Chapter IX in the "Atlantis Attacks" crossover saga! Attuma's finally got the power to do what he's always desired— annihilate Atlantis! How can the New Mutants stop him? Guest-starring Namorita! Plus: Boom Boom goes on the Dating Game TV show!
Summary
- The first story 'Here Be Monsters' was created by Louise Simonson, Rob Liefeld, Tom Dzon, Joe Rosen, Tim Vincent, Bob Harras & Tom DeFalco. This story takes place during the events of New Mutants #87.
- The second 'A Case of the Cutes' was made by Judith Kurzer, Jon Bogdanove, Hilary Barta, Joe Rosen, Steve Buccellato, Bob Harras & Tom DeFalco.
- The third and final story, 'Crowned Heads' was Chapter 9 of the Atlantis Attacks cross-over. It was created by Peter Sanderson, Mark Bagley, Keith Williams, Marc Siry, Richard Starkings, Gregory Wright & Mark Gruenwald.
Story 1: Here Be Monsters
Ghuar cackled as he observed the New Mutants, X-Terminators and Namor fighting a giant squid (see New Mutants # 76). He noticed that Namor had retrieved the Horn of Doom. Llyra argued that Namor would defeat them, but Ghuar sent Coal, Spike & String after Namor because of their strong resemblance to Sunspot, Rictor & Wolfsbane.
The New Mutants had returned to Earth (see New Mutants # 87), and Warlock flew them around the area where Ship used to float. Warlock settled on the water's surface and Wolfsbane dived in to cool off.Cannonball darted towards her and pulled her out of the water moments before sharks bit her. Rictor & Boom-Boom used their powers to scare the sharks away and Warlock soared into the air again.
Following information from Ghuar, the three Deviants tracked the Horn of Doom to Namorita's underwater bed chamber. They held her hostage and took the horn. The intruders encountered members of SURF, and were able to slip away with the Horn of Doom when Namorita mistook the SURF members to be her assailants. Undertow created a whirlpool to keep Namorita at bay long enough to introduce themselves. They explained that they were shunned by Atlantean society because of their mutations, but they loyally served Namor. Namorita explained about the Horn of Doom and set out to find the New Mutants, believing that they had stolen it back.
Warlock continued to fly around the coast while Wolfsbane (in her transitional form) and Boom-Boom sunbathed. They suddenly came under attack from SURF, led by Namorita. Warlock was pushed into the water and Cannonballactivated his blast field to protect himself. Sharkskin saw the blastfield and attacked Cannonball. Wolfsbane swam to him to help, but Cannonball blasted them all into the air. Namorita attacked Sunspot accusing him of being one of the three who attacked her. Sunspot was confused by all her Atlantean talk and tossed her away. Meanwhile, Eel wrapped himself around Boom-Boom and knocked her time-bombs away. Rictor had swallowed too much water when trying to call out to Boom-Boom and began to drawn. Warlock grabbed him and pulled him out of the water. From the air they could see Riptide, but Rictor disabled him by using his own vibration powers.
Ghaur cackled at how easy it had been to deceive Namorita. He already had plans for the Horn when the Deviants eventually returned.
From the air, Rictor & Warlock could see that Boom-Boom & Sunspot were in trouble. Warlock placed Rictor safely on the surface and dived back into the water. He untangled Boom-Boom from Eel and as he returned the the surface he warned the Deviant that Undertow needed help. Eel turned to Undertow and they began to question whether the New Mutants really did take the Horn of Doom. Meanwhile, Sunspot held Namorita from behind and swam to the surface. At that moment Cannonball returned and dropped Sharkshin into the water worried that being in the air too long had hurt him. Once the fighting had finished they tried to tell Namorita that they hadn't stolen the horn. She called them liars, but when Eel told her to look closely at the New Mutants she realised that Wolfsbane's fur was a different colour. With apologies and explanations out of the way, they teamed-up to find the real culprits.
