The Avengers Project - Vol. 1 No. 5
Sep. 6th, 2006 02:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jkcarrier
AVENGERS Vol. 1 No. 5
May, 1964
"The Invasion of the Lava Men!"
An epic tale, told with high drama and heroic dignity by: Stan Lee
Illustrated with deep sincerity and dazzling beauty: by Jack Kirby
Inked by: Paul Reinman
Lettered by: S. Rosen
The splash page shows the Avengers (Giant-Man, the Wasp, Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor, plus hanger-on Rick Jones) grimly surveying the damage done to their mansion headquarters (caused by the Hulk in FANTASTIC FOUR #25-26). The members decide to go their separate ways and attend to personal matters while the building is being repaired.
A few days later, workers at Tony Stark's Long Island weapons factory are building a new artillery computer. Suddenly, a loud, piercing sound is heard; it's so powerful that it tears the computer to pieces. Stark is called with the news, and he decides to go investigate. But first, he must charge up the mechanical chest-plate that keeps his injured heart beating. He ponders that the many men who are jealous of his wealth and good looks might think differently if they knew about his handicap.
Meanwhile, Ant-Man and the Wasp are shrunken down inside an ant-hill, performing a research project. They, too, get blasted by the mysterious sound, which causes the ant-hill to come crashing down around them. They manage to get out just in time, and start searching for the source of the deadly noise.
Elsewhere, Dr. Don Blake sees a newspaper article about the strange sound that is causing disasters all over the country. Striking his cane to the ground, he transforms into the mighty Thor, and says that it's time to summon the Avengers.
And the final member of the team, Captain America, is showing off some acrobatic stunts to Rick Jones and his Teen Brigade pals. Thor arrives, much to the kids' delight, but before Thor can explain the reason for his visit, the terrible noise strikes again, causing a tree to shatter into splinters. Thor, Cap, and Rick go to meet with the other Avengers. Conferring in the basement of the headquarters (since the upper floors are still under repairs), the heroes deduce that the source of the sounds is somewhere in the southwest. Giant-Man wonders if the Hulk is somehow involved, but Rick Jones is skeptical.
At a missile base in that self-same part of the country, a mound of solid rock erupts from the ground. Before the soldiers can investigate, the young scientist named Bruce Banner appears. The base commander, General Ross, demands to know where Banner has been for the past several months, but Banner merely claims to have been sick. What Ross doesn't know is that Banner is secretly the rampaging monster known as the Hulk.
Far below the surface, we see the cave-dwelling, stone-skinned creatures known as the Lava Men. It is they who have caused the small mountain to suddenly appear, using a mechanism to push the "living rock" up towards the surface. The tribe's king and witch doctor are both determined to see the rock pushed all the way out of their realm and onto the surface, but a tribesman named Molto objects. He knows that the surface humans are not evil, and don't deserve to have the dangerous living rock forced upon them. But the witch doctor says that Molto is simply afraid of the surface people, having been defeated by Thor months ago.
Back up top, the Avengers have arrived at the missile base via helicopter to investigate the growing rock. Iron Man flies towards the rock and blasts a hole in it with his repulser transistors, trying to determine what's causing it to expand so rapidly. The Lava Men interpret this as an attack, and swarm all over the armored Avenger. Using their power to generate heat, they try to broil Iron Man with his own armor. But Iron Man is rescued by the timely arrival of Thor, who uses his hammer to scatter the attacking Lava Men.
The thunder god sends Iron Man and Captain America back to the surface, saying that only he can deal with the Lava Men. The creatures are stunned when they see Thor walk into a pool of molten rock, and rise up again unharmed. Thor confronts the king and the witch doctor, who tell him that once he sees the mighty weapon they have, he will know that the surface world is doomed. They show him the mechanism that is pushing the Living Rock towards the surface. The rock is the source of the deadly sounds that have been causing havoc.
Thor threatens to destroy the rock with a cosmic bolt from his hammer, but the king stops him. He explains that the rock was first exposed after a strange upheaval shook the underground realms. When one of the Lava Men struck the small, strange rock with a hammer, the resulting explosion destroyed an entire island. Since then, the rock has continued to grow in power and size; if it were to explode underground now, it might well tear the whole planet apart. The only solution, they claim, is to push the rock completely onto the surface, where the inevitable explosion will "only" destroy the surface world, leaving the Lava Men's subterranean world intact.
