Avengers 115 to 119
Avengers/Defenders War
Dark Dimension
seeks
the Evil Eye of
legend.
Heroes become
pawns.
Captain America;
Steve Rogers
Iron Man; Tony
Stark
Scarlet Witch;
Wanda Maximoff
Swordman; Jacques
Duquesne
Thor; Donald Blake
Vision
Featured allies
Mantis
Featured opponents/allies
Doctor Strange;
Stephen Strange
Hawkeye; Clint
Barton
Hulk; Bruce Banner
Namor; Namor
McKenzie
Valkyrie;
Barbara Norriss
The summer of 1973, Marvel didn’t
have a bunch of specials or King-size comics coming out as usual, so Steve
Englehart pitched an event to editor Roy Thomas that involved both the Avengers
and Defenders. Thomas’ main concern was that if Englehart ran behind on either
series, the shipping schedule of one of the books would be thrown off, but he gave
it the green light. Summer crossovers and events have become quite the
tradition since then, but this is one of the first attempted. It probably
helped that Englehart was the sole writer involved.
This conflict doesn’t fit in
well with the future addition of the Illuminati to the Marvel back story.
Namor, Doctor Strange, and Iron Man are all members of that group and yet don’t
think twice about talking things out before assuming the other team is evil.
Even though Black Panther didn’t join the Illuminati, he knows Doctor Strange.
Some people like to place the formation of the Illuminati after the
Avengers/Defenders war, but unfortunately narration said they first met the same week as the end of the Kree-Skrull
War. Friendly heroes fighting each other for the slimmest of misunderstandings
is well enmeshed in comic-book lore, though, so this will have to be another
addition to that tradition.
The pattern of the story is well
known. Hero meets hero. They misunderstand each other’s intentions. They fight.
They realize each other’s true intentions. They team up to fight the real
villain. Now multiply that by 14 heroes and two villains and two series, and
you have a tidy summer crossover event.
The Defenders considered
themselves a “non-group.” They only gathered infrequently, usually when Doctor
Strange needed some help with a problem, and his two main helpers were Hulk and
Namor. The team informally met when Doctor Strange lost his own series and one
of his plotlines was tied up in issues of Sub-Mariner
(1968) and Incredible Hulk (1962).
The three heroes together as the Defenders was given a tryout in Marvel Feature (1971) for three issues
and were popular enough to garner their own series in 1972, attracting a few
more characters to bolster their ranks.
Below Us the
Battle!
September, 1973
Written by Steve
Englehart
Art by Bob Brown
and Mike Esposito
Lettered by Jean
Simek
Colored by Stan
Goldberg
The Avengers go to Great Britain to see why the Black
Knight has been out of contact for so long. When they arrive at his castle,
they find it is surrounded by a mystical force field. While unsuccessfully
attempting to pierce it, they are attacked by a band of underground-dwelling
primitive men led by King Skol. Despite being normal men, they overpower the
Avengers with “will-sapping gas” that paralyzes them, even Vision. The tribe is
upset because they cannot enter the castle and steal food as they did before.
When the Avengers shown to be ignorant of why the shield is there, Skol throws
them into a pit with an underground monster to dispose of them. After the team
recovers from the gas, Mantis defeats the monster. The tribe shuts off the
flames providing light, plunging the caves into darkness and giving them the
advantage. Black Panther’s enhanced senses allow him to see in the dark, and he
defeats several tribesmen easily, causing Skol
to surrender. The Avengers are freed, and they seek official help from
the British government for the tribe, which had been hidden for generations. In
an epilogue, the now-blind Loki is transported to the Dark Dimension by
Dormammu, who proposes an alliance to recover a mystical artifact called the
Evil Eye.
Mantis: “Aiiee! This one forgets that those not trained
the in the Oriental arts of defense are not always masters of their fate!”
Scarlet Witch: “They weren’t really evil, of course—just
set upon by an unjust society…which may sound cliché, but only because it has
never ceased to occur!”
Loki: “Dormammu? The lord of the Dark Dimension?
Oft-times hath the All-Father spoken of thee!”
Dormammu: “With dread, no doubt!”
Loki: “Nay! In comparison with me!”
