It finally happened in the little mid-European land called Shangri-Lee. An absolute dictator rose to power. Rudolph Hatter (his enemies called him Mad Hatter) was ruthless. Like other madmen before him, he sought to rule the world. He trusted no one; needed to do everything himself; tried to be in all places at all times! To lead the army, while commanding the navy, while remaining behind to run things, Rudolph Hatter needed to be at least 3 men, if not more. And so he commanded his scientists to build a machine that would produce duplicate Hatters; a sort of Spirit Machine that could turn out carbon copies of the dictator, all endowed with his invincible spirit. Since Hatter’s own scientists were unequal to the task, Hatter’s secret agents kidnapped Doctor Elefun and spirited him to Shangri-Lee. With Doctor Elefun gone, Astro Boy leaped onto the case. His assignment: rescue Doctor Elefun, smash the Spirit Machine, and do something about a bewildering array of Mad Hatters!