Happy Tuesday, peeps!
It's time for me to talk about the third issue of Super-Villain Team-Up. The cover showed Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner, and Dr. Doom combining forces to battle Attuma and Tiger Shark. The tale was titled "If Vengeance Fails!" The issue had a cover date of December 1975.
The story began right where the previous issue left off. Namor, grief-stricken over the murder of his longtime friend Betty Dean Prentiss at the hands of Dr. Dorcas, lunged at the trio who had recently kidnapped him. The battle raged on between the quartet for some time until Doom, who had previously been quiet until just then, decided to speak up.
The Latverian monarch announced that the conflict was over before moving to his new ally's side. He used the stun shock from his metal gauntlets to put down the antagonists so he could assist the Sub-Mariner. Before his opponents could fully recover, Namor and Doom were teleported away.
The duo arrived on Victor's ship, which was located just outside Hydrobase. Namor was only able to walk a few feet before collapsing. When he awoke, a beautiful young lackey informed the Sub-Mariner that he was at Castle Latveria, inside a special chemical brine bath that the lord of the manor had prepared especially for him.
When Namor was back to his old self again, he was led to another chamber where Dr. Doom was busy plotting their revenge for Betty's death. After a brief argument, the Sub-Mariner relented, agreeing to Doom's plans. Their craft soon returned to Hydrobase to attack the defending Octomeks from the air.
An electric harpoon was tossed from the ship to sap Tiger Shark's strength before the first attack was made. Namor was eventually able to slip into the prison and free his loyal subjects. He borrowed a weapon from Doom's armory to temporarily encase his foes in an energy shell that was difficult to break, until he chose to destroy the gun, preferring to face his rivals in hand-to-hand combat.
Doom entered the fray after using up too much power for his devices during the initial assault. He seemed defeated, until Victor put the ends of two bombs together to destroy his tormentors. Meanwhile, Namor continued his battle with his own enemies. The battle ended when Dorcas was crushed under the weight of a defeated Octomek.
The freed Hydrobase members soon rounded up Tiger Shark and Attuma to take them to an inescapable cell. Namor reached Doom right before the Latverian ruler ordered the jester-like Saru-San to repeat the same act Doom had just used to defeat his foes. The Sub-Mariner rationalized that there was no reason for the harmless pest to have been destroyed. Doom countered, stating that he did as he preferred and answered to none. They'd won that day, but their alliance was still anything but easy.
Despite having different creative teams in each issue of this saga, this was still a solid beginning to this title. The unlikely partnership between Doom and Namor was very shaky, but they proved they could face very deadly threats together. It also showed more about where their allegiances and motivations were.
That's it for today. Tomorrow, I'll talk about the fourth issue of Super-Villain Team-Up. Tempers flare between the two titans, and their clash catches the interest of some unintended victims in the process. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.
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