AVENGERS: EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES S1x014

"MASTERS OF EVIL"
Written by Christopher Yost | Directed by Sebastian Montes

The Plot: In Manhattan, Whirilwind leads the Wasp on a wild goose chase to a construction site, where he transforms, revealed as the Enchantress in disguise. When she's joined by the remaining Masters of Evil -- Baron Zemo, the Executioner, Crimson Dynamo, Wonder Man, and the Abomination -- Wasp is easily defeated. At the Wakandan embassy, Hawkeye and Black Panther discuss the Avengers. Meanwhile, the Masters of Evil use the Wasp's ID card to enter Avengers Mansion and subdue Tony Stark in the sub-basement. Upstairs, Abomination and Enchantress transports the Hulk to the realm of the frost giants. In the training room, Executioner and Wonder Man take out Captain America.

In Central Park, Thor is on a date with Jane Foster when he receives a priority summons and heads for the mansion. But there, he's confronted by the Masters of Evil. From outside, Hawkeye and Black Panther (both of whose membership on the team is unknown to Zemo at this time) witness Thor's defeat. The duo sneaks into the mansion and, while Zemo and Enchantress speak with their prisoners, begin taking out the Masters. While Black Panther battles Crimson Dynamo and Wonder Man, Hawkeye goes after Zemo, Enchantress, and Abomination in order to free the remaining Avengers. However the heroes are subdued, and Zemo prepares to execute them.

Ant-Man, who was secretly in cahoots with Hawkeye and the Panther, appears with a weapon created in his lab during the chaos. With it, he disperses Wonder Man and then uses his Giant-Man powers to take out the Abomination. This gives Black Panther time to free the Avengers while Thor summons his hammer, which he uses to bring back the Hulk. Wonder Man reconstitutes himself, and a battle royal begins between the assembled Avengers and the Masters of Evil. When the Avengers gain a clear upper hand, Zemo orders a retreat and the Enchantress teleports the Masters away.

In the battle's aftermath, as the Avengers puzzle over what the Masters of Evil were up to, the villains appear in Arnim Zola's lab, where Enchantress reports to a mysterious master.

AVENGERS: EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES S1x013

"GAMMA WORLD PART 2"
Story by Christopher Yost & Joshua Fine | Written by Michael Ryan
Directed by Sebastian Montes

The Plot: A satellite beams gamma energy into Las Vegas, mutating the people there. The gamma field speads out past the Cube, mutating the SHIELD agents and Avengers there. Doc Samson is knocked out, and Thor finds himself alone against the gamma monsters. Meanwhile, Hawkeye and Black Widow, who were en route to the Cube, land in the desert. Hawkeye knocks out the Widow as the Leader makes a broadcast to the world, describing his plan to mutate humanity with gamma radiation. Hawkeye sets out to find the Hulk, leaving Black Widow alone as the gamma field expands toward her.

The mutated Avengers bring Doc Samson and Thor to the Leader. Samson is dragged away, while Leader sets the Abomination against Thor. Elswhere, Hulk battles against against the Hulkbusters in Canada. Hawkeye arrives to interrupt the fight and save the Hulk. Hawkeye convinces Hulk to change back into Bruce Banner, and the duo heads to Banner's cabin to make plans. And in the Leader's Vegas lair, Thor gets the villain to begin a monologue, allowing him to regian his strength and summon his hammer. At the cabin, Banner prepares a way to counteract the Leader, then turns back into the Hulk and leaves with Hawkeye.

In Vegas, Mjolnir returns to Thor, but the Leader realizes this was part of his plan. Absorbing Man appears and takes on the hammer's physical properties, then double-teams Thor with the Abomination. Absorbing Man and Thor move outside, but Hawkeye and Hulk arrive a moment later in the Leader's control room. Abomination attacks Hulk while Hawkeye goes after the Leader, but the mutated Avengers come to the Leader's defense. Hawkeye begins hitting the Avengers with special arrows devised by Banner, which changes them back to normal. But the Leader transforms his control dais into a mech with which to fight back.

