Prisoner of the Slave World!
by
Stan Lee, Larry Lieber & Don Heck
Henry Pym is attempting to visit Paul, a colleague friend of his. When he rings the doorbell to his lab, there is no answer. Worried that his fellow scientist may have taken ill, Henry uses his shrinking gas and dons his Ant-Man costume to investigate. He summons an ant to carry him up to the door’s keyhole. Once through, Ant-Man searches for his missing friend. He finds it incredibly odd that all the windows and doors are locked from the inside. Paul seems to have simply vanished. A few nights later, still distraught over his missing friend, Henry sees a news bulletin on TV. Eminent scientists have suddenly gone missing, baffling both the police and the FBI. Henry suspects that he will soon be targeted as well, but he'll be ready as Ant-Man.
Several days later, Henry Pym is approached in his lab by a man claiming to be a new window washer. He wants to give Henry’s lab a free service and if he is satisfied with the job, he’ll use him regularly. As Henry returns to his own work, the window washer sneaks up behind him to pour a pail full of paralyzing liquid over him. The window washer watches as the paralyzing agent renders Henry Pym physically speechless.
At the same time in another dimension, a green, alien tyrant named Kulla has captured several scientists from earth to create weapons for him. He demands that they make him an electro-death ray that he can use against the forces that have lay siege to his tower. When one scientist refuses, Kulla has him sent to a dungeon. Back in the regular dimension, Kulla’s human accomplice has finished securing a helmet to Henry Pym and his own head. Upon activation, the two men vanish and reappear in Kulla’s tower. The con-man has been promised payment for all of the scientists he has kidnapped.
Henry Pym finally meets with his friend Paul and several other captives. After some quick reminiscing, Pym starts causing a commotion to get Kulla’s attention. Two of his guards grab Pym and carry him off to a solitary confinement, which is what he wanted all along. All by himself, Henry once again shrinks down to become Ant-Man.
As Henry Pym changes, he is approached by this world’s version of insects. He attempts to communicate with them after putting on his Ant-Man helmet. When that fails, the strange alien insects start attacking. In the midst of their brawl, Ant-Man determines the frequency of the insects’ antennae on his helmet. Successful, Ant-Man is able to command the creatures just as easily as the ants back home. Having gained his new allies, Ant-Man escapes under the prison door to rescue his peers.
Heading towards the main room where the scientists are, Ant-Man accidentally trips an alarm. With everyone aware of his presence, Kulla’s men use their boots to stomp on the tiny hero. Ant-Man is able to duck between the ridges of leather on the bottom of a stomping boot. From there, he cuts a hole in the sole to hide inside the alien’s boot. The aliens search for the missing hero, when suddenly he pops out of the boot. Running from the guards, Ant-Man reaches his fellow scientists who gather him up and hide him in a coat pocket.
While the guards question the scientists, Ant-Man uses his helmet to summon the insects. With the aliens distracted by questioning Paul, Ant-Man sneaks out of the pocket. He hops onto the floor, but is immediately spotted. Kulla takes out a vial of the paralyzing agent and dumps it on Ant-Man. Ant-Man is stuck in place as Kulla approaches with a mallet in his hand.
As Kulla prepares to swing his mallet down on Ant-Man, Kulla is hit by his own death ray. When the chemicals wear off, Ant-Man reveals that while he was paralyzed, he was still able to communicate with the insects through his helmet. He commanded them to activate the death ray and blast Kulla before he killed him. Still under his command, the insects release the locked door, allowing the forces outside to storm the tower. They quickly overcome the guards, as the free scientists praise Ant-Man.
While Ant-Man sneaks off to change back into Henry Pym, the con man reappears with a new human captive. The scientists surround the criminal and deride him for hurting his fellow man. The con man proclaims that they can’t do anything about it since they aren't police. Interjecting, the aliens promise to keep him a prisoner on their world. With that settled, the scientists use a dimensional transporter to return to earth. Basking in their freedom, the only question left on the scientists’ minds is how Ant-Man got to the dimension to rescue them. Henry chimes in that perhaps it doesn't matter, so long as he is always there when needed.
Notes
Unstable Molecules - This is the first time we find out Ant-Man’s costume, like the Fantastic Four’s, is made with Unstable Molecules
Henry Pym facilitates the death of Kulla in this story. This shows he is not above killing if necessary.
Review & Ranking
It’s a pretty boring issue. This story isn’t anything we haven't seen before. There are a few bits I like; the design of the alien bugs is pretty good and otherworldly. Ant-Man’s chase scene wasn’t too bad, but we've seen better on this title. I don't like the alien designs. Kulla is just another generic green alien tyrant who has very little agency beyond that. I’m more intrigued by the con man character, but we don't learn very much about him. I wish we got to spend a little time with the resistance forces closing in on Kulla, but this story was so short it didn't have time at only 10 pages long.
I am placing this one under Incredible Hulk’s story with Mongu. Both are very short and don’t make a whole lot of sense, with only a few interesting panels here and there.
Next Issue: Spider-Man returns with his own series!
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