Plant Attack

Uncertain about her true past, Cloud fled the Secret Empire after Defenders #123 and now found sanctuary among the New Defenders.

But the team's mountainside mansion was not always the safest place to be.

When a destitute man arrived unexpectedly, the heroes who were home at the time invited the stranger inside to offer him help. No sooner did the man walk through the front door than he transformed into a giant plant-creature (#132).

When Moondragon attempted to subdue the plant-man with her thoughts, he retaliated. When she got back on her feet, Moondragon stated that she could not affect the creature, as its mind had regressed to something akin to a savage impulses.

Valkyrie's sword, Cloud's lightning, Gargoyle's bio-energy blasts, and Iceman's standard attacks proved almost useless against the vicious vegetation. More than once the heroes thought they defeated the creature only to watch it further mutate and regrow.

The usually calm Angel half-panicked when he spotted one of the plant's spores latched to his back. The winged hero flew as high into the atmosphere as he could until the thin air caused the seed to fall off. But that still left the bulk of the plant-monster growing stronger inside the mansion.

Ordering everyone else to evacuate, Iceman devised one of the most innovate plans of career. He intended to use dehydration to defeat the plant. Situated by a window, Iceman froze water molecules in the air to create massive amounts of ice outside, drying out the air inside until the plant could no longer survive.

Defenders. Vol. 1. No. 132. June 1984. "The Phantom of Gamma Ray Flats." Peter B. Gillis (writer), Don Perlin (artist), Kim De Muilder (inker), Janice Chiang (letterer), Christie Scheel (colorist), Carl Potts (editor), Jim Shooter (editor-in-chief).