Avengers 61 to 68 (2/69 to 9/69)

A world imperiled,

an archer’s heart swells and breaks.

Evil now undying.

Black Panther; T’Challa

Yellowjacket; Henry “Hank” Pym

Hawkeye/Goliath II; Clint Barton

Iron Man; Tony Stark

Thor; Donald Blake

Vision

Wasp; Janet Van Dyne 

Featured Allies
Black Knight; Dane Whitman
Black Widow; Natasha Romanoff
Doctor Strange; Stephen Strange

Rather than new roster changes, the team has a rotation of characters come in and out with little fanfare. Iron Man and Thor drop in for an adventure in this cycle and continue to hang around. Their strength is needed against Ultron-6’s new adamantium form. Other Avenger allies, like Black Knight, Doctor Strange, and Black Widow turn up briefly, do their part, and move on. The issue of membership is portrayed a bit more informally, showcasing how, when the world is threatened, anyone may be called on to serve in the spirit of the team. The Avengers even let Barney Barton, a shifty street hood, come on a mission into space, where he saves the day when the Avengers can’t.

Hawkeye undergoes some major changes. Feeling somewhat inadequate next to his more powerful teammates, he decides that having a superpower is preferable to his archery skill, so he decides to become the new Goliath now that Henry Pym has embraced his Yellowjacket persona and gone on his honeymoon. We also discover his civilian identity of Clint Barton for the first time, but sadly only because of the dying (for now) words of his brother Barney. Hawkeye—er, Goliath’s origin is also expanded a bit to include his brother. This is the first of many changes to this story, showing that Stan Lee’s material was due to be updated or upended by many subsequent writers. In addition to Pym’s size-changing powers, Goliath II also inherits one of Giant-Man’s nemeses, Egghead, whose scheme resulted in Barney’s (for now) death.

Black Panther’s roots in Wakanda are briefly explored, and after coming to blows with the regent he left behind to run the country in his absence, T’Challa goes home to deal with Wakandan affairs. We also see how he contributes to the Avengers technology, as the Quinjet makes its debut, and Stark Industries loses its monopoly on providing the vehicles to the team.

Vision’s place on the team begins here with an air of mystery. He ably serves against a few menaces, but shortly after joining, he finds himself under the control of Ultron again. Ultron will often be shown to have contingency plans in place, and Vision serves that role here, recreating one of the Avengers’ deadliest foes to become even more troublesome. The inner thoughts of the Avengers turn to betrayal and doubt with good reason, and not knowing that Vision would be a longtime Avenger, it would have been easy for the readers to also think that his joining the team was just a temporary plot point contrived for the purpose for this betrayal and the creation of Vision as a villain.

Avengers 61

Some Say the World Will End in Fire, Some Say in Ice!

February, 1969

Written by Roy Thomas

Art by John Buscema and George Klein 

A strange ghostly shape appears to the Avengers, and he identifies himself as Doctor Strange, who the team just met at the wedding. Despite his odd new appearance, the Avengers follow his summons and find him in a graveyard with a wounded Black Knight. Between Doctor Strange’s surgical skills and the Avengers' Rejuvenator technology, the Black Knight is returned to health. Strange relates a curse that is taking place, and reports are coming in from around the world of new volcanoes appearing. Doctor Strange stays behind to work on a ritual with the Crystal of Conquest he recovered during his own adventures. The Black Knight and Hawkeye head to Antarctica to battle Surtur, and Vision and Black Panther take a quinjet to Wakanda to engage Ymir. The heroes are having a tough time of it, but they delay the demon and giant while Strange completes the ritual. The crystal brings the two demons to the same spot at the instant they were poised to strike the Avengers, and their blows instead destroy each other, ending the curse.  

Vision: “I hardly need to be reminded that I’m not truly human!”

Hawkeye: “Sorry, Vision…I didn’t…”

Vision: “Forget it! I hate heroes whose main power is breast-beating!” 

·         We see that Vision absorbs solar energy through the jewel on his forehead. If he absorbs too much, he gets groggy.

·         This story continues from events in Doctor Strange (1968) 178. The strange blue form Doctor Strange appears in is due to another mystic, Asmodeus, having copied Doctor Strange’s regular human form in Doctor Strange 177. Apparently they could not exist in the same dimension while being identical, so Strange assumed this new shape.

·         Black Knight reveals he has a private plane for transportation, as well as his flying horse.

·         This is the first use of a Quinjet in Avengers. Black Panther designed the craft. It gets its name from having five (quintuple) jets. It is destroyed on its first mission.

·         Ymir the ice giant and Surtur the fire demon are among the oldest  entities in the Asgardian mythos. Surtur also figures into the Norse Armageddon myth of Ragnorak.

·         The story title is the opening from Robert Frost’s poem “Fire and Ice.”

Avengers 62

The Monarch and the Man-Ape!

March, 1969

Written by Roy Thomas

Art by John Buscema and George Klein 

The Avengers and Black Knight are stranded in an icy waste. Black Panther summons a plane, and the team finds out they were brought to Wakanda by Doctor Strange’s spell. The ice remains from Ymir’s rampage. When they arrive at the Black Panther’s residence, they are attacked by Wakandans until the Black Panther shows himself. We find that the sitting regent, M’Baku, ordered his soldiers to attack any strangers, ostensibly due to the menace of Klaw. At a feast that evening, the Avengers are drugged and collapse. Black Panther finds that M’Baku has taken the identity of the Man-Ape so that the White Gorilla Clan can gain leadership of Wakanda. They enter into single combat, as the other Wakandans have doubts about their absent king’s fitness to rule. Man-Ape is able to subdue the Black Panther and restrains him below a large panther totem. For symbolic victory, Man-Ape seeks to topple the totem onto the Black Panther to kill him, but the totem crumbles back onto Man-Ape, crushing him instead. 

Black Panther: “The floor—it opens beneath me! Falling thru—into the atomic fires which rage below! One searing touch—means anguished death!!” 

Vision: “Why did M’Baku try to destroy you…to undo the progress you wrought?”

Black Panther: “He could do nothing else, my friend…for, he was a living anachronism…strange to the ways of civilization!” 

·         The title on the cover undergoes a change to “The Mighty Avengers” starting with this issue.

·         Black Panther has controls in his belt buckle that he uses to summon a remote-control plane, which shows that foresight he will become well-known for.

·         The Black Knight reveals the name of his sword is the Ebony Blade. It was carved by the legendary sorcerer Merlin from the ore of a meteor.

·         Hawkeye wonders what Black Widow is doing. She was currently undertaking a mission in Russia and destroying the controls of a robot called the Man-Slayer. This is seen in Captain Marvel (1968) 12.

·         This is the first appearance of Black Panther foe the Man-Ape. He will return in several future adventures.

