Avengers 164 to 166 (including Avengers Annual 7)

Avengers 164 to 166 (including Avengers Annual 7)

 

Nefaria's patsies.
Team-up and a two-in-one
capped by Warlock's end
 

Beast; Henry "Hank" McCoy

Black Panther; T'Challa
Captain America; Steve Rogers

Iron Man; Tony Stark
Scarlet Witch; Wanda Maximoff
Thor; Donald Blake
Vision
Wasp; Janet Van Dyne

Yellowjacket; Henry "Hank" Pym
 

Featured Allies
Black Widow; Natasha Romanoff
Captain Marvel; Mar-Vell
Hercules; Heracles
Moondragon; Heather Douglas
Spider-Man; Peter Parker
Thing; Ben Grimm

Wonder Man; Simon Williams
 

     October through December of 1977 was a busy time for the Avengers. They appeared in six stories, only half of which were in their own monthly series. We see the return of Count Nefaria, a very old Avengers foe, along with his recruitment of a handful of other Avengers villains to form a new Lethal Legion. It struck me that a story had just featured Graviton, and Nefaria and Graviton are groomed quite a bit alike. I know Count Nefaria was designed back in the sixties, but I wonder who Jim Shooter was channeling into his villain roles.

 

Canadian? Italian? It's the beards that make them evil.

     The team also served as the mental thralls of Doctor Doom in Super-Villain Team-Up 14. While reading this story, I had a sense I had seen it elsewhere. It is very reminiscent of the future Marvel Graphic Novel, "Emperor Doom." In both stories, Doctor Doom has managed to gain mental control of everyone on Earth. How he can control so many people with his own thoughts, I don't know, but just go with it. In the "Emperor Doom" story, it's Wonder Man manages to stay free, but he's under Doom's control here. Sadly for the Avengers, they don't get to foil Doom's plot, but they do enter into a nice brawl with Magneto, which is always fun.

     Speaking of arch-villains, Jim Starlin used the 1977 Avengers and Marvel Two-in-One Annuals to follow up on his darlings Thanos, Adam Warlock, and company. The storyline would see the death or incapacitation of all these characters, but since this is comics, they will all be revived in time. Though Starlin was not the regular writer of the series, this was one of the best received Avengers stories from the time period. On the director's commentary to the current Avengers feature film, director Joss Whedon mentions this story as being one of his favorite Avengers stories ever. No wonder he was so keen to include Thanos at the end of the film. Britain had started its own awards for comics, the Eagle Awards, and these stories and their central characters won four of these awards in total.

     This is one of the first stories that hinted bringing together all these Soul Gems would mean bad news, but Jim Starlin and Thanos will go back to that theme many times in the future. Adam Warlock and the Infinity Gems were among the Marvel elements I got to work with in the Ultraverse. I was even able to plot a story that featured the Infinity Gems in it. (In the Ultraverse, we included a seventh gem, the Ego Gem, that merged the six into their own living being, because, well, why not? But that didn't end up back in the Marvel Universe.) Adam Warlock became a supporting character in the Rune series I was assistant editor on as well. I can't really wax nostalgic about Warlock, though, since I'm not that big a fan of his character overall. He's a bit too morose for my taste.

 

Avengers 164
To Fall By Treachery!

October, 1977

Written by Jim Shooter
Art by John Byrne and Pablo Marcos

Lettered by Denise Wohl

Colored by Phil Rachelson

 

Wonder Man discovers some facts about his new body, that he is made of cells of energy that mimic his former body of flesh and blood. Beast is upset he was not consulted and leaves the Mansion to clear his head. Count Nefaria recruits the former Power Man, who helps him free Whirlwind and the Living Laser from prison. The three villains rob a bank, and Captain America, Yellowjacket, Wasp, Black Panther, and Scarlet Witch arrive on the scene to stop them. Living Laser sets the street on fire, and the villains escape. We see Nefaria's homestead has fallen on hard times, but he has a lab and scientists working on a secret project. The three villains are given a treatment that increases their powers, and they go to Avengers Mansion to use them on the Avengers. Beast has since returned, but the souped-up villains are winning until their powers mysteriously begin to fade and they are quickly defeated. While the Avengers try to figure this out, a newly outfitted Count Nefaria topples them all with a shock wave and promises he will kill them all.

