Werewolf by Night #43

The Werewolf by Night and Iron Man fight for dear life against the Tri-Animan!

In his New York warehouse headquarters, the Masked Marauder has activated his android, the Tri-Animan, in time for it to attack the Werewolf and Iron Man. The heroes fare poorly against the android, which manages to toss Iron Man onto live electrical cables, incapacitating him. It then throws the Werewolf at the Golden Avenger, clearing him from the cables, but now they both lie unconscious. Drunk with victory, the Marauder increases the power to the Tri-Animan, and the thing goes berserk, smashing equipment, and freeing the three animals whose essences went into its creation: a gorilla, a cheetah and an alligator. The beasts pounce upon the Marauder's henchmen, and the revived Werewolf leaps to save them. The enraged animals attack the lycanthrope, while Iron Man tries to subdue the Tri-Animan. Their battle carries them out of the warehouse and toward a riverside construction site. Meanwhile, the Marauder has boarded his helicopter to use the back-up Tri-Animan controls on board.

In an NYPD station, Topaz, who has no idea where Jack Russell (the Werewolf) is, tries to call their friend Buck Cowan in California, but the phone is answered by a police detective who informs her Buck is missing, and his beach house partially burned down. Distraught, Topaz decides to leave for L. A. immediately.

Back at the warehouse, the Werewolf finally shakes off the animals, phones the police, then leaves to follow the path of destruction in the Tri-Animan's wake. He reaches the construction site and climbs up to where the android and the Golden Avenger battle. The android buries Iron Man under tons of collapsing steel. As Iron Man frees himself, the Werewolf leaps onto the android's back. A repulsor beam intended for the Tri-Animan instead hits and disables the Marauder's chopper, while the Werewolf and the android fall through the air. The man-beast hits the river below, as does the helicopter, while the Tri-Animan crashes to the ground. The Werewolf rescues the drowning Marauder and deactivates the android's controls. Crtically damaged, it, too, falls into the water, where it settles to the bottom The cash stolen by the Marauder earlier that evening drifts with the current from its hiding place within the workings of the Tri-Animan.

After debriefing and recovering at Avengers Mansion, Jack Russell realizes Topaz must be looking for him and he takes his leave.

[Last issue of the series; the Werewolf next appears in SPIDER-WOMAN Vol 1, #6]

Note: This issue contains the Hostess Superhero Ad, Spider-Man! The Champ.