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Issue Details

Issue #158
Published July 1967
Cover Price 0.12 USD
Pages 36
Editing Stan Lee

Cover Details - "The Sands of Death!"

Characters Living Tribunal; Dr. Strange
Genre Occult
Pencils Marie Severin
Inks Bill Everett
Reprinted in Essential Dr. Strange (Marvel, 2001 series) #1 (2001); in Marvel Masterworks: Doctor Strange (Marvel, 2003 series) #2; in Marvel Masterworks: Nick Fury, Agent Of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Marvel, 2007 series) #2

12 page Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. story "Final Encounter!"

Characters Supreme Hydra [Baron Strucker]; Nick Fury; HYDRA; Laura Brown
Synopsis The battle between Fury & Strucker continues, with the "Satan Claw" electrifying the floor, until Fury manages to get it off Strucker's hand. But surrounded by HYDRA thugs, Fury dives into a pit of water, and after not emerging for 5 minutes is presumed dead. Big mistake-- as Fury had used an oxygen pellet to wait out the thugs, then raced ahead of Strucker. Minutes later, as HYDRA thugs enter the room, they discover 2 Struckers! One of them is revealed to be wearing a mask, panics, and winds up incinerated in an "Alpha-Particle Reactor Cube". The other orders Laura put aboard the Dyna-Soar, and he takes off from Hydra Island, despite the imminent detonation of The Death Spore bomb. Surprise-- it's Fury, who used Strucker's "face-changing gizmo" to disguise both himself and Strucker, to fool the guards. He also reveals that when he left the Heli-Carrier, he brought the bomb WITH him, even though at the time he didn't know what it was. It detonates, and thanks to the impenetrable dome, only Hydra Island and all within are wiped off the face of the Earth! Fury heads for NYC, as the rising sun seems to signal "new hope".
Genre Spy
Script Jim Steranko
Pencils Jim Steranko
Inks Jim Steranko
Colors Jim Steranko
Letters Sam Rosen
Notes Part 9 of 9. Although HYDRA's leader and main base were destroyed, their branch organization, A.I.M., resurfaced the very next month against Captain America in TALES OF SUSPENSE #92 (August 1967). HYDRA itself would return in CAPTAIN AMERICA #110 (February 1969). Baron Strucker would appear to return, without explanation, in the guise of "The Hood" in CAPTAIN AMERICA #131 (November 1970); however, this was proved to be only a robot in CAPTAIN AMERICA #247 (July 1980). Baron Strucker remained dead for 24 years, until he was brought back to life in NICK FURY, AGENT OF S.H.I.E.L.D. #20 (February 1991). HYDRA's formation by Baron Strucker would be revealed in flashback in CAPTAIN SAVAGE #2-4 (March-July 1968).
Reprinted in Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Marvel, 2000 series) #nn (May 2000); in Marvel Masterworks: Nick Fury, Agent Of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Marvel, 2007 series) #2

10 page Dr. Strange story "The Sands of Death"

Characters The Living Tribunbal; Dr. Strange
Synopsis The Living Tribunal announces that because Strange has unleashed upon the cosmos a menace to "worlds beyond worlds", Earth must be destroyed. Before he can recite the "Incantation of Oblivion", he recounts the events leading up to his decision, agreed upon by his 3 faces of Equity, Revenge & Necessity. He explains that the equilibrium of mystic powers has been upset, the framework of infinity "rent asunder". Throughout the Earth, latent mystic powers have begun to grow, and due to Zom's evil nature, it is evil's side they favor, and before long, they will unite. Strange challenges the Tribunal to allow him to deal with the menace, as he has always waged battle with the forces of darkness. Proving himself by restoring his Cloak of Levitation (burned to a cinder by Zom), Strange is granted a reprieve-- but only for the time it takes the "Sands of Death" to run out of "The Glass Of Doom", which The Tribunal produces and upends, setting it down in the middle of Stonehenge. Strange departs to dispel the menace-- wondering if he'll be able to succeed in time...
Genre Occult
Script Marie Severin (co-plot); Roy Thomas (co-plot, dialogue)
Pencils Marie Severin
Inks Herb Trimpe
Letters Artie Simek
Notes Part 12 of 22; part 1 of the Living Tribunal sequence.
Reprinted in Essential Dr. Strange (Marvel, 2001 series) #1 (2001); in Marvel Masterworks: Doctor Strange (Marvel, 2003 series) #2