Avengers 173 to 177: Korvac Saga, part 2

Near mint collecting.
Avengers to the slaughter.
Eternity remains.

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 Panther; T'Challa
Black Widow; Natasha Romanoff
Captain Marvel; Mar-Vell

Charlie-27
Hawkeye; Clint Barton
Hercules; Heracles
Jocasta
Martinex
Moondragon; Heather Douglas
Ms. Marvel; Carol Danvers
Nikki; Nicholette Gold
Quicksilver; Pietro Maximoff
Starhawk; Stakar/Aleta Ogord
Two-Gun Kid; Matthew Hawk
Vance Astro; Vance Astrovik
Vance Astrovik (future Marvel Boy/Justice)
Wonder Man; Simon Williams
Yondu; Yondu Udonta    

 

     The middle of the Korvac Saga saw a shift in the creative personnel. Jim Shooter was now Editor-in-Chief, so he needed help to finish off the saga, and writers David Michelinie and Bill Mantlo came aboard. Roger Stern and his assistant Jim Salicrup took the editorial reins from Shooter on the book as well. These changes mid-story didn't stop the whole saga from winning the 1979 Eagle Award for Best Continued Story, the second time the series had captured that honor in a row.
     Although these issues are noteworthy for the sheer number of characters, almost every Avenger that had so far appeared, it may be better remembered for its novel denouement. The Avengers are nearly all killed, but the wannabe deity they are fighting loses heart, nonchalantly brings them all back to life, and appears to kill himself when his wife feels doubt for him. Korvac, now calling himself Michael, does not really consider the Avengers his enemies, though they call him "The Enemy" before his identity is discovered. Michael's struggle is being played out against universal forces, and we don't really get a clear look at what he's doing or a vision of what his universe would look like. He systematically removes or incapacitates anyone who can sense him so that he can work unhindered, but the Avengers are dogged in finding out who is behind recent events and end up painting Michael as a target to the cosmic forces he had hoped to avoid.
     The last few pages of issue 177 create the moral quandary that sets the saga apart. Moondragon looks inside Michael's spirit and declares that his goals were peaceful and would not have hurt anyone. Thor, the only Avenger left standing after the carnage, ponders if maybe the Avengers should have left Michael alone and had only made things worse by pursuing him. The characters are not given much time to figure this out, as Moondragon erases everyone's memory of these facts so they are not burdened with the thought they may have attacked the wrong person. This at least lets the reader think about how force can be abused by the authorities when all the facts aren't known, and this ambiguity of who is the hero probably helped the story secure its Eagle Award by standing out.
     In the big picture, there are a few reasons to support Moondragon's assertion. The Avengers are freaked out by all their comrades disappearing and being collected, so when the Collector is killed and an even more powerful adversary is revealed, they are so on edge that they act out of fear and concern. Unfortunately, except for the subtle change in Starhawk's perception so he can be left alone, Michael really didn't do anything directly to them to warrant being attacked. He admits he wants to rule the universe, but the Avengers don't really have jurisdiction over who is "in charge" of the universe. As in most comic book stories, the existence of God is not debated or mentioned, so instead the previous supreme cosmic being, Eternity, is presented as the ultimate cosmic power that Michael wants to overthrow. Since there are no elections for cosmic ruler, it's unclear how such power changeovers should naturally go and whether Michael is really doing anything against that process.
     Since the Avengers are our heroes of the series, there are reasons to side with them instead. In my mind, the greatest problem with Moondragon's point is that she's the one to make it. She has demonstrated time and again that she lacks compassion, and in issue 176, she demonstrates this by forcibly going into Quicksilver's mind to remove his prejudice. Her tactic here, taking something that is justifiably negative and just removing it with no regard to Quicksilver's right to be his own crude and imperfect self, shows her idea of how to deal with problems. Quicksilver himself says he feels better afterwards, but considering his mind has just been altered, is that a fair payoff that most people would favor? Michael likewise talks about his distaste for things that are chaotic and crude, which probably is why Moondragon is such a fan of the universe he would rule over. It will be orderly, and she sees that as a better universe. Her teammates may not agree with her at all. Many of them would side with the rights of an individual over that of someone imposing order, no matter how benevolent, and would probably still fight Michael because of this principle, even knowing what he planned. Despite his words, Michael had recently killed the Collector, making him a murderer on a cosmic scale and responsible for his crime, even if it wasn't directed at the Avengers themselves. History is also not kind to Michael. In his subsequent appearances, he acts selfish and dictatorial, showing his true nature is not very benevolent after all.
     As a character, Michael is also a good example of someone who makes continuity in a fantasy universe impossible. He can 1) travel through time 2) alter another character completely without them noticing it, as in the case of Starhawk 3) avoid most detection if he wishes, and 4) alter the perceptions of most of the universe. We see he is not omnipotent or omnipresent since the Collector is able to capture Avengers without Michael's knowledge, so he has limits, but even with them, he's a continuity nightmare. While the Avengers were searching for him in his tasteful suburban home, he could have traveled to a near-infinite number of locations, changed subtle things, and no one would ever have known. So if a character is acting "out of character" or some part of history doesn't seem to fit anymore, Michael or someone else like him could be the cause, and we'd never know...

 

 

Avengers 173
Threshold of Oblivion!