AVENGERS: EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES S1x012

"GAMMA WORLD PART 1"
Story by Joshua Fine & Christopher Yost | Written by Michael Ryan
Directed by Vinton Heuck

The Plot: Iron Man, Black Panther, Captain America, and Wasp chase Hawkeye through Manhattan, but he disappears when SHIELD interrupts. Agent Clay Quartermain tells the group that he needs their help and leads the quarter, plus Thor, to the Cube, which is encased in a green force field. There, they meet Doc Samson. He and Quartermain show the Avengers footage of SHIELD attempting to enter the Cube, but being mutated instead. They explain that the field is expanding, and the Leader is behind it -- with several gamma-powered villains at his command.

The Avengers, Samson, Quartermain, and some SHIELD operatives enter the Cube, and are attacked by the mutated agents. The Avengers take them out, then proceed on their way, but Black Panther splits off from the group. Deeper inside the Cube, they're attacked by the U-Foes, who prove no match for the team. A moment later Zzzax attacks, piercing Wasp's containment suit, which causes her to mutate into an insect monster. As more SHIELD agents mutate, Iron Man, Cap, Thor, and Samson retreat further into the Cube to shut down the gamma generator causing the mutations.

Iron Man and Cap fall, and Samson and Thor continue into the heart of the Cube, where they find the Wrecking Crew guarding the gamma generator. The Crew is supercharged with gamma energy and attacks, putting the heroes on the defensive. But Black Panther arrives unexpectedly and destroys the gamma generator, which changes all the mutated creatures back to their normal selves. The gamma villains are arrested, but the Leader is unaccounted for. Elsewhere, the Leader, Absorbing Man, and Abomination arrive outside Las Vegas to begin the next phase of the Leader's plan.

AVENGERS: EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES S1x011

"PANTHER'S QUEST"
Written by Paul Giacoppo | Directed by Sebastian Montes

The Plot: As the Avengers watch footage of Ant-Man saving Captain America's life, they're suddenly interrupted by a perimeter alarm. The Panther himself storms into Avengers' Mansion's courtyard and after testing the group in battle, requests their help in liberating Wakanda from M'Baku the Man-Ape. When the Panther shows the Avengers that M'Baku is in league with Hydra, the team agrees to help him. However, as soon as they enter Wakandan airspace, their Quinjet is shot down. Black Panther abandons the Avengers to hunt down M'Baku, and Iron Man dispatches Cap to follow him.

Iron Man, Ant-Man, and Wasp are attacked by the Wakandan army, while in Wakanda's vibranium mine, Ulysses Klaw and M'Baku demonstrate the power of the metal for Grim Reaper. Soon after, Black Panther appears before M'Baku and challenges him for leadership. In the mine, the Avengers attack Grim Reaper. When Klaw blasts a Hydra agent who accidentally shot the vibranium mound, the Reaper knocks Klaw into the metal. Somehow, Klaw's sonic weapon interacts with the vibranium and turns him into a creature of pure sound. Grim Reaper orders a Hydra retreat, while on the surface, Black Panther battles M'Baku's Dora Milaje bodyguards. When they gain the upper hand, Captain America comes to the Panther's aid. M'Baku attacks the Panther directly, while Cap fights the Dora Milaje.

M'Baku, attacks Black Panther with a sonic weapon, and as he's about to finish the Panther, an explosion bursts out of the mine, distracting him. Black Panther defeats M'Baku and is recognized as the king by his people. Meanwhile, Ant-Man and Iron Man work to stop Klaw while Wasp distracts him. Iron Man flies into Klaw, disabling him with a jury-rigged vibranium device. Later, Black Panther tells his people that Wakanda can no longer hide from the outside world, and announces his intention to join the Avengers.

Meanwhile, Hulkbusters arrive at the Cube, where they're quickly taken out by beings inside as the former prison is covered by a green force field.

SECRET AGENT CORRIGAN PART 11

NOVEMBER 6TH, 1976 - JANUARY 22ND, 1977
OCTOBER 30TH, 1978 - FEBRUARY 3RD, 1979
FEBRUARY 5TH, 1979 - JUNE 16TH, 1979
JUNE 18TH, 1979 - NOVEMBER 3RD, 1979
NOVEMBER 5TH, 1979 - JANUARY 2ND, 1980
By Al Williamson & Archie Goodwin

Corrigan's next mission (drawn by a fill-in artist) finds him dispatched to the Middle Eastern nation of Sumeran in an elaborate plot to "steal" a gem, one half of a pair, in a ploy to draw out the thieves who stole the other gem in order to get it back. He's partnered with Yahzid, bodyguard to Sumeran's prince, for the duration of the mission. They meet Madame Kohbra, the leader of a band of insurgents, and follow her into Sumeran's desert, where the ultimate showdown takes place between Corrigan and Yaz against Kohbra and her army. Corrigan of course wins, and Kohbra is branded a traitor by her own followers thanks to his duplicity.

