Inside, harmony.
Other dimensions
threaten.
Team splits and
conquers.
Black Knight; Dane
Whitman
Black Panther;
T’Challa
Captain America;
Steve Rogers
Goliath; Clint
Barton
Iron Man; Tony
Stark
Quicksilver;
Pietro Maximoff
Scarlet Witch;
Wanda Maximoff
Thor; Donald Blake
Vision
Wasp; Janet Van
Dyne
Featured Allies:
Daredevil; Matt Murdock
Featured Allies:
Daredevil; Matt Murdock
Roy
Thomas continues to refine some of the concepts he had so far introduced in the
series, managing to premiere some new characters as well that still remain
active in the Marvel Universe, like Red Wolf and Valkyrie. Fans continued to
ask for more Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor, so their presence becomes
more common, but the team is usually split off into factions so that there is
not an army of superheroes facing any foe at one time. With today’s huge events
and splash pages with dozens of combatants, this almost seems quaint. In issue
82, New York City is left with only two superheroes left, a far cry from today,
where they have enough to fill a superhero team in each of the 50 states.
Speaking
of teams, this cycle introduces the Squadron Supreme. Although at first blush,
it seems to be the Squadron Sinister making a repeat appearance, it’s really
the start of a new parallel world with its own history and own group of heroes.
They continue to seem like a knockoff of DC’s Justice League and serve as a
foil to the Avengers. In 1985, they would get their own 12-issue “maxi-series”
and start to gain their own identity and rich history that diverged from their
source material. In a multiverse full of alternate realities, this one would
become featured quite often, crossing over into the Marvel Universe to this
day. Their members even appeared in a couple of Ultraverse books, so they got
around. Not to downplay the Avengers’ efforts. In their first short trip to the
Squadron’s world, they managed to save that Earth, spreading the Avengers’
influence beyond just their home world.
Thomas
brought in a bit of writing help, but continued to be the guiding force of the
series. Although he didn’t get credit at the time, Len Wein helped plot out
issue 86 at the beginning of his comic-book writing career. Although Wein wouldn’t
write Avengers any further, he did
manage to introduce a couple of popular concepts in the seventies, like, say,
the new X-Men lineup and a little fella called Wolverine, and he turned the
lights out on the final Ultraforce series.
In a rare comic collaboration, Harlan Ellison also stepped in to plot the last
issue in this cycle, issue 88. Although it could be argued that the concepts in
this issue of Avengers have not strongly
impacted the history of the Marvel Universe, its continuation in Incredible Hulk (1962) 140 introduces
the Hulk’s tragic love Jarella and her world, which has had a lasting effect in
the story of the Hulk and his sons.
Avengers 80
The Coming of Red
Wolf!
September, 1970
Written by Roy
Thomas
Art by John Buscema
and Tom Palmer
Vision has quit the team when he comes across Red Wolf and
Lobo tracking a man through New York City. Vision intervenes and renders Red
Wolf unconscious, taking him back to Avengers Mansion. Lobo, a wolf, dutifully
follows his master. When Red Wolf revives, he tells the Avengers his story.
Before becoming Red Wolf, he had served in the American armed forces and worked
in construction in the city, and he was visiting his parents on the reservation
when they were gunned down by Jason Birch. The murder was part of a scheme to
grab their land for development by Cornelius Van Lunt. The distraught and
wounded son had wandered to the tribe’s sacred mountain, where he encountered
the spirit of Red Wolf, which empowered him to be his tribe’s champion. The new
Red Wolf tracked Birch to New York, where he encountered Vision. A repentant
Vision agrees to help, and Goliath and Scarlet Witch choose to go along to the
reservation to help while the rest of the team pursues their own missions.
Vision: “Yet, a human life is not to be lightly taken—as
I, who am not human, should well know!”
Captain America: “We run around calling ourselves Avengers—yet,
when this man comes before us with something to avenge—a wrong that shrieks to
heaven for vengeance—we turn a deaf ear—because his cause isn’t
world-shattering enough for us!”
Goliath: “Aw, we knew you’d be back, Vizh! The
‘Avengers assemble’ thing gets in the blood..even artificial blood!”
