We switch scenes to a commercial airplane headed to Florida; aboard is Tony Stark, flirting with a stewardess. However on an island in the Caribbean, the Puppet Master has created a doll of Iron Man so that he can control the hero (this is part of a minor crossover with Avengers and Sub-Mariner in which Puppet Master, Egghead and the Mad Thinker have joined forces to take over the world, but the story remains confined to each individual title; at the time, Roy Thomas was writing the other two titles, not sure why Captain Marvel was roped in). As the Puppet Master plays with his Iron Man doll, Tony Stark is compelled to kill Captain Marvel; he enters the airplane's lavatory and dons his Iron Man armor then exits the airplane (which has a double airlock hatch, fortunately for the other passengers). But why does the Puppet Master want Captain Marvel killed? Is he the same person in the Caribbean who sent the Man-Slayer?
When Iron Man swoops in to the Cape and declares he's after Captain Marvel, Carol refuses to abandon the hero; Iron Man resolves he'll simply have to destroy her as well; he stuns Carol with his repulsor rays, then begins a slugfest with Captain Marvel. The soldiers at the Cape move in to aid Carol: "Miss Danvers' life is worth more than a thousand missiles!" says one soldier. Mar-Vell grabs the lasonic disintegrator which wrecked the Man-Slayer last issue and fires it at Iron Man, but it only stuns Iron Man for a few moments; Mar-Vell tries to increase the weapon's power, but accidentally wrecks his own weapon; shoddy Kree manufacturing. It seems Puppet Master is after the Cape's rocket because Egghead (over in Avengers) is using a space station and he wants to defend his ally. Tony Stark finally suffers a heart attack and collapses; realizing the man in the armor is wounded, Captain Marvel ends the fight and asks the Cape's soldiers to get medical help for Iron Man. Good work, Mar-Vell! It's nice to see our hero behaving nobly.
Angered by Iron Man's failure, the Puppet Master throws his Iron Man doll at a computer bank; it causes an explosion which would seem to kill the Puppet Master (if you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you). To avoid further questions, Captain Marvel teleports away; Iron Man soon recovers from his heart attack and leaves the ambulance he was placed in. Mar-Vell finds himself in outer space, simply wandering... not certain where he's going (kinda like his series). Suddenly, Zo's voice appears and angrily demands Mar-Vell fulfill their bargain: get revenge on Yon-Rogg, already! His new instructions are for Mar-Vell to return to his home planet in the Kree galaxy. So, for the first time, we're going to see the Kree's home! We actually haven't seen the Kree galaxy beyond what was visible over Ronan's shoulder in various video calls. Zo shows Mar-Vell his home galaxy and tells him in the days ahead, "they hold for you the balance between life and death!"
Thoughts: So the Man-Slayer story comes to a rather muddled finish; the Black Widow turns up in Avengers #63, which is where the Egghead/Puppet Master/Mad Thinker plot is firmly established and the Thinker is identified as the one who sent the Man-Slayer. It's an odd kind of crossover for Captain Marvel as it doesn't really explain how to follow the storyline. Still, it led to a guest appearance by Iron Man, who is the first big guest star in this series since the Sub-Mariner.
Although Zo has made his return, I'm actually intrigued for once; the Kree haven't been very fleshed-out at this point and I'm interested to see Mar-Vell visit his homeworld and see his people's culture given some definition beyond would-be conquerors. However, the best part of this issue is the art by Frank Springer, who really goes to town with the outer space imagery - he's proving more adept at this book than I first supposed; I actually prefer Springer's art here over that of Gene Colan's earlier work.
Next: Mar-Vell's gone home, but it's a working vacation. Captain Marvel #15!
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