The Voice of Doom!
by
Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Don Heck & Art Simek
Cover by Jack Kirby
Jason Cragg places a soap box down in the middle of a bustling sidewalk. He gets on the box to announce to the people that he speaks the truth. This pronouncement has a hypnotic effect on the crowd as witnessed by a nearby Ant-Man. Ant-Man’s helmet cancels out Jason’s hypnotic cadence, as the boisterous man proclaims that Ant-Man is a menace to society. The entire crowd systematically turns against the hero as they take in this speech. Ant-Man is struck wondering who this person is.
Weeks ago, Jason Cragg was a failing radio announcer. Lacking the necessary charisma, his advertisements were going unheeded and the ad execs were on the verge of firing him. At a nearby atomic experimental lab, an incident occurred that released a very minute amount of “electrified particle-ionized atoms” that escaped from the lab and traveled through the studio’s microphone and into Jason’s mouth. Suddenly, he started speaking with more clarity and his radio advertisement for Peppo’s dog food went viral. The next morning, the sales of Peppo's dog food had increased by 300%. At that moment, Jason had decided to quit his advertising job. He realized the power his voice now has, so he can get around just by commanding other people. So, he traveled to Ant-Man’s city, witnessed him foiling a robbery, and decided that he would test his vocal powers against Ant-Man. When he is victorious, the city will be his.
Back to the present, Jason Cragg continues his tirade against Ant-Man. At a police station, we find Ant-Man receiving a certificate for his dedication to helping the community. Jason bursts into the station, demanding the police arrest him at once. The cops cannot refuse Jason’s hypnotic voice, so they start grabbing for the hero. Ant-Man manages to dodge their fingers. He snaps the rubber band on his certificate to launch himself out a window, onto a pile of summoned ants. Ant-Man hides himself inside a passing boy’s roller skates as Cragg and the cops lose him.
Jason Cragg commands everyone to search for Ant-Man. Easier to hide, Ant-Man stays in his small state to avoid detection. Lingering in a section of town with tall bladed grass, Ant-Man gets unnerved when he sees a mob of people searching for him, wielding sticks with magnets tied to the end so they can grab him by his metal helmet. Hank takes his helmet off, as well as his enlarging & shrinking gas cannisters, before they can nab him.
When Ant-Man’s helmet is found, Jason Cragg announces that Ant-Man is as good as finished. Now with his helmet off, Hank is susceptible to Jason’s voice. Jason compels Ant-Man to reveal himself, which he does. Holding the tiny hero in his palm, Jason tells Ant-Man that he must walk off a nearby pier into the water to drown. Ant-Man complies, walking in a daze towards the edge of the dock as the dazed citizenry condemn him as a criminal.
As Henry Pym leaps to his watery demise, his loyal ants, desperate to save their human leader, converge below the waves to rescue him. Jason and company stare in disbelief as the ants carry Hank back to land. After praising the ants, Hank races back to his secret lab before Jason can strike with renewed wrath.
Days later, the search for Ant-Man continues. Hank has holed up in his secret lab figuring out his next step to stop Jason. On TV he hears that Jason Cragg is going to make a television appearance that night. Now Henry Pym can enact his plan. He goes to a hospital where he shrinks down and has an ant take him inside. They steal a bottle containing some sort of germ that Hank has the ants carry to the television studio that Jason Cragg will broadcast from.
Inside the television studio, Ant-Man spies a prop gun that will help him carry out his plan to defeat Jason. He has one of the insects carry him up to Jason Cragg’s. As he prepares to deliver his speech, Jason is told by Ant-Man that the ants have a gun trained on him and if he doesn’t deliver his message to reverse the public’s opinion on Ant-Man, they will shoot. Jason proceeds to carry out Ant-Man’s message, making the audience like the hero again. After he is finished, Ant-Man reveals to Jason that the gun is a fake, which makes Jason start to speak out against the hero again. This time Jason finds that the power in his voice has been lost. Ant-Man explains that he planted microbes of laryngitis on the microphone he is using. Now that he is losing his voice, his voice is losing its power of persuasion. Jason persists to speak out against Ant-Man, but the audience refuse to listen. They all gang up on Jason instead, whom they proceed to run out of town.
Notes
- This is another example of hypnotism being a force to be reckoned with in the Marvel Universe.
- The ants are becoming ever more loyal to Henry Pym. Even without the communicator helmet they help him.
- In this issue they state that Ant-Man lives in Center City, which will change Manhattan pretty soon.
Review & Rank
This issue was okay. The art was a bit more interesting to look at than the last few Ant-Man stories. There's some more detail in the panels. Jason Cragg is another one-note villain whose motivation is rather spurious. He has a more interesting look than some of the past Ant-Man foes, he gave me a bit of an Orson Welles vibe. I just wish his motivation was something more nuanced than wanting to specifically destroy Ant-Man just to test his powers out.
Next Time: Iron Man gets a new coat of paint
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