·
With this issue, Tom Palmer will have inked the
largest number of consecutive issues, beating the previous record of six, held
by three other previous inkers.
·
The story begins with the rhyme “Rich man, poor
man, beggar man, thief, doctor, lawyer, Indian chief.” This is a rhyme kids
used to pick who will be it, like Eenie, meenie, miney, moe. There’s no
counting going on here, though.
·
This is the first appearance of Red Wolf and his
wolf Lobo. It was an attempt to create an American Indian hero. He is still an
active hero and serves on the Texan superhero team the Rangers.
·
There would be a Red Wolf series in 1972, but it only lasted for nine issues. It did
not feature the modern Red Wolf. It was set in the Old West and featured an
earlier incarnation of Red Wolf.
·
The tribe Red Wolf belongs to is not given here.
He has since been identified as a Cheyenne, more specifically the Tsitsistas part
of the tribe. Although he is listed as being born in Wolf Point, Montana, and
there is a Cheyenne reservation in Montana, the location of his family in this
story is in the American Southwest.
·
“Lobo” is
“wolf” in Spanish. The Cheyenne word for “wolf” is “ho’nene” or “maiyun.”
·
Red Wolf gained his animal companion only after
he was attacked by Lobo’s mother. Red Wolf killed her in self-defense and
adopted the young orphan pup.
·
There have been three Lobos up to the present.
Red Wolf had to find a new partner after the first one was killed by an enemy.
He now wears the skin of the first Lobo as part of his costume. The second Lobo
was impersonated by a Skrull sometimes before the Secret Invasion event, but
the Skrull impostor has since been found out and killed. The whereabouts of the
true second Lobo are unknown.
·
Although from totally different cultures, the
stories of Red Wolf and Black Knight are remarkably parallel. Both have
ancestors in previous centuries who started the same costumed identity they now
use, both have visions of the spirits of these ancestors, and both have animal
companions.
Avengers 81
When Dies a
Legend!
October, 1970
Written by Roy
Thomas
Art by John
Buscema and Tom Palmer
The mini-team of Vision, Goliath, and Scarlet Witch are
flying west with Red Wolf and Lobo in a Quinjet when they are attacked by
robot-piloted aircraft. They are forced
to bail out of the crashing Quinjet, and Vision and Scarlet Witch are separated
from the others. Jason Birch and some other gunman capture them while Scarlet
Witch is recovering from the fall. They are taken to Van Lunt’s hacienda, where
Van Lunt offers a payoff to Vision. Vision refuses, so Van Lunt keeps Scarlet
Witch hostage to ensure Vision’s compliance. We learn that Goliath, Red Wolf,
and Lobo also survived the crash, and they defeat Jason Birch’s squad and come
after Van Lunt. Vision and Goliath battle each other while Red Wolf leads his tribe to the
dam that is threatening their lands. Van Lunt flies a helicopter to the top of
a dam with the Scarlet Witch as his hostage. She finally recovers her strength
enough to unleash her power and causes the helicopter to explode. This destroys
the dam and cause a flood that engulfs Red Wolf, Lobo, and Van Lunt. The team
briefly mourns Red Wolf, but Will Talltrees, whom they know to be Red Wolf,
arrives on the scene to begin the process of rebuilding the tribal lands.
Scarlet Witch, thinking: “Why did I join this
mission—heeding a rash impulse? Was it really to help Red Wolf…or for some
deeper, hidden reason?”
Scarlet Witch, thinking: “The Vision could defy them all…at
no risk to himself! He’s surrendering to save me, knowing I’m still too weak to
use my mutant hex power! Before now, I’ve always thought of him as
cold…aloof…but I was wrong..so wrong!”
Red Wolf: “There are those who say you did not earn your
growing powers, Goliath—because another man created the formula! Yet, this day,
I know they are wholly wrong!”
·
With this issue, Tom Palmer will have inked the
most issues of the series, beating Dick Ayers’ previous total of 12.
·
The team members not featured in this story
decide to pursue the Zodiac, except for Black Panther, who goes on a quest for
street-level justice for the common man.
·
Goliath quips that Vision also has the mind
of Parnelli Jones due to his skillful piloting. Jones is a racecar driver who
won the Indy 500 in 1963 and is in over 20 automotive halls of fame.