Thor is momentarily stymied; he dare not strike the rock, but neither can he allow it to be pushed to the surface. The king takes this as his cue to order his army to attack, and the Lava Men start rushing towards the surface. At the mouth of the tunnel, they are blocked by Captain America, who uses his ricocheting shield to keep them at bay. But the Lava Men strike back, heating the air around Cap and trapping him in a cocoon of unbreakable cinders. Rick Jones tries to get Cap free, while Iron Man steps up to confront the invaders.
Meanwhile, Ant-Man and the Wasp have been carefully examining every inch of the living rock, and found one spot that is not pulsating and growing; a sufficiently powerful blow at that point could destroy the rock with causing an explosion. Switching to Giant-Man form, he and the Wasp go down the tunnel to look for Thor. Iron Man explains that there's a whole army of Lava Men between them and the thunder god, and they've almost melted through the boulder he used to block the tunnel. Grabbing the Avengers' helicopter, Giant-Man turns the blades sideways to serve as a giant fan, knocking the Lava Men for a loop. The invaders retreat, and Iron Man is able to blast Captain America free from the cinders holding him. The heroes continue down the tunnel and meet up with Thor, who tells them they have their work cut out for them.
Back up on the surface, Bruce Banner has deduced the nature of the living rock. But before he can ponder further, he suddenly feels himself transforming... and soon the Hulk is on the rampage once more. Hearing the Avengers below, he leaps in to attack them. Thor beings whirling his hammer in preparation to attack, but the Lava Men's witch doctor intervenes with an atomic blast from his radioactive rod. Somehow, the blast causes Thor to be turned back into Dr. Blake. The transformation frightens the superstitious witch doctor, and he flees.
Meanwhile, the other Avengers struggle with the Hulk on top of the living rock, which has nearly reached critical mass. Captain America has devised a plan, but the timing is critical. Giant-Man repeatedly grows and shrinks, confusing the Hulk and manuvering him into position. Then the Wasp flies between the Hulk and the one vulnerable point of the rock. The Hulk strikes out with all his might, and suddenly the living rock glows, shimmers... and then implodes, collapsing in on itself harmlessly.
Down below, Blake turns back into Thor and tells the demoralized Lava Men to go back to their realm and never threaten the surface again, lest they face the might of the Avengers. Back above, General Ross orders his men to stand down, while his daughter Betty worries about where Bruce Banner could have gone. At the site where the living rock stood, the force of the explosion has transformed the ground into a sheet of glass. The worn-out Avengers pick themselves up, and explain to Thor how they manuvered the Hulk into striking the critical spot on the living rock. Thor ponders that the Hulk's arrival must have been fate, and Giant-Man praises the Wasp for her role in the plan.
Not far away, Betty Ross finds the battered form of Bruce Banner. She asks him if the Hulk was responsible for injuring him, and he tells her that was the case, more or less. But, he assures her, the Hulk is gone... at least for now.
The Avengers head back to their helicopter to go back to New York, only to receive a radio message from the Teen Brigade. A "Condition Red" Emergency! To be continued...
With a solid membership in place, and a genuine world-threatening menace to fight, this is perhaps the most "traditional" issue to date, with a plot that could have easily been in an issue of JLA. But, as is typical of Lee/Kirby, the "villains" aren't purely evil for the sake of evil. While the king and witch doctor are shown to be all-too-eager for an excuse to invade the surface world, they're also acting out of self-preservation. The convenient arrival of the Hulk is a bit of a deus ex machina, but at least it's set up fairly early on, and is consistent with his appearances in previous issues. The ongoing sub-plot of the Hulk's desire for revenge on the Avengers pretty much peters out here, though, and he eventually transitions into a solo series in TALES TO ASTONISH.
(And, I'm happy to note, the Wasp actually makes a worthwhile contribution this issue. Finally!)
This issue also features the debut of the letters page, "All About The Avengers". Morton Hughes of Ohio wants to know who's stronger, the Hulk or Thor (Stan is typically non-committal). Roger Gilman of Massachusettes thinks that the Hulk should fight the X-Men and have a romance with Marvel Girl (???). And future comics artist Alan Weiss of Nevada thinks that the Sub-Mariner should turn from villain to hero (which indeed came to pass).