·
Jean Simek was credited as Jean Izzo in this
issue. She is Art Simek’s daughter and was also lettering comic books during
this time. She will only letter one more issue of the series, issue 210.
·
“FOOM!”
is the sound of Thor’s hammer striking the force field around the castle. They
were still hoping for people to join that fan club, I guess.
·
The British division of SHIELD does not want to
allow Swordsman into England, as he had been previously deported from the
country. Swordsman had mentioned before that many other countries likewise
don’t want him in their borders. SHIELD grudgingly gives him temporary amnesty
so the Avengers may enter the country.
·
Scarlet Witch attempts to use her power to
disrupt the force field, assuming the field is magical, but her power is more
of a “science-based” Mutant power than mystical spells, something that will be
expanded on when she learns from Agatha Harkness.
·
Mantis reveals some of her abilities this issue.
She has empathy with nature, can sense underlying disorder in a natural setting,
mentally see past-tense events in the area, and has “total muscle control.”
·
Mantis has green eyes. It’ll be some time before
we find out she has a Caucasian father, but this is an early clue she isn’t full-blooded
Vietnamese.
·
The Black Knight had been turned to stone in Defenders (1972) 4 by Enchantress.
Doctor Strange erected the force field to prevent anyone from entering the
castle while the Black Knight was away.
·
The tribe refers to themselves as “the people.”
This is common to many tribal societies, whose names, if translated to English,
often are simply the word “people” or “humans.”
·
Mantis begins to refer to herself as “this one”
in her dialogue with this issue.
·
Vision reveals that he cannot see in total
darkness.
·
The tribe claims to have been hidden from
mainstream society since “many winters past—hundreds.” Based on the number of
“hidden” races and cities in the Marvel Universe, this doesn’t seem too
outrageous.
·
“Skol” is a Scandinavian drinking toast.
·
Loki’s story in this issue picks up from the end of Thor (1966) 207. He was blinded by a
lightning strike from Thor.
·
Dormammu had previously promised Doctor Strange
in Strange Tales (1951) 127 that he
would never attempt to conquer Earth’s dimension. He requires the Evil Eye in
order to expand his own Dark Dimension so that it would now encompass Earth and
allow him out of his promise on a technicality.
·
The Evil Eye was supposedly destroyed in Fantastic Four (1961) 54, but instead
it’s revealed it was split into six parts.
·
The letters page has a letter from Richard
Howell. He will later pencil a couple of Avengers
Annuals. He will also team up with Steve Englehart on a Vision and Scarlet Witch 12-issue series
in 1985.
·
Another letter comes from Duffy Vohland, who
will go on to do some editing at Marvel, as well as inking some Avengers pages in the future. In the
P.S. to his letter, he requests a story with the Vision finding out he was the
Human Torch. This part of the letter was supposed be removed, but the printer
accidentally printed it. Apparently Neal Adams had let this idea slip in an
interview with another publication, Gallery,
which is why Vohland brought it up long before it was revealed to be the truth in Avengers.
·
Also this month, the crossover event starts in Defenders 8. Doctor Strange is
attempting to cure the Black Knight from having been turned to stone. He sends a
mystical message to Black Knight’s soul, which is in another dimension.
Dormammu intercepts the spell and sends back a false response that the Evil Eye
is needed to cure the Black Knight, leading the Defenders to quest for the six
pieces.
Avengers 116
Chapter 2
Betrayal!
Chapter 3 The
Silver Surfer vs. The Vision and Scarlet Witch
October, 1973
Written by Steve
Englehart
Art by Bob Brown
and Mike Esposito
Lettered by John
Costanza
Colored by Petra Goldberg
Back in New York, the Avengers manage to get past Doctor Strange’s
butler Wong briefly, and they glimpse the statue of Black Knight inside the
Sanctum Sanctorum. Strange uses a spell to eject them and bar them from
reentering. Inside, the Defenders learn the history of the Evil Eye artifact
and how it had split into six pieces. The Defenders split up to go after five
of the pieces, and Doctor Strange remains at their home base to await the first
Defender to return. Loki does not truly want Dormammu’s plan to succeed, so he
sends a projection to the Avengers to enlist the aid of Thor. He claims the
Defenders seek the Evil Eye pieces for evil purposes, and since the reputation
of the Defenders members is either murky or possibly villainous, the Avengers
believe him enough to split up and go after the pieces as well. The Silver
Surfer arrives on Rurutu in the South Pacific for his piece, and the natives
think he is a god. The Surfer begins searching a volcano for the Evil Eye.