Captain America: "This whole team's been falling short of its rep, lately..."

Captain America: "...we attack as a group!"

Beast: "Or, we could invite them into the game room for an air hockey tournament! But--no, they'd cheat!"

• Some copies of this issue sold for 35₵. Apparently there was a test run of such issues for a few months in four cities to gauge consumer response to a price increase. The cities were Memphis, Tennessee; Toledo, Ohio; Tuscaloosa, Alabama; and Wilmington, North Carolina. Such variants would end up more valuable to collectors due to their scarcity. The test run ended in October, 1977.
• This is John Byrne's first run as penciller on the series, but he'll work on many issues of the series, also becoming writer of this and Avengers West Coast in the future.
• The villain group never uses the name Lethal Legion. It's only on the cover. The Living Laser is the only villain to be in both Ultron's and Count Nefaria's Lethal Legions.
• Beast is a bit upset that Tony Stark calls in a biochemist to examine Wonder Man. Stark knows that Beast is a trained biochemist.
• Count Nefaria has not been idle since his last Avengers appearance in issue 13. He has been the villain in several issues of X-Men (1963) and Iron Man (1968). All his failed schemes have exhausted his wealth. The bank robbery in this issue is how he gets funds to pay his scientists their back pay.
• Count Nefaria begins the issue having to drive his own car since his chauffeur had quit. Later he recruits Whirlwind for his abilities, but coincidentally Whirlwind had worked as a chauffeur before.
• Since his last appearance in Avengers, the former Power Man has had his code name appropriated by Luke Cage. They even fought over who got to use the name in Power Man 21. He still uses the Power Man code name here even though he lost to Cage.
• Living Laser is still in jail after his plot in Avengers Annual 6. Whirlwind was likewise last seen in a back-up story in Avengers Annual 6.
• This is the first appearance of lead scientist Kenneth Sturdy, but he claims he was an assistant on Baron Zemo's project that created Wonder Man and later Power Man. The other scientists are Stancheck, Hellen, and Withers.
• Whizzer sees the robbery on television and prepares to go to the scene, but Scarlet Witch gives him a lecture about his health and makes him stay at home.
• Scarlet Witch finally mentions that she had been testing a flying belt the last time she was seen flying. The footnote is incorrect and refers to Avengers 16, but it was issue 153. She also says it was not safe for her, which is why she did not continue to use it. I guess Wonder Man's rocket belt is also not safe for someone who is not as durable as he is.
• Although Iron Man appears at the beginning of the issue as Tony Stark, his own adventures in his series prevent him from being present during the fight at the end.
• Vision is also absent. We see next issue that he is still recovering from Ultron's attack.
• Captain America's shield running into Living Laser produces a "Kang!" sound effect.
• Wasp mentions that Yellowjacket's and her powers have been upgraded. Yellowjacket did this in Marvel Team-Up (1972) 59 as a surprise for her birthday. She now has increased strength and self-generated bio-blasts, and Yellowjacket's blasts are also internal rather than from a gun.
• An Alice appears as a biochemist helping to inspect Wonder Man. Some sources claim this is Alice Nugent, who later becomes Doctor Spectrum in 2006. She does share the first name and a resemblance, so it is a possibility. Alice Nugent owned a technology company, but as Henry Pym has demonstrated, Marvel scientists are often proficient in multiple fields.

Avengers 165
Hammer of Vengeance!

November, 1977

Written by Jim Shooter
Art by John Byrne and Pablo Marcos

Lettered by Denise Wohl

Colored by Phil Rachelson

Count Nefaria shows he has the combined powers of Power Man, Whirlwind, and Living Laser magnified to a higher degree and battles the entire Avengers team. Jarvis checks on Vision, who is still recovering in a pod in the Mansion. Nefaria tips an entire 40-story building onto the Avengers, crushing them all. He strides off and robs a bank with ease and kidnaps a young woman. He explain to her how his scientists temporarily increased the power of his lackeys while using the data gained to copy the abilities into Nefaria's body. Whizzer arrives to help the woman, but Nefaria's super speed surpasses even Whizzer's, making the hero no threat. Whizzer tells Nefaria his new power will bring him only temporary satisfaction, as Nefaria will eventually die and leave behind a bitter legacy. Iron Man arrives at the rubble and finds the team alive in an improvised foxhole that was kept clear from falling debris by Wonder Man's strength. Nefaria attacks the team at the Mansion, demanding they summon Thor. Chilled by Whizzer's prediction, Nefaria hopes that he can defeat Thor and gain the secret of immortality. Only Yellowjacket manages to escape the battle, and Nefaria is poised to slay the Avengers when Thor appears and attacks him.
 

