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Written by Bob Gansler
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Written by Bob Gansler
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1958. Communists, aliens, terrorists. As the nation faced these many dangers, President Eisenhower brought together the greatest heroes of the day as the Avengers. Together, they protect America from the threats of this world and of others.
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| Marvel Boy (Bob Grayson)
An Earthman armed with the skills and science of the Eternals of Uranus. Gorilla-Man (Ken Hale)
3-D Man (Hal & Chuck Chandler)
Venus
Human Robot
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The Avengers mopped up a trio of Skrull agents who were manipulating a Capitol-area gang. A transport of Skrull soldiers crashed in nearby Virginia. The crash gained the attention of the Comet who set off to investigate |
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Somewhere in Africa
An ordered march was being conducted through a lush savanna in the heart of the African jungle. There were only a few trees in this stretch of grassy plain that stood before this marching column and their as-yet-unknown destination. The precision with which the group moved might have led one to believe that it was a military company. However, closer inspection would clearly show that the marchers were not human. Humanoid, in some respects, but not human. They were, in fact, an orderly gathering of powerful gorillas.
They continued to march in a tight formation of two across. In all, there were about thirty of the great apes in the column. One of the apes at the front of the column looked somewhat different than the others. His stride looked more human than the lumbering gait of the others. He was clearly in command of the formation. It was his grunting that set their pace and direction. Every so often, between his grunts, he muttered some unrepeatable comments about the heat in clear English. He was Gorilla-Man, and these apes were his "Gorilla Guerrillas"
{The Gorilla Guerrillas were first shown in Avengers 1958 #1}
It had been some time since Gorilla-Man had last led his troops in the battle against poachers and those others who would seek to despoil the jungle. He had led assembled them and trained them after the Avengers first mission and subsequent disbanding by the request of President Eisenhower. He had come back to Africa after spending some time with Marvel Boy on Uranus. The Uranian Wonder had promised the Eternal scientists would be able to return Gorilla-Man back to his human form of Ken Hale, but repeated attempts had all met with abject failure.
After that, he demanded that Marvel Boy return him to the jungle. He would find his own cure, here in the land that it had given the curse of the 'Gorilla-Man'. He had hunted and killed the legendary man-like Gorilla-Man, only to find himself transformed into the new incarnation of the legend. He had come no closer to a cure while leading his simian soldiers in the protection of the jungle. When Marvel Boy convinced him to return to the States to join the reformed Avengers, he figured that the Guerillas would dissipate.
He was pleased to find out when he returned that the troops had continued in their organized efforts against poachers and reckless developers. The gorillas eagerly welcomed Gorilla-Man as their leader, much to his delight. They were a very intelligent lot, and it seemed to him that they had further developed the combination vocal-gesture language that he had created for them.
Gorilla-Man raised his hand and the column came to an immediate halt. They had been marching for a long time across the savanna, and it was time to take a break. They were a few fruit trees in front of them, and Gorilla-Man indicated for a few of the gorillas to gather up some fruits from the trees for the troops. He had seen some helicopters flying towards the north, and those craft had sported some distinct corporate logos. He figured that their intentions were likely to be to the detriment of the local men and beasts.
One of the gorillas started jumping up and down excitedly. Gorilla-Man went over to him and asked him, via gestures, what the matter was. The ape pointed up towards the northern sky. A progressively louder sound was emanating from there. All of the guerrillas looked up to see a metallic shape speed through the sky. Flames danced upon the outside of the craft as it careened by them.
"A falling star, maybe," Gorilla-Man thought. "Or maybe it's that no-good Spaceboy's Silver Bullet." The craft fell out of view miles to the south of their current position. Gorilla-Man sighed. "I guess we'd better check out that UFO first."
The gorillas made strange faces at Gorilla-Man at the sound of his incomprehensible (at least to them) sounds. Gorilla-Man clapped his hands and grunted a few times. Then they understood that they would turn around after they had eaten and go to investigate the 'fireball from the sky'. Some grumbled that it would be a long walk, over a day, before they might reach it.
Wabisa Tribal Lands
A great deal of concern coursed its way through the men and women of the Wabisa tribe. It had only been a day since a fireball had fallen from the sky. It had fallen a few miles from the edge of the tribal compound, but Chief M'tuba had not organized any warriors to investigate yet.