Vision and Scarlet Witch arrive, and Vision leaves the Quinjet to open
negotiations with Silver Surfer. The Surfer is unaware they are even there, and
his blasting triggers the volcano to erupt. The resulting explosion destroys
the incoming Quinjet and injures Scarlet Witch. The Vision is enraged, and he
attacks the Surfer after getting the Scarlet Witch to safety. During the
battle, the natives put the Scarlet Witch in the path of oncoming lava, thinking
a sacrifice will appease the Surfer, who they think is punishing them with the
volcano. The Evil Eye piece becomes dislodged, but Vision breaks away to save
the Scarlet Witch, and the Surfer takes the prize and speeds away.
Narration: “There is actually a moment, then, when Loki
considers telling the Avengers the truth—but that would involve blaming
himself—and the Prince of Evil could never do that!”
Silver Surfer, thinking: “Is this being insane? The Black
Knight is an Avenger, also—a teammate of his! Why does he not want me to help
save him?”
·
Chapter 1 consisted of the final four pages in Defenders 8.
·
A blurb at the beginning of the story mentions
it is the tenth anniversary of Avengers
1, which was published in September, 1963.
·
The Evil Eye had been seen before in Fantastic Four, wielded by Prester John,
a survivor from the time of the Crusades, who acquired the Evil Eye in the land
of Avalon. Avalon is part of the King Arthur legends.
·
When the Evil Eye broke into six pieces, each
piece is the same shape as the original, but they differ in size and nest
within each other when put together. Each piece passed through the planet until
it came out on another side and stopped when it met sunlight. This was a
defensive mechanism to prevent someone from using it improperly twice.
·
This will not be the last time the Avengers
fight over the Evil Eye. It is also one of the items in contention during the
crossover with DC’s Justice League of America in 2003. Vision and Scarlet Witch
(along with Quicksilver) battle Flash and Steel on another island—Wonder
Woman’s Paradise Island.
·
Of all the Defenders involved in this “war,”
only Silver Surfer will not later become a member of the Avengers at some
point.
·
When the Avengers choose their destinations,
Swordsman chooses Bolivia in South America because he still feels bad about his
criminal actions there in Avengers Special
1.
·
Mantis chooses to go with Black Panther due to
her intuition, and Swordsman agrees with that suggestion. He’s not feeling
jealous yet.
·
The characters who already had their own series
had stylized logos as the title of their magazine. For the chapter titles,
those logos would be used for the character’s name. Vision’s name had appeared
on the cover of Marvel Team-Up (1972)
5, so that logo was used here. Scarlet Witch’s logo here was not used again for
her appearance in Marvel Team-Up 41
in 1976, and Vision’s was replaced in Marvel Team-Up 42 with a new logo as well.
·
The battle in Chapter 3 takes place on Rurutu in
French Polynesia. After the Vision and Scarlet Witch get married, they will
come back here for their honeymoon. The natives feel bad for their actions here
and serve as hosts in penance.
·
When Silver Surfer rams his board into Vision,
the sound effect chosen is “Plow!”
·
The sound that the volcano makes when ejecting
lava, Silver Surfer, and Vision is “Foom!”
·
The four Avengers Quinjets shown in this issue seat
only two people under a transparent globe, a bit different than the standard
design that can carry the whole team.
·
If we take close look at the Scarlet Witch’s
gesture on the cover, she may be giving Vision a subliminal message in American
Sign Language.
Defenders 9
Chapter 4
Divide…and Conquer
Chapter 5 Iron Man
vs. Hawkeye
Chapter 6 Dr.