·         M’Baku and T’Challa are former friends. Despite the many times they clash, Man-Ape will later appear at Black Panther’s wedding to Storm. He shows up to get revenge and finds out he was actually invited to the wedding. He gets drunk and fights with Spider-Man.

·         Though Vision is charged by solar energy, he drinks at the feast, and the drugs do affect his synthetic organs.

·         Black Panther claims his strength is halved out of the darkness. This is not a literal statement. His enhanced senses and stealth in darkness aid him in battle. His actual physical strength is not affected.

·         Letterer Sam Rosen ends a consecutive streak of issues here, peaking at seven issues straight, which is the longest of all the letterers to this point.

·         Terrence Howard, James Rhodes from the Iron Man film, was born this month.

Avengers 63

And in This Corner…Goliath!

April, 1969

Written by Roy Thomas

Art by Gene Colan and George Klein 

After a bow malfunction causes Hawkeye to question his usefulness to the team, the Avengers receive a message from Nick Fury that Black Widow is having trouble on a mission in the Caribbean. The rest of the team agree Hawkeye is being too emotional about Black Widow being in danger, so they leave him behind. We find out the Nick Fury transmission was a ruse by Egghead, the Thinker, and the Puppet Master.  Black Widow is able to get a message to Hawkeye, who deduces she is actually being held near Coney Island. He takes Henry Pym’s growth formula and takes the identity of Goliath. At his new size, he battles a giant android and rescues Black Widow by himself. 

Vision: “Why the stinging bitterness I sense behind your words, archer? We’re safe, are we not?”

Hawkeye: “Yeah…but no thanks to me! One crummy broken string…and I’m Mr. Fifth Wheel!” 

·         This is the first Avengers drawn by Gene Colan. He was currently in the middle of an almost 9-year stint on Daredevil (1964). He only missed three issues of Daredevil during that time, the three issues which were published about the same time as the three issues of Avengers Colan does the art for.

·         When their craft is about to crash, Hawkeye hopes they can “make like Smilin’ Jack.” “Smilin’ Jack” was a newspaper comic strip about a pilot that ran from 1933 to 1973 and spawned a radio program, film serial, and, yes, comic book.

·         Despite the appearance of the new Goliath on the cover, the corner box still has the Henry Pym Goliath and Hawkeye among its faces.

·         Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor appear on the cover, but none of them are present in the story.

·         Hawkeye says he’s “still from Missouri.” This is a figure of speech that he wants proof, as would someone from “The Show Me State” of Missouri. He was actually born in Iowa.

·         Black Panther mentions he is the monthly chairman at this time.

·         The Goliath costume that Hawkeye uses was designed by the Wasp for Henry Pym, but never used until now.

·         The first adventure that Hawkeye uses the Pym growth formula in 1969, he becomes giant size next to the Wonder Wheel at Coney Island. The last time he used it was in 2011, in Hawkeye: Blindspot 3, and it was at Coney Island next to the Wonder Wheel.

·         Puppet Master refers to this three-way villain alliance as a “meeting of the minds.” It is also one of the earliest meetings of the Intelligencia, a clandestine group of criminal geniuses who plot behind the scenes of the Marvel Universe. Egghead and the Thinker are two of the original members. Puppet Master is not a member. The existence of the group won’t be revealed until over 40 years later during The Fall of the Hulks event.

·         Egghead’s real name is Elihas Starr. He does not like or use the name Egghead for himself. He is no way related to the villain played by Vincent Prince in the Batman show that aired from 1966 to 1968. Marvel’s Egghead came first in 1962.
·         Actor Paul Rudd, who will portray the Scott Lang Ant-Man in the Ant-Man film, was born in this month.

Avengers 64

…Like a Death Ray From the Sky!

May, 1969

Written by Roy Thomas

Art by Gene Colan and George Klein 

A death ray from space destroys a town that had already been evacuated. More destruction is promised unless a ransom is paid to Egghead within four hours. The Avengers stand at the ready, but they have no idea how to locate the weapon. Barney Barton, an infamous mobster, comes to the mansion with the location of the satellite. He was offered employment by Egghead, but Barton turned him down. Upon refusing, he barely escaped the meeting with his life, and he now joins the Avengers on their mission to space. Egghead has radioactive puppets made by the Puppet Master, and he uses them to paralyze the entire Avengers team. Only Barton is left active, and he manages to jostle the equipment enough to cause it to self-destruct. When Barney is mortally wounded in the explosion, his last words are to Goliath, who he reveals to be his younger brother, Clint Barton. 

Yellowjacket: “He called you by a name…called you…Clint…!”

Goliath: “Why shouldn’t he know my real name, Hank? After all, he was…my brother!” 

·         Egghead reveals he studied Shakespeare in prison, the source of many of his quotations.

·         Black Panther claims that he is trying to keep his station as King of Wakanda a secret to the American public. In issue 52, local police found this out about him almost immediately, but according to the Black Panther’s thoughts here, they have since been sworn to secrecy.

·         As part of Egghead’s plot, Puppet Master uses his puppets to control Iron Man in Captain Marvel  14, but is thwarted in his plans when Iron Man has a heart attack and is unable to comply with Puppet Master’s commands properly.

·         Egghead’s recent ally the Thinker is busy being defeated by Namor and the original Human Torch in Sub-Mariner (1968) 14.

·         This is the first time Hawkeye’s name, Clinton Barton, is revealed. Letterers have to be very careful with the name Clint. If the L and I are too close together in all capital letters, they form a U, and his name resembles a curse word.

·         The story of Barney Barton is later updated to reveal that he was not a true criminal, but an undercover law enforcement agent. Barney Barton's history is then updated another time, showing that the government agent story was a ruse created by Egghead and he really was a gangster. The bright side of this is the second Baron Zemo, in a moment of respect for Hawkeye, transfers Barney's unclaimed criminal bank accounts to Clint's name, making Hawkeye currently quite wealthy. Barney will later be revived by Helmut Zemo, take the identity of Trickshot, try to kill Hawkeye for revenge. but then reconcile with Clint and give up crime altogether.

·         The corner box now reflects Clint’s new Goliath costume.

Avengers 65

Mightier Than the Sword

June, 1969

Written by Roy Thomas

Art by Gene Colan and Sam Grainger 

Egghead contacts Swordsman and enlists him to break into Avengers Mansion and abduct Goliath, who Egghead thinks is still Henry Pym. Swordsman retained a device from his time as an Avenger that allows him to bypass security, and it still functions. He bursts in on the team and puts out a challenge for Hawkeye, who he thinks is not present. The team attacks Swordsman, but the new Goliath comes between them because he wants to fight Swordsman solo. After sidelining his teammates, Goliath loses the battle and is taken away by Swordsman when he reverts to normal size. Egghead is irate to discover that Goliath is no longer Henry Pym, so the two villains bicker. Egghead is not physically helpless, and he shoots Swordsman out the window with a stun blaster. Goliath saves Swordsman from a fall and captures both villains. 