While some warriors had volunteered to go see the 'gift from the gods', M'tuba had decided against it. Based on the information that he had collected, the fireball had landed in the vicinity of the nearby Waniki tribe. The relations between the Wabisa and the Waniki had been tenuous at best. To send a party of warriors into their lands could lead to a wide-scale confrontation between the two tribes. He thought it better to enlist the most capable person that he knew, Jann of the Jungle. He had sent a messenger to run to her treehouse and ask for help.
The runner had quickly returned and brought even better word than M'tuba had hoped. Not only would Jann be coming, but another Jungle Queen, Lorna would also be arriving. M'tuba gave orders for a feast to be prepared for the two famed jungle warriors. While Jann had become a special protector for the Wabisa, words of Lorna's prowess had also reached the ears of the Wabisa.
An hour later, Jann and Lorna came striding into the Wabisa camp. They were both striking and voluptuous women. The raven-haired Jann wore a sleek black shirt and a dark ragged skirt. The blonde Lorna wore a tiger-striped shirt, leopard skin shorts. Her pet monkey Mikki was perched on her shoulder. Behind them walked Lorna's associate Greg Knight. His appearance was that of the stereotypical 'great white hunter' - a white pith helmet, white shirt and khaki pants, and a large elephant gun in his hands.
"Jann," Chief M'tuba said warmly. "The Wabisa are glad to welcome you once again."
Jann bowed to M'tuba. "It is a honor to be among the Wabisa again."
M'tuba turned towards Lorna. "We also welcome the great Lorna and …"
Knight shrugged. "Knight. Greg Knight. I'm with Lorna."
"We greet you, Knight Greg Knight," M'tuba replied, with a slight wink. "Did the messenger explain to you the situation?"
"Yes," Jann nodded. "We'll go into Waniki territory and search for the thing that fell from the sky."
Jann, Lorna, and Greg Knight made their way through the jungle towards their best guess of a crash site. Lorna and Jann used their keen jungle instincts to wind their way among the trees, vines, and dangerous animal life. Based on the behavior of the animals, they could tell that something strange had invaded the jungle. This gave them a better idea of where the crash site might be.
Knight took off his pith helmet and wiped the sweat from his brow. "Funny that we haven't run across any Waniki yet. You'd think that they would have some hunters out and about."
Lorna looked around at the vine-entangled forest. "It is strange. There's lot of good and easy hunting to be found here. Perhaps they wanted more a challenge."
Jann slashed her way through some vines with her dagger. "No, the Waniki aren't like that. If there is easy hunting to be had, the Waniki will take it."
After crossing a small stream, the trio crossed over into the heart of Waniki territory. Looking up at the jungle's canopy, they could see that a number of treetops had been torn off. It was clear that this was the impact path.
Looking closely at the damaged treetops, Lorna made some rough calculations. "I'd say it crashed no more than a mile from here." She pointed ahead. "Probably over that hill."
Jann nodded in agreement. "It could be trouble. The last time that I was in this area, the Waniki village was just over that hill. I hope whatever it was that went down didn't wipe them out."
As the trio rose over the hill, they could see that Jann's fears were unfounded. The Waniki village still stood. There were a large number of huts scattered over a few acres of open land. However, there were some surprising features. At the far end of the encampment, there was a large crater with a heap of mangled metal jutting out. The other aspect that was out of the ordinary was that the village was seemingly deserted. No Waniki were in sight.
Knight readied his elephant gun. "Where is everybody?"
Jann held her spear tightly. "This is strange, very strange."
Lorna held her own spear in front of her. "Let's proceed cautiously. Somebody has to be still here."
They searched through the huts but were unsuccessful in finding any of the Waniki. Finally, at the edge of town, near the crater, they found an old woman lying her in hut. Her long white hair and wrinkled skin showed that she had seen many, many moons. She strained to open her eyes and lift her head as the jungle heroes entered her hut.
"Peace, venerable one," Jann said politely. "We mean you no harm."
The old woman's laugh was marked with deep coughing. "Whiteskins in the land of the Waniki? You must be brave jungle queens to do so."
"We are," Lorna replied. "I am Lorna, and this is Jann." She pointed towards the raven-haired warrior.
"And I'm just elephant dung," Knight muttered. Lorna drove him crazy - sometimes she seemed to be pursuing him, sometimes she seemed to completely ignore him. "Women," he sighed.
"Ho, what blessings for an old woman," the elderly tribeswoman whispered. "To see jungle queens today, and sky gods yesterday."
