He would rise to the title of ‘Avenger’, but before that, Dr. Hank Pym was the ‘Man in the Ant Hill’! Ant-Man makes his comic debut in this sci-fi spectacle, penciled by Kirby. After toying with a size-reducing serum, Pym ill-advisedly tries it on himself…meeting his future insect sidekicks!
The Man In The Ant Hill!
Hank Pym, a scientist mocked by the scientific community, has developed a formula that allows him to shrink then re-grow objects in size at will. Upon testing the formula on himself however he begins to shrink more rapidly than he expected so fast that he is unable to reach the formula which will cause his re-growth and instead is trapped on the floor. In a panic he stumbles outside where he attracts the attention of a nearby ant colony who begin to attack him.
Fleeing from his attackers he is forced to hide in the anthill to escape but falls into the ants store of honey and almost drowns until he is rescued by a friendly ant. Using a stray match which he manages to ignite he fends off a number of ants which seek to do him harm and manages to escape from the anthill. Returning to the house with the ant colony in chase he once more is assisted by the friendly ant who carries him up the wall to the window ledge on which his growth serum lays. Returning to his regular size Hank Pym decides it best to destroy the formulae declaring them too dangerous to be used by anyone again and announces his failure to the scientific community.
Trouble Bubble
Jonathon Jr’s mother always wishes to find a way to keep her son occupied on a rainy day. On this particular day his mother suggests to practice blowing bubbles and find some way to stop them from bursting so soon. Deciding to take his mother up on the proposition, Jonathon Jr spends the day in his room experimenting with different mixtures to create a bubble formula that won’t burst so easily. Jonathon’s mother meanwhile is busy making preparations for a dinner party that evening in which her husbands boss Mr Bigger is to make a rare appearance at an employee get together. As the evening comes to a close Mr Bigger insists he will fetch his own coat as he leaves but as he collects it from the upstairs closest he is heard shrieking and screaming from the remaining party members downstairs.
Upon rushing to his cries, Jonathon’s father and mother discover that Mr Bigger is trapped within a giant bubble which Jonathon has blown. After several attempts to burst the bubble Jonathon’s father and the other party guests roll their boss home and it is not until 24 hours after it was blown does the bubble burst. Jonathon’s father then returns home and punishes his child. A few days later though the phone rings as Mr Bigger realising the potential behind bubble formula ask Jonathon Sr to retrieve the formula from his son but upon asking for it Jonathon Jr announces that he discarded the formula as his parents asked and unfortunately cannot remember the ingredients required to make another batch.
Mirror, Mirror, On The Wall...
Bill Carter searches in an antique store for a birthday gift for his wife, Anne, and finds an antique mirror. However the store owner warn's him the mirror originally belonged to a sorcerer and is supposedly enchanted and attempts to talk Bill into buying another gift for his wife. Ignoring the man's advice Bill purchases the mirror for his wife, thinking the strange story will enhance the mirror's appeal further and upon giving the gift to Anne she decides to put the mirror in the bedroom so she can dress in front of it.
Over the next days, Anne begins to spend increasing amounts of time in front of the mirror, becoming more remote, less friendly and more moody over time. Eventually, she tries to release the sorcerer trapped in the mirror through an ancient magic ritual and tricks her husband into a room and locks him in it so that he cannot intervene and stop the ritual. Bill begins to pound on the wall in an attempt to get out and through to his wife and in doing so causes the vibrations of his banging to knock the mirror from the wall breaking it in the process and releasing his wife from its spell.
The Talking Horse
Barney Sloan is a jockey who is a ruthless, heartless man and also is in debt to the crueller Big Mike Jordan when one day he is hired to ride a new horse by the name of Silverstreak. Shockingly to Barney's surprise he discovers that the horse possesses the ability to talk and during their conversation the horse expresses his confidence that he will be the one to win the race tomorrow. Barney seeing this as an opportunity to make a lot of money borrows money from everyone he can (including Big Mike) who he also convinces to place a large bet on the outcome of the race.
When the race comes however the horse having underestimated his opposition loses the race and angrily outbursts at the horse. Suddenly Big Mike and his men arrive and approach Barney after the race angry at the amount of money they have lost. The horse staying silent due to Barney's threats after the race watches on as the men enclose in on Barney who continues to plead that the horse can talk and convinced him that he would win the race.
Dead Planet!
The warrior race of Komok are on a quest to take over the universe by dispatching one of their warrior conquerors to the planet in which they detect intelligent life to exist to take over and rule as their own. The only thing capable of stopping the warrior race is that should one of them fail to rule over their particular planet then their entire race would be shamed and so return home to Komok never to attack an alien planet again.
Detecting life on one particular planet the mightiest warrior of the Komok's Mopox is sent to take over the planet and upon dropping him off his allies depart not to return for several years. Mopox however discovers that the planet appears to be a barren wasteland and as the weeks turn to months and they begin to stretch on the warrior in his loneliness loses the will to live. The Komok warrior having failed his mission disgraces his species who return to their home planet forever and the true living inhabitants of the planet are revealed to have the appearance of the barren rocks and so were disguised to the Komok invader.
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