Guest Appearance: Namor, Lord Vashti

Cameo: Black Widow, General "Thunderbolt" Ross, Mole Man, Subterraneans

Innovations: Puerto Nuevo Naval Base, Amalga-Beast

Gadgets & Technology: Thermo-Reviver Discs, X-76 Verti-Jet

Letters Page: Page One • Page Two

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Meanwhile, under the sea, Namor, the Sub-Mariner, is busy defending his undersea lands from a Navy submarine, which fires a torpedo into a coral reef that is in its way. He tackles the subsequent torpedo and redirects it towards a barren mountainside. The Navy goes after Subby, forcing Namor to trap the sub inside a batch of sticky seaweed. They send a signal out for backup, and Namor realizes it would be best for him to attack the reinforcements before they reach his undersea kingdom, so he traces the signal to its destination, the US Naval Base on the island of Puerto Nuevo.

Back at the Avengers Mansion, the team gets a call from Captain America, who is busy taking on the Red Skull (see TOS #90.) He tells them despite what they may have heard, he is not in league with the Skull, but is trying to set a trap for him. His main message to them is that they must find the Cosmic Cube, as the Red Skull has lost it somewhere in the Caribbean. They immediately set out to locate the Cube, with Hercules in tow (and Quicksilver staying behind to care for his sister.)

Before they arrive, Namor is causing havoc on the island of Puerto Nuevo. His intent is to destroy all the submarines on the base, and he barrels through a bunch of armed guards in his attempt to do so. When the Avengers arrive in their search for the Cosmic Cube, they find they must first deal with the Sub-Mariner, who they suppose might also be in search of the Cube himself. Giant-Man, the Wasp and Hawkeye all try to take on the Sub-Mariner, with no positive results, bur Hercules steps in with the power of a Greek god and the fight is on!

Punch after punch is thrown, with both men standing up to their opponent's best efforts at victory. Hercules declares to Namor that there is no way the Avengers will let him get the Cosmic Cube. Namor perks up at this statement, as he had no idea what the Avengers were there for, until now. He decides to let Hercules throw him far away into the sea, to let them think he has victory, in order to begin his search for the Cosmic Cube. Goliath stews over Hercules' big mouth, worrying about the tactical error of letting their enemy know about the Cube.

And down in the ocean, Namor puts a call out to all the denizens of the deep to search out the Cosmic Cube, and within minutes, it is found. He swims to the cube and picks it up, and soon, has a grasp on its grand powers. He commands it to turn each thought into reality; he creates a whirlwind of water to carry him back to the Naval Base at Puerto Nuevo. There, he readies for a rematch with the Avengers. He uses the Cosmic Cube to create an Amalga-Beast, a creature formed from all the creatures of the sea combined into one. He pits his monster against the Avengers, while he goes back up against Hercules.

As the Navy soldiers look on, Hercules and Namor get back into their wrestling match. With the power of the Cube, Namor creates a huge chasm the Hercules falls into, and is surrounded by the waters of the ocean flooding inside. The Avengers dispatch the Amalga-Beast with one of Hawkeye's blast arrows, and the Wasp locates the Cosmic Cube, which Namor had turned into an amulet he wore around his neck. She flies in and breaks the chain on the amulet, and the Cube goes tumbling down into the chasm. Namor realizes he's lost the Cube, and instead of pitting his might against the combined forces of the Avengers and Hercules, he goes back to his kingdom.

The chasm closes up after the earthquake Namor created to open it settles down, sealing the Cosmic Cube away from the Avengers. Down below, the Mole Man finds the Cosmic Cube, and tosses it aside, thinking it is merely a child's building block.

--synopsis and panel images by Gormuu