"Sky gods?" Jann came closer. She was not sure if she heard the old woman's words correctly. "Did the sky gods come in the … metal chariot outside?"
"Yes," the old woman nodded. "They arrived yesterday. When they climbed out of their chariot, which burned like it came from the sun itself, they looked different, they looked like Badu the Lizard. Then they looked like the Waniki, only larger and with sticks that held the sun itself."
"Guns," Knight said with disdain.
"No," the old woman scowled. "Not the firesticks of the white man. Much more powerful."
"Where are the Waniki?" Jann asked with marked concern. "Did the sky gods attack them?"
"No. The Waniki showed them the respect that the sky gods are due," the old woman replied. "The sky gods were pleased. We feasted last night, and today the Waniki went forth, at the command of the sky gods."
Lorna was very dubious about these sky gods. Many Westerners had tried to convince local tribes that they were divine beings. Lorna had dealt with many fake gods who sought to make their fortune from the natural riches of Africa. "What did the sky gods command?"
"To clear the area of all those not blessed by the sky gods. So the tribe, all but me, I who am too old to fight, marched this morning to destroy the Wabisa."
"The Wabisa!" Jann cried. "They must have taken a different route. We have to get back there."
"Can we beat them back to the Wabisa village?" Knight wondered. "They'll have a good head start on us."
"It doesn’t matter," Lorna responded. "We have to try." She bowed slightly to the old woman. She turned to Mikki, still perched on her shoulder. "Mikki, you stay here and keep an eyes on things."
The cute monkey nodded enthusiastically and leapt to the ground.
Lorna then rushed out. Jann and Knight followed close behind. They did not spare even a moment to examine the sky gods' metal chariot. From the quick glances that Jann took, it looked like somewhat like something from a Buck Rogers serial. She could not know that it was the remains of a Skrull transport.
Wabisa Tribal Lands
Two hours later, at the southern edge of the Wabisa land, Gorilla-Man brought the Gorilla Guerrillas to a halt. He did not want to lead the column through the encampment. He knew that it would likely scare the tribesman if not ignite a violent response from them. While some of the tribes had come to recognize the good that the Gorilla Guerrillas did, their fame had not spread through the continent yet.
Suddenly, the air was filled with whooping and hollering and yelling. At first, Gorilla-Man was concerned that their presence had been discovered. He grunted for the Guerrillas to fall back slightly. However, it was unnecessary as none of the Wabisa came rushing towards them. Instead, the Wabisa warriors, fumbling as they donned their shields and took hold of their spears, were rushing towards the northern edge of town.
"Something's got them agitated," Gorilla-Man thought. "Probably another tribe. That psycho Captain America would probably say I should let them all kill each other, but I got a higher regard for human life now. It may have taken me spending time with apes, but everybody's got a right to live."
Gorilla-Man waved his arms and grunted for the Guerrillas to move forward. "Let's stop this skirmish before it flares into something bigger."
When the Guerrillas made it to the battlefront, they could see a large number of attacking Waniki warriors rushing at the defending Wabisa tribesman. Gorilla-Man was not sure who was in the right, but he decided it made more sense to help the Wabisa repulse the invading Waniki, and he would figure out the details of the situation later.
The Waniki and the Wabisa were already engaged in pitched battle. Both sides were armed with simple weapons - spears, axes, knives, and shields. By the time the Guerrillas reached the line of battle, a number of warriors on both sides had already fallen. Gorilla-Man ordered the Guerrillas to help push the Waniki back, but not to kill them if they could help it."
The Wabisa were initially awestruck by the arrival of the Guerrillas. Their surprise almost cost a few of them their lives at the hands of the Waniki. However, as they saw the Guerrillas begin to tear into the Waniki lines, cheers of joy went up among the outnumbered Wabisa.
"The Jungle favors us," a Wabisa warrior exclaimed.
Chief M'tuba, at the forefront of the Wabisa warriors, noted how intelligently the Guerrillas operated, with almost human intelligence. "I think Man-Oo the Mighty has joined our cause with his brethren."
Gorilla-Man turned as he hoisted a Waniki into the air and shook him until he dropped all of his weapons. "Man-Oo? I'm not that mythical ape with smarts," he growled. "I'm Gorilla-Man, for crying out loud."
The words of Gorilla-Man's brought even greater surprise to both the Waniki and the Wabisa. Then a cry rose up from behind the Waniki lines. "It's Gorilla-Man from the Avengers. The agents warned us about you."