Near Atlantis, Ghaul greeted the Deviants and received the Horn of Doom. Immediately he blew it, knowing it would summon a dangerous monster. Warlock, Namorita & SURF heard the sound of the horn, although the New Mutants couldn't (because they were only human). Warlock pinpointed the location of the noise, and Namorita provided underwater breathing apparatus for the New Mutants.
However, when they arrived at Atlantis it was already under attack from a gigantic coral covered monster. Boom-Boom's time-bomb made the monster bleed, but it didn't react to the pain. Instead, whenever anyone swam where the black blood dispersed they felt sick. Ghaur was angry that Namorita had returned with allies, but Llyra assured him to use his ship to attack them. Outside, Cunscpot, Cannonball & Wolfsbane struggled to keep buildings from toppling before everyone inside could escape, and Warlock caught any sickened Atlanteans.
The monster then attacked Ghaur's ship. It sprung a leak and the Horn of Doom was washed away and smashed on the rocks below.Llyra believed they had failed, but Ghaur corrected her; the monster's attack & poisonous blood were still capable of sacrificing the whole of Atlantis.
The New Mutants and SURF had spotted Ghaur's submarine, and Namorita recognised it as a Deviant design. Realising that it was some sort of scheme to destroy Atlantis they started to work as a team. Riptide confined the poisonous blood in a whirlpool. Rictor angered it with his vibrations and it began to chase them. Namorita led them to the Hudson Canyon, which was deep enough to contain the monster's blood. Cannonball then flew Boom-Boom down into the canyon where she created a huge time-bomb. Warlock protected the others while SURF led the monster into the canyon. Once the monster was deep enough, Boom-Boom threw her time-bomb into the monster's mouth. Cannonball then flew them back out of the canyon before they were caught in the explosion or poisoned by the blood. Rictor shook the Canyon walls while Sharkskin & Sunspot pounded the ground to cave in on top of the monster.
They returned to Atlantis, but it was an empty city. The water was too toxic, and the population had fled. Cannonball asked Namorita if she would return to the surface, but she opted to stay and help the Atlanteans & have revenge upon the Deviants. SURF agreed to help her, even though they had been outcasts. The New Mutants appreciated how similar their circumstances were as they returned to the surface.
Story 2: Boom-Boom In A Case Of The Cutes
Boom-Boom sat on her bed reading teen magazines and dreaming about handsome men. Ship wondered why she didn't date some of the New Mutants, but she dismissed them as 'goody-good' and boring. Rictor knocked on the door, and called her 'Babe', which she thought was lame. He mussed his hair and flexed his muscles as she asked her out for a movie and a burger. Boom-Boom thought it was lame and hurried him out of her room claiming that she still had to do book report on Anne of Green Gables because the Inferno had interrupted the TV movie version of it. Collapsing on the bed, Boom-Boom hoped to meet a cute guy as she drifted off to sleep.
Instantly Boom-Boom woke up and was alarmed that everything had turned black & white. She whistled the theme to the Twilight Zone and knocked on the panel. The artist greeted her and invited her to step out of the panel. Boom-Boom because coloured-in again as stepped over the border of the panel. She stood on the artist's desk, but didn't like the artist messing around so she threw a time-bomb at him. However, was huge in comparison and merely flicked the bomb back into her bedroom. The bomb went off, and the picture of Boom-Boom's bedroom was messed up. So the artist erased the bedroom and re-drew it. When asked to add a few improvements to her bedroom, the artist refused on grounds of continuity.
He then offered to hook Boom-Boom up with a cute guy; at least one from the Marvel Universe.
Boom-Boom was astounded to meet Mary Jane the model, but wasn't interested in Spider-Man leaving footprints across the ceiling. She did find Reed Richards' grey temples attractive, but soon got the boot from the Invisible Woman. At first Boom-Boom enjoyed cooking breakfast for Captain America, but she couldn't handle his typical 1950's attitude to married life or the energetic kids she'd inherited. So Boom-Boom dropped time-bombs into his coffee and ran away. Ripping off the apron, Boom-Boom found herself on a rooftop at night. There she admired Daredevil's honed physique, but was turned off but his serious nature. The artist then encouraged her to dive off the building as he drew a waterline between the buildings. Daredevil was surprised to hear a splash as Boom-Boom left him behind.