Iron Man, thinking: "Better to have died with them than to be left to unearth their mangled bodies!"
 

Count Nefaria: "Would that your brother Quicksilver were here--to see how his speed pales beside mine! Ha! He would seethe with impotent rage now, as I strike you down..."
 

Wonder Man: "...you can bet your cutsie cape that if I had the guts and savvy that any other Avenger has, you'd be pulped by now!"

• The price per issue goes up to 35₵ nationwide. Marvel's stated reason is rising production costs. That would equate to $1.35 in 2013 dollars. They had held out longer than DC, who had increased their prices on June's 1977 issues.
• Shooter goes by "James Shooter" in his credit. He'll switch back and forth between Jim and James for a few months. Phil Rachelson also goes by "Phil Rache," which is a common pseudonym for him.
• Inker Pablo Marcos has inked 12 issues of the series in a row, breaking the record of 11 set by Tom Palmer thus far.
• Beast is enraged at Nefaria on sight. The X-Man Thunderbird was killed in the battle with Nefaria in X-Men (1963) 95. Nefaria barely remembers it.
• Wasp does not take part in these battles. She was knocked out at the end of issue 164 and doesn't recover until next issue.
• Nefaria attempts to crush Captain America's shield and cannot even bend it. The shield has yet to have its reputation for being indestructible. Iron Man just calls it "super-tough." Based on Nefaria's strength, this is the shield's most impressive feat yet in the pages of Avengers.
• This is the first brief appearance of Henry Peter Gyrich, the Avengers' future government liaison and perpetual thorn. Although starting as more of an annoying bureaucrat, he eventually turned to straight villainy and was largely responsible for the death of former Avenger D-Man in 2012 and was put in S.H.I.E.L.D. custody.
• We see that the New York Police do have a protocol for Avengers battles. They cordon off the streets several blocks away and hope for the best. It's also said the police have arrested the rest of the depowered Lethal Legion, which is why we don't see them in this issue.
• Wonder Man refers to the villains from last issue as the Lethal Legion even though they never identified themselves by that name.
• Nefaria only wears the gaudy outfit because it was the conduit for the lab experiment, but he gets used to it and enjoys its dramatic effect.
• Wonder Man's new costume is destroyed in this issue, so that's the last we see of it in this series.
• A blow from Iron Man's fist to Nefaria's face creates the "Kang!" sound effect. I miss that guy. No. No, I don't.
• The Incredible Hulk television show premiered this month, making Hulk the first Avenger to get his own live-action television show. It won't be until 1988 that we see the TV version of Thor teaming up with Hulk for a meeting of Avengers, though.

Avengers 166
Day of the Godslayer!

December, 1977

Written by Jim Shooter
Art by John Byrne and Pablo Marcos

Lettered by Denise Wohl

Colored by Phil Rachelson

Thor attacks Count Nefaria physically, and both men are surprised that Nefaria is barely affected by the blows. Thor summons a space warp with his hammer Mjolnir, but Nefaria topples a large building, plugging it with the debris, and knocks Thor over. Back at the Mansion, Yellowjacket and a recovered Beast gamble on a process to revive Vision and are successful. Vision gets to Nefaria just before he can attempt to pick up Thor's fallen hammer. Vision's disruption attack does not work on Nefaria, leaving Vision unsure what to do next. Nefaria is surprised to see a battered Professor Sturdy arrive at the battle, as he destroyed his own lab with the scientists inside to make sure they could not replicate the experiment. Sturdy claims that a side effect of the treatment is that Nefaria is aging at an increased rate due to power in his body. Based on this prognosis, Nefaria would die in matter of days, so he goes insane and attempts to destroy the city in his shock. At the Mansion, a recovered Wasp revives Scarlet Witch and Wonder Man, and they rush to the battle, with Iron Man following soon after. The team manages to stagger Nefaria, but he keeps on fighting. Vision flies up a mile into the sky and increases his density to its maximum, plummeting directly at Nefaria. The resulting impact shakes the entire island of Manhattan but manages to knock Nefaria out. Yellowjacket reveals that the dying Professor Sturdy had lied to Nefaria and that, in truth, Nefaria is now immortal.
 

