Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner #93
“The Monarch and the Monster!”
The Sub-Mariner, carrying a spear made from the metal hull of the destroyed sub, catches up to It -- a 25’ tall/long man-fish -- on the next day. Worse, It absorbed radiation from the submarine it wrecked and it saps the Sub-Mariner’s strength as they fight.
During the fight, a Russian sub arrives to investigate what happened to the American sub. It fires on It and its exploding torpedoes cause an avalanche from a nearby underwater mountain that buries It. The Sub-Mariner digs out of the rubble and boards the submarine. He talks to the Russians about the U.S. submarine; they don’t want to be blamed for what happened to it anymore than he does. When It begins to slither out of the rubble, the Sub-Mariner has them bombard it with depth charges to stun it. Then the Sub-Mariner emerges from the sub and impales It on his spear, killing It.
Returning to Aquaria, the Sub-Mariner is treated for radiation burns and fully recovers. He hears from Atlantis that the Americans have already contacted them about their missing sub. The Sub-Mariner vows to return the wreckage to them, but needs a PR win with the Americans. Then he comes up with the idea of joining the FF (this occurs before FF #63).
Script: Scott Casper
Pencils: Gene Colan
Inks: Vince Colletta
The Incredible Hulk #3
“Escape to the East!”
The Hulk has changed back into Bruce Banner and been imprisoned on Gamma Base, but Betsy smuggles him off and delivers him to Rick Jones to help him escape. They elude police dragnets while crossing the country, and use Rick’s Teen Brigade to help them stay informed ahead of efforts to catch them. Eventually, Rick jumps off a train in Pennsylvania when it seems like the police are finally onto the Teen Brigade, hoping to throw them off the scent. Bruce arrives in New York City alone, gets an apartment under an alias, and gets a job with an engineering firm.
Three weeks pass. Bruce has bought the supplies he needs to try and build a gamma siphon of his own, hoping to rid himself of the Hulk. But the siphon malfunctions and turns him into the Hulk again instead. Luckily for New York, the Hulk doesn’t want to be there and leaps away.
Later that night, in the Midwest, the Hulk spots what he thinks is a spaceship and tries to leap up to it, but the “ship” turns out to be the Silver Surfer, who lands and introduces himself.
Script: Roy Thomas
Pencils: Gil Kane
Inks: Marie Severin
The Mighty Thor #142
“The Scourge of the Super-Skrull!”
When Thor is blocking the path of a motorcyclist, the boastful biker challenges Thor to a race to see who is faster. He gets more than he bargained for when Thor hops on the back of the bike and uses his enhanced abilities to cause the bike to travel at super-speed and fly into the air, prompting the biker to concede. Having enjoyed this moment, Thor walks off into a dark alley where he resumes his mortal guise of Donald Blake.
Meanwhile, on the barren world for which he was banished to by Odin, Loki decides to once more attempt revenge against his half-brother Thor. Needing a pawn to carry out his plans, Loki sends an astral form out into the universe to find the ideal foe to attack Thor, and finds it in the Super-Skrull, who is flying through space in his starship. The Super-Skrull was punished with menial patrols in space following his defeat at the hands of the Fantastic Four. Loki implants the idea of fighting and defeating Thor as a means of regaining his honor, prompting the Super-Skrull to leave his post and return to Earth.
Meanwhile, Donald Blake finds out that Jane Foster has been staying with a girlfriend these past few weeks and confronts her at last. Jane has been scared to come back to Donald -- Thor, after all she had seen in Asgard. Donald argues that Earth has at least as many dangers, and is proven true when they hear of the Super-Skrull’s attack on the city, demanding Thor show himself. Thor leaves Jane to deal with this.
The Thing, the Human Torch, and Crystal have found the Super-Skrull first, but he uses invisibility to elude them before Thor appears. The Super-Skrull ambushes Thor with the powers of the FF, but no combination of powers can stop Thor. When the three members of the FF catch up to the battle, the Super-Skrull fears being heavily outnumbered and teleports back to his ship in orbit. Watching this all from his place of exile, Loki is furious to once more be bested by the Thunder God. And, watching from her TV, Jane Foster wonders if she should have told Thor the truth.
Script: Scott Casper
Pencils: Jack Kirby
Inks: Vince Colletta
The Amazing Spider-Man #50
“Spider-Man No More!”
Spider-Man had a hot tip that someone was trying to organize the NY underworld as the Big Man had done three years earlier and is trying track him down from the bottom up. He raids a den and captures four hoodlums, but the tight-lipped goons won’t even squeal on their lieutenant, let alone anyone higher.
As Peter, he returns home in time to learn that Aunt May had a fainting spell and he begins to worry about her failing health again. This only convinces him on what he had already been thinking, that it was time he moved on from being a photographer and pursued something he was working towards in college. This works out perfect the next day, as Gwen wants Peter to partner with her in a pilot internship program with the NYPD forensics department. They speak to Professor Warren about a recommendation. Peter is excited, but later wonders how he can keep all this up while still being Spider-Man. He decides in a rash moment to pitch his Spider-Man costume in the trash because it’s time to “grow up’ (but keeps his web-shooters -- they are expensive!).
Later, someone finds the costume in the trash and sells it to J. Jonah Jameson. Based on this, Jameson surmises Spider-Man is no more and runs that in the paper the next day. Peter has no regrets when he sees it, but when Frederick Foswell sees it in the paper, he wonders if it’s time to become the Big Man again and he seeks out this new “Kingpin of Crime.”
Later still, Peter and Gwen read a letter from Flash Thompson (serving in the Army), go for a ride on his scooter, and then have dinner together -- their first date. Peter is loving it and glad Spider-Man really is no more!
Script: Scott Casper
Pencils: John Romita
Inks: Steve Ditko
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