Strange vs. the Black Panther and Mantis
October, 1973
Written by Steve
Englehart
Art by Sal Buscema
and Frank McLaughlin
Lettered by Artie
Simek
Colored by Petra
Goldberg
The Silver Surfer returns to Doctor Strange and fills him
in. Doctor Strange discovers that Swordsman is part of the Avengers, and that,
along with the involvement of Loki, convinces him that the Avengers have evil
motives. Strange races off to Indiana to retrieve another part of the Evil Eye.
Valkyrie drops off Hawkeye in Mexico while she goes on to Bolivia. Iron Man
arrives in Mexico and finds his piece of the Evil Eye at a college, the
Instituto Technológica, but Hawkeye ambushes him and steals it. The two heroes
battle each other, and Hawkeye deflects Iron Man’s repulser blasts to hit a
construction site. Iron Man chooses to save students from the collapsing
structure, and Hawkeye escapes with the piece of the Evil Eye. Meanwhile, in
Indiana, Doctor Strange tracks down the piece easily. The glow from the
tracking spell attracts Mantis and Black Panther, and soon the three heroes are
battling. To gain victory, Doctor Strange casts a spell that saps the strength
of his foes, and he escapes with his piece, bringing the Defenders tally to
three pieces.
Scarlet Witch: “It scares me, Vision. The Avengers have
faced every conceivable menace—and won—but the Defenders are so powerful—so
ruthless—and yet so like us!”
Hawkeye, thinking: “I suppose I should swear off chicks,
after Wanda and the Widow dumped me…but that’d be like swearin’ off air.”
Doctor Strange: “I should feel satisfaction…but somehow,
I cannot. I have won—but I am filled with loss.”
·
Hawkeye and Mantis were given some logos in the
chapter headings, but they did not become official logos for their later
appearances. (Unfortunately, the very thick Essential
Avengers books and my scanner did not allow me to get good scans of these.)
·
When Silver Surfer relates his battle to Doctor
Strange, he omits the fact the Scarlet Witch was even there.
·
Silver Surfer offers to help out the rest of the
Defenders team, but Doctor Strange makes him stay and guard the Black Knight’s
body.
·
Hawkeye tries to put the moves on Valkyrie and
kisses her. Her response is to try to stab him, even though she admits to
herself that she kind of liked it.
·
Iron Man speaks fluent Spanish while in Mexico.
·
Hawkeye’s match-up against Iron Man is a replay
of Hawkeye’s first appearance as an Iron Man villain.
·
A blast arrow impacting on Iron Man uses the
sound effect “Foom!” Ready to join yet?
·
Hawkeye calls Iron Man the “second-strongest Avenger”
and himself the “weakest Defender.”
·
A bystander in Indiana compares Black Panther to
the “cat person in Chicago.” That is the adventuress The Cat, who will later
become the Avenger Tigra. Her series had ended with issue 4 in June of 1973.
·
When Doctor Strange evades one of Mantis’ blows,
she says that only three other people have ever dodged her attack. For us, he’s
the first.
Avengers 117
Holocaust
Chapter 7
Swordsman vs. the Valkyrie
Chapter 8 Captain
America vs. Sub-Mariner
November, 1973
Written by Steve
Englehart
Art by Bob Brown, Mike
Esposito, and Frank McLaughlin
Lettered by June
Braverman
Colored by Petra
Goldberg
Dormammu discovers that the Avengers are intruding on his
scheme, but he does not want to reveal himself, so he waits to see how it plays
out. Swordsman is flying his Quinjet above a castle in Bolivia when Valkyrie
attacks and cripples the craft. He manages to land the Quinjet, but this attack
makes him eager to investigate the castle, which is occupied by a reclusive American
man. They discover Valkyrie looting the man’s belongings, and the two heroes
begin to battle. When the owner of the castle tries to retreat behind a massive
locked door, Valkyrie barges in and find the piece of the Evil Eye there.
Swordsman manages to wrest it away from her, so the owner of the castle shoots
him in the back with a ray weapon. Swordsman collapses, wounded, but manages to
stab the shooter before he himself passes out. Valkyrie take the prize, but she
stays nearby until help arrives and she is sure Swordsman will survive.
