Avengers #34

"The Living Laser"

[Story/Plot] /Stan Lee/

[Pencil/Layout] /Don Heck/

[Ink/Finishing] /Art Simek/

my introduction to the Living Laser was in issue #153, and he was nearly as silly looking by then.  I had no idea who he was or his origin, so this was an interesting read for me.  the guy is a certifiable stalker as written here, even if the word hadn't been defined as such yet.  so naturally that whole aspect gets dropped almost immediately.

the Laser robs a bank but returns the money, just to prove his power.  he'll show the world his true power soon enough.  the Avengers are called in to examine the robbery (to Hawkeye's annoyance) and Jan meets Lucy Barton (wonder if she's related to Clint) who spies her ex boy friend, research physicist Arthur Parks in the crowd.

of course, Arthur is the Laser, but he has suddenly fallen for Jan.  this leads to nothing but trouble.  there's a training session going on in the mansion, and Bill Foster returns to apologize to Hank for not trusting him last issue.  the Laser appears and battles Goliath, apparently getting beaten.

he escapes, and then improves his weapons (but not his costume, that is an early 60s outfit for sure) and captures the Wasp in a jar and Cap and Hawk are surrounded by laser bolts.

when Jan is caught it's because she doesn't understand how to figure out the switches "like a man" and wishes Hank had been there.  yeesh.  did they want girls to read comics at all?

next: "Victory!" and an interesting conundrum.