Metal Men #40

Issue Details

Synopsis

The enigmatic Mister Conan gathers the Metal Men, to inform them that their creator, Doctor William Magnus, has been abducted by a foreign power. Worse, Magnus has been brainwashed into serving Karnak, the Killer, the ruthless dictator of the tiny nation on Karnia. The Metal Men are excited about the prospect of going into Karnia to rescue Magnus. Excited, that is, until Conan tells them that their actual mission is to assassinate Magnus. Having operated on Magnus' brain, Karnak has altered the way Magnus perceives the world. Magnus is willingly building Karnak an army of robot soldiers, to aid Karnak in conquering the world. The Metal Men are shown a film strip smuggled out of Karnia, by Conan's agents. Magnus' work on the robot army is revealed. It also becomes painfully clear that Magnus is no longer sane. Torn by their loyalty to Magnus, the Metal Men reluctantly accept the mission.The team is secretly flown into Karnia. As the Metal Men parachute out of the plane, the craft is shot out of the sky. A patrol of robot soldiers closes on the Metal Men's drop site. Magnus' new machines are no match for his Metal Men. With the patrol destroyed, the Metal Men put the soldiers' uniforms on, to infiltrate Magnus' factory. The Metal Men make it past the first check point without incident. Trespassing into an unauthorized area, though, draws unwanted attention to the team. Iron is forced to destroy another robot soldier, resulting in a brief skirmish with another patrol. The Metal Men are forced to flee. The Metal Men run amok through the compound, destroying everything in their path, while they flee their pursuers. Locating a fuel depot, the Metal Men ignite the fuel. The compound goes up quickly. So fast, in fact, that the Metal Men, too, are endangered by the flames.The team runs head long into a patrol, only to discover that the robot soldiers have ceased functioning. Their central command center has been consumed by the fire. Suddenly, the figure of Karnak darts out...