Meanwhile, Captain America searches for his piece in Japan, but Namor already
has it. Captain America seems overmatched, but while he fights Namor, Japanese
hero Sunfire comes upon the scene and takes the Eye for himself. Namor gives
chase and causes Sunfire to drop the Eye, which Captain America collects. Namor
and Cap face off again, but instead of continuing to fight, they decide to talk
things over and come to suspect they are both being manipulated.
Swordsman: “Funny how things that were so important in
the past only look ridiculous today!”
Valkyrie: “Threats? From a man with a pretty mustache?”
Valkyrie: “…I salute you as a gallant foe. If you were
conscious, I think you’d like that.”
·
Inker Frank McLaughlin is not credited in the
issue. He is given credit for helping with the issue in a future letter column.
·
This is the only issue of Avengers to be lettered by June Braverman.
·
Sunfire is referred to as a super-villain on the
cover, even though he more known as a hero in Japan. He does have a grudge
against Namor, as he last appeared in Namor’s Sub-Mariner series, and the two were at odds.
·
Swordsman and Valkyrie were given some temporary
logos for their chapter. Valkyrie’s was changed for her appearance in Marvel
Two-in-One 7 in 1975, possibly because her name had been misspelled.
·
During this battle, Valkyrie is using the Black
Knight’s Ebony Blade as well as his flying horse Aragorn.
·
Although chapter 7 takes place at a “Nazi
castle,” it is currently occupied by someone claiming to be an American. In the
letter column for Avengers 122, it is
mentioned that this character is a suspect in the Watergate scandal that fled
prosecution. Because no one in the real Watergate scandal had been convicted of
anything when issue 117 was printed, they decided to drop that reference in
order to avoid possibly casting an unfair light on a real person. In the few
months between issues, convictions had been handed down, so they chose to
retroactively reveal this fact in the letter column.
·
One of the tenets of the Avengers is that they
do not kill their adversaries. Swordsman does kill the man who wounded him,
breaking this rule, but the team never finds out this fact.
·
Captain America’s battle versus Namor may seem
lopsided, but Captain America did still have super-strength during this
encounter, so he does give a good showing.
·
Namor reminiscences about his childhood and
playing war with his cousin Byrrah. Namor says he always played the Americans
in these games.
Defenders 10
Chapter 9
Breakthrough!
Chapter 10 United
We Stand!
November, 1973
Written by Steve
Englehart
Art by Sal Buscema
and Frank Bolle
Lettered by Tom
Orzechowski
Colored by Petra
Goldberg
Hulk finds a piece of the Evil Eye in Los Angeles, but
Thor arrives as well. At one point, their battle becomes a contest of wills,
with both heroes straining in each other’s grip for one hour. Both the Avengers
and Defenders arrive in force together, breaking up the fight. We see that
Namor brought together the Avengers and led them to Doctor Strange so the fate
of Evil Eye could be discussed. Both teams realize they are being manipulated, and
they assume Loki and Dormammu are to blame. They lay out the pieces of the Evil
Eye, but before they can assemble it, Asti, a mystical minion of Dormammu,
appears and spirits the pieces away to Dormammu. Within moments, Dormammu’s use
of the Evil Eye causes the landscape of Earth to begin to warp, and citizens
turn into monsters. Both teams vow to stop the plot together.
Hulk: “Yes…Hulk was Avenger once…didn’t like it!”
·
Rather than Buscema, John Romita did the cover
art for this issue. Romita was the current Art Director at Marvel and
frequently contributed covers.
·
Letterer Orzechowski is credited as T. Orz.
·
One page is just one panel of Thor and Hulk
clashing. Narration suggests you buy a second copy of the issue so you can cut
out this page for a pin-up.
·
Hulk is not a big fan of the Defenders either.
He’s only helping them because they help the Black Knight.
·
Hulk tries to lift Thor’s Hammer, but of course,
he cannot because of the spell on it. A similar scene is in the Avengers film during the Thor and Hulk
fight.
·
Swordsman is still recovering from his wound. He
has part of his torso covered in bandages, but attempts to jump back into
battle anyway.
·
Before this storyline, both villains were last
seen at Rutland, Vermont, during the Halloween parade, Loki in Thor 207, and Dormammu in Marvel
Feature 2.
·
The sound effect when Hulk smashes the street is
FOOM!