Egghead: “…I shall a tale unfold, whose lightest word—“

Swordsman: “Forget fancy words, old man! If you called me here to listen to soliloquies…you’ll regret it to the tips of your affected toes!” 

·         This is inker Sam Grainger’s first issue of Avengers.

·         This issue reveals that Swordsman did not know Hawkeye was his old student Clint Barton for sure until Egghead told him.

·         Hawkeye’s new identity as Goliath is not public knowledge. Everyone just believes it’s the same man in a different costume.

·         Barney Barton’s part in Hawkeye’s origin is added to the story originally shown in Avengers 19. This story is like an onion. It’s added to in many layers over the years.

·         Egghead spouts several quotes from Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Romeo & Juliet, and Hamlet in the issue, though he often finishes them in a different manner than the original. Goliath gets in on the act by paraphrasing “Something’s rotten in Denmark” from Hamlet.

Avengers 66

Betrayal!

July, 1969

Written by Roy Thomas

Art by Barry Windsor-Smith and Syd Shores 

The Avengers are helping S.H.I.E.L.D. to test out a new metal, adamantium. None of their powers seem to affect it in the slightest. Vision feels a silent summons and leaves the Helicarrier. The Avengers return home, and during a training session, the computer acts aggressively toward Iron Man, causing him to push his armor to the breaking point. While the Avengers ponder this malfunction, Vision has stolen the cylinder of adamantium seen earlier, as well as a molecular rearranger. The Avengers are trying to figure out if and why Vision might betray them, and they hear Wasp scream. Vision has returned to the mansion, and he holds the team at bay until it is revealed that their own computers, under the control of Vision, have recreated Ultron into Ulton-6 with a new body composed of adamantium. 

Vision: “Yes, I think like a human…act like a human! And, except for my scarlet synthetic flesh…my cold robotic voice…I even seem human to mortal eyes and ears! Whey then do I feel as inhuman as this gnarled and lifeless tree…? As dead as those who lie buried beneath it…?” 

Thor: “All the grim tactics of a perverted science…shall avail thee naught against the God of Thunder!” 

·         With this issue, the cover price increases from 12 cents to 15 cents. In 2014 dollars, that’s like increasing from 78 cents to 97 cents.

·         Barry Windsor-Smith is credited here as Barry Smith. This is his first issue of Avengers and one of his earliest comic book jobs. He had just completed a short run on Daredevil while Gene Colan penciled Avengers, but now they switch places, with Colan returning to Daredevil.

·         Windsor-Smith has since worked for several publishers, but has been mostly inactive in the comic book industry since 2000. He co-created the Rune character and series for the Malibu Ultraverse with Chris Ulm. I got to place some of the word balloons for the series, and I got a post-it note from Mr. Windsor-Smith to “Get the balloon out of his f**king eye!” And you bet I did.

·         This is inker Syd Shores’ first Avengers issue. He worked at Timely comics in the forties and through to the early Marvel years as well. He won’t ink another issue until issue 100.

·         This is the first mention and appearance of the impervious metal adamantium and its creator Dr. Myron MacLain. He has been trying to perfect it since World War II, where an early experiment and pure chance created Captain America’s nearly indestructible shield.

·         This issue establishes adamantium cannot be remolded into a new shape after it is originally forged, unless one has a molecular rearranger.

·         When Vision feels pain due to Ultron’s summons, he comments that this is the first time he has ever felt pain.

·         When disabling a S.H.I.E.L.D. guard, Vision first uses his ability to pass through an opponent and then partially solidify, causing them to go into shock.

·         The Black Panther is absent in this issue and the next two due to his affairs in Wakanda.

·         Goliath changes the color scheme of his costume, but his head in the corner box keeps the old mask’s color.

·         John Buscema pencils the cover for the issue. He was working on the Silver Surfer (1968) series at the time.

Avengers 67

We Stand at…Armageddon!

August, 1969

Written by Roy Thomas

Art by Barry Windsor-Smith and George Klein 

Ultron-6 is attacking the team in their home. With Vision absent and Iron Man’s armor barely functioning, Ultron-6 is easily able to burst free. He sets course for the old lair that was left behind after his plot as Ultron-5. S.H.I.E.L.D. is able to track the adamantium, so they zero in on his location while the Avengers gather their wits. Vision has his free will back and lays in wait at the villain’s lair. He overhears Ultron’s plan to overload the lair’s nuclear equipment to exterminate all life in the city. Vision unsuccessfully tries to overpower Ultron and is left dazed. At this point, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents arrive and attack Vision since he is the thief they’re after. When the Avengers arrive, Ultron is poised to throw the last switch and set off his device. 

Vision: “Look, Vision…look at your bloodless android hand! What irony that only it, of all those hands that might be roused against Ultron—can hold forth any hope of success!” 

S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Joe: “Keep that gun at the ready, mister! If it is that thievin’ android—we’re gonna earn all those swingin’ S.H.I.E.L.D. benefits!” 

·         With this issue, Roy Thomas beats Stan Lee’s streak as writer. Thomas had written 33 regular issues and 2 Specials to eclipse Stan’s 34-issue run.

·         The cover is drawn by Sal Buscema, the brother of John Buscema. He will pencil the interiors next issue.

·         This was George Klein’s last issue. He passed away of cirrhosis of the liver in 1969. The Bullpen Bulletins page of Avengers 70 has a news item about his passing.

·         Yellowjacket says a warning from Wasp is “better than the DEW Line.” In all capital letters, it may sound like morning precipitation, but it refers to the Distant Early Warning Line, a series of radar stations in the arctic regions of North America. That project is no longer active.

·         Edward Norton, Bruce Banner in The Incredible Hulk film, was born this month.

Avengers 68

…And We Battle For the Earth!

September, 1969

Written by Roy Thomas

Art by Sal Buscema and Sam Grainger 

Ultron-6 pulls the switch, but nothing happens. With the Avengers and SHIELD nearby, Ultron decides to leave his lair. Vision appears and reveals that he had ruined the inner mechanisms of the machinery to stop Ultron’s plan. The Avengers set up a speech for Dr. Myron MacLain at the U.N. to declare to the world the threat of Ultron. Though Ultron assumes this is a trap to lure him there, he goes there anyway in an upgraded body to get more information from Dr. MacLain about adamantium. Thor, Goliath, and Wasp are unable to stop Ultron, who interfaces with Dr. MacLain’s brain to get the information. The link between them causes Ultron to collapse and self-destruct. “Dr. MacLain” reveals himself to be a disguised Yellowjacket. Yellowjacket had implanted a hypnotic suggestion in his mind to download the thought, “Thou shalt not kill” continuously to Ultron, which caused the villain’s malfunction and destruction.