Underwater Boom-Boom sat on a giant clam-shell throne while Namor spouted endless proud speeches. Bored by his superior attitude she bombed Namor and swam off. Back on dry land Boom-Boom found herself at the steps to Castle Latveria. There Doctor Doom offered to place her on a pedestal for everyone to worship her. Amused by his metal mask, she knocked on his face-plate moments before a metal tentacle grabbed her from behind. Boom-Boom had been snatched away by Doc Octapus. He wrapped all of his arms and tentacles around her, but she gave him the time-bomb treatment.
Annoyed at the villains she'd been offered, Boom-Boom pushed the panel away and demanded someone more in shape. Instantly Grey Hulk belched and demanded a kiss. Boom-Boom screamed for the next choice. She found herself in the woods as Wolverine carved their initials in a tree. Boom-Boom seemed to enjoy painting her new claws the same colour as her nails, but she preferred someone in the city. So the Punisher held her behind the corner as his new partner against crime. He prepared to turn the corner and shoot the criminals, but Boom-Boom kicked him in the rear instead.
Boom-Boom was angry at all the lame choices of men. She shouted up at the artist for just one cute guy. Suddenly she was face-to-face with Franklin Richards. Even though he was too young for her, she had to admit that he was cute. So Boom-Boom knelt down and received a kiss on the cheek from Franklin Richards.
Story 3: Crowned Heads
Uatu the Watcher introduced the scene in the throne room of Lemuria. A priestess of Set conjured up an image of Emperor Naga from many years earlier. Naga appeared and admitted that he had aged slowly without the Serpent Crown. He then rewarded the priestess for her loyalty by arranging her marriage to his eldest living heir. Naga awaited the delivery of the Serpent Crown and the priestess removed her clothes to comfort him.
Uatu then recalled the past of the Serpent Crown when it had been disguised as the Helmet of Power. It fell into the Thing's hands, and Namor fought to steal it away from humankind. Namor returned to Lady Dorma, but while he was away from Atlantis the Helmet's outer shell shed itself to reveal it's true identity. Dorma became enchanted by the crown and Ikthon passed it to her to wear. It enchanted the whole kingdom, who attacked Namor upon his return. Lady Dorma condemned him to a death sentence, but Namor managed to free himself and steal the crown.
However, Namor couldn't resist temptation and wore the crown to learn it's secrets. It caused Namor great pain so he cast it away. That was when Karthon found him and battled to take the Serpent Crown to his master, Naga. Although Namor defeated Karhon, they were both ensnared by an electrical net and captured by Captain Barracuda and Mr Starkey. They demanded to know why the crown was so important, but Namor only asked for them to give Karthon water. The air-breathers laughed and threw a bucket of water over Namor, which gave him the strength to break free of his bonds. While Namor was fighting Captain Barracuda, Karthon stole the Serpent Crown. Namor managed to steal it back at the Panama Canal.
An armed vessel opened fire on Namor giving Karthon the chance to steal the crown back to Lemuria with Namor as his prisoner. Naga received the Serpent Crown and immediately placed it on his head. With the crown he became the most dangerous man alive.
Note: This story is continued in X-Factor Annual # 4.
Additional: There are 4 pin-ups included in this annual. Non-story appearances do not count as official appearances. The galleries consist of:
- Former New Mutants Members: Karma & Moonstar
- Former New Mutants Members: Magma, Cypher, Bird-Boy & Magik
- The Current New Mutants: Boom-Boom, Cannonball, Skids, Rusty, Rictor, Warlock, Sunspot & Wolfsbane (note: Rusty & Skids separated from the rest of the team in New Mutants 78 and would not rejoin them)
- Namorita & SURF members Eel, Riptide & Sharkskin.
Log in to comment