Threats old and new rise.
The Big Three form the first core.
Outside pressure builds.
The Big Three form the first core.
Outside pressure builds.
Captain America; Steve Rogers
Giant-Man; Henry “Hank” Pym
Iron Man; Tony Stark
Thor; Dr. Donald Blake
Wasp; Janet Van Dyne
Rick Jones (honorary member)
Featured allies/enemies:
Hulk; Bruce Banner
Spider-Man; Peter Parker
Wonder Man; Simon Williams
As
the adventures of the (mostly) original lineup continue, Stan chose to recycle the
villains a bit and have them keep coming back for more, both the Avengers' previous individual foes and the Fantastic Four's as well. This part of
their history also introduced original long-running characters such as Wonder
Man, Immortus, and Count Nefaria and the Maggia, who continued to cause problems
throughout the Avengers’ history and up to today.
In
these early stories, continuity was often fairly tight. Costume and power
changes in the heroes individual titles would show in Avengers right away, even
if no one mentioned them. Footnotes would be used to refer fans to other series
that were probably on the stands at the same time. Today, we see far less of
these footnotes, probably as they don’t fit as well into a publishing strategy that wants
to package several issues into nice, tidy trade paperbacks that a new reader
can pick up without as much baggage. With the Internet, someone wanting to find
out connections between titles or characters can very quickly find out
themselves without the need for the editors pointing the way in handy
footnotes.
Not
that it seems the stories were planned more than a month in advance. The end of
issue 13 does lead into issue 14, but only because of the very last panel
showing the Wasp in peril. We had no indication in the story that she was in
trouble, except for the dramatic announcement on the cover that something would
happen in that panel. Issue 15 also ends right in the middle of a battle
between the Avengers and Master of Evil. The title had just gone monthly, so I
guess Stan had at least some overlap in the production between two issues to
try and connect them here and there.
Speaking
of planning, the addition of Immortus as a villain has no foreshadowing at all
that he and Kang are one and the same person. They even appear in a montage as
villains monitoring the Avengers separately. Later on, they will actively
combat each other, so I think it’s pretty clear Stan meant for them to be two separate
menaces when he created them. It will be other writers that tangle up the two
characters together further. It is a little frustrating to see these two master villains who are shown to actively monitor and affect any time period ever get caught off guard or surprised or act like they have no knowledge of any future events beyond the issue they're currently in. Ecch. Time travel.
Avengers 9
The Coming of the Wonder Man
October, 1964
Written by Stan Lee
Art by Don Heck
Baron
Zemo, Enchantress, and Executioner manage to escape the space warp they were
stranded in and return to the Amazon Jungle. Zemo chooses to recruit
industrialist Simon Williams, a business rival of Tony Stark whose company went
bankrupt. Zemo empowers him into a superbeing so he may bait a trap for the
Avengers. The newly named Wonder Man breaks up a robbery and asks to join the
Avengers. He reveals that a side effect
of his power is killing him, which is indeed the case, and the Avengers seek to
cure him. Wonder Man kidnaps Wasp to the Amazon and sends a message for aid to
the Avengers. His betrayal surprises them, and the villains are victorious.
Baron Zemo prepares to kill all the helpless Avengers, (It takes a Nazi!) but
Wonder Man has a change of heart and helps them defeat the three villains.
Without Zemo’s treatments, Wonder Man is killed by his new powers.
Iron Man: “He was a strange mixture of good and evil! If
only we had more time…”
·
Iron Man will get more time. Wonder Man only
slipped into a deathlike trance and will return and join the Avengers for many
years. In 2012, however, Wonder Man thought the Avengers caused more problems
than they solved, and he led a team dedicated to their destruction, The
Revengers. By the end of the 2010 Avengers series, he had reconciled with the Avengers and was a member on the "Unity Squad" featured in Uncanny Avengers.
·
Wonder Man is empowered by “ionic energy.” This
term seems to have no basis in actual science.
·
In this and future appearances, Wonder Man uses
belt jets to enable him to fly. These were invented by Baron Zemo.
·
This is the first time Wasp mentions her “wasp’s
sting,” which are hand-mounted weapons that sting a target with compressed air.
She must have acquired these in her adventures in Tales to Astonish.
·
Starting with this issue, the Avengers was upgraded to a monthly
publication schedule.
·
New artist Don Heck was also responsible for
much of the early design work and art for Iron Man’s series.
Avengers 10
The Avengers Break Up!