Ultron-6: “They attack me…here, in my very own stronghold!”

Goliath: “Where should we have looked for ya, pal--? In beautiful downtown Burbank?”

Thor: “Save thy humor, mortal…for a time more fit!” 

U.N. delegate: “Look…in the doorway! It is…amazing…incredible!”

Wasp: “Don’t make such a fuss, fellas! It’s just something I threw on!” 

·         This is Sal Buscema’s first issue of Avengers. Partly inspired by his brother John Buscema, he pursued a career in art and then comic books. He had just finished a stint inking John’s pencils in Silver Surfer 4 through 7. This is one of his first professional penciling jobs.

·         The title of the issue is a continuation of the title from the previous issue.

·         Although Black Panther appears on the cover with the team, he only appears briefly in the story to deal with an invasion of Wakanda and send some vibranium to Yellowjacket. The vibranium metal is able to absorb a great amount of impact, and Yellowjacket uses it to construct a dome that contains the blast from Ultron’s self-destruction.

·         Even though Vision betrayed the team and recreated Ultron, the Avengers welcome him back onto the team with little discussion, and S.H.I.E.L.D. does not press the matter of his theft of their adamantium.

·         When Ultron shows up in a new form at the U.N., it calls itself the “ultimate Ultron” and declares that it is past using number designations. When it next appears, it will be called Ultron-7, though.

·         Avengers Special 3 is also published this month, but it is not new material. It reprints Avengers 4 and three Captain America stories from Tales of Suspense (1959) that detail his origin.

·         The first appearance of future Avenger Falcon takes place this month in Captain America (1968) 117. It’s his falcon Redwing’s first appearance, too. Falcons typically live from 6 to 8 years, but might reach as old as 20.

Avengers 53 to 60, including Avengers Special 2 (6/68 to 1/69)

Finally wedded.

Ultimate evil first born.

It will end in tears. 

Black Panther; T’Challa

Captain America; Steve Rogers

Goliath/Yellowjacket; Henry “Hank” Pym

Hawkeye; Clint Barton

Vision

Wasp; Janet Van Dyne 

Voting members:

Iron Man; Tony Stark

Thor; Donald Blake 

Alternate timeline member:

Hulk; Bruce Banner 

Featured Allies/Enemies:
Black Widow; Natasha Romanoff
Bucky; James Barnes
Black Knight; Dane Whitman
Quicksilver; Pietro Maximoff
Scarlet Witch; Wanda Maximoff

                In this next cycle of issues, Roy Thomas lays a lot of groundwork for future Avengers sagas, whether he knew it or not. The relationships between  Henry Pym, Janet Van Dyne, Ultron, and the Vision will form the basis of dozens of future storylines, some of them confusing and contradictory, but often very dramatic. Though the Avengers face many master villains, the fact that Pym created Ultron himself makes him thoroughly an Avengers foe first and foremost, unlike the other Marvel villains who are equal-opportunity offenders. Loki may be the best-known Avengers villain after the film, but he is really a Thor villain who sometimes bothers the Avengers. Ultron is the Avengers’ albatross, and they have been wholly unable to get rid of him.

                The creation of Vision is another milestone for the team. All the other members had lives and adventures of their own before being featured in this series. Roy Thomas may have based facets of this new character on the Golden Age Vision, but he is the first Avenger to be wholly created in this series and join the team before being seen elsewhere. In addition to providing a counterpart to the emotional human members of the team, Vision provided some much-needed muscle as well.  His variety of abilities and brute strength will make the team far more capable in the long run.

                For people familiar with Black Panther from the modern era, the character from this era must seem very subdued. Today he is outfitted with impressive technology to rival Iron Man’s, but then he merely had a regular costume and subdued his foes with speed, acrobatics, and combat ability. His intellect has become one of the most featured in the modern Marvel Universe, and his knowledge encompasses several areas of science. There are flashes of that here, but hardly anything past Hawkeye and Wasp stating they have no idea of what’s going on while Goliath and Black Panther put everything together.

                It appears that Black Panther is merely taking Captain America’s slot, even though Cap does return for an adventure or two. Later writers, who wrote Black Panther as being highly tactical and using extreme forethought, reflect back on this era differently and reveal that T’Challa was actually spying on the Avengers out of concern for his country’s well-being. He joined the group merely to see what they were capable of and if they would be any threat to his homeland. He comes to respect them and admire them and truly be an Avenger at heart, but it was interesting to me how his motives were changed later to not as noble as they first appear to be. This may be because modern notions of leaders leave no room for a fully altruistic man. He must have ulterior motives he keeps hidden to seem real to a jaded audience.

                It’s interesting to see how the “big brain” characters were handled back then versus today. Both Henry Pym and T’Challa are among the mental giants of the Marvel Universe now. The smart guys of yesterday where technically savvy. They could put together Doom’s Time Machine, of which they knew nothing, and jury-rig it to affect an entire room and send a specific person into a “timeless time,” which they probably didn’t even know about to start with. And this is all simply moving the right wires around. They didn’t have a computer software interface. If you were smart, you could build whatever you want, despite your background. The guy who used that time machine and built one of the most durable artificial intelligences ever in 1968, he was a biochemist whose speciality was insects. Doesn’t matter. He was smart, and smart means if it can be done, he can do it if he needs to by instinct. That’s how intelligence was perceived back then. Something could be invented to make life better.

                Let’s look at the Marvel big brains now. They can still invent wonderful devices, but in the 44 years since 1968, we’ve seen amazing inventions in the real world that have changed everything about our lives as never before. But do we feel overall safer and happier? Despite some statistics about crime safety, I would say our perception is we do not feel things have improved. Technology has solved many of our little problems, but the big problems remain, mostly because they stem from people’s actions toward one another and their lack of foresight, and no gadget has been shown to fix that. Today’s Marvel super brains show their intellect by outsmarting each other and the situation. They intuit the future based on data, just in their head, and have already thought of countermeasures to reach their objective. In the recent Avengers vs. X-Men event, Black Panther had a satellite set up to counteract his own wife Storm’s powers in the chance he ever had to fight her, and it had been in place for a long time. He was prepared for what should have been the unthinkable, but he is always shown as prepared. I think that’s what people want from their leaders now, not the smarts to build computers, but the smarts to stop problems cold no matter what and not be surprised by things like economic crises or housing bubbles or alien invasions.

                Hawkeye stays Hawkeye. God love him. He does mess up his relationship with the Black Widow by not being available for her. Of course, part of this may be the standards of the time. Their relationship rarely showed any signs of passion outside of dialogue. Nowadays Clint and his girl Spider-Woman are definitely having quality time in a variety of places, but that’s probably more a sign of what’s acceptable. Who today would think of Black Widow as the somewhat cold fish she’s shown to be here? Maybe she needs to get her red hair back first. And believe it or not, we still didn’t know Hawkeye’s real name. Soon, though.

