Villain: Attuma

Guest Apperance: Hank Pym, the Wasp/Janet Van Dyne

Cameo: Sub-Mariner, the Beetle

Gadgets & Technology: Magnetic Decoding Visi-Projector Message System, Tidal Expander, Subliminal Recall Inducer

Letters Page: Page One • Page Two

House Ad: Page One

Meanwhile, Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne- aka Giant-Man and the Wasp- were enjoying a luxury cruise when it was spoiled by an altercation involving the Sub-Mariner (see Subby in TTA #78).

As Subby swims toward New York, Hank decides the Avengers must be alerted, so the Wasp is sent to fly from the debilitated cruise ship to tell them. Along the way, she stops to rest by floating in the currents of the ocean, where she is spotted by the warlord Attuma and kidnaped! He explains to her that he cannot risk that she is a spy, bearing witness to his rampage against the surface world using his Tidal-Expander, a machine which slowly but inexorably lifts the level of the seas so as to submerge all of the surface world. When Attuma leaves her prison chamber, she goes into action, trimming herself down to Wasp size and slipping out of her cage. She sends out a voice message via radiowaves, telling the Avengers what is happening.

The Avengers hear the mayday signal in her meek Wasp voice and realize they have a fight on their hands with Attuma. The cry of "Avengers Assemble" goes out, but Hawkeye is away from the mansion, enjoying the attention of the ladies and not hearing the distress signal. They must leave without him, but they leave a message behind for him. As their jet craft zones in on the area the Wasp directed them to, Attuma sends up a pincer craft to grab their ship and pull it into his command craft. The Avengers pour out of their jet and press on the attack. Quicksilver races through the hallways looking for the Tidal-Expander, but comes up empty. He does find, however...Attuma! The undersea warlord bashes away at Quicksilver, who appears to knock him down for the count, but Attuma only played possum. He rises up when Pietro lets guard down and takes him captive.

However, when Attuma realizes that his men may have lost confidence in him due to his easy defeat of opponents overburdened by the heavy atmosphere down below, his pride won't allow that to stand. He allows the Avengers to have access to air helmets so they can fight him with the sides even. The fight is fierce, and just as the Avengers are about to gain the upper hand, Wanda's hex powers cause the floodgates of the chamber to open, spilling sea water into the recess, threatening to drown them.

And back in New York, Hawkeye realizes the team has left in an emergency. He tries to access the messaging system, but he has forgotten the secret code! His only chance is to go visit the Subliminal Recall-Inducer and hope that the machine can help him remember the number that is buried in his subconscious. And while he goes under the machine's spell, a villain watches and waits in the shadows....

(continued in AVENGERS #27)

--synopsis by Gormuu