May, 1964
"The Invasion of the Lava Men!"
An epic tale, told with high drama and heroic dignity by: Stan Lee
Illustrated with deep sincerity and dazzling beauty: by Jack Kirby
Inked by: Paul Reinman
Lettered by: S. Rosen
The splash page shows the Avengers (Giant-Man, the Wasp, Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor, plus hanger-on Rick Jones) grimly surveying the damage done to their mansion headquarters (caused by the Hulk in FANTASTIC FOUR #25-26). The members decide to go their separate ways and attend to personal matters while the building is being repaired.
A few days later, workers at Tony Stark's Long Island weapons factory are building a new artillery computer. Suddenly, a loud, piercing sound is heard; it's so powerful that it tears the computer to pieces. Stark is called with the news, and he decides to go investigate. But first, he must charge up the mechanical chest-plate that keeps his injured heart beating. He ponders that the many men who are jealous of his wealth and good looks might think differently if they knew about his handicap.
Meanwhile, Ant-Man and the Wasp are shrunken down inside an ant-hill, performing a research project. They, too, get blasted by the mysterious sound, which causes the ant-hill to come crashing down around them. They manage to get out just in time, and start searching for the source of the deadly noise.
Elsewhere, Dr. Don Blake sees a newspaper article about the strange sound that is causing disasters all over the country. Striking his cane to the ground, he transforms into the mighty Thor, and says that it's time to summon the Avengers.
And the final member of the team, Captain America, is showing off some acrobatic stunts to Rick Jones and his Teen Brigade pals. Thor arrives, much to the kids' delight, but before Thor can explain the reason for his visit, the terrible noise strikes again, causing a tree to shatter into splinters. Thor, Cap, and Rick go to meet with the other Avengers. Conferring in the basement of the headquarters (since the upper floors are still under repairs), the heroes deduce that the source of the sounds is somewhere in the southwest. Giant-Man wonders if the Hulk is somehow involved, but Rick Jones is skeptical.
At a missile base in that self-same part of the country, a mound of solid rock erupts from the ground. Before the soldiers can investigate, the young scientist named Bruce Banner appears. The base commander, General Ross, demands to know where Banner has been for the past several months, but Banner merely claims to have been sick. What Ross doesn't know is that Banner is secretly the rampaging monster known as the Hulk.
Far below the surface, we see the cave-dwelling, stone-skinned creatures known as the Lava Men. It is they who have caused the small mountain to suddenly appear, using a mechanism to push the "living rock" up towards the surface. The tribe's king and witch doctor are both determined to see the rock pushed all the way out of their realm and onto the surface, but a tribesman named Molto objects. He knows that the surface humans are not evil, and don't deserve to have the dangerous living rock forced upon them. But the witch doctor says that Molto is simply afraid of the surface people, having been defeated by Thor months ago.
Back up top, the Avengers have arrived at the missile base via helicopter to investigate the growing rock. Iron Man flies towards the rock and blasts a hole in it with his repulser transistors, trying to determine what's causing it to expand so rapidly. The Lava Men interpret this as an attack, and swarm all over the armored Avenger. Using their power to generate heat, they try to broil Iron Man with his own armor. But Iron Man is rescued by the timely arrival of Thor, who uses his hammer to scatter the attacking Lava Men.
The thunder god sends Iron Man and Captain America back to the surface, saying that only he can deal with the Lava Men. The creatures are stunned when they see Thor walk into a pool of molten rock, and rise up again unharmed. Thor confronts the king and the witch doctor, who tell him that once he sees the mighty weapon they have, he will know that the surface world is doomed. They show him the mechanism that is pushing the Living Rock towards the surface. The rock is the source of the deadly sounds that have been causing havoc.
Thor threatens to destroy the rock with a cosmic bolt from his hammer, but the king stops him. He explains that the rock was first exposed after a strange upheaval shook the underground realms. When one of the Lava Men struck the small, strange rock with a hammer, the resulting explosion destroyed an entire island. Since then, the rock has continued to grow in power and size; if it were to explode underground now, it might well tear the whole planet apart. The only solution, they claim, is to push the rock completely onto the surface, where the inevitable explosion will "only" destroy the surface world, leaving the Lava Men's subterranean world intact.
