This issue features Artie Simek's last contribution to comicdom. He died having lettered a few pages toward the beginning of this mag. Steve Gerber went on to say, "the loss of this dedicated craftsman truly does leave the entire comics industry poorer."
Eelar Moves In Mysterious Ways!
Some street hoodlums mug a random elderly man. Meanwhile, Dr. Strange, Valkyrie, and Hulk search for the source of some strange temporal displacement vibrations that Strange has been feeling. They track it down to a glow in the harbor.
Weirdly, a horde of dead fish shoot up out of the water in a swarm and "attack" a ship. The Defenders swoop in to the rescue, although they are nonplussed at how to defeat dead fish. Strange goes towards the glow and is grabbed by a humanoid eel, aptly named Eelar. It pulls him underwater while constantly blathering on in the most purple prose about how humans are pathetic and he will control the galaxy.
A strange man interrupts the mugging, but not before the elderly man is stabbed. The interruptor turns out to be Charlie-27, from the Guardians of the Galaxy that is from a thousand years in the future. He brings the man to the hospital.
Val and Hulk rescue Strange, but Eelar advances on the city.
Nighthawk flies over upstate New York, thinking over his troubled past, especially Trish Starr's injury. He notices a crashing space ship and goes to investigate. Some of the people in the local town also see it, including a boy.
Two tollbooth operators outside Manhattan hear some chaos inside the tunnel. They go to investigate and find water rushing in, courtesy of Eelar's attacks. The Defenders also hear the chaos and go in the tunnel. Val and Hulk plug the leak with a balled-up car.
The boy wants to check out the ship's crash site, but his parents don't believe him, so he runs off alone. Nighthawk gets there first, however, and meets the crew--the rest of the Guardians: Vance Astro, Yondu, and Martinex.
Eelar wreaks havoc in New York, and manages to hold off Hulk, Strange, and Val. Weirdly, he starts attacking Val's horse, Aragron, talking to it as if it is a human.
Nighthawk agrees to help the Guardians find Charlie-27. They teleport to the city. The boy comes in, and meets Martinex.
Eelar now faces the Defenders and the Guardians. However, he flies off to Central Park and starts attacking a tree. Meanwhile, Strange and the Guardians go off in opposite directions, led by different clues, to find similar technological objects. The one the Guardians find is blank, but Strange's repeats an alien message. It is how the Badoon of the future inculcate their warlike impulses. An eel in the river, manipulated by the objects and all the time traveling, turned one into Eelar.
Knowing the truth, they all defeat Eelar. Back on The Guardians' ship, the boy reveals his interest in space to Martinex. He also explains that he plans to shorten his name from Vance Astrovik to Vance Astro--he is the younger self of Martinex's teammate.
Quoth the Nighthawk, Nevermore
Reprint of Daredevil #62, telling an early story from when Nighthawk was a villain.
Following a tip, Daredevil stops a robbery, only to have Nighthawk interrupt. Matt feels dizzy, so he lets Nighthawk take the robbers away.
However, when he gets out of earshot, Nighthawk lets them go. He is just trying to trick the populace into thinking he is a hero. He drugged Daredevil so he looked bad in comparison.
Nighthawk recalls his origin, finding a strange alchemical formula that gave him added physical prowess at night, his involvement with the Grandmaster, and his fight against Captain America.
The next day, Matt feels like the city has quickly turned against him due to his poor performance. He decides to investigate and calls the police to find out what happened to the crooks. He discovers they were never turned in.
Daredevil goes in search of Nighthawk and finds him. Daredevil tells him he can take over. However, he is setting a trap, and later disguises himself as a thief. Nighthawk grabs him and talks about how he will let him go, and how it's all a trick. However, Matt has mic'ed himself, and Nighthawk's rant is broadcast all over the street. The populace turns against him.
Daredevil fights him, and is surprised by how well he does, not knowing about Kyle's moon enhancements. Matt chases him, and they are separated by an onrushing subway train, allowing Nighthawk to escape.
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