·
The sound effects of the Quinjet being fired
upon and the Vision falling to Earth are both “Shroom!”
·
That’s another Quinjet destroyed. That’s two.
·
We learn the Quinjets have no armaments. The
Avengers inside are their only defense and offense.
·
We learn Red Wolf’s name is Will Talltrees in
the story.
·
It’s later revealed that Will Talltrees was on
the same military squad as James Rhodes, aka War Machine, during their time
served in the Vietnam war.
·
The Scarlet Witch is unable to use her hex power
for a short time when she becomes too fatigued from the fall and subsequent
swim.
·
Goliath calls Van Lunt a “super-fink.” There was
a Revell model kit produced in 1964 that features a bizarre skateboarding figure by
that name.
·
It seems that the public is now aware that
Goliath is no longer Henry Pym. This may be due to the fact that Pym is
publicly doing research in Alaska while Goliath is still active.
·
The flood is not very fatal. Everyone caught in
it survives.
Avengers 82
Hostage!
November, 1970
Written by Roy
Thomas
Art by John
Buscema and Tom Palmer
Zodiac soldiers under Aries have invaded the island of
Manhattan and taken it hostage for one billion dollars ransom. They erect a
force field around the island that paralyzes anyone who comes in contact with
it. Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, and Quicksilver had been gassed in
Avengers Mansion before the assault, so they were unable to fight the invasion.
Black Panther is still free, and he recruits Daredevil to help break out the
Avengers. Black Panther recognizes where the Avengers are being held from a
video broadcast, and he and Daredevil battle Aries and his forces there, but
they are forced to retreat. The Avengers are set to be executed publicly in
front of a crowd. Daredevil is in the crowd in his civilian identity, and he
causes a scene in order to be drawn closer. He sabotages the machinery holding
the Avengers with the projectile in his billy club, and the team is freed.
Aries escapes in an aircraft, but Thor destroys it, which also disables the
force field. The assembled team discovers that Cornelius Van Lunt had been
training this army on his ranch on the reservation and had to invade
immediately once the dam had been destroyed.
Daredevil: “Aries! We’ve hit the jackpot!”
Aries: “You have—if you survive!”
Black Panther: “The Avengers have a way of surviving,
madman! I would think you of Zodiac would know that by now!”
·
The issue cites the 1960 census figure of New
York City having 1,698,281 citizens. The latest estimate in 2011 had a figure
of 8.2 million.
·
The mayor of the city is shown captured at Gracie
Mansion. It has been the official residence of the New York City mayor since
1942, though not all of them have moved in.
·
We see the Fantastic Four were outside the force
field and Spider-Man is staying with his aunt. Black Panther and Daredevil think
they are the only superheroes active in New York. Man, those were simpler
times.
·
Daredevil and Black Panther just had an
adventure together the day before in Daredevil
(1964) 69. They discover the street gang they fought in that issue is also tied
to the Zodiac.
·
Daredevil calls Aries “Giles Goatboy.” This is a
reference to a 1966 novel, Giles Goat-Boy
by John Barth, a satire of campus culture and the heroic journey.
·
When Thor destroyed an aircraft, we see the
“Shroom” sound effect again.
Avengers 83
Come on in…the
Revolution’s fine!
December, 1970
Written by Roy
Thomas
Art by John
Buscema and Tom Palmer
Wasp returns to the mansion because she’s in town to
visit a sick aunt. She stumbles upon a meeting of the Lady Liberators, an
all-female team made up of Medusa, Scarlet Witch, Black Widow, and a new
character, Valkyrie. The assembled heroines uncharacteristically agree to go
with Valkyrie to Rutland, Vermont, to
defeat the male Avengers and start the downfall of male supremacy. The other
four Avengers are at the Rutland Halloween parade as guests and also because of
rumors of the potential kidnapping of Dr. T.W. Erwin, the inventor of a
parallel-time projector. We discover that the Masters of Evil do intend to
kidnap Dr. Erwin, and the Avengers and Masters start a conflict at the parade.
