Marvel Database
Register
Advertisement

Quote1 Dynamite! I knew sittin' in for this one gig with the Defenders was a good move! Quote2
Hawkeye (Clint Barton)

Appearing in "...If Atlantis Should Fall!"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

Other Characters:

Races and Species:

Locations:

Items:

Vehicles:

Synopsis for "...If Atlantis Should Fall!"

Brief Summary:
A mind-controlled Namor easily defeats Hawkeye and Valkyrie for the Red Ghost. Dr. Strange tries to locate the Defenders to update them on his search for a cure for the Black Knight, but he is only able to find the Silver Surfer and the Hulk. The Hulk tells them that the others were captured by Attuma. Strange and Surfer locate their comrades and free them from their mind-controlled state. Later, Dr. Strange uses his powers to contact the astral form of the Black Knight, asking him how he can be saved. His return message is altered by Loki and Dormammu to trick the Defenders into recovering the Evil Eye for them.

Defenders Vol 1 8 001

Detailed Summary:
Red Ghost and Attuma have captured the Sub-Mariner, Valkyrie, Hawkeye and Professor Jennings in an attempt to capture Atlantis. The Red Ghost turns Namor into his mindless slave and sets him against his two comrades, who are easily defeated and prepared to be subjected to the same treatment.

Two weeks later, Dr. Strange has returned to his Sanctum Sanctorum to inform Clea and Wong that he has found a method that may free the Black Knight from his stone prison. He begins summoning the Defenders to share with them the good news, however the only heroes he is able to locate are the Silver Surfer and the Hulk.

Meanwhile back under the sea, Red Ghost and Attuma have finished their mind control over Namor, Hawkeye, and Valkyrie and are plotting to use them in their attack against Atlantis.

On the surface, as the other Defenders mull over what to do about their missing comrades, the Hulk mentions he might know where they went. Instead of telling them what he knows, the Hulk decides to leave. The Surfer tries to keep him from leaving and Dr. Strange casts a spell to put the Hulk in a trance. He commands the Hulk to remember and they learn that the missing heroes were captured by Attuma and taken under the sea, but the Hulk didn't want to go with them. Putting the Hulk to sleep, the Silver Surfer and Dr. Strange fly off to rescue their captured comrades.

Strange and the Surfer arrive just in time to see that their friends are being used as pawns in Attuma's attack on Atlantis. Combining their powers, they block the flow of cosmic rays from entering Earth's atmosphere which causes the Red Ghost's powers to fade. Thus, they are able to free their friends from the Red Ghost's mind control. The Defenders make quick work of Attuma and the Red Ghost, which turns back the invasion against Atlantis. With their foes defeated, the Defenders return Professor Jennings and head to Dr. Strange's home.

Defenders Vol 1 8 016

Chapter 1: Deception!!
After their battle against Attuma and the Red Ghost, the Defenders and Hawkeye have all gathered in Dr. Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum. There, gathered around the statue of the Black Knight, Dr. Strange informs them that he has found the means to contact their imprisoned friend.

Using his mystic powers, he sends a message out to the astral form of the Black Knight asking him if he is aware of anything that may set him free from his vantage point. The message goes to the Knight in an otherworldly plane of existence. The knight responds by sending a message back that he has no knowledge on how to get home, but that he is trapped in a timeless realm and is not suffering. This message is intercepted by Loki and Dormammu (who recently teamed up [1]) and use their combined magic abilities to change the message.

When the Defenders actually receive it, it tells them that the only way to free the Black Knight from the realm he is trapped in is to recover the Evil Eye. Although the Defenders believe that it was destroyed, they decide to seek it out in the hopes that it may still exist.

Notes

  • Hawkeye uses a bow this issue made from a bed. Later in the issue, he uses a "steel" bow given to him by Attuma and the Red Ghost. It is undetermined if Hawkeye continues to use this steel bow in the Avengers/Defenders War.

Trivia

  • As seen on page one, this issue is Story Number 1513 Z.
  • Gaspar Saladino is uncredited for lettering page one.
  • This issue contains a letters page, Defenders Dialogue. Letters are published from Robert Lowerey, Christopher Coleman, and Mark H. Kernes.

See Also

Recommended Reading

Editor's references:

Links and References

References

Advertisement