Tossing the Waniki aside, Gorilla-Man moved forward. "Sounds like somebody on the other side knows me." He looked over the Waniki lines to see a handful of powerful human shapes carrying what looked like rayguns from Captain Video.
"Something tells me those aren't natives," Gorilla-Man grunted.
"Those are our sky gods," a Waniki shouted as he tried to stab Gorilla-Man with his spear. The Ape Avenger wrapped his fingers around the shaft and broke it in half.
"Watch where you're pointing that pig-sticker, pal," he snarled.
The sky gods took aim with the rayguns at Gorilla-Man. Before they could fire, a loud crack echoed through the air. The sky gods turned to see Jann, Lorna, and Greg Knight rushing towards them.
"Now that I have your attention," Knight announced as smoke drifted from his elephant gun.
"I though the white humans lived on the other continents," one of the sky gods said in confusion.
"It doesn't matter," another responded. "Kill them all. We must secure the area."
Jann shouted out. "Gorilla-Man? Is that you?"
"Hey, Jann!" Gorilla-Man called out. "Any ideas of how to put a quick end to this?"
"The Waniki think that they're following the orders of sky gods. They came down in what looks like the remains of a spacecraft," Jann replied as she had to dodge an energy blast.
Gorilla-Man surveyed the battlefield. The Wabisa were able to stem the tide of the Waniki's advance now that the Gorilla Guerrillas had joined in. However, warriors on both sides were falling, and a few of the Guerrillas had been wounded as well. The quickest way was to deal with the supposed sky gods.
He motioned for a few of the Guerrillas to join him as he led a surge through the Waniki lines. They were heading directly for the sky gods. "Go Gorilla Guerrillas Go," Gorilla-Man called out, aping the Avengers' battle cry.
Jann and Lorna had let loose their spears at the sky gods. Both had scored hits but not fatal wounds on the sky gods. They both drew their daggers as they took cover behind some convenient boulders. Knight, with his elephant gun, had the only long-range weapon now. He popped up and fired while he tried to avoid the energy blasts of the sky gods.
When the sky gods saw the approach of Gorilla-Man and his small contingent of Guerrillas, their attention was focused on them. Lorna and Jann looked at each other, nodded, and leapt out from their cover and rushed towards the sky gods. A few Waniki turned to try to defend their supposed deities.
A Waniki jabbed at Lorna with his spear. She dodged the point, and slipped her dagger underneath his shield, slicing its strap. The Waniki stepped back momentarily, amazed at Lorna's skill. Taking the spear with both hands, he swung at her. Lorna's hands darted out and grabbed the spear as well. Pulling him while falling backwards, she sent the Waniki flying forward. The warrior could not continue holding onto the spear, and the weapon was Lorna's.
The sky gods concentrated their fire at the approaching simians. However, they fired haphazardly and only managed to strike two of the apes. Gorilla-Man instructed his troops to scoop up clumps of dirt and hurl it at the sky gods. While the dirt could not do much damage to the sky gods, it did increase their disorganization.
Jann deftly avoided the slashing spear of her Waniki opponent. She bobbed and wove until she saw her opening. A quick strike with her dagger sliced the Waniki's dress from him. The warrior was dumbfounded as he was left naked. Jann drove the hilt of her dagger between the astonished warrior's eyes and knocked him unconscious. She picked up his spear and moved on.
Knight continued to fire at the sky gods but they kept on moving farther out of range under the earthen assault of the Guerrillas. "No use staying behind this rock," he decided as he rushed forward. He slipped himself under the elephant gun's strap and drew his revolver. "Let's see how good old Mr. Colt can do."
The Waniki and the Wabisa continued to battle, oblivious to what was going on with the sky gods. The remaining Gorilla Guerrillas helped keep the Wabisa from being overrun. Chief M'tuba smiled as he struck back at the Waniki. He was very grateful for the ape assistance.
Jann and Lorna had reached the sky gods by now and were attacking them furiously with their captured spears. The sky gods holstered their blasters and tried to engage in hand-to-hand combat. The jungle queens, however, were too skilled. They tripped the sky gods and kept them at more than arm's length.
Gorilla-Man and the Guerrillas bounded forward and started to wallop the sky gods. One punch from a Gorilla Guerrilla and it was lights out for a sky god.
"We're getting beaten by savages and simians," a sky god cried out before receiving a haymaker punch from Gorilla-Man.