The outcome hasn’t been decided when the Liberators arrive and manage to
overpower the remaining members of both the teams. In the presence of the
machine, Valkyrie reveals herself to be Enchantress in disguise. She wishes to
use the device to return to Asgard. She prepares a spell to destroy the
Avengers, but Scarlet Witch uses her hex power to reflect the spell, seemingly
destroying Enchantress. The Scarlet Witch reveals that one of “Valkyrie’s”
strident comments reminded her of a previous meeting with the Enchantress and
that the Scarlet Witch’s sliver of doubt in Valkyrie’s motives was enough to
break the delicate enchantment she had placed on all the Liberators to get them
to follow her.
Vision: “I am trapped! If I try to become ethereal—the
boiling hot tar may destroy my artificial body in the midst of the
transformation!”
Goliath: “Well, at least I’m glad of one thing…you birds
finally learned your lesson about that Women’s Lib. bull!”
Scarlet Witch: “That’s what you think—male chauvinist
pig! One of these days, the Liberators will stage a comeback—right, Jan?”
·
Herb Cooper is the letterer for this issue. This
starts a string of issues without Sam Rosen or Artie Simek. Sam Rosen was
battling illness at the time, leaving Art Simek the only regular staff
letterer.
·
This is the first appearance of a Valkyrie
character. Enchantress has the real Valkyrie’s spirit trapped in a mystic soul
crystal so she can take that form for herself, and she is later seen giving
that form and power to other people. The true Valkyrie will later gain her
freedom and become a member of the Secret Avengers.
·
This will not be the last time the series shows
the Halloween parade in Rutland, Vermont. Many comic book professionals were
invited to the superhero-themed parades, so it ended up appearing in many
stories in both the DC and Marvel Universes. The parade is still running and
has been since 1960.
·
Tom Fagan was a local writer who helped organize
the parade. In real life, Tom Fagan usually dressed as Batman, but in Marvel
stories, he dresses as Nighthawk, Batman’s counterpart. In one panel, someone
probably dressed at Batman can be seen on the left.
·
A poster reading “Cthulhu Lives!” is seen in one
scene behind Tom Fagan. This was based off a real photograph of Fagan where a poster
with that text was behind him. In addition to this shout-out to H.P.
Lovecraft’s work, Dr. T.W. Erwin works at Miskatonic University, a fictional
university featured in Lovecraft’s tales, not the Marvel Universe.
·
Roy Thomas writes himself and his wife Jeanie
into the story. They attend the parade dressed as Spider-Man and “Mrs.
Fantastic.”
·
The female group is often called the Lady
Liberators, but they only refer to themselves as the Liberators.
·
Another group of Lady Liberators would be
formed, but not until 2008. They team up to track down Red Hulk and are not
nearly as stridently feminist. Black Widow is the only member in common between
both teams, but the real Valkyrie is part of the new team instead of an
impostor.
·
The Masters of Evil lineup here is Radioactive
Man, Klaw, Melter, and Whirlwind. Klaw takes the leadership role and claims he
helped the others escape from prison, even though it was Whirlwind who was the
only one not to be captured in their last outing. Later stories reveal that
Klaw was the frequent recipient of aid from other supervillains, the
Intelligencia, for his breakouts.
·
We have to assume Whirlwind is no longer Wasp’s
driver since she has relocated to Alaska. He was last seen in Captain America (1968) 130 attacking
Cap.
·
Radioactive Man uses a cement gun in the fight.
I guess he ran out of Adhesive X.
·
Black Panther claims he will not fight women.
He’ll get over it later.
·
The battle cry of the Liberators is “Up against
the wall, male chauvinist pigs!”
·
We learn Executioner left Enchantress for
another woman, partly because of Enchantress’ excessive pining for Hercules.
The duo will still be antagonistic when they next appear in Defenders (1973) 4.
·
Enchantress claims that her powers are halved since
she has been banished from Asgard.
Avengers 84
The Sword and the
Sorceress!
January, 1971
Written by Roy
Thomas
Art by John
Buscema and Tom Palmer
The Scarlet Witch has a vivid dream of Black Knight
fighting Arkon’s forces at the Well at the Center of Time. When she wakes up,
she feels the events in her dream really happened, so she convinces the
Avengers to contact Thor so they can go to Arkon’s dimension and investigate.