Thor is momentarily stymied; he dare not strike the rock, but neither can he allow it to be pushed to the surface. The king takes this as his cue to order his army to attack, and the Lava Men start rushing towards the surface. At the mouth of the tunnel, they are blocked by Captain America, who uses his ricocheting shield to keep them at bay. But the Lava Men strike back, heating the air around Cap and trapping him in a cocoon of unbreakable cinders. Rick Jones tries to get Cap free, while Iron Man steps up to confront the invaders.
Meanwhile, Ant-Man and the Wasp have been carefully examining every inch of the living rock, and found one spot that is not pulsating and growing; a sufficiently powerful blow at that point could destroy the rock with causing an explosion. Switching to Giant-Man form, he and the Wasp go down the tunnel to look for Thor. Iron Man explains that there's a whole army of Lava Men between them and the thunder god, and they've almost melted through the boulder he used to block the tunnel. Grabbing the Avengers' helicopter, Giant-Man turns the blades sideways to serve as a giant fan, knocking the Lava Men for a loop. The invaders retreat, and Iron Man is able to blast Captain America free from the cinders holding him. The heroes continue down the tunnel and meet up with Thor, who tells them they have their work cut out for them.
Back up on the surface, Bruce Banner has deduced the nature of the living rock. But before he can ponder further, he suddenly feels himself transforming... and soon the Hulk is on the rampage once more. Hearing the Avengers below, he leaps in to attack them. Thor beings whirling his hammer in preparation to attack, but the Lava Men's witch doctor intervenes with an atomic blast from his radioactive rod. Somehow, the blast causes Thor to be turned back into Dr. Blake. The transformation frightens the superstitious witch doctor, and he flees.
Meanwhile, the other Avengers struggle with the Hulk on top of the living rock, which has nearly reached critical mass. Captain America has devised a plan, but the timing is critical. Giant-Man repeatedly grows and shrinks, confusing the Hulk and manuvering him into position. Then the Wasp flies between the Hulk and the one vulnerable point of the rock. The Hulk strikes out with all his might, and suddenly the living rock glows, shimmers... and then implodes, collapsing in on itself harmlessly.
Down below, Blake turns back into Thor and tells the demoralized Lava Men to go back to their realm and never threaten the surface again, lest they face the might of the Avengers. Back above, General Ross orders his men to stand down, while his daughter Betty worries about where Bruce Banner could have gone. At the site where the living rock stood, the force of the explosion has transformed the ground into a sheet of glass. The worn-out Avengers pick themselves up, and explain to Thor how they manuvered the Hulk into striking the critical spot on the living rock. Thor ponders that the Hulk's arrival must have been fate, and Giant-Man praises the Wasp for her role in the plan.
Not far away, Betty Ross finds the battered form of Bruce Banner. She asks him if the Hulk was responsible for injuring him, and he tells her that was the case, more or less. But, he assures her, the Hulk is gone... at least for now.
The Avengers head back to their helicopter to go back to New York, only to receive a radio message from the Teen Brigade. A "Condition Red" Emergency! To be continued...
With a solid membership in place, and a genuine world-threatening menace to fight, this is perhaps the most "traditional" issue to date, with a plot that could have easily been in an issue of JLA. But, as is typical of Lee/Kirby, the "villains" aren't purely evil for the sake of evil. While the king and witch doctor are shown to be all-too-eager for an excuse to invade the surface world, they're also acting out of self-preservation. The convenient arrival of the Hulk is a bit of a deus ex machina, but at least it's set up fairly early on, and is consistent with his appearances in previous issues. The ongoing sub-plot of the Hulk's desire for revenge on the Avengers pretty much peters out here, though, and he eventually transitions into a solo series in TALES TO ASTONISH.
(And, I'm happy to note, the Wasp actually makes a worthwhile contribution this issue. Finally!)
This issue also features the debut of the letters page, "All About The Avengers". Morton Hughes of Ohio wants to know who's stronger, the Hulk or Thor (Stan is typically non-committal). Roger Gilman of Massachusettes thinks that the Hulk should fight the X-Men and have a romance with Marvel Girl (???). And future comics artist Alan Weiss of Nevada thinks that the Sub-Mariner should turn from villain to hero (which indeed came to pass).
