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Appearing in "The Monster and the Machine!"

Reprint of the 1st story from
Incredible Hulk #4

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  • United States Army
  • a family in a burning cabin
  • a sheriff's deputy
  • a bus driver
  • various school children
  • various movie cast and crew
    • Mike

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  • a train
  • a school bus

Synopsis for "The Monster and the Machine!"

Reprint of the 1st story from
Incredible Hulk #4
Betty Ross is milling about the Desert Base. She reflects upon recent events, particularly the lives of Bruce Banner, Rick Jones, and the incredible Hulk. She finds her father General Ross who is testing the effectiveness of his prototype "Iceberg Rocket" against a facsimile of the Hulk. A jet-powered faux Hulk is launched into the air, and the rocket targets the projectile, encasing it in a block of ice. Ross is satisfied with the test, confident that this rocket will succeed in capturing the real Hulk. He then sends his soldiers out to track down the Hulk.

Meanwhile, Rick Jones is inside his cottage with the true Hulk, who is still under his mental control due to an accidental overdose of cosmic radiation. When Rick sees soldiers coming to capture him, he orders the Hulk to flee. Without a word, the Hulk leaps away and lands in a nearby town.

General Ross is convinced that Rick Jones knows more about the Hulk then he lets on. He interrogates Rick at length, but when the boy refuses to cooperate, Ross has him arrested. Rick sends out a telepathic S.O.S. to the Hulk. The Hulk turns back and super-jumps his way to Rick's location. He scoops him out of the army jeep and leaps away. Rick directs him to Doctor Banner's secret cave. Once inside, he places the Hulk in front of a gamma ray projector. After reading some of Banner's notes, he activates the device, and the Hulk transforms back into Bruce Banner.

After careful study, Banner concludes that regulated doses of gamma radiation might give him the power to control his transformations. After making some adjustments to the projector, he has Rick use it on him, this time instigating the change into the Hulk. The Hulk now has the intelligence of Bruce Banner, but he still maintains the machismo brutishness of the Hulk. Rick is happy for the Hulk and more than a little scared.

The Hulk decides that he wants to commit good deeds. He goes outside of town where he finds a farmhouse on fire. The Hulk tears away the burning wall of the house and pitches them into the distance. Though the family inside is now safe, they are terrified of the monster's presence. The Hulk then takes Rick back to the secret cave where another dose of gamma rays turns him back into Bruce Banner.

Appearing in "The Coming of... Sub-Mariner!"

Reprint of the 1st story from
Fantastic Four #4

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Synopsis for "The Coming of... Sub-Mariner!"

Reprint of the 1st story from
Fantastic Four #4
Fantastic Four Vol 1 4 0001 Title

Chapter 1:

Fantastic Four Vol 1 4 Chapter 1 Title

The Human Torch has quit the team. Reed, Sue, and Ben use the Fantasti-Car to search the city for him. Johnny, though, has gone to Swanson's Garage to work on cars. Ben, on a hunch, goes to the garage.

Chapter 2:

Fantastic Four Vol 1 4 Chapter 2 Title

Unable to use his flame because of the gasoline around him, Johnny faces an angry Ben without his power. Ben backs him into a corner, but, before the Thing can hit Johnny, he changes back to his old, human form. Johnny uses the distraction to leave the garage, flame on, and fly away. Ben immediately changes back to the Thing.

Johnny goes to the Bowery to find accommodations. Once in his bunk, he reads a 1940s comic about the Sub-Mariner. Another guest of the establishment notices what he's reading and says, "We got a stumble-bum right here who's as strong as that joker was supposed to be!" He hands the bearded "stumble-bum" a phone book and tells him to tear it in half. The man refuses. The others attack him but get swatted away. The man complains that he can't remember anything: "Why have I spent the long years here, in a fog, with my mind a blank??" Johnny says, "Flame on!" ignites one finger, and burns off the man's beard. He looks just like the Sub-Mariner, pointy ears and all.