We learn this truly did occur, and Black Knight is shown to be hostage to Arkon
and the Enchantress, who advises Arkon that Black Knight is a spy sent to
destroy him. The truth is that Black Knight had noticed he has become more
aggressive in using his Ebony Blade and nearly let two criminals fall to their
deaths. On the urging of the spirit of Sir Percy, Black Knight journeyed to
Stonehenge and was sent to the Well by a crone he found there. Before the
Avengers can travel to Arkon’s dimension, Enchantress uses magic to mentally
enslave the Black Knight and bring the entire Mansion there. The Avengers
inside are captured, but Thor and Black Panther were outside the walls of the Mansion and remain at large. They fight through Arkon’s troops and free the
others. Enchantress exhausts her magic against the Scarlet Witch, and the Black
Knight’s will is released, so Enchantress flees from the scene. The Black
Knight hurls the Ebony Blade to intercept one of Arkon’s bolts, and the sword
falls into the Well and is seemingly destroyed. Arkon begins to understand the
Black Knight is not a spy, so he calls off his troops and lets the Avengers
leave for home.
·
This issue and two others in this section were
lettered by Mike Stevens.
·
After the last trip to Arkon’s world, the
Avengers’ standard procedure to get there is just to call Thor so he can use
Mjolnir.
·
This is the first appearance of the Well at the
Center of Time. It will later appear in the Nightcrawler
(1985) mini-series. Nightcrawler claims the Well exists “in all times and
worlds and dimensions.” If that’s true, it’s unknown why Black Knight was drawn
to Arkon’s realm instead of one in his own. Perhaps they are just similarly
named.
·
We see that Black Knight’s membership on the
Avengers is public knowledge, at least in Great Britain.
·
The Enchantress will return in issue 100 after
she takes a quick detour to mess with the Hulk in Incredible Hulk (1962) 142.
·
The Ebony Blade is not destroyed. We will also see
it next in Avengers 100, where we
learn it was transported to Olympus and found by Ares.
·
The letter column of this issue features a
letter written by Mike W. Barr. He would go on to become a comic book editor
and writer himself of many series for various publishers starting in 1974. He
was also the creator of Batman and the
Outsiders, Camelot 3000, and Maze Agency. I was lucky enough to work
with him as assistant editor on another of his creations, the Ultraverse’s Mantra series.
·
Jeremy Renner, the cinematic Hawkeye, was born
this month.
·
Avengers
Annual 4 was also published this month. It reprinted the stories from Avengers 5 and 6.
Avengers 85
The World is not
for Burning
February, 1971
Written by Roy
Thomas
Art by John
Buscema and Frank Giacoia
Thor uses Mjolnir to return the Avengers home. Black
Knight returns to Stonehenge, and Thor and the Black Panther return to New York
City with the mansion. The other four members find themselves turned into
phantoms that can only observe that the world is melting from excessive
heat. They notice that a newspaper’s date is a few weeks later than when they
left. Scarlet Witch uses her hex power, and the team returns to solid form in
their present. They return home, but notice differences in the Mansion. They
first discover Nighthawk, and they pursue him to a meeting room filled with
other superbeings they don’t recognize. Not knowing what to make of each other,
the teams begin to fight each other. Vision notices a transmission from other
Squadron Supreme members about a solar rocket that is about to launch, and he surmises
that this rocket will cause the deadly sun activity they had seen in the
future. Since the Squadron is in charge of protecting this rocket, the
Avengers’ intention to stop the launch causes the conflict to resume. The
Avengers manage a victory and take Nighthawk as a hostage and to guide them to
where the rocket is set to launch.
Goliath: “You’re—Hawkeye? That’s addin’ insult to injury!
I almost feel like I’m stompin’ myself!”
Tom Thumb: “The red-faced one! Where is the red-faced
one?”
Vision: “Right here—and employing the one thing it seems
you will listen to! Sheer brute force!”
American Eagle: “I think they’re a bunch of Reds—or at
least Commie-symps!”
·
Black Panther, Thor, and Captain America take
part in a Toys for Tots campaign in this issue along with Spider-Man.
