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This issue opens with Iron Man, Thor, Giant-Man and the Wasp attending the monthly meeting of the Avengers at the home of Tony Stark. They all agree that the Hulk is a possible menace while he’s running wild and that they need to find him. Iron Man uses a device invented by Tony Stark that lets him project his image to distant places. Using the device, which also allows him to see and hear the person that he is speaking to, he contacts the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man and the X-Men and asks each of them for their help in tracking down the Hulk. All of them are busy with their own projects, but the Fantastic Four and the X-Men agree to pass on anything they hear. Thor then suggests that they ask Rick Jones for help. They contact Rick by radio and he agrees to go out and look for the Hulk.
Rick soon locates the Hulk and convinces him that he needs to return to his secret cave. The Hulk and Rick go to the cave, which holds a hidden lab, and Rick uses a gamma ray machine to turn the Hulk into Bruce Banner. Banner is exhausted, so Rick puts him to bed in a locked room, settling down himself outside the room’s steel door to keep vigil in case Banner were to turn back into the Hulk.
Later that night, Banner does change back into the Hulk and smashes out of the room, completely ignoring Rick’s pleas for him to stop. With the Hulk out of control, Rick hurries to a nearby Teen Brigade radio room and contacts the Avengers.
Iron Man, Ant-Man and the Wasp, and Thor all respond. However, as Iron Man nears the scene he is ambushed by the Hulk and the two of them get into a battle. Ant-Man and the Wasp arrive and Ant-Man enters a nearby ant-hill, commanding the ants to dam an underground stream. The dammed stream bursts up through the ground, throwing the Hulk off balance and giving Iron Man the advantage. Thor arrives and orders the Hulk to return with them. Ignoring Thor’s command, the Hulk leaps into the air and crashes down through the ground into an abandoned mine shaft. Escaping along the tunnel, he resurfaces next to a passing train, but finds the Avengers in hot pursuit. They battle on the moving train until the Hulk drops bags of flour into the train’s smokestack and makes his getaway under cover of the ensuing smoke screen.
The Hulk avoids detection by hiding in a gravel truck. When the gravel is tipped into a stream, he swims along the stream, only coming up occasionally for air, until he reaches the ocean. Several days later, completely exhausted, he’s rescued by a passing ship, little knowing that he is being watched by Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner. As the ship passes a deserted island, the Hulk abandons ship. He finds the Sub-Mariner waiting for him on the island. The Hulk attacks the Sub-Mariner and they fight, but Namor manages to get the Hulk into the water where he has the advantage. Namor defeats the Hulk and drags him back out of the water onto the island where he suggests that the two of them team up to “bring humanity to its knees”. The Hulk is impressed by Namor’s toughness and agrees to the alliance. Namor summons his ship and they travel to the Rock of Gibraltar, where they issues a challenge to the Avengers to meet them in battle.
The Avengers accept the challenge and travel to Gibraltar in a sub built by Tony Stark. In the tunnels beneath the Rock they are met by the Hulk and Namor who fire an old howitzer at them. Iron Man deflects the howitzer shell, but is then put out of action when Namor shoots an emery dust pellet at him, freezing up all of his joints. Thor keeps Namor and the Hulk occupied while Giant-Man utilizes some old air-raid life-saving equipment to pump the dust out of Iron Man’s armour. Namor and the Hulk pull back to where Namor has previously modified an old air-raid siren so that its blast will destroy anyone in front of it. However, the Avengers avoid the trap by coming at Namor from behind. The Hulk stands back to watch, while Namor battles the Avengers alone, once more putting Iron Man out of action by damaging his chest plate. As Namor battles Thor, the Hulk joins in, trying, unsuccessfully, to pull the hammer from Thor’s grasp. While Thor and Giant-Man subdue Namor, the stress of the situation causes the Hulk to revert back to Bruce Banner and he runs off.
Namor is weakening due the time he’s spent out of water, but he makes a final effort. He manages to escape from Giant-Man’s grasp, only to be pinned against the tunnel wall by Iron Man’s repulser field. In spite of his weakening condition, Namor continues to struggle, cracking the stone wall and allowing water to trickle through. The water revives him and he surges free, making his escape. Thor declines to go after him, saying that he’s earned his escape through his valor.
As he swims away, Namor prays that one day he’ll meet the Avengers again, under the sea, promising that things will turn out differently. |
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