Avengers 53

In Battle Joined!

June, 1968

Written by Roy Thomas

Art by John Buscema and George Tuska 

The issue opens with the Avengers arriving on Magneto’s island base. They see Quicksilver unconscious with Cyclops standing over him, and Cyclops attacks them. He delays them by bringing down some of the structure of the base and goes to find his X-Men teammates. A flashback shows how the X-Man Angel went to get the Avengers and bring them here to help free the X-Men and stop Magneto. The Avengers put on a pretense of not trusting Angel and leave him loosely tied up, thinking correctly that Magneto is spying on them.  Magneto reveals his mind-control plot to take over the world, and he has already preconditioned the X-Men to respond to his commands. Before the two teams can join forces, the X-Men feel the overwhelming urge to kill the Avengers, and the two teams battle. Angel has avoided the melee and sneak-attacks Magneto and Toad, destroying the machinery that gives Magneto control over the X-Men. In retreat, Magneto orders Toad to blow up the section of the base with the heroes in it. Toad has become resentful of Magneto’s treatment of him and instead blows up the entire base with Magneto stranded there. Everyone but Magneto escapes and goes their own way, but Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch are with Toad and do not return with the Avengers. 

Goliath, thinking: “The Avengers can’t be beaten by a bunch of Mutant turncoats! They can’t be!” 

·         This issue directly follows X-Men (1963) 45, where the Avengers appear in the last panel. Hawkeye’s camera arrow is also shown in the background spying on events.

·         George Tuska inks this issue. He also penciled the backup story in X-Men 45, making him part of the creative team on both issues. X-Men regularly featured a 15-page main story and a 5-page backup story at this time.

·         Hawkeye says the Avengers are “not Strawberry Alarm Clock.” This was a psychedelic rock band active when the issue was published.

·         At first, Cyclops thinks the Avengers are imposters. Hercules is no longer with the team, and Black Panther is a stranger to him.

·         Magneto mockingly calls Toad by the name of Caliban, a monstrous character from Shakespeare’s The Tempest who resided on an island and was slave to a sorcerer, paralleling Magneto’s island base and Magneto himself.

·         It appears Scarlet Witch has lost her powers as well as her memory from being grazed by the bullet in issue 51.

·         Of the combatants in this issue, the only ones who don’t take part in the recent Avengers Vs. X-Men crossover in 2012 are the two women, Wasp and Jean Grey, who were both thought dead at the time. All the men were still active. It’s tough being a superheroine.

Avengers 54

...And Deliver Us from the Masters of Evil!

July, 1968

Written by Roy Thomas

Art by John Buscema and George Tuska 

The Avengers are testing their new security systems, and they brief their butler Jarvis on the location of the new traps. It is Jarvis’ day off, and when he leaves the mansion, he goes straight to the hidden layer of a new Masters of Evil group. Jarvis gives the floor plans to the Crimson Cowl and reveals that he needs money for his sick mother. Instead of paying him, the Crimson Cowl gases Jarvis. Among the Masters is the new Black Knight, taking his uncle’s place in the old group. This heroic Knight is really spying on them and has no intention of taking part in their plan to attack the Avengers. Black Knight sneaks away to warn the Avengers before the planned raid, but the Crimson Cowl had foreseen his treachery, and the Masters of Evil are waiting for Black Knight at Avengers Mansion. He is subdued, but his winged steed gets away and attracts the attention of Hawkeye. Despite the brief warning something is up, the Avengers are defeated one by one by the individual Masters of Evil and are left prisoners. Crimson Cowl reveals that he is really Edwin Jarvis! 

Klaw: “Bah! A mere wisp of a girl is no opponent for me—as I protested to him who is our nominal leader! There is no need even for me to waste a sonic blast on you--!” 

·         This is the first appearance of a Crimson Cowl. Each time this alias was used, it was by the leader of the Masters of Evil or someone framed by the true Crimson Cowl to cause confusion.

·         This is the first appearance of master villain Ultron, though he is disguised. The cloaked Jarvis pulls back a hood to reveal Ultron’s real face, but falsely claims it is a simple robot serving him.

·         Klaw is a Black Panther villain. He joined the Masters of Evil primarily to face him again. He does call him by the full name, “Black Panther,” ending the use of simply “Panther.” Despite their rivalry, Klaw is assigned the capture of Wasp instead of Black Panther.

·         Black Knight’s winged steed is called by his name, Aragorn, for the first time in this issue.

·         Radioactive Man expects Goliath to still be using capsules to change size and is surprised to see he doesn’t need them any longer. He also uses a gun that sprays Adhesive X, a leftover weapon from Baron Zemo.

·         Although Goliath mentioned that he could keep his 25-foot size for up to 15 minutes again, he changes size rapidly in this issue, so it seems he does not have to stay that size for the full 15 minutes any longer.

·         Bill Foster is working at the mansion and bravely attacks Radioactive Man to give Goliath a chance to plan his attack, but he is quickly glued up and not seen again.

·         When this tale was reprinted, artist Steve Ditko created a new cover that showed the reverse angle of the Avengers 54 cover. The Masters of Evil are in the wrong order, though.

Avengers 55

Mayhem Over Manhattan!

August, 1968

Written by Roy Thomas

Art by John Buscema and George Klein 

The imprisoned Avengers are placed in a hydrogen bomb which will be dropped on Manhattan unless a ransom is paid. Ultron-5 reveals his true identity, though no one knows who he is, and strikes Jarvis down. The Melter is tasked with disposing of Jarvis, but Jarvis revives and barely escapes after the Melter brings a building down on him. A wounded Jarvis limps back to the Mansion after no bystanders will help him and runs into the forgotten Black Knight, to whom he reveals Ultron’s plot. The Black Knight manages to find the airship carrying the bomb and blast a hole in the side of the bomb, freeing the Avengers. Though the Masters of Evil are defeated, Whirlwind and Ultron-5 manage to escape. The Black Knight goes his own way as well. Based on his part on helping free them, Jarvis is forgiven and returns to his post. 

Melter: “You can’t exactly capture the Avengers just by scattering around some flypaper, Cowl!” 

Black Panther: “I must admit, my glowing friend, that I do prefer the company of lions and leopards! They’re much more trustworthy than the predators one finds in so-called civilization!”

Radioactive Man: “That did it! It’s not bad enough that jungle-come-lately knocks us around...but, if he’s gonna start making with the social comments as well..!” 

Goliath: “You may have betrayed us...but then you risked your life for us! If that doesn’t square accounts, we’re not worthy of the name Avengers!” 

·         This is the first issue inked by George Klein. He had worked almost exclusively for DC Comics, but began work for Marvel in 1968. He had worked on the Golden Age Timely books that were Marvel Comics’ precursors in the forties.