·
Although Goliath is with the team to go the
Squadron’s Earth, he is not featured on the cover, possibly because he would
take up too much room and obscure the other details in the background.
·
Although the cover promises the return of the
Squadron Sinister, they don’t appear in this issue.
·
This is the first appearance of the Squadron
Supreme and their world, which would be later designated Earth-712 for this
issues 1971 (71), February (2) cover date.
·
Like DC’s universe, the Squadron Supreme’s
cities use fictional names like Cosmopolis City and Atomic City.
·
In addition to the four characters copied by the
Grandmaster for the Squadron Sinister, we meet four new Squadron members with
Justice League analogues. This Hawkeye is a take-off of Green Arrow. Lady Lark
is similar to Black Canary. American Eagle is reminiscent of Hawkman. Tom Thumb
shares an under-average height with the Atom, but shrinking is not his power.
He is a genius inventor with an arsenal of gadgets.
·
American Eagle is the son of a hero by the same
name. He will later become estranged from his father and change his name to
Captain Hawk and finally Blue Eagle. He is no way related the American-Indian American
Eagle from the main Marvel Earth.
·
This Hawkeye will later go on to change his name
to Golden Archer and finally Black Archer. Coincidentally, Clint Barton will
also briefly go in a disguise and call himself Golden Archer in order to fool
Captain America, but this was before
the Squadron’s Golden Archer changed his name and was encountered by the
Avengers again. I guess both men have very similar tastes in code names.
·
This issue is the true first appearance of the
heroic Hyperion, Nighthawk, Doctor Spectrum, and Whizzer.
· Hyperion has just been introduced as a new member
of the expanded Avengers team in Avengers
(2013), but he is yet another alternate version of this Hyperion whose universe was destroyed.
·
In the Squadron’s world, the President of the
United States at this time is Hubert Humphrey. In the real and Marvel Earth, he
had lost to Richard Nixon in the 1968 election.
·
With this issue, this becomes the longest-running
American Avengers series. The third
volume, started in 1998, reached issue 84 before the numbering jumped to 500
with the next issue to reflect the overall number of issues since 1963.
Avengers 86
Brain-Child to the
Dark Tower Came…!
March, 1971
Written by Roy
Thomas (and Len Wein)
Art by John
Buscema and Jim Mooney
The four Avengers in the Squadron’s dimension head toward
the rocket launch. A revived Nighthawk listens to their story and switches from
hostage to ally in their mission. When they arrive, Hyperion, Doctor Spectrum,
and Whizzer are waiting for them, and they scuffle briefly with the Avengers
before Nighthawk has time to land the plane and explain what’s going on. We
learn about Brain-Child, a child born with incredible intellect that grows up
mocked and pitied by his peers and that became an alienated youth. He was still
sought out for his genius, and the American government had set him up on a
private island to develop technology for them. One result was the Brain-Child One rocket, which was to
monitor the sun, but will cause the apocalyptic reaction the Avengers saw in
their vision. The two teams travel to the island to confront Brain-Child, where
he reveals his evil intentions to the heroes outside his complex. They split
into four smaller teams to enter the complex, and three teams are defeated by
various defenses controlled by Brain-Child’s mental powers. The fourth team,
Hyperion and Goliath, reach his inner sanctum and see he is fatigued by all the
effort he spent defeating the other heroes. Hyperion is downed by a mental
attack, and Goliath is about to succumb as well when uses a cable to launch
Hyperion at Brain-Child like an arrow. This final attack defeats Brain-Child,
and he reverts to the mental state of a normal child due to shock. Doctor
Spectrum uses his Power Prism to cause Brain-Child to regain a normal intellect
and appearance, ending the menace. On the Avengers’ home Earth, Thor, Black
Panther, and Iron Man combine magic and technology to bring the lost Avengers
home.
Goliath: “Forget it, fella. It’s just weird to meet some
super-heroes we don’t’ wind up fightin’ for a change. Doesn’t seem to happen
much to the Avengers.”
Doctor Spectrum: “It’s time I willed it to do its thing.
Do you have that expression in your world, Vision?”
Vision: “Unfortunately—yes.”