Wasp: "Don't baby me, Jarvis! Only Hank gets away with treating me like a 'helpless woman'!"
 

Count Nefaria: "It's too late! Do you hear? Too late! I'm going to di-i-i-e!"

Vision: "He...has gone mad!"

• George Pérez does the cover for this issue, along with inker Ernie Chan.
• Denise Wohl has lettered 8 issues in a row, breaking the previous longest streak set by Sam Rosen.
• This issue's narration begins to address the fact that Thor should be in space and his appearance makes no sense. Even Thor himself is confused. This is explained later as the Collector plucking Thor from a different time period in order to aid the Avengers.
• Count Nefaria's theory is that Thor's hammer gives him immortality, so the whole attack is based on a shaky motive, as that's not the case at all.
• Vision found his disruption effect did not defeat Wonder Man and now Nefaria. We later find out they have similar cell structures and that Wonder Man is also nearly immortal.
• Captain America is too injured to fight, so he loans Wonder Man his shield for the battle. Wonder Man feels he doesn't deserve to use it, but does.
• In a sound-effect turnabout, Nefaria's fist to Iron Man's face makes the "Kang!" sound effect. Last issue, it was Iron Man punching Nefaria that made that sound.
• This is the first appearance of Django Maximoff, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver's adoptive father. He is not named here, just shown leaving Vladivostok to travel to New York City.

Super-Villain Team-Up 14
A World For the Winning!

October, 1977

Written by Bill Mantlo
Art by Bob Hall, Don Perlin, and Duffy Vohland

Lettered by Irving Watanabe

Colored by Don Warfield

Magneto arrives in Latveria to propose an alliance with Doctor Doom in order to control the world. Doom is not impressed, and he reveals he has already secretly gained control of the world through a mind-controlling gas that has been released worldwide. He proves it by making Magneto kneel against his will. Doom is bored, however, and he gives Magneto an antidote to return his free will and give Doom a challenge. Magneto goes to the Avengers for aid, but they attack him upon his arrival at Avengers Mansion. He holds them at bay, but he is soon at a disadvantage. The Avengers give him an opportunity to speak, and he reveals Doctor Doom's plot. They find it hard to believe, but a transmission of Doom confirms that he does control them. Doom gives Magneto the opportunity to free only one Avenger's mind in order to gain an ally. Magneto chooses Beast, and they are allowed to leave. Magneto uses the mind-controlling power he himself has to neutralize Doom's chemical agent. They fly to Los Angeles in a Quinjet to gain aid from the Champions.
 

Doctor Doom: "Rule a world? Magneto...you are a fool! I am Victor Von Doom, man--and this world is already...mine!!"
 

Magneto: "...though I came seeking aid--I came as an equal among equals, not to be humbled!!"

• This is the last issue of Super-Villain Team-Up. The letters page claims that it was beyond the capability of the production department to produce so many books, not that it was canceled due to unpopularity or low sales. The title would be revived, sort of, in 2007 as the mini-series Super-Villain Team-Up: MODOK's 11.
• Wonder Man has an intact costume in this issue, even though chronologies place it after the costume's destruction in Avengers 165. It was printed before that Avengers issue, however.
• When Magneto takes out Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America with one attack, Beast refers to them as being "our Big Three."
• Magneto's "mind control" through using blood flow to the brain was seen before in Avengers 111. We also see this issue that Wonder Man and Vision have metal compounds in their "blood" that Magneto can use to control their blood flow.
• Magneto and Beast go to the X-Men and Fantastic Four first, but they are not home. The X-Men are in space, and the Fantastic Four are probably in a New Salem dungeon, as seen in Fantastic Four (1961) 186. A footnote says to check Fantastic Four 155 and X-Men 107. Fantastic Four 155 was printed in 1975, however, so this seems off.
• Past and future Avengers Black Widow and Hercules appear in the last panel along with their teammates in the Champions. The story is continued in Champions 16, but the Avengers, except for Beast, do not appear in that issue.