·         Goliath is able to recover quickly because of superhuman endurance. He claims that years of being a giant give him this fortitude even at his normal height.

·         Wasp calls Hawkeye, “tall, dark, and handsome.” Hawkeye is hardly dark, being a blond with blue eyes.

·         Ultron designates himself Ultron-5, as he is the fourth upgrade from the original.

·         It is revealed that Jarvis’ actions were due to hypnotism on the part of Ultron. Jarvis still feels terrible guilt about it and takes responsibility for his weakness. He also states that he wrongly assumed the Avengers would still defeat the Masters of Evil despite his treachery.

·         Throughout this adventure, the Avengers continue to think Black Knight is the same man they faced before, even after he aids them a second time here. Though given a chance to explain, Dane Whitman keeps his identity secret.

·         In the letter column, Stan reveals that they dropped the “Black” from “Black Panther” not because of racial sensitivity, but to keep readers from getting confused with Black Knight, Black Widow, Black Bolt, etc. After many complaints, they returned to Black Panther.

·         Hawkeye has no bow or arrow in the final battle, but he quickly improvises one with machine parts and cable.

·         A letter writer suggest the Avengers get their own island base called Avengers Island. They will eventually have a base with such a name, but not until the late eighties.

Avengers 56

Death Be Not Proud!

September, 1968

Written by Roy Thomas

Art by John Buscema and George Klein 

A message from Captain America leads the Avengers to a deserted castle. The castle’s traps still function, for this is Doctor Doom’s castle, which houses his time platform device. Captain America wants to travel back in time to when his former partner Bucky supposedly died. Captain America has a gut feeling Bucky may have survived and wants to verify it. The Avengers, minus Wasp, travel back to that date and observe as ghostly versions of themselves. They witness the 1945 Captain America and Bucky battle Baron Zemo and his Humanoid robot, and the heroes of the past are knocked out. Wasp becomes drowsy and hits a button in 1968, and the Avengers become solid, attacking Zemo and his forces. The effect is temporary, and the team begins to fade for a trip to the present. As his last act, Captain America frees his past self, and events occur as he remembered them. In the present, he claims that his doubts have been put to rest and that he believes Bucky truly died. 

Goliath: “You’ve always accepted the fact of Bucky’s death...no matter how guilty you felt about it! What suddenly changed your mind...filled you with gnawing doubts?”

Captain America: “I don’t know! I just...don’t know! But I called you here...because I must find out!” 

·         Black Panther returns to wearing his full facemask. Readers didn’t like the new design that showed his mouth.

·         Avengers 4 showed Captain America and Bucky fighting Baron Zemo while in their army uniforms like civilians, and Captain America was found on ice in tattered army clothing with his costume and shield underneath. This issue shows that Baron Zemo dressed them up with those uniforms in order to cover the heroic costumes he could not bear to look on.

·         In Avengers 4, Captain America claimed the drone plane was Zemo’s and filled with explosives. In this story, Zemo is sending the Allies’ own experimental plane to Berlin so the Germans may analyze it, and he ties Captain America and Bucky to it to send them as trophies back to Hitler. No explosives. To be fair, Cap had just been unfrozen when he first recalled this.

·         Doctor Doom’s time machine was not used to send back “ghostly” time travelers before. This is a new use for it. Mr. Fantastic advised the Avengers that they would be invisible to those in the past. In the next story, Hawkeye does bring up the fact that the Avengers already existed as children or adults in the era they were going to. The Fantastic Four’s former adventures with the time machine were far in the past, and they would have no alternate self there, which may account for the different results, but this is conjecture. It’s not explained why the machine was left sitting there in Doom’s castle.

·         Wasp stays behind in a “parallel time continuum.” This may point to the past being that of a different universe. It may also be a way to explain that time is moving forward for Wasp in a parallel way it is moving forward for the Avengers in the past, so her pressing a button in the future must take effect in a specific moment during their trip, not any other.

·         This issue has a letter written in by Peter Sanderson Jr. After many years of corresponding to Marvel and DC comics, he would later become an archivist for both Marvel and DC, with the task of reading all their comics and cataloguing their fictional histories.

·         The World War II soldiers speak of reporting these events to G-2. Under the Continental Staff System, started in France in the late 18^th Century, G stands for “general,” and 2 stands for the intelligence and security branch.

Avengers Special 2

...And Time, The Rushing River

September, 1968

Written by Roy Thomas

Art by Don Heck, Werner Roth, and Vince Colletta 

After returning from the time trip to World War II, the Avengers find their aero-car has disappeared, and citizens eye them with suspicion. Their own mansion’s defenses attack them, and they find another team of Avengers, this one made up of the original lineup, in their meeting room. Overmatched by the raw power of the “imposter” Thor, Hulk, and Iron Man, Captain America’s Avengers flee and seek out the Herodotron, a computer that has all of history easily accessible, for answers. They discover history changed at the point the Hulk left the team. Instead of leaving, the Scarlet Centurion intervened, convincing the Hulk to stay. He then told his Avengers that the ills of the world, such as hunger and poverty, could be solved if only all the superpowered people were eliminated. The Centurion’s Avengers took him at his word and imprisoned all other heroes and villains in an undisclosed manner. The Scarlet Centurion’s true motive is to take over himself, and he used his Avengers to remove all competition. The Centurion feared he would be unable to defeat his own Avenger team, so he manipulated the timeline to bring Captain America’s team of Avengers into conflict with them. Though they are physically weaker, the Centurion thinks their inside knowledge of their opponent Avengers will allow them to be victorious. This theory proves to be correct, and Captain America’s Avengers manage to defeat their stronger opponents and reassemble Doctor Doom’s time machine in this new history. Once this is done, the Scarlet Centurion attacks and defeats Captain America’s Avengers, except for Goliath, who shrinks into the time machine and manipulates it to send Scarlet Centurion back to his “timeless time.” The Watcher appears on the scene and narrates how all these changes in the timeline will be forgotten by everyone after things are returned to normal. 

Hulk (Earth-689): “Hunnh! You all put too much trust in the one who comes! You should be like Hulk...and trust nobody!” 

Iron Man (Earth-689):  “Funny...no matter how noble our motives...no matter what the outcome...I can’t feel any sense of triumph in this sneak attack!” 

Black Panther: “Time is like a river! Dam it up at any one point...and it has no choice but to flow elsewhere along other easier routes!” 

·         This is the first appearance of the Scarlet Centurion identity. This is the same character as has appeared before as Rama-Tut, Kang, and Immortus. This story takes place after the Rama-Tut identity and before the Kang identity, um, probably. I’ll trust the Watcher this time.

·         Another Earth, Earth 712, which is home to the Squadron Supreme, also has a Scarlet Centurion villain. Since Kang can travel between parallel Earths, it could be the same one or an alternate. The Squadron Supreme, similarly to the second team of Avengers here, tries to cure their Earth of all its mundane problems through their strong, if questionable rule.