Vision: “We have returned from one Earth to another,
where three Avengers searched for four others—and seemingly found them. But how
can we be certain that we have not been rescued by a third world—one all but
identical to our own? We may live out our lives—tell ourselves we do not
care—yet, will we ever truly—know?”
· This issue is lettered by Shelly Leferman, another fill-in letterer who had previously only worked for DC Comics. The Bullpen Bulletins in this issue reports that Sam Rosen is recovering from his illness and will be back soon to his regular duties.
· This is the first issue inked by Jim Mooney. He would go on to ink and pencil many series for Marvel and will later pencil some Avengers issues as well.
· Goliath calls Nighthawk “junior birdman” when he’s piloting. The Junior Birdmen of America were a group started in the thirties for young men interested in model airplanes that inspired a popular song, Up in the Air, Junior Birdmen.
· In a huge, shocking development, the dialogue no longer uses exclamation marks for all statements! There are sometimes periods! An issue of Amazing Spider-Man a few months previously had used periods, and Marvel was thinking the public would riot! But they didn’t! This use of more regular punctuation is not just because of the temporary letterer! Rosen will continue using periods when he returns! Enjoy it while it lasts! It won’t!
· This is the first and last appearance of Brain-Child. He does actually get to enjoy a normal childhood. He is no way related to the Brainchild of the Savage Land in the regular Marvel Universe.
· Roy Thomas later gave Len Wein credit for helping plot the issue in a forward to a Marvel Masterworks reprint edition. Wein didn’t get credit in the original issue.
· The issue’s title comes from the poem, “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came,” a poem by Robert Browning. “Childe” is a medieval term for an untested knight, not a youth.
· This issue’s letter column features a letter from Mike W. Barr in which he voices some concern about the use of two half-pages on pages 12 and 13 cutting back on the amount of content.
· Also this month, Thor, Iron Man, and Goliath are sent to help the army defend an installation from the Titans Three, a short-lived group consisting of Hulk, Namor, and Silver Surfer. This takes place in Sub-Mariner (1968) 35. All these characters will also appear in the Avengers/Defenders War in 1973, though Goliath will do so as Hawkeye and as a Defender.
Avengers 87
Look Homeward,
Avenger
April, 1971
Written by Roy
Thomas
Art by Sal Buscema
and Frank Giacoia
In a quiet moment at Avengers Mansion, T’Challa tells his
teammates how he became Black Panther. His father, King T’Chaka, was killed by
Klaw before the villain became a creature of living sound. After the king’s
death, N’Baza was made regent of Wakanda, and T’Challa was sent to college
abroad. N’Baza’s son, B’Tumba was T’Challa’s companion and rival in athletics
and their studies. Once they returned home, T’Challa faced the tests that would
make him worthy of being the Black Panther, including the search for the
heart-shaped herb which gives him his heightened physical abilities. On this
final quest, he stumbled upon A.I.M., the evil scientific organization, stealing
vibranium. Black Panther fought bravely, but outnumbered and outgunned, he was
captured. He discovered that the leader of this team of agents is his friend
B’Tumba, who had been in A.I.M.’s employ for many years. B’Tumba was left to kill
Black Panther, but because of their long friendship, B’Tumba couldn’t bring
himself to do it and in fact helped Black Panther to escape. The other A.I.M. agents were subdued, but not before B’Tumba was caught in the crossfire and
died. At the end of his story, Black Panther reveals that the aged N’Baza has
died, so he must decide whether to return to Wakanda or stay an active Avenger.
Goliath: “Yeah, Vizh. I know that even an android can
cry—but can’t they yok it up a little, too?”
Thor: “The metal of the Human spirit is forged upon the
anvil of sorrow, Avenger. Thus hath it ever been—thus shall it ever be.”
·
Rather than the usual dichotomy of penciler and
inker, Frank Giacoia and Sal Buscema share credit as “artists.”
·
The issue retells a story told in Fantastic Four (1961) 53 with some additions.
They even redrew some of the panels to look similarly.
·
The issue title is probably a reference to
Thomas Wolfe’s first novel Look Homeward,
Angel: The Story of a Buried Life, but the direct meaning of the title and
the biographical nature of the issue seems to be the only connections.
