More secret defense. Fred Fredericks inks this one. It’s called “The Queen, My Lord, Is Dead,” with a text box letting you know that’s from Macbeth. That’s kinda awkward. The Way To Dusty Death was a quote from Macbeth, and this issue is, too, but last issue was called “The Winds of Watoomb.” Be consistent, Roy! Well, those winds are lashing New York and magic lightning is now shooting out of the storm, almost hitting Captain America.
Cap, uh, recaps what’s going on for the police detective from last issue, saying he worries this is just a harbinger for something worse, and then we’re off to the Death Dimension, where things are a lot weirder than we left them.
Except…
Ridiculous. Still recapping. I must say, it’s not been that long since I read Dusty Death, and this notion that Xanny and Melinda “share a single death” isn’t ringing any bells. One of the local demons is taking issue with this plan, and gets zapped to death for it. Wanda tells Zandu that he’s made a mockery of his beloved, which sends him into a rage.
Well, this is all very silly. Xanny announces his plan to name the newly merged world after himself, which is very humble, and the heroes discuss whether the wand could actually do this like he’s not there for awhile. Then Xandu frees the heroes, somehow dulling their various powers, so they can run and the demons can hunt the down and no one will be around to bother him while does his spell.
–spear fishing, he says, stabbing at the tentacle as Wanda remembers she “has some magic.” Just some hand zaps. Then Spidey gets caught in another tentacle, and the other two get out of the muck and drop a big rock on the still unseen owner of these tentacles, freeing him. As the demons catch up and the heroes start running again, Strange laments not bringing a human fighting machine like Cap along. Duh. As Xanny begins his big spell, our heroes elude capture in a pretty unpleasant manner:
There follows a big splash page of the castle that doesn’t reveal anything more than that last panel, just bigger, which makes me wonder if this comic didn’t come out to the right number of pages or something. Inside said castle…
The heroes burst in to say no to all that, and Strange and Xanny get locked in an anime beam fight. Spider-Man interrupts it, trying to get the villain to listen to reason, but he’s getting more deranged as we go. Then Wanda points out that the edges of the 2 dimensions are touching in Xandu’s handy visual aid, and Strange fears they’re too late. Proof of that comes back on Earth, as Cap sees zombies rising from the cemetery near the asylum.
I be the blurring of dimensions allows Cap to meet up with the rest of the gang next issue. I guess we’ll see!