Chapter 3:

Fantastic Four Vol 1 4 Chapter 3 Title
Johnny carries the man out to sea and drops him into the water. Back in his native element, the Sub-Mariner remembers who he is.[Continuity 1] He goes to his home, Atlantis.
Atlantean Outpost (Grand Banks) from Fantastic Four Vol 1 4 001
It lies in radioactive ruins, a casualty of atomic testing. The Sub-Mariner returns to New York and tells Johnny that he will retaliate by destroying the human race.[Continuity 2]

Chapter 4:

Fantastic Four Vol 1 4 Chapter 4 Title
The rest of the FF, back at the Baxter Building, see Johnny's flare rise from the waterfront. They take the Fantasti-Car to meet him and learn about the Sub-Mariner's revival.
Giganto (Atlantean Beast) (Earth-616) from Fantastic Four Vol 1 4 0001

The original Giganto

Out at sea, the Sub-Mariner finds Giganto, "the largest living thing in all the world," and the Horn of Proteus that can rouse him. He leads the creature towards New York, which begins an evacuation. The army bombards Giganto without effect. The Thing comes up with a daring plan: strap a nuclear bomb to his back, get inside the monster, and leave it there to destroy it. While Giganto takes a nap, Ben carries the bomb down its gullet.

Chapter 5:

Fantastic Four Vol 1 4 Chapter 5 Title
With seconds to spare, Ben makes it out of the monster's maw.[Continuity 3] The Sub-Mariner threatens to use the horn to summon more creatures. An invisible Sue grabs the horn and runs away with it.[Continuity 4] The Sub-Mariner tackles her. She becomes visible. "If you will be my bride," says the Sub-Mariner, "I might show mercy to the rest of your pitiful race!" She responds, "How can I make such a choice?" He threatens again to use the horn. Sue says, "I—I'll do anything—I'll become your bride!" Johnny, though, forms a tornado that pulls the Sub-Mariner into the air and drops him in the ocean. The horn falls to the bottom. The Sub-Mariner swears, "I'll be back!"[Continuity 5]

Appearing in "Spider-Man Versus Doctor Octopus"

Reprint of the 1st story from
Amazing Spider-Man #3

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Synopsis for "Spider-Man Versus Doctor Octopus"

Reprint of the 1st story from
Amazing Spider-Man #3
Quote1 Now there's my idea of a hero! The Human Torch -- and a guy like Spider-Man! Too! Why don'tcha watch and see what a real man is like, bookworm? Quote2
Flash Thompson

Spider-Man catches Charlie and his two pals robbing a warehouse. Surprising them with his Spider Signal light, he quickly overcomes them and webs them up for the police. Meanwhile, atomic scientist Otto Octavius, known to his colleagues as Doctor Octopus because of the unique set of four remote-controlled "arms" he invented for handling radioactive material, is hard at work at the U.S. Atomic Research Center. Suddenly his experiment goes awry. In the ensuing explosion, Otto Octavius's mechanical arms fuse to his body, and the excess radiation alters his brain. When he awakens at Bliss Private Hospital, he discovers that he can make his mechanical arms move by thought alone, just as if they were his real arms. With his brain unbalanced, Dr. Octopus forcibly takes over the hospital as his first criminal act.

J. Jonah Jameson learns of the strange events at the hospital and sends Peter Parker to take some photographs. Peter sneaks into the hospital as Spider-Man and discovers the hospital staff held captive by Dr. Octopus. Spider-Man is badly beaten in their battle, but Dr. Octopus's captives manage to escape.

Dr. Octopus returns to the U.S. Atomic Research Center and takes over its computer, soon gaining possession of the greatest source of atomic power in the nation. Meanwhile, Peter Parker is dispirited following his defeat. The government asks the Fantastic Four to retake the laboratory from Dr. Octopus, but they decline because of other commitments. The Human Torch, unable to use his flame because of a virus, nevertheless appears at Midtown High School to address the student body. The speech he gives is so inspiring that Peter Parker regains his self-confidence. He decides he can defeat Dr. Octopus after all.

Spider-Man soon enters the laboratory, where he builds two devices from chemicals and wire. When Dr. Octopus finds him, Spider-Man tosses one of the devices around two of the criminal's mechanical arms, melting them together. Then he squirts web fluid all over Dr. Octopus's glasses. Temporarily blinded with two of his arms stuck together, Dr. Octopus is easily knocked out and left helpless for the police. When Spider-Man later thanks the Human Torch for his inspiring speech, the Human Torch, cured of his illness, is perplexed.

The next day, the Human Torch gives the Midtown High School students another demonstration of his newly restored powers, while Peter Parker smiles, finding new confidence in his young career as a super-hero.

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