·
Doctor Strange knows Dormammu is involved when
he sees Asti. Strange battled the creature before in Strange Tales 144.
Avengers 118
To the Death!
December, 1973
Written by Steve
Englehart
Art by Bob Brown,
Mike Esposito, and Frank Giacoia
Lettered by Tom
Orzechowski
Colored by George Roussos
After leaving Earth in the hands of its other heroes and
SHIELD, the Avengers and Defenders travel to the Dark Dimension. Dormammu’s
increased power allows him to discern his so-called ally’s treachery, so he
traps Loki in cage of mystical force. The two teams are attacked by The
Mindless Ones, aggressive inhabitants of the Dark Dimension, but the heroes
fight through to where Dormammu and Loki are observing. The Defenders are all
knocked out by a single spell from Dormammu, and most of the Avengers are
trapped in quicksand or revert to their powerless civilian identities, leaving
only the Scarlet Witch able to act. Loki chooses this moment to turn into a fly
and escape his prison. While he struggles with Dormammu, Scarlet Witch casts a
hex that activates the Evil Eye, which sucks Dormammu’s energy into it and
channels it into Loki’s mind, defeating both villains and stopping the
assimilation of Earth.
Doctor Strange: “The laws of reality you know are altered
or negated here! Terrors you cannot even comprehend lurk in the Outer Darks! We
will stay together!”
Thor: “Methinks we do sound much like the Avengers alone
in our early years: arguing amongst ourselves at every turn! Yet, the magician
is correct! The Avengers will follow his lead and accept his authority on all
occult matters!”
·
Narration tells us that it will take one hour
for the transformation of Earth to be complete. It’s unclear why some
humans change into monsters and some do not. The heroes leave before any of
them transform themselves, but some SHIELD members do change.
·
Captain America warns Nick Fury that Fury’s
injuries may be too severe to fight. He fails to mention that it was he himself
who nearly beat Nick Fury to death in Captain
America (1968) 165. Cap thought Fury was the Yellow Claw.
·
The events are important enough that Uatu the
Watcher shows up personally to observe.
·
SHIELD zapping a large monster creates a FOOM!
sound effect. Hulk striking a Mindless One also elicits a “FOOM!” Mindless Ones
are free to join the fan club as well.
·
When Thor strikes a Mindless One, the sound effect is
“Crom!” which is the name of a god Conan the barbarian worships.
·
Panels are included which show other heroes
battling the monsters on Earth and the rest of the universe, including the
Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, the Inhumans, Luke Cage, Ka-Zar and Zabu, Ghost
Rider, Man-Thing, Dr. Doom, Dracula, Adam Warlock, and Thanos.
·
His one panel marks Luke Cage’s first appearance
in Avengers. He will later join and
lead one of the Avengers groups.
·
It is likewise Thanos’ first appearance in the Avengers series.
·
At the end of the adventure, Doctor Strange
casts a spell to remove the knowledge of Iron Man and Thor’s secret identities
from the rest of the heroes’ minds. Iron Man’s armor also reappears.
·
Vision experiences a paralyzing fear of the
quicksand that stems from his past as the Human Torch. In that identity, he was buried for years and
has a phobia about it, even though he doesn’t remember those events.
·
Being zapped by the Evil Eye reverts Loki to a
childlike intellect, but it also restores his sight.
·
The letters page includes a letter by Ralph
Macchio. This is not the Karate Kid
actor, but he will become a longtime Marvel staff member and write Avengers starting in 1987.
·
The Avengers’ return to Earth and the fate of
the Evil Eye and Black Knight are seen in Defenders
11. Doctor Strange uses the Eye’s power to erase the minds of Earth so they
forget about the Defenders. Rather than freeing Black Knight from stone, the
Defenders are whisked back to the twelfth century, where they find the Black
Knight in the middle of an adventure. At the end of the team’s adventure, the
Evil Eye is returned to that time period’s Prester John, and the Black Knight
stays in the past, feeling more at home there. Black Knight’s story will be
picked up again in Avengers 225.
·
This month marks the first appearance of
Shang-Chi in Special Marvel Edition
15. He will later become an Avengers member. He was popular enough that the Special Marvel Edition series became Master of Kung Fu with issue 17.