November, 1964
Written by Stan Lee
Art by Don Heck
Iron Man: “If I manage to walk away from this one, I’ll
never complain about enemies like Hawkeye or the Mandarin again!”
·
Immortus summons the minions Paul Bunyan, Attila
the Hun, Merlin, Hercules, and the biblical Goliath. Merlin, Goliath, and Hercules are later revealed to be Space Phantoms taking on those roles for Immortus. We have to assume Attila the Hun and Paul Bunyan are also fakes.
· The real Hercules will later become an
Avenger. Based on the actions and appearance of the Hercules in this issue, it
is not meant to be the same person. Hercules’ official first Marvel appearance is not for another
year.
·
Immortus is another alternate version of Kang
that dwells in Limbo, the same Limbo as the Space Phantom from issue 2. When Immortus
first appears, the other villains immediately know his name and where he comes
from, even though this is his first appearance.
·
During the battle, Iron Man mentions Hawkeye, a
future Avenger, for the first time in the series.
·
Thor yells, “Avengers Assemble!!” for the first
time in the series. However, since Enchantress turned back time, that means it
may not have happened. I really hate time travel.
·
Don Cheadle, who plays War Machine in Iron Man 2, was born this month.
·
Edwin Jarvis, the Avengers’ butler, had his
first appearance in Tales of Suspense
59 this month.
Avengers 11
The Mighty Avengers Meet Spider-Man!
December, 1964
Written by Stan Lee
Art by Don Heck
Kang has been observing the Avengers from the future and
hatches a plot to use a fake Spider-Man robot to lure them into a trap. Iron
Man is missing during this issue, so the phony Spider-Man tells the other
Avengers Iron Man is being held captive by Zemo at an ancient temple in Mexico.
The Avengers each travel in their way, and when they arrive separately, the
robot overcomes all the Avengers in turn. Luckily, the real Spider-Man stowed
along with Giant-Man and Wasp and defeats the imposter.
Wasp: “I don’t trust him! Everything about spiders makes
my wasp-instinct tingle with hate and loathing!”
Robot Spider-Man, to Thor: “How come you don’t get a
haircut, chum? Tell me…do you prefer bobby pins, or ordinary curlers?”
·
The Avengers had previously been traveling in
Stark Industries vehicles, so it seems odd that they travel separately here.
But if Iron Man is missing, they may not have access to Stark vehicles without
him.
·
In this issue, Tony Stark is presumed dead
because he had faked his death in his own series. The Avengers theorize Iron Man
is missing only because he is seeking vengeance for Tony Stark’s death on his
own.
·
Rick Jones is shown to not be a full voting
member at the Avengers meeting. Captain America calls him out of order for
seconding a motion during a meeting.
·
The adventure takes place at the Temple of Tirod,
which does not really exist outside of the Marvel Universe.
·
Captain America shouts, “Avengers awaaay!” when
they scatter. Thankfully, this battle cry did not catch on.
Hulk Smash Avengers 1
By Banner
Betrayed!
July, 2012
Written by Tom
DeFalco and Ron Frenz
Art by Ron Frenz
and Sal Buscema
Lettered by Chris
Eliopoulos
Colored by Nick
Filardi
Edited by Bill Rosemann
and Jake Thomas
After tracking the Hulk in the American Southwest for a
few days, the Avengers try to restrain him long enough for some special Stark
restraints to arrive. Their hope is to convince him to return to the team.
Despite being outnumbered, the Hulk is able to batter his way free and leap
away. Coincidentally, Baron Zemo, Enchantress, and Executioner are magically
observing and also wish to recruit the Hulk. Zemo offers to help the Hulk crush
the Avengers, and they reach an agreement to team up. The Avengers continue
their search alongside the military, and Zemo’s force attacks them. Both teams
split off into individual battles. Captain America is fighting against Zemo’s Killbot,
and Rick Jones and another solider attempt to sneak up on Zemo to take him out
of the fight. The plan fails, and Zemo gets ahold of Rick and threatens to
shoot him in order to torture Captain America by depriving him of another
partner. The Hulk sees this and, because of his friendship with Rick, the Hulk
causes a ground quake that frees Rick. Seeing the tide turning, the villains
retreat. The Hulk claims that he knew all along his new allies would turn on
him, and he bounds away.