Avengers Annual 7
The Final Threat

November, 1977

Written by Jim Starlin
Art by Jim Starlin and Joe Rubinstein

Lettered by Tom Orzechowski

Colored by Petra Goldberg
 

Captain Marvel and Moondragon come to Avengers Mansion to warn the Avengers about Thanos. He has been destroying stars, and the Earth's sun is next on his list. Adam Warlock also arrives, backing up their story and informing them all about a giant synthetic gem created from the essence of five other Soul Gems like Warlock's. Starcore One contacts the Mansion to tell them about the huge fleet Thanos has brought to the solar system, and the team uses Moondragon's ship to go into space. Thor and Iron Man engage the other ships while the rest of team breaks into the flagship, Sanctuary II. During the battle, Adam Warlock finds his friend Pip aboard, but Thanos has destroyed Pip's mind, so Warlock absorbs Pip's soul into his Soul Gem as a form of mercy. Pip's soul informs Warlock that Thanos actually has another identical ship on the far side of the Sun, so Warlock and Captain Marvel fly out into space to attack it. Thanos is on the other ship with the giant gem, and he fights the two heroes and defeats them, fatally wounding Warlock. Thor and Iron Man arrive next and stop Thanos from using the sixth and final Soul Gem he took from Warlock's brow. Iron Man destroys the large synthetic gem, which Thanos needs to destroy the sun, so Thanos teleports away, vowing revenge. Warlock slips into death, but we see that his soul has entered his Soul Gem and is reunited with Pip and Gamora and others whose souls have found peace inside the Soul Gem.
 

Beast, thinking, of Warlock: "Those eyes...they've seen it all, life, death...infinity...and they've understood! Maybe that's why he looked so tired and sad. He's witnessed goodness yet seen behind it...evil! I could feel it all about him!"
 

• Some Avengers appear briefly in Uncanny X-Men (1963) 108. Captain America, Beast, Yellowjacket, Wasp, and Black Panther receive a video message about an impending disaster that the X-Men handle. Wasp is wearing her red and blue outfit, which doesn't match current Avengers, and Black Panther is absent from the team after issue 166, but since the previous Super-Villain Team-Up story is supposed to be concurrent with X-Men 107,  that scene probably happens before this Avengers Annual.
• Jim Starlin is an infrequent Avengers artist, and this is his only writing credit for the series. He was better known for his work with Adam Warlock and Thanos, both of which feature prominently in these stories.
• This is Joe Rubenstein's first Avengers work, but he will later be a regular contributor to the monthly series.
• This issue won the "Favourite Single Story" Eagle Award, which were awards in Britain for comic book excellence. Together with Marvel Two-in-One Annual 2, it also won "Favourite Continued Story." Characters Thanos and Pip the Troll also won Eagles that year for "Favorite Villain" and "Favorite Supporting Character." Strangely, Moondragon says in this issue that the evil can only be stopped by "a gathering of eagles," which is exactly what the story won.
• Gamora dies at the beginning of the story, leading Adam Warlock to seek vengeance. She would be revived along with Pip and Warlock in the Infinity Gauntlet mini-series in 1991.
• Iron Man expresses a feeling that he needs to be at the Mansion, but he doesn't know why. Considering Moondragon is part of the action, she may be  affecting the minds of some of the Avengers.
• The Warlock (1972) series had ended over a year previously. Warlock fills in some of the details in the lives of those characters and what happened to them before this story.
• Thor calls Warlock "Him," as that's how he was called in his first few appearances, including those in Thor's series. He was given the name Adam Warlock by the High Evolutionary a few years later.
• This story mentions that Thanos gets his powers from bionics, mystical enhancements, and his own sheer will power.
• The Soul Gems will later each have their own names, but not at this time. At least they're different colors. Their locations before this story are with Adam Warlock, one with the Stranger, one from an unnamed prison satellite, one abandoned on the planet Deneb IV, one with a creature called Xiambor, and one from Earth's moon. Thanos acquires them all.
• Deneb is the same star system that the Silver Surfer originally came from, but his home planet is not Deneb IV.
• Warlock's last appearance was in Marvel Team-Up (1972) 55. That featured two other Soul Gem owners, the Stranger and the Gardener, on Earth's moon. In that story, the Gardener fears his Soul Gem as a weapon, and striving to be peaceful, he discards it. He changes his mind and later regains a Soul Gem, but this time, Adam Warlock's Soul Gem.
• The enemy fleet is first noticed by Starcore, a scientific satellite that studies the sun. They also alerted Earth to the Sentinels' return in Avengers 102. They claim Thanos' fleet is twice the size of the Skrull fleet from the Kree-Skrull War.
• Scarlet Witch's intuition makes her fear Warlock will one day be an enemy. In a way, this happens, but it's his "future self," the Magus, from an alternate reality.
• The alien fleet uses ionic ray weaponry that Iron Man claims is the same as that used by the Skrulls on their ships.
• Thanos' troops come from a wide variety of alien races all mixed together. Some of the aliens depicted are the snakelike Hujah and the humanoid pig Kodabaks and a large individual called Qu'lar the Massive.