Avengers 119
Night of the
Collector
January, 1974
Written by Steve
Englehart
Art by Bob Brown
and Don Heck
Lettered by Art
Simek
Colored by Glynis
Wein
As the team returns to the mansion with Loki, they
accidentally set off their own defenses and must avoid them before entering.
Before long, Mantis is struck with a feeling that something is wrong in the
town of Rutland, so the team goes there to investigate. The Halloween Parade is
taking place, and the team splits up into smaller groups to canvass the town.
Thor, Iron Man, Black Panther, and Captain America are lured to a secluded spot
by host Tom Fagan, who reveals himself as the Collector in disguise and traps
them all in Coats of Hercules that render them unable to move. Swordsman and
Mantis stumble upon the real Tom Fagan who reveals the plot to them. The
parade-goers storm into Tom Fagan’s home, which the Collector has made his
lair, and distract the Collector long enough for the captured Avengers to be
freed by their teammates. Collector summons a swarm of vampire bats with two
stones and throws the stones down a booby-trapped chute. He demands his release
in exchange for getting rid of the bats, but Mantis immediately kicks him
unconscious and clambers down the chute, using her total body control to avoid
the traps. Iron Man uses an ultrasonic wave to confuse the bats, and Mantis
recovers the stones and dispels them completely. A grateful Tom Fagan and the
town offer to watch over Loki in Rutland now that he has reverted to the
intellect of a child.
Swordsman: “Sounds like someone with a gag in his mouth!
I’ve heard enough muffled groans in enough dark places to know!”
Tom Fagan: “I guess I should have expected something like
this after it became the ‘in’ thing for superheroes to take a break here each
Halloween. In unfamiliar country—surrounded by people in costumes—you make the
perfect candidates for a trap. It was only a matter of time until a
super-villain caught on. I’m sorry.”
Vision: “For providing pleasure to thousands of adults
and children alike? You have done nothing wrong, Tom Fagan.”
Collector: “Now more than ever, I know why I chose the
life of a collector! It is a solitary life!”
·
Although Don Heck had penciled many issues, this
is his first stint as inker on Avengers.
·
One of the defense beams from the Mansion uses
the “Foom!” sound effect.
·
Jarvis sets out a large feast for the team, but
when they rush out without eating anything, he fears they will instead get
their dinner at “MacDonald’s.”
·
Though the real heroes aren’t in the issue, some
parade-goers are dressed as Hawkeye and Goliath.
·
Despite Doctor Strange’s spell to make the
populace of Earth forget the Defenders, Valkyrie and Doctor Strange are among
the costumes on display.
·
A footnote lists some of the past appearances of
the Rutland Halloween parade. The last is a cut off “Jus—Ahem!” It refers to DC
Comics’ Justice League of America
103, which even featured a cameo by Avengers
writer Steve Englehart. That story was loosely tied into Marvel’s own Thor 207 and Amazing Adventures 16, which also took place at the Rutland parade
and featured Englehart. This is considered the first, though unofficial,
DC/Marvel crossover event.
·
The artifacts Collector uses are earthly ones in
this adventure, the Coats of Hercules and two magic stones that summon a swarm
of vampire bats. He plans to use the Vultures of Nepenthe, but he never gets
the chance. Nepenthe, in lore, is a potion that replaces sorrow with
forgetfulness. The Collector claims the vultures have electrically charged
talons.
·
Collector didn’t expect the Avengers team. He
was waiting for any superhero that came along, whom he would then use as bait
for the Avengers. He was able to skip the bait part of his plan.
·
In addition to the reference to McDonald’s. the
parade-goers mention a trip to the A&W. A&W actually had more
restaurants than McDonald’s at one point in the 1970s.
·
The parade-goers mention that one of the comic
book pros there is from San Francisco. Writer Englehart moved to San Francisco
around this time, which is soon mentioned in Avengers 121.
·
Rather than striking the “bat stones” together
at the bottom of the shaft, Mantis takes the time to climb all the way back up
it before sending the bats away.
·
Although Collector mentions his interstellar
ship, it does not appear in this story.
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