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Quote1 Still, anyone who looks like I do has to find his fun when he can. Quote2
Beast (Hank McCoy)

Appearing in "Beyond the Border Lurks Death!"

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Synopsis for "Beyond the Border Lurks Death!"

This story follows up from Amazing Adventures Vol. 2 Vol 1 16...

The Hulk has landed in Canada in his usual fashion: with a bang! The impact of his last leap has caused enough racket to draw the attention of a group of RCMP officers on horseback and prompts them to go an investigate. When they spot the Hulk, the Mounties calmly orders the Hulk to surrender to them to be turned over to the American authorities. The Hulk responds by pulling up the ground up from under their feet, sending the Canadian law enforcers tumbling to the ground. Regaining their feet, the Mounties begin to fire upon the Hulk, but the Hulk stops the attack when he strikes a tree and causes it to tumble into path before leaping away.

The news of Hulk's arrival into Canada spreads quickly, and at a border crossing between Ottawa and Montreal, Mounties refuse American travelers for their own safety. Among the cars in line is one being driven by Hank McCoy and his old girlfriend Vera Cantor. This setback upsets Vera, who needs Hank's genetics expertise on some important mission to save the whole world. Unknown to Vera, Hank was a member of the X-Men known as Beast, who recently mutated himself further to have the appearance of a literal beast in a laboratory accident. Hank knocks her out by pinching a nerve and changes out of his human disguise, revealing himself to the border patrol guards and carrying Vera over his shoulder. This startles the border guards long enough for Hank to slip by into Canada and into the woods. There, he changes back into his human disguise before Vera wakes up, and when Vera asks him how they got across the border, he tells her it's an old Rum smuggler secret and that he needed to knock out. Due to the urgency of Vera's problem, she accepts this, and the two continue on their quest.

Meanwhile, the Hulk is continuing to leap and bound across the Canadian wilderness when, suddenly, he realizes his great strength and abilities are slowly waning away, but he has no idea why. Discovering that if he goes a certain direction he continues to grow weaker, the Hulk decides to follow the trail and stop whoever is sapping away his strength.

While elsewhere, the Hulk and Vera reach their destination, a log cabin in the woods. After being signaled that the coast is clear, Hank learns that Vera has brought him to see his old foe, and former X-Men teammate, Mimic. When he considers that Mimic didn't tell Vera about his secret identity, Hank deduces that Calvin Rankin really does need his scientific expertise to tackle whatever problem is threatening the world. Inviting them in, Calvin explains to Hank that his mimicking power has grown out of control and that he's begun not only mimicking peoples powers, but also leeching them away to the point where he could potentially kill them. Calvin has been trying his best to control his abilities, but they continue to grow and fade as time progresses, getting stronger each time. By his calculations, Calvin believes that his powers could cause him to suck the life out of every living thing on the planet. Taking them to the basement of the cabin, he reveals that he and Vera have pooled all their money into expensive equipment to try and cure Mimic of his powers; however, to date, they have not succeeded and decided to seek Hank out to see if he can help somehow.

Now finding that his leaping ability and strength have been greatly diminished, the Hulk continues to plod on even if it means the end of him. Back in the States, General Ross has learned that the Hulk has arrived in Canada and asks for permission to cross the border in order to deal with the Hulk. This request is denied as the Canadian authorities wish to study the situation and determine their own solution, so Ross is ordered to remain in the United States. Furious that the Hulk is in Canada where his daughter Betty is currently on her honeymoon with Glenn Talbot, the General swears to prevent the Hulk from ruining her recent marriage and is not willing to let bureaucracy stop him from doing so.

The Hulk, meanwhile, has tracked the source of his power drain to Mimic's cabin. Before the Hulk can climb down to its location, he suddenly has a fainting spell and falls down on the cabin, crashing down to the basement where Hank has begun his experiments on Calvin and his powers. Hank tries to reason with the Hulk, get him to understand that Calvin is sick and that he should leave, but the Hulk realizes that Mimic is the source of his waning power and swats Hank aside.

With Vera having gone to seek cover, Hank changes out of his disguise and attacks the Hulk as the Beast. The two pummel each other but find that they are equally matched. Not wishing his potential savior to be harmed by the Hulk, Calvin gets up off the table and tries to join the fight. Realizing that there is no help for him, and feeling guilty that the Hulk is suffering because of his powers, Mimic decides to do the drastic: absorb the properties of the Hulk's Gamma radiation into his body. Dying of radiation poisoning, Mimic thanks Hank for his attempt at helping him, but even though he is dying, he has at least saved the world. With his strength returning, the Hulk tries to comprehend what just happened and decides to leave, determining that whatever went on didn't involve him. As the Hulk wanders off into the woods, already beginning to forget the encounter, Hank changes back into his human disguise and tells Vera the bad news.

Notes

Continuity Notes[]

  • The Beast recalls his last encounter with Mimic from back in X-Men #77.
  • Although Mimic seemingly dies here, he actually survives thanks to mimicking the healing factor of Wolverine who happened to be passing by at the moment. As revealed in Marvel Comics Presents #5661.

Chronology Notes[]

Events occur behind the scenes in this story that affect the chronology of the following characters:

Hulk

Beast:

Mimic:

  •  Page 1-12  - Mimic meets with the Beast in order to save himself and the world.
  •  13-17  -McCoy tries to cure Mimic.
  •  Page 13-17  - Hank's attempts to cure Mimic are interrupted by the arrival of the Hulk.
  •  Page 18-19  - Mimic begins to succumb to radiation poisoning due to the Hulk's proximity.
  •  Page 20  - Mimic seemingly dies.

Vera Cantor:

Publication Notes[]

  • This issue contains a letters page, Green Skin's Grab Bag. Letters are published from James Elwyn Hinds, Robert Marshall, and Dave McDonnell. This issue also contains a Statement of Ownership, Management, and Circulation.
  • As seen on page one, this issue is Story#1252-Z.

Trivia

  • The border that Hank and Vera cross is said to be between "Ottawa and Montreal", two major Canadian cities which are roughly 200 km away from each other. The Canada/US Border is about 100 km south of either city, and the border in that region is divided by the St. Laurent River. This would make the most likely border crossing that Hank and Vera traveled to be in Cornwall, Ontario.
  • The RCMP officers that run into the Hulk are wearing traditional uniforms. These uniforms stopped being regularly worn since the 1920s and are merely ceremonial when used. Unless they were on their way to a special event (on horseback to boot) RCMP officers would not be wearing these uniforms.
  • Page one of this issue announces Herb Trimpe had recently gotten married.

See Also

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