Captain America: “Save your breath, Iron Man. If he’s not
going to cooperate, there’s no point in arguing. We’ll have to take him down
like we practiced…”
·
The team of DeFalco and Frenz also worked on the
series A-Next, which showed the
adventures of an Avengers team in the future that featured the superhero
children of many of the Avengers characters.
·
Letterer Chris Eliopoulos designed the in-house
font for the Marvel comics computer lettering software. He won Best Letterer
Eagle and Harvey Awards in 2007 and 2008 respectively. He was also artist on
the Franklin Richards: Son of a Genius
series of comic books for Marvel.
·
Rosemann and Thomas were also editing the Avengers Academy series when this issue
was released.
·
An opening note places this adventure between
issues 7 and 14. I chose this spot since Wasp is using the Wasp sting established
in issue 9, issue 10 “never happened,” Iron Man is missing in action during issue
11, and Wasp is in the hospital between issues 13 and 14. The team starts issue
12 off without anything pressing happening.
·
Iron Man has his Mark II armor on the cover, but
the interior has him using his Mark III armor, which is appropriate for this
time period.
·
Rick is still suffering feelings of abandonment
in this issue, both from being rejected as Captain America’s partner and then
left behind by the Hulk.
Avengers 12
This Hostage Earth
January, 1965
Written by Stan Lee
Art by Don Heck
Giant-Man summons the Avengers because his network of
ants says there’s trouble. The other Avengers, even Wasp, think he is
overreacting, so Giant-Man blows them all off and goes to investigate the
anthill on his own. He discovers that Mole Man is changing the Earth’s rotation
to destroy humanity, but Mole Man captures him. Mole Man continues with his
plans, and tremors terrorize the surface world. Wasp is able to discover Mole
Man’s operation, and after a battle on the surface with the Mole Man's Moloids, they go to rescue Giant-Man. They
find that another villain, the Red Ghost, has joined Mole Man as well, but the
Avengers defeat the plan.
Thor: “You have the temerity to summon us because some
ants in an ant-hill are in need of assistance? I know not whether to feel
wrath…or amusement!”
·
This is the first time Wasp is shown as chairman
of the group. At this time, the position rotated weekly among the members.
·
Wasp sends a projection of herself into the
Earth by using the same image projector Iron Man used to search for the Hulk in
issue 3. She thinks of it before Iron Man himself.
·
The Red Ghost usually has a cadre of Super-Apes.
Here he claims to have parted ways with them because they were “too
unpredictable,” but he will reunite with them soon afterward.
Avengers 13
Trapped in the Castle of Count Nefaria!
February, 1965
Written by Stan Lee
Art by Don Heck
The Avengers have been interfering with a criminal
organization called the Maggia. Their leader, Count Nefaria, relocates his
entire castle from Europe to New Jersey. (Possibly the worst step one in any master plan ever.) His criminal ties are not public
knowledge, so he informs the Avengers he will open his castle to the public for
charity and invites them to attend. While waiting in private rooms, the
Avengers are trapped by Time Transcender beams and frozen in time. Count
Nefaria sends out projections of the Avengers to declare hostilities on the
United States and then releases the real Avengers, who don’t realize they were
even prisoners. They find themselves fighting the armed forces, but retreat and
return to Nefaria's castle. The team is captured again, but while
investigating the castle, Captain America frees Rick Jones, who frees the other
Avengers and leads them to victory. Count Nefaria admits to the scheme, and the
Avengers are cleared, but it is discovered that Wasp was hit with a stray
bullet and is near death.
Giant-Man, of Count Nefaria: “I admit he’s good-looking,
Jan, but I’ll bet that beard would tickle when he kisses a gal.”
Wanted poster: “Wanted! Dead or Alive! The Avengers!
Warning: They are armed with the most awesome powers known to man!”
·
This issue marks the first appearance of Count
Nefaria and the Maggia. The Maggia resemble the Maffia—er, Mafia in many ways.
·
Count Nefaria and his daughter Madame Masque
will go on to be longtime foes of the Avengers. A clone of Madame Masque will
become an ally of the Avengers and be given an honorary membership after her
death.
·
It is revealed the Avengers have an emergency headquarters hidden behind a artificial
cliff in a forested area.
Avengers 14
Even Avengers Can Die
March, 1965
Written by Stan Lee, Paul Laiken & Larry Lieber
Art by Jack Kirby and Don Heck
Wasp needs a lung specialist to recover from her wound, or
she will die within 48 hours. Thor rockets to Norway and collects this Dr.