Almost all of the sky gods had been laid low. One, however, still stood, and he was poised to tackle Lorna from behind. A shot rang out and the sky god crumpled to the ground. Lorna whirled around to see Knight standing, pistol in hand.
"I guess that's one you owe me," Knight said coyly.
The Guerrillas at Gorilla-Man's side roared in victory as they saw the last of the sky gods go down. The combined sound was so deafening that it could be heard over the din of the battle. The Waniki and the Wabisa both paused and turned to see what was going on.
Gorilla-Man's eyes were on the sky god that Knight had shot. The large body of the supposed deity began to transform. It grew smaller and lost its human appearance, although it did continue to have a humanoid shape. Its skin, which had matched the dark skin of the Waniki, was now green.
Reaching over, Gorilla-Man turned the sky god over, revealing its down-turned face. It was an ugly visage, marked with large green ears and a rippled chin. The appearance matched something that 3-D Man had told him once in confidence. "You know, I think this sky god's really an alien - a Skrull."
The Waniki and the Wabisa had watched as the true nature of the sky gods was revealed. The Waniki started walking away from the battle lines. Soon they were rushing towards the sky gods. Before Gorilla-Man or Jann or Lorna could do anything to stop them, the Waniki surged over the downed Skrulls and killed them.
"Whoa!" Gorilla-Man exclaimed.
"They pretended to be gods, but they were not," a Waniki explained. "Anyone who pretends to be a god must die. It is our way."
"The Waniki have been fools," another said, turning towards Lorna and Jann. "We will pay the blood prices. Have the Wabisa tell us how many of their warriors have fallen, and we will send them that many warriors to die by their hands."
Jann put her hand on the Waniki's shoulder. "I think there's been enough senseless bloodshed today."
Lorna looked over to her old friend, Chief M'tuba. "The Wabisa chief will not demand a blood price, will he?"
M'tuba surveyed the battlefield. Only a few Wabisa lay on the ground, hopefully not too many of them would be dead. Not demanding a blood price could gain the Wabisa the friendship of the Waniki. They would make a good ally. M'tuba nodded. "No, the Wabisa will not demand the blood price."
A few hours later, Gorilla-Man joined Jann back at her treehouse. The Wabisa and the Waniki had held an impromptu feast to honor the fallen and to celebrate their new friendship. Lorna and Greg Knight had said their good-byes as they headed back to their 'neck of the jungle'.
"Your Gorilla Guerrillas saved the day today," Jann declared. "Many would have fallen if not for them."
"They're a good group," Gorilla-Man smiled, "for a bunch of smelly apes. Say, where's that Interplanetary Cosmic Radio that Spaceboy gave you?"
Jann pulled the ICR out from a bamboo chest and placed it before Gorilla-Man. "Here it is."
Gorilla-Man activated the communications device. "Hey, this is Gorilla-Man." He waited for a response.
A few seconds later, Marvel Boy's voice came over the speaker. "This is Marvel Boy. The rest of the team is here as well at our Heath Airfield base. Good to hear from you, Gorilla-Man."
Gorilla-Man explained the recent battle and the revelation that the sky gods were actually Skrulls.
"We dealt with a group of them ourselves," Marvel Boy replied. "The Comet joined us."
{The other Avengers fought against the Skrulls in the last two issues}
"C'mon back, big guy. We miss you," another voice said.
"Is that you, 3-D," Gorilla-Man asked, some surprise in his voice.
"That's right. The team's not the same without you."
The voices of Venus and the Human Robot joined in the plea as well.
"All right. I've had enough time in the jungle. I'm no closer to finding a cure for my … condition. Any success on your end, Spaceboy?"
"Not yet, Gorilla-Man," Marvel Boy admitted almost sheepishly. "We've been rather busy with the Skrulls over here."
"I figured as much," Gorilla-Man groaned. "Anyway, why don't you fly over here with the Bullet and give me a ride back? I'm ready to return to the States now." He switched off the Interplanetary Cosmic Radio.
"Must you go?" Jann asked. "You and your Gorilla Guerrillas do so much good over here."
"I know," Gorilla-Man agreed, "but they can still operate well without me. Magilla, my 'first officer', is pretty smart; he'll do just fine leading 'em. Besides, I learned that there's a whole bunch of you jungle queens and kings fighting for good – you guys, Lo-Zar, Jungle Boy, and Leopard Girl plus some smart ape named Man-Oo. You got more than enough without me."