The Fantastic Four (Mr. Fantastic, Thing, Human Torch,
Crystal) watch film of the Inhumans, by way of introducing the characters to
the reader and mentioning that they live in isolation in the Himalayan
Mountains…
…where a detachment of soldiers has been dispatched by Red
China to locate the Inhumans’ hidden city. But the Inhumans are aware of them.
Karnak chops a cliff, creating an escape bridge for the soldiers, Gorgon
threatens to stamp his foot and cause an Earth tremor, Medusa uses her prehensile
hair to steal the enemy’s atomic grenade, and Black Bolt pushes the soldiers
across the bridge before destroying it. They return to Attilan, the Great Refuge…
…where Triton tells them of a missile with a cobalt warhead launched
directly at the city. The real culprit is Black Bolt’s brother, Maximus the Mad,
who has launched two missiles, intending to force the Inhumans into a war with
the outside world, which will devastate Attilan and Maximus can then take the
throne from his brother….
As the first missile nears Attilan, Black Bolt exerts a
mental force that hurls it into space to explode harmlessly—but the second
comes down much closer and BB must fly close to it and cause it to corrode and
drop from the sky. Examination of the debris shows that the missile was created
by the Fantastic Four. And so Black Bolt declares war on their old friends….
“Then Came…the Black Widow” 3.5/5
Writer: Gary Friedrich. Pencils: John Buscema. Inks: John
Verpoorten. Colors: ? Letters: Artie Simek.
Synopsis: Jet-setting socialite Madame Natasha makes a date for
the weekend with playboy film director Guy Desmond but admits to herself the
only excitement she really wants is the kind she got as the Black Widow, facing
Spider-Man (AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #86). She notices her maid Maria is crying and
asks why; the lady confesses that her son is in debt to gangsters. Natasha
offers to pay but Maria declines and hurries out. Natasha dons her Black Widow
gear and calls her chauffeur, Ivan Petrovich, to drive her to Maria’s home in a bad neighborhood…
…where her Rolls-Royce stands out among the neighbors. Nevertheless,
she perches outside Maria’s window and hears a pair of crooks demanding the
loan be paid back with interest. Maria asks for more time so the crooks take Carlos,
giving Maria twelve hours to come up with the money or he dies. As they emerge
through the front door, BW drops from the roof and clobbers both of them. The
police arrive so she escapes up a wall and a news photographer snaps pictures
of her. As the cops wonder about her, she regrets her decision to forgo a mask
and questions whether she should continue in her new career….