Avengers 88
The Summons of
Psyklop
May, 1971
Written by Harlan
Ellison and Roy Thomas
Art by Sal Buscema
and Jim Mooney
We see that Mister Fantastic and Professor X are helping
to capture the Hulk with Thunderbolt Ross. Iron Man was one of the architects
of the plan as Tony Stark, and they wonder why he is not present. We discover
that he is with a team of Avengers and the Falcon on an uncharted Pacific
island. The team traveled there after Captain America and the Falcon discovered
a voodoo ritual that was led by one of Falcon’s friends that was in a trance.
After the ritual was broken up, the enthralled friend repeated longitude and
latitude coordinates that led the team to this island. Meanwhile, although the
Hulk is briefly subdued, he disappears suddenly and appears in the lab of an
insectoid humanoid, Psyklop. Psyklop plans to drain the energy from the mighty
Hulk to feed his Dark Gods, who he hopes will revive the rest of his ancient race.
To help study the unconscious Hulk, he turns on a shrinking ray, but the
Avengers break in and distract Psyklop. Psyklop is able to evade them long
enough to use another device that transports the Avengers back to New York
City, but by this time, the shrinking ray has caused the Hulk to shrink totally
out of this dimension.
Goliath: “Everything lies heavy upon my shoulders—even my
shoulders. But, I can’t go changin’ sizes too often. It wastes a guy.”
·
This issue and the Incredible Hulk story that follows it were conceived by writer Harlan
Ellison, and then Roy Thomas wrote the dialogue after the art was produced.
Ellison is a prolific writer, but his comic book output is not large. He is
better known for his science-fiction and television writing.
·
The opening quote, “The most merciful thing in
the world…is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents.” is
from H.P. Lovecraft. Ellison recently voiced himself in a Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated episode that was H.P. Lovecraft
themed.
·
The plan to capture the Hulk is conceived by
Mister Fantastic, Iron Man, and Professor X. Although they had not yet formed
the secret Illuminati group just yet, they will very soon, and this group
contains half their number. Although their plot here to capture Hulk fails,
they will one day have greater success with ejecting him into outer space, at
least for a while.
·
This is the first time Falcon and Redwing appear
in an Avengers issue.
·
This is the first appearance of a Psyklop. He
states his race pre-dates man and worshipped Dark Gods that put this race to
sleep. He is not successful in waking them up and dies later in Incredible Hulk 203. His race is
eventually awakened in Incredible Hulks:
Enigma Force, but they do not totally resemble his bipedal form.
·
Black Panther returns to Wakanda for his duties
there, so he is only briefly seen this issue and won’t return to action until
issue 100.
·
Vision, Scarlet Witch, and Quicksilver remain on
monitor duty rather than go with the rest of the team. This is because the
Invisible Woman had a premonition that someone would break into the Baxter
Building, and Reed Richards asked the Avengers to monitor the building while
the Fantastic Four were away. The premonition comes true next issue.
·
Some of the narration in this issue is in the
rare second-person format. It refers to the character in the scene with
pronouns like “you” and “your,” such as “They lured you here—and now they have
you—a big green butterfly, writhing convulsively—pinned, living, by a skewer of
lightning-!” This type of narration is the least common in English fiction.
·
The latitude and longitude of the island puts it
about 1,500 miles west of Chile. The narration mentions that a giant slug the
Avengers encounter was native to Lemuria, a continent in the Pacific that sank
thousands of years ago in the Marvel Universe. It’s not the same as another Marvel
Lemuria, which is in Antarctica near the Savage Land and has an Atlantean
outpost.
·
Iron Man says that Thor’s hammer makes a crater
the size of the Sea of Tranquility. That area of Earth’s moon is actually over
500 miles across and has an area larger than that of over 200 individual
countries on Earth. He exaggerated.
·
The entry to Psyklop’s lair is lined with weird
statues that evoke the origin tale of the original Fawcett Captain Marvel. Iron
Man refers to this when he says the last time he saw something like this was in
a comic book with an abandoned subway tunnel.
·
The narration says that Psyklop’s device not
only transports the Avengers, but it also wipes their memory of the event, so
although the story is said to be continued in Incredible Hulk 140, the Avengers don’t show up in that issue
except in a brief recap.
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