Svenson despite the doctor's protests. When he arrives at Wasp’s bedside, Svenson is revealed
to be a masked alien. Without his mask, he can’t breathe and dies immediately.
The distraught team try to discover where the real Dr. Svenson could be and
suspect he is trapped at the North Pole. Below the ice, they find a garrison of
Kallusions, aliens who have fled an intergalactic war. Dr. Svenson had
discovered a way for them to breathe Earth air properly. The Avengers battle
the Kallusions to rescue Svenson, but Svenson is really there of his own free will and
stops the fighting when he arrives on the scene. At this time, the Kallusions’ enemies enter our solar
system, so the Kallusions flee Earth once more. Dr. Svenson is able to return
to the Wasp and perform surgery just in time.
Narration: “Let us now leave the Avengers! Strong Men
should not be seen with tears in their eyes!”
· Thor says, “Avengers Assemble!” again in this issue, and there is no time paradox at the end, so it can be considered the first use of the battle cry.
· The Kallusians and their unnamed enemies are never seen again.
· The Watcher, Uatu, appears at the end of the story to clarify that if Wasp had not been injured, the two alien races would have battled on Earth instead and destroyed mankind.
· Stan Lee only plotted this issue. In the Marvel style of this time period, the plotter figured out the basic story and how it would play out, the artist used that to create the art, and the dialogue was added after the art was created. The dialogue here was written by Larry Lieber, who is Stan Lee’s younger brother. Stan Lee’s birth name is Stanley Martin Lieber.
· Paul Laiken is a pen name for Larry Ivie, who only wrote a small number of Marvel issues.
· A 5-page story in Captain America (1968) 221 tells a story that takes place between this and issue 15. Rick Jones trips into a view screen and is electrocuted. He is transformed into a superhero called Captain Avenger with a costume made up of pieces of the other Avengers’ costumes. He foils an attack by Baron Zemo, but then discovers that he imagined the whole thing due to an electricity-caused hallucination.
· The cover has a blurb to join the MMMS, the Merry Marvel Marching Society, the official Marvel fan club from 1964 to 1969.
· Also this month, the Avengers appear in Fantastic Four (1961) 36 as guests at the engagement party for Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Girl.
Avengers 15
Now, By My Hand, Shall die a Villain!
April, 1965
Written by Stan Lee
Art by Jack Kirby
Baron Zemo kidnaps Rick Jones as bait for the Avengers. To
bolster his ranks, Zemo also has Enchantress and Executioner free Melter and
Black Knight from prison. The four villains attack the Avengers’ plane in New
York when they fly off to pursue Rick. While most of the team stops to fight
the villains, Captain America continues on by himself. Zemo uses Rick as a
human shield against Captain America’s missile attack, but instead Rick survives and is
freed from his prison. Zemo has a handheld disintegrator ray, and he and his
natives and mercenaries rush to attack Captain America. Captain America uses
his shield to reflect the sun into Zemo’s eyes, and a misfired disintegration
ray causes a rockslide that crushes Zemo to death. Meanwhile the other Avengers
are warned that any battle will result in civilian casualties, leaving the
combatants at a stalemate.
Rick Jones: “But, Cap—you’re all alone—and Zemo has
weapons—men—everything in his favor!”
Captain America: “Not everything, Rick! There’s one
weapon we’re armed with which he can never possess! A thing called—justice!”
·
This
issue was inked by Mike Esposito under the pseudonym “Mickey Demeo.”
Reprints like Essential Avengers have it updated to Mike Esposito.
An inker
inks over and puts the final touches over the artist's pencil drawings. Having
the jobs divided in this manner allows more art to be created in a shorter
period of time to keep up with deadlines.
·
The
captions at the beginning claim that some fans were upset the Avengers never
“fought to the finish,” so Zemo’s death was written to placate them. Unlike
most comic book deaths, Zemo has stayed dead. So far…
·
Thor
says here he is the monthly chairperson. The position used to be weekly.
·
Captain
America is looking for work outside the Avengers and mails a letter to Nick
Fury for employment. While going out to mail the letter as Steve Rogers, he
carries his shield in an artist’s portfolio to disguise it. Steve Rogers would
later go on to become an artist and even draw the comic adventures of himself,
Captain America, in the Marvel Universe.
·
Giant-Man
says in this issue that 100 feet is his maximum height, but that will increase
even more in later years.
·
Robert Downey
Jr., the actor playing the cinematic Iron Man, was born in this month.
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