July, 1978

Written by Jim Shooter and David Michelinie
Art by Sal Buscema and D. Hands

Lettered by Annette Kawecki

Colored by Nel Yomtov

 

After old members and allies were informed of the disappearances, they begin to arrive at the Mansion. Hercules, Black Widow, Whizzer, Captain Marvel, and Black Panther are the first to arrive. Michael Korvac mentally observes not only events at Avengers Mansion, but also those of the Guardians of the Galaxy and several cosmic entities that he wishes to keep ignorant of his affairs. His end plan is to gain control of the entire universe. While he monitors others, his wife Carina surprisingly reaches out with her own cosmic power. Michael senses she is doing so and confronts her, but upon searching the depths of her soul, he finds no hint of betrayal, only love. Yellowjacket admits defeat on finding any clues to the disappearances, so Black Panther suggests they use the Guardians' equipment from the 31st century to aid their search. Before those two can follow through, they disappear suddenly, becoming the latest victims. This is soon followed by Scarlet Witch and Wonder Man's disappearances as well. Vance Astro is still orbiting in Drydock, and he does find an orbiting construct that may have teleported the missing heroes away. Vance Astro teleports Iron Man, Thor, Hawkeye, and Wasp into the construct, where they find the missing heroes and their kidnapper, the Collector.

 

Michael: "Eternity! He who is the universe personified...within whom all the stuff of this reality exists. He's so confident, so serene in his omnipotence! He would pay little heed to a mote such as I, even had I not shielded myself from his sight! But one day--one day soon--I will take what is rightfully mine!"

• This is David Michelinie's first issue as writer. He will continue to contribute to the series for the next three years or so.
• The use of "D. Hands" refers to "diverse hands." Inkers Pablo Marcos, Win Mortimer, Bob McLeod, Joe Rubenstein, Dan Green, Rick Bryant, and Klaus Janson each worked on two or three pages of the issue. They are given credit in the letter column of issue 179. Except for regular inker Marcos, Janson and Rubenstein had each worked on only one issue of Avengers before this, and the rest have this as their first issue.
• Speaking of firsts, this is also the first Avengers issue for letterer Annette Kawecki and colorist Nel Yomtov as well. Its also Kawecki's only Avengers issue, so it's her last as well.
• This is the first issue to credit the assistant editor, in this case Jim Salicrup. Usually only the editor is credited.
• The Champions series had ended in January, 1978, and the team had disbanded, leaving Hercules and Black Widow with some free time.
• Hercules is still being confused with Steve Reeves, this time by a little boy. In 1978, Reeves was 52 years old and hadn't appeared in a movie as Hercules since 1959, long before the little boy was born.
• The Watcher is a character who spends his time watching events on Earth. In this issue, we see that Michael is watching the Watcher without his knowledge.
• Whizzer has decided to retire from superheroics after his last showing against Count Nefaria. He shows up in his civilian clothes.
• Thor arrives at the mansion and not only doesn't have knowledge of all their recent battles, but he hasn't even met Wonder Man after his return from the dead. This means every Thor from issue 159 on was not the present Thor until now.
• Although their disappearances are not shown, Black Widow, Hercules, and Captain Marvel are among the Collector's collection by the end of the issue.
• The Collector is able to grab so many team members in a short period because he knows from Carina that Michael is busy elsewhere.
• The Collector's gigantic ship only appears as three meters across on Astro's scanners. He advises that the Avengers don't try to teleport there, but he helps them anyway.
• The Bullpen Bulletins announce that Mark Gruenwald has joined the staff as an assistant editor. He will later become the editor guiding the Avengers line of comics in 1982 and will be editor of the title at his death in 1996.  

Avengers 173
Captives of the Collector!

July, 1978

Written by Jim Shooter and Bill Mantlo
Art by Dave Wenzel and Pablo Marcos

Lettered by Shelly Leferman

Colored by Phil Rachelson

 

Thor, Iron Man, Hawkeye, and Wasp face down the Collector aboard his ship. The Collector grabs nearby artifacts to combat them. He summons energy creatures that he claims are conduits to another dimension. Thor's hammer gets stuck in one creature, and the Collector claims that removing it would cause an upheaval in the other dimension, killing billions of beings. This takes Thor out of the fight, and gas capsules immobilize Iron Man's armor. In reality, Thor is only absorbing negative energy through his hammer, and the death of innocents was a lie. The Collector jolts Thor with positive energy, and this reacts with the negative energy Thor absorbed and knocks him out. Wasp is shocked into unconscious by an electrified net, leaving only Hawkeye in the fight. Hawkeye evades several other threats and corners the Collector, who calls on the Power Cosmic. The Collector had not used this ability in some time, so it is slow to build, giving Hawkeye time to disable him with a shock arrow. The captured heroes are freed, and they question the Collector. He claims that he saw a future where the universe was in peril from Thanos, so he spent thousands of years collecting items and creatures of interest to preserve them. On the defeat of Thanos, the Collector sensed another powerful enemy was coming, so he sent his daughter Carina to get close to this new threat. Before the Collector can reveal Michael's identity, Michael disintegrates him with a bolt from Earth.

 

Vision: "But the Enemy learned that he was about to be revealed--and eliminated the Collector from afar!"

Iron Man: "And right before our eyes--as if to show us how insignificant we are! Fleas compared to a being--who can kill a god!"