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| Publisher |
Marvel |
| Series |
Avengers, The |
| Published | July 1964 |
| Artist |
Jack Kirby |
| Writer |
Stan Lee |
THE MIGHTY AVENGERS MEET THE MASTERS OF EVIL En route to respond to the Teen Brigade's distress call, Captain America gives the other Avengers a demonstration of skill with his shield. Cap thanks Iron Man for upgrading his shield with transistors, making the shield even easier to use. He thinks of Bucky and begins to dwell on the past. Prior to the Teen Brigade's distress signal, over the jungles of South America, a pilot flies a plane along a perilous route to bring supplies to his master, Baron Zemo. Zemo examines the latest scientific journals, looking for a formula to dissolve the mysterious "Adhesive X," which has permanently bonded his hood to his face. He angrily discovers in a newspaper that Captain America is alive, and explains to the pilot that Captain America caused his hood to be glued to his face. The pilot leaves Zemo, with instructions to find three people... In present day New York, the Teen Brigade are still waiting for the Avengers to arrive. Tom arrives and explains that the situation has escalated and that the Black Knight is flying over the city, spraying a mysterious chemical onto the streets below. After a brief time, the city is brought to a standstill, with people and vehicles alike stuck on the spot. The Melter appears, bragging about how Zemo has upgraded his melting ray so that it affects all metals, instead of only iron. Radioactive Man joins him, and they continue to spray adhesive and stamp out any resistance from the police. Suddenly, the Avengers appear and battle the villains. Unaware of the trap, Captain America and Giant-Man are stuck to the ground by the Adhesive X. As the Wasp and Thor hold off the villains, Iron Man cuts through the ground beneath the trapped heroes and drags the pavement away with a tow truck, heroes still attached. The Black Knight appears and charges the truck. Thor leaps ahead and knocks the Black Knight off-balance. As the Avengers escape, Zemo arrives and is updated by the other villains. He realizes that if anyone can find a solution to Adhesive X, it is the Avengers, so he decides to wait until they have found one. Back in the Avengers HQ, the heroes try in vain to remove the adhesive. The Wasp remembers that the villain Paste-Pot Pete is an authority on pastes and adhesives. He helps the Avengers, in an effort to reduce his prison sentence. Iron Man retrieves the "super-dissolver" and frees Cap and Giant-Man. They realize that each of the villains had been gathered because they had an advantage against certain members of the team, and decide to switch enemies to confuse them and gain the upper hand. Cap contacts the Teen Brigade, as they are also vital to the plan. Elsewhere, Zemo and his newly-formed Masters of Evil prepare for their next attack on the city. The pilot is left alone to refill Adhesive X canisters, but is ambushed by the Teen Brigade, who replace the adhesive with the super-dissolver. Unknowingly, the Masters of Evil take the dissolver and spray it over the city, freeing all the previously-trapped citizens. Thor leaps into action, and targets the Black Knight. After a brief duel in the air, Thor captures him. Down on the street, Giant-Man approaches Radioactive Man. With Iron Man's help he outwits the villain and encases him in lead to nullify his radioactive powers. Iron Man is suddenly attacked by the Melter but manages to escape. Tricked into melting a fire hydrant, he is captured when the water short-circuits his melting device. Back at the Masters of Evil's base, Zemo discovers the Teen Brigade and hypnotizes them with his Hypno-Ray. Before he can instruct them, Zemo is attacked by Captain America. They are equally matched, until the pilot recovers and shoots Cap from behind, grazing his temple. Before they escape, the pilot decides to finish Cap off. He is thwarted however, when the Wasp secretly pushes a nail into the barrel of his pistol, causing the bullet to miss its target. Giant-Man pursues the fleeing pilot and captures him, while Zemo escapes. The Avengers are annoyed that they didn't capture Zemo, but Cap confidently informs the team that the canister that Zemo stole wasn't the dissolver but is in fact tear gas, swapped earlier by the Teen Brigade. They see Zemo's heli-ship crash in the distance, and leave the police to pick him up.