Avengers #88
The Summons of Psyklop
At Boulder Dam, the military is once again attempting to contain the Hulk. This attempt is overseen by Mister Fantastic of the Fantastic Four and Charles Xavier. Temporarily incapacitating the Hulk with magneto powered electrodes, they prepare a special coma-gas crypt that will keep the gamma-spawned monster sedated until they are cured. When the Hulk finally collapses they begin the next phase of their plan. That’s when Richards and Xavier wonder why Tony Stark — who developed the process to capture the Hulk — is not present.
Little do they know that Tony stark is actually Iron Man and that he and his fellow Avengers are on a mission in New Orleans. They have come at the behest of Captain America’s partner, the Falcon, who is investigating a strange voodoo cult operating in the area. Earlier, Captain America and the Falcon investigated the disappearance of one of Falcon’s friends. They discovered the cultists conducting a ceremony to the Dark Gods in the middle of the bayou. In the ensuing battle, they discovered that Falcon’s friend was the leader of the cult and that he was in some kind of hypnotic trance. Returning to Avengers Mansion, they convinced Thor, Iron Man, and Goliath to accompany them while the rest of the team remained in New York. It was then that the Black Panther announced that he was returning to his native Wakanda to resume his princely duties after the elder he put in charge in his absence had passed away. As the Avengers conduct their search of the New Orleans swamp land they come upon a horrific discovery, a massive graven image of some kind of demonic creature.
Back on Colorado, Mister Fantastic prepares to place the Hulk in the crypto-casket when suddenly the brute is teleported away. The Hulk materializes in the secret laboratory of an cyclopean insectoid called Psyklop. Psyclop intends to use the Hulk in a ceremony to appease the Dark Gods so they can reawaken the rest of his race, which have been put in an eternal slumber after displeasing their masters.
While not far away, the Avengers are ambushed by a massive slug creature that spits a powerful adhesive from its mouth. It covers Thor in its goop, leaving the other Avengers unable to stop the monstrosity. Thor eventually breaks free and kills the creature with Mjolnir. In searching the creature’s trail, Iron Man finds a tunnel that leads to a strange underground cavern lined with more statues of demonic figures.[1] The Avengers enter the room at the end of this hall and catch Psyklop in the process of shrinking the Hulk down in size. The momentary destraction keeps Psyklop away from his shrink ray long enough for the Hulk to shrink to nothingness as he becomes smaller than the very atoms around him.
Furious over this development, Psyklop uses a teleportation device to banish the Avengers from his lab. The heroes appear in the middle of a New York subway station with no memory of what happened over the last few hours.
…. This story continues in Incredible Hulk #140.
Recurring Characters
Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Goliath, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Black Panther, the Vision), Falcon, Hulk, Psyklop, Mister Fantastic, Professor X, General Ross, Major Talbot, Redwing
Continuity Notes
Iron Man quips that the last time he saw a scene like this was in an old comic book, noting that the line of statues was found at the end of a subway tunnel. This is a reference to the origin of Fawcett Comic’s Captain Marvel in Whiz Comics #2. This version of Captain Marvel would later become owned by DC Comics.
Topical References
Dated pop-culture references: Howard Hawkes
Reed Richards states that the technicians are forced to wear asbestos gear to handle the Hulk’s body while it is still incredible hot. This should be considered topical since the discovery that asbestos can cause serious cancer and has been replaced for other less toxic materials.
