Dan Slott. Art: Pete Woods. Colors: Brad Anderson. Letters: Dave Lanphear.Synopsis:
Blackjack team Ace and One-Eyed Jacquie, working for G.R.A.M.P.A., are on the
run from every vampire in London. Surrounded, Ace presses a button that moves a
satellite, reflecting sunlight from the other side of the world, killing the
vampires.
“The
Man with X-Ray Eyes”Writer:
Daniel Way. Art: Nick Dragotta. Colors: Leigh Loughridge. Letters: Dave
Lanphear.Synopsis:
Paul Vance sets fire to his video store in an insurance scam but he is caught
in the blaze and severely burned. Two police detectives visit him in the hospital
but he sees them as living skeletons then a heat beam comes from his eyes
burning the two men to a crisp. He escapes from the hospital and hijacks a
man’s motorcycle to get home, only to find it bare of all furnishings. He calls
his wife Janie only to find she has left him for another man and taken
everything except the video camera. Later he straps the camera to his helmet
and visits his rival video store to make threats—but they are busy so he just
asks for the Roger Corman movie THE MAN WITH X-RAY EYES.
“Blackjack:
The Winning Hand”Writer:
Dan Slott. Art: Pete Woods. Colors: Brad Anderson. Letters: Dave Lanphear.Synopsis:
A giant alien has invaded Earth and is destroying the city. Blackjack team Ace
and One-Eyed Jacquie wield the Ultimate Nullifier to frighten it off the
planet. The job done, they put the Nullifier back with the others in the Prop
Room, which includes Cosmic Cubes, Infinity Gauntlets, and Holy Grails.
“Monstro”Writer:
Robert Kirkman. Pencils: Khary Randolph. Inks: John Stanisci. Colors: Val
Staples. Letters: Dave Lanphear.Synopsis:
Firefighter Frank Jackson is nicknamed Monstro for his size and extreme
strength; he saves a man from a fire which the man admits to setting in a
suicide attempt. Frank turns him over to the police. He shies away from the
limelight, because of a dark and secret past involving his family which he
broods over and can’t even confess to his best friend John….
“Blackjack:
You Say You Want an Evolution?”Writer:
Dan Slott. Art: Pete Woods. Colors: Brad Anderson. Letters: Dave Lanphear.Synopsis:
Eco-terrorist King Sapien has turned the people of Earth into dinosaurs,
including Blackjack team Ace and One-Eyed Jacquie; they invade Sapien’s lab and
destroy his machine, turning everyone back to normal but also transforming
Sapien and his henchmen into apes.
“Heartbreak
Kid!”Writer:
Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. Pencils: Jeff Parker. Inks: Sal Buscema. Colors: Lovern
Kindzierski. Letters: Dave Lanphear.Synopsis:
Danny Shepard is the Heartbreak Kid, a mutant whose power is being able to
detect and absorb other people’s sadness and free them from it. He is drawn to
Midtown High by a great amount of grief; passing Flash Thompson, Liz Allen,
Harry Osborn, and others, he locates Peter Parker, aching from the loss of his
Uncle Ben, and offers to take his sorrow away. Peter is startled, confused,
shocked, and appalled by Danny’s offer as it’s all he has left to remember his
Uncle Ben and he storms off, unaware he has just learned a lesson not to let
that pain go away but also to not let it control his life. Danny moves on….
“Blackjack:
Happy Ending”Writer:
Dan Slott. Art: Pete Woods. Colors: Brad Anderson. Letters: Dave Lanphear.Synopsis:
Aliens have arrived on Earth and turned it into a utopia; Blackjack team Ace
and One-Eyed Jacquie show up and destroy all of the utopian centers as mankind
needs to be discontent to advance. They welcome the boos and jeers of the
citizens.
“Positron”Writer:
Sean McKeever. Art: Kristian Donaldson. Letters: Dave Lanphear.Synopsis:
A young couple, Annie and Jackson, have a romantic moment on an Atlanta
rooftop—but then her father appears in a spaceship, demanding Annie come home.
She reveals to Jackson hat she is made up of positronic energy and her father
only wants her to power his weapons. She refuses to go back so, at a signal, Jackson
clamps an inhibitor to her neck, as he was hired by her father to do. He hands
back the money he was paid as father leaves with daughter.
“I
Was That Guy in Spider-Man’s Armpit!”Writer:
Dan Slott. Pencils: Patrick Scherberger. Inks: Norman Lee. Colors: Matt Nelson.
Letters: Dave Lanphear.Synopsis:
A dude named Steve, leaning out of his office window to see Spider-Man, falls;
Spidey catches him, deposits him on the ground and, when he realizes Steve
didn’t hear him say “Peter Parker,” gives him two free tickets to tonight’s
show.