Marvel Two-in-One Annual 2
Death Watch!

December, 1977

Written by Jim Starlin
Art by Jim Starlin and Joe Rubinstein

Lettered by Annette Kawecki

Colored by Petra Goldberg

 

A sleeping Peter Parker has a dream sent by Moondragon that shows him of the Avengers' battle with Thanos. After retreating back to Sanctuary II, Thanos had rallied his troops and defeated all the Avengers and their allies. On awaking, Spider-Man seeks out the Fantastic Four for aid, but only Thing is home. The Thing reluctantly accepts Spider-Man's story, and they go into space to investigate. Their craft is pulled aboard Sanctuary II by a tractor beam, and the two heroes begin to fight Thanos' crew. Put at a disadvantage when the artificial gravity is negated, they are stunned and brought before Thanos. When they awaken, they see the Avengers displayed as trophies. Thanos reveals that a new weapon is being readied that will focus the power of Warlock's Soul Gem and enable him to destroy the sun. The Thing attacks Thanos anew, but he is swiftly defeated. Spider-Man chooses to swing away and lose himself in the giant spaceship. He sneaks back and smashes his own body into the restraining device holding the Avengers, freeing them all. A new battle breaks out with Thanos and his crew. A groggy Spider-Man recovers and feels the instinct to smash open the globe holding the Soul Gem. Freed from the globe, the Gem emits a flaming avatar of Adam Warlock. Thanos is severely surprised by the return of his enemy and offers no defense against him. The touch of this apparition turns Thanos into a granite statue, and his crew swiftly surrenders. After the adventure, the assembled heroes stand over the graves of Warlock, Pip, and Gamora and say their farewells while the souls of the fallen friends continue to exist inside the paradise of the Soul Gem.

 

Thing: "How could anyone doubt the word of a man in blue and red leotards who climbs on walls?"

 

Spider-Man, thinking: "There's nothing in the Spider-Man manual about fighting star bursting demi-gods! I don't belong here..."

• This issue states that the aliens in Thanos fleet are criminals, but it's unknown if they were criminals when recruited or they're now criminals for, you know, destroying stars and killing billions of beings.
• In space, we see cosmic floating-head entities Master Order and Lord Chaos revealing that Spider-Man and the Thing were destined to fight this battle and release their true champion, Adam Warlock. It also seems they are opposing their sister entity Death's plans. This is their first appearance.
• The Thing's choice of reading material is 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King. It was only King's second published novel, and it was released in 1975. (His first was Carrie.)
• Thing estimates that the flagship Sanctuary II is a mile across in size.
• Thing is able to recognize Thanos' voice over the public address. The two characters were both in Captain Marvel (1968) 27.
• Adam Warlock's soul calls himself the "ultimate avenger." I think he's referring to vengeance in general, not being part of the Avengers team.
• Thanos' fleet is allowed to leave peacefully on their surrender. Captain Marvel points out there's too much difficulty in trying to imprison them all on Earth. Sanctuary II seems to be left out in orbit around the sun, and Thanos' statue is left where he was transformed.
• Captain Marvel speaks the eulogy for Adam Warlock and refers to his own passing in the future. He didn't know he would die in 1982, but he had already been exposed to the toxic gas which eventually causes the cancer that kills him.
• Warlock's Soul Gem is left on his grave. It will summon the Gardener to it, and he will soon come by to pluck it up. It is next seen in his possession in Incredible Hulk (1962) 247.