Appearing in "The Might of Maelstrom"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- ⏴ Maelstrom ⏵ (Main story and flashback) (Apparent death)
- Maelstrom's Minions
- Falon (First appearance)
Other Characters:
Races and Species:
- Humans (all Mutates)
- Inhumans (Main story and flashback)
- Inhuman/Deviant Hybrids (Main story and flashback)
Locations:
Items:
- Anti-Terrigen Compound
- Terrigen Mist (Mentioned)
Vehicles:
- Mini-sub from Hydrobase
Synopsis for "The Might of Maelstrom"
Continued from last issue...
Mr. Fantastic, the Thing, and the Inhumans have captured Maelstrom's Minions, however, failed to stop them from collecting a sample of the gas they invented to reverse the mutated states of the amphibians of Hydro-Base. This sample, by means of self-propulsion travels to Maelstrom's undersea base. With the sample in his possession, Maelstrom sends his agent Deathurge to kill his failed minions.
When Deathurge arrives at Hydro-Base, the creature easily kills its master's minions and is able to evade capture from the Thing, Karnak and Gorgon before escaping. Examining the dead creatures more closely, the Inhuman scientist Nadar realizes that they bear similar characteristics to Inhumans exposed to the Terrigen Mists. When they deduce the only possible place that the mists could be utilized is the original location of Attilan out in the Atlantic Ocean. Curious, Reed sends Ben, Gorgon, and Karnak to investigate.
They travel by sub and find Maelstrom's underwater base and find themselves easily captured and shackled. When Reed reports to Black Bolt about what has happened, the leader of the Inhumans goes after Ben and the others. While back at Maelstrom's base of operations, Maelstrom visits his father, the aged Phaeder and recounts about how his father's experiments got him exiled from Attilan and how with the anti-Terrigen Mist compound he intends to get revenge on the Inhuman nation for abandoning them for so long. He then goes to boast in front his captives when Karnak breaks free and attacks him.
During their brief struggle, Black Bolt also arrives and frees the others who all join the fight against Maelstrom. Locked in a one-on-one battle with Maelstrom, Black Bolt is told that a missile filled with the anti-Terrigen Mists was just launched at Attilan with the intent of wiping out the Inhuman race. Black Bolt then breaks off his fight to chase after the missile and destroys it before it could cause any harm to his people.
As the battle rages on, Ben is knocked into a canister of the anti-Terrigen Mists, and in an ironic twist tosses it at Maelstrom, neutralizing the villains' powers. Fleeing the scene, he has Deathurge kill him. Gorgon uses his power to initiate a cave-in that will destroy the base and the heroes flee the collapsing base, leaving Maelstrom and his secrets (including cloning chambers for himself and his minions) to be buried under tons of rock.
Notes
Continuity Notes[]
- Although they are seemingly killed here, Gronk, Helio, and Phobius will be cloned again and again by Maelstrom in the future. The next time he resurrects his minions is in Avengers #250.
- A flashback in this issue established for the first time that the Great Refuge in the Himalayan Mountains and the island of Attilan were actually the same city and that the Inhumans had moved their entire island-home three decades earlier. The fact that Attilan had originally existed as an island in the Atlantic Ocean was first depicted in Thor #146. A more detailed account of how Attilan was moved to the Himalayas was presented as a Watcher-narrated Untold Tale of the Marvel Universe in What If? #30 with the assistance that the Eternals had provided being revealed in What If? #29
- While Phaeder appears to be a one-off character seen here, much of his history after his exile was revealed in X-Factor Annual #3 and Silver Surfer Annual #1, as well as facts about him stated in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #6, Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (Vol. 2) #7, FF: Fifty Fantastic Years #1. Which explains that Maelstrom is the product of an Inhuman breeding with a Deviant, and Phaeder is responsible for the proliferation of equipment and knowledge on genetics to individuals such as the High Evolutionary and Magneto.
- Although Maelstrom appears to die here, his mind is transplanted into a cloned body as seen in Avengers #247.