Corrigan has wandered a few Middle Eastern deserts in the time I've been reading this strip, but this one may be my favorite such story. In a weird way, it feels like something Carl Barks might have come up with for the Disney Ducks, and that's something I can never complain about.

AVENGERS: EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES S1x010

"EVERYTHING IS WONDERFUL"
Written by Brandon Auman | Directed by Vinton Heuck

The Plot: Simon Williams visits Tony Stark in an attempt to stop Stark's hostile takeover of his company. But when Stark reveals he's now the majority shareholder of Williams Innovations, Williams storms out. Meanwhile Thor and Wasp battle AIM in the skies over Manhattan. At Avengers Mansion, Nick Fury visits Captain America. Elsewhere, Williams asks his brother, the Grim Reaper, for help in dealing with Stark. They go to an AIM facility, where MODOK invites Williams to become a test subject.

Fury takes Cap to SHIELD headquarters, Fury gives Cap his motorcycle from WOrld War II, which was passed down to him by his father, Jack Fury, and then promises Cap that SHIELD will always help him with anything he needs. Elswhere, Thor and Wasp have pursued the AIM agents back to their base. They raid the place, interrupting the Williams experiment. But Williams emerges, now made of ionic energy, and flies out of the base, straight for Stark Tower. Williams attacks Iron Man, but Ant-Man comes to his aid.

At AIM, Thor and Wasp continue their fight against MODOK, who kicks them out and seals the base, revealing it as a flying ship in which he escapes. Meanwhile, Giant-Man battles Williams in the streets of Manhattan, appealing to him as they go at it. Williams finally stops fighting, but when Iron Man shows up to continue the fight, Williams re-engages. Cap shows up, but Williams' body suddenly becomes unstable. Iron Man tries to help him with his arc reactor inside Stark Tower, but Williams fights back and disintegrates before he can be cured.

Later, after the Avengers have departed, the Echantress (accompanied by Baron Zemo and the Executioner) brings Williams back, and tasks him with destroying the Avengers.

SECRET AGENT CORRIGAN PART 10

NOVEMBER 6TH, 1976 - JANUARY 22ND, 1977
JANUARY 24TH, 1977 - JUNE 11TH, 1977
JUNE 13TH, 1977 - OCTOBER 1ST, 1977
OCTOBER 3RD, 1977 - FEBRUARY 4TH, 1978
FEBRUARY 6TH, 1978 - JULY 8TH, 1978
By Al Williamson & Archie Goodwin

Phil Corrigan closes out 1976 and enters '77 with a case that finds him summoned to Brayne Computer Industries, ostensibly to investigate a security breach. However when he arrives, Corrigan finds that the company's CEO, Amberson Brayne, fabricated the issue in order to set up a meeting with Corrigan. Brayne wants a new head of security, and he believes Corrigan fits the bill -- but Corrigan refuses the offer and leaves. Brayne, used to getting his way, bristles at this and brings in his second place candidates for the security job: industrial spy Satin Sherwood and mercenary Rip Tower. Whichever "destroys" Corrigan will get the security job.

Satin plans to ruin Corrigan's reputation and sets about framing him for stealing secrets from Brayne's factory -- but Rip simply wants to kill the guy, and Satin as well, to get the job. In the end, Corrigan and Satin team up to defeat Rip and bring down Brayne, with Satin suggesting that she may return to the straight-and-narrow thanks to the experience.

The story is typical Corrigan fare; well-written and beautifully drawn, but never feeling like there's any real danger for anybody involved. However, we do get an interesting explanation of exactly what Corrigan does for the FBI, here. He's described by Brayne's assistant, Huggins, as a "special troubleshooter" who goes on missions all over the place and typically works alone. This seems to be a case of Archie Goodwin explaining (very, very late in the game) why Corrigan feels more like James Bond or the Man from U.N.C.L.E. than your typical domestic FBI agent. And though it is a bit late to make the distinction, it's nonetheless appreciated.