·         The son of Kang, Marcus Kang, will later take on the Scarlet Centurion identity.

·         This alternate Earth is designated Earth-689, as debuting in September (9) of ’68.

·         The computer called the Herodotron is named after Herodotus, whose Histories, written from 450 to 420 B.C., related events from the Trojan War through to the Greco-Persian wars. He is one of the fathers of the modern historical tradition.

·         Scarlet Centurion reveals how he mentally influenced Captain America to have doubts about Bucky’s death and Wasp to become drowsy during their time travel in Avengers 56.

·         When the mainstream Wasp sees that that her Earth-689 counterpart is still wearing the same outfit as in Avengers 1, she mocks her  for it.

·         Uatu the Watcher appeared back in Avengers 14 to explain the ramifications of events in that issue as well.

·         This issue features of pin-up of every “full-fledged” Avenger. Swordsman is omitted, so perhaps I have been hasty calling him a member.

Avengers 57

Behold...the Vision!

October, 1968

Written by Roy Thomas

Art by John Buscema and George Klein 

A mysterious figure attacks Wasp in her apartment. It shows the ability to move through objects and fire a thermoscopic blast from its eyes. Though it nearly overpowers her, it suddenly collapses. Wasp summons the other Avengers, and they take the intruder to the Mansion. Scans show it is almost exactly like a human being, but synthetic in every way. It revives and attacks again. When questioned about who it is, it takes the name Vision and states that its mission is to destroy the Avengers. Its actions seems conflicted, as if it does not want to complete its given task, and eventually it stops even trying. Vision decides to instead lead the Avengers to its creator, Ultron-5, for answers. They all return to Ultron’s base, and all the Avengers are trapped or defeated by other androids. The Vision uses its power to pass through objects to escape the traps, and it defeats Ultron-5 in single combat and frees the Avengers. 

Goliath: “Ultron-5 has more kinds of androids than Andy Warhol has soup cans!” 

·         This is the first appearance of the Vision as an identity. He was designed using the artificial body of the original Human Torch, which had previously been seen in Timely Comics of the Golden Age and in Fantastic Four Annual 4. Due to the actions of the time-traveling Immortus, there are actually two duplicate bodies of this Human Torch, so Vision and Human Torch will later both be active at the same time. Various other reasons they could both appear, such as that Vision is made of the Human Torch’s spare parts, have also been thrown around over the years, some contradicting the others.

·         In a way, this is also a reappearance of Wonder Man, whose brain patterns were used to create Vision’s mind. Both Wonder Man and Vision were tasked with killing the Avengers, and both could not follow through, siding with the Avengers instead.

·         Vision is identified as being a synthozoid, a term which appears to have been coined here first. It refers to a being with artificial organs and tissues, but has mind based on a real human, not adaptive computer-programming.

·         Originally Roy Thomas wanted to bring the Golden Age Vision into the Marvel Universe. Stan Lee convinced him to make a new character that was an android instead, but visually they are similar. The idea to base Vision’s body off the Human Torch, another Golden Age character comes about later, not from Roy Thomas’ stories.

·         Vision names himself based off Wasp’s statement that he appears as a “unearthly, inhuman vision.”  We later learn that Ultron refused to give him a name, as he would have no need for one as an inhuman slave. In the “Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes” cartoon, Ultron names him Vision because he is Ultron’s “vision of the future.”
·         We see that Black Widow has given up retirement to go back to work for SHIELD. She is upset that Hawkeye spends no time with her and is always off on some emergency.
·         The final scene with a boy playing with Ultron’s deactivated head amidst demolished buildings is narrated with the poem “Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley. It describes a shattered statue that is the sole marker of what, possibly, was once a great empire ruled by an accomplished leader, but since nothing else remains of it, no one will ever know. Ozymandias will later be a character in X-Men, a servant to Apocalypse who is made of living stone and remains immortal, even in pieces. Here, we are to see how Ultron’s plans have left only a small piece of himself on a junk heap.
·         This issue was voted by fans as the 50th best Marvel comic from the first 75 years of Marvel's publication.

Avengers 58

Even an Android Can Cry

November, 1968

Written by Roy Thomas

Art by John Buscema and George Klein 

Vision has expressed a desire to join the Avengers, so Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor are brought in to vote on it. The Vision’s memory clears somewhat, and he remembers his “creation” at the hands of Ultron-5 and being sent on his mission to destroy the Avengers. Goliath now realizes he has missing memories of some of his own experiments on synthozoids, so he and the other Avengers go to his suburban lab to look for answers. He uses a Memory Bank device to remember that he had created the artificial life form that would be called Ultron. It had turned on Goliath, overpowered him, and hypnotized him to forget its existence. The Avengers also discover that the copy of Wonder Man’s brain patterns are missing from the lab, and they assume they were used in the creation of Vision. When these events come to light, the team decides to admit Vision as a member to the Avengers. Finding himself accepted, Vision sheds a tear during a private moment.

Vision: “Why have you called me to life?”

Ultron-5: “Not to ask such human-like questions, android! I was created to command...and you to obey!”

Vision: “I somehow sense you speak the truth...master! And yet I am consumed with curiosity...”

Ultron-5: “Such emotions are for human fools! You and I were born for better things!”

·         Ultron-1 springs to life without even being turned on by Goliath. Its first word is “Da-da.”

·         Between the flashback of its creation and its appearance as the Crimson Cowl, Ultron upgraded itself four times to become Ultron-5, but we do not see these stages of its development. It will continue to upgrade itself, but after Ultron-18, it ceases using number designations of its versions. In a future limited series, The Last Avengers Story, there is a an Ultron-59 in the far future.

·         Another full-page picture in this issue shows all the Avengers who have served, in addition to allies like Black Widow and Spider-Man, who had not yet been members. Still no Swordsman, though.

·         The flashback reveals that Goliath got ideas for Ultron from his study of Dragon Man back in Avengers 41 and 42.

·         Ultron seems have named itself. It does not speak its own name, but it calls its attack an “Ultro-blast.”

·         Goliath claims Ultron-1 has an Oedipus Complex, meaning it wants to kill its father and have sex with its mother. Though the latter does not seem to directly be part of Ultron’s plans, it will later try to create its own artificial “wife” based off Wasp’s brain patterns. We will later learn that Ultron’s mind is based off Goliath’s own brain patterns, so his interest in Wasp may reflect that of his creator more directly.

·         This story is later reprinted in Marvel Treasury Edition 13, a holiday-themed compilation. The story has no holiday connection, but the wraparound story in the treasury has Wasp wearing the same red and white-fur-trimmed outfit that she wears in this story, which makes them recall the tale.

 

Avengers 59

The name is...Yellowjacket!

December, 1968

Written by Roy Thomas

Art by John Buscema and George Klein 

A new hero, Yellowjacket, debuts by breaking up a robbery of fur coats. At an Avengers meeting, Goliath has not shown up, but Yellowjacket breaks into the Mansion and demands to be made a member. He claims to have “polished off” Goliath. He tells the startled Avengers that he attacked Goliath in his lab and beat him in battle, then shrunk him down so a spider could finish him off. The Avengers attack him, but Yellowjacket manages to grab Wasp. To avoid hurting her, the Avengers stop their attack. At his miniature lair, the Hornet’s Nest, Yellowjacket continues boasting to Wasp and forces her to kiss him. Suddenly appearing dazed, he breaks off the kiss and lets her go. The Avengers discover her tracker’s beacon has been turned on, and it leads them to a courthouse, where Wasp surprises them with her intention to marry Yellowjacket. 

Hawkeye: “Give me one good reason why we shouldn’t total this creep called Yellowjacket!”

Wasp: “I’ll give you...the best reason in the world, Hawkeye...I’m going to marry him!”

·         Vision’s face is added to the corner box starting this issue.

·         This is the first appearance of a Yellowjacket. The identity will mostly be used by Henry Pym, but there will be another Yellowjacket, Rita DeMara, a future Master of Evil who reforms and becomes an honorary member of the Avengers.

·         When Yellowjacket brags to the cops, he makes it clear they should spell his name as one word, no hyphen. Spider-Man should take a tip from this guy. His name is misspelled a lot.

·         J. Jonah Jameson puts his full support behind Yellowjacket publicly in the Daily Bugle. One of his reporters claims that Jonah happens to own half-interest in the furrier that Yellowjacket saved from robbery.

·         Hawkeye claims he wants to wrap up the meeting to watch the World Series. This would place the story between October 2 and October 10, assuming it is 1968.

·         Hawkeye imagines Black Widow’s assignment for SHIELD is testing nerve gas on herself. This is probably a flight of his imagination.

·         In a parallel to Hawkeye’s initiation in Avengers 14, Yellowjacket breaks into the Mansion and ties up Jarvis before he brazenly tells the team to make him a member.

·         Yellowjacket claims he can’t be prosecuted for the death of Hank Pym without a “corpus delicti.” This Latin phrase translates to “body of crime” in English, although a list of evidence can take the place of an actual corpse.

Avengers 60

...Till Death Do Us Part

January, 1969

Written by Roy Thomas

Art by John Buscema and Mike Esposito 

Preparations for the wedding are being made at Avengers Mansion. Despite their misgivings, Wasp’s teammates have promised not to object to the wedding or mention Goliath’s apparent demise, but many of the guests are uneasy. When Jarvis lets in the caterers, they attack him and reveal themselves to be old Avengers foes the Circus of Crime. After the wedding itself, Hawkeye stumbles upon them preparing to set explosives that will kill the assembled heroes, and they overpower him. They place Princess Python’s pet python in the wedding cake, and it springs out and wraps around Wasp. The snake is subdued, and despite this attack, the Avengers turn down help from their hero friends, and the rest of the guests leave. The Circus of Crime attack the Avengers. During the melee, Yellowjacket grows out of his costume and reveals he is truly Goliath. The Circus is easily defeated. Wasp reveals she suspected all along he was Hank Pym. Now that he faces the truth, he remembers that a mixture of experimental gases caused his personality to be altered, making him more aggressive and more eager to marry his longtime love Wasp. 

Wasp: “Whether you married me as Hank Pym...Yellowjacket...or as Wyatt Earp...it’s equally legal! Need I add that I looked it up?” 

·         The mask of Goliath serves as a placeholder in the corner box for a few issues while Hank Pym figures out his identity.

·         Writer Roy Thomas wrote the script for this wedding issue while he was on his own honeymoon in the Caribbean.

·         The lettering duties had been back and forth between Art Simek and Sam Rosen for most of the run. With this issue, Sam Rosen has lettered the book for six issues in a row, the longest continuous run for a letterer.

·         The printed wedding invitation on the first page sets the date as Tuesday, November 21. In 1968, November 21 was on a Thursday. It was on a Tuesday in 1967, however. Captain America  states that the world hasn’t known of Yellowjacket beyond a few days. Per Hawkeye’s World Series comment last issue, the games would have been several weeks before the wedding, not a few days. Perhaps Hawkeye’s been so busy Avenging, he had to watch a recording? Maybe it’s the World Series of Archery? Continuity is tough!

·         In the 1998 mini-series, Avengers Forever, it is shown that Yellowjacket is summoned through time in the middle of this issue before his wedding. His adventures in the future take place, and he returns here to continue with his wedding after having his memory wiped of events in that series.

·         A policeman compares the couple of Wasp and Yellowjacket to Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton as another famous couple. The actors were still in the middle of their first marriage and hadn’t yet been divorced in 1969, but both couples would break up and then get back together and then break up yet again.

·         The priest officiating the wedding is the same one that married Reed Richards and Sue Storm of the Fantastic Four.

·         Among the wedding guests are Crystal and the Black Knight. They will later become a couple as active Avengers. This is the first time Crystal appears in the Avengers series. Her romance with Black Knight will take place after her marriage to another Avenger, Quicksilver.

·         The Circus of Crime want revenge primarily on Thor. They are disappointed he doesn’t attend the wedding.

·         Sue Storm, the Invisible Woman, claims Wasp looks like a picture out of Millie the Model. This was another Marvel publication about the romances of a model named Millie. Roy Thomas’ first work for Marvel was a story in Modeling With Millie. Millie is also a real model in the Marvel Universe. She attended Sue Storm’s wedding and will become a modeling agent for several superheroines, including future Avengers Hellcat and She-Hulk.

·         The Black Knight cuts the wedding cake with his sword, but he mentions it is only a replica of his enchanted blade. This is the first time his ownership of a magical weapon is mentioned. In his last appearance in Avengers, Melter easily melted the sword he was using, so it was probably another replica.

·         Circus of Crime member Clown states he should have “listened to Emmett Kelly” after being advised by the Vision to surrender. Emmett Kelly was a famous clown who was later inducted into the International Circus Hall of Fame. He was known for playing a dour, sorrowful clown, so he may actually be referring to the emotionless Vision’s advice.

·         During the battle, Vision first mentions that he is powered by solar power.

·         Jarvis is tied up by the Circus of Crime. He was also tied up last issue by Yellowjacket. Hawkeye is likewise tied up, and both he and Jarvis are hung up side by side on hooks. Though Hawkeye frees himself, he leaves Jarvis tied up to rush off to the battle. Poor Jarvis.

·         The story of mind-altering experimental gases is only vouched for by Henry Pym himself. Since this episode occurs right after Ultron tampered with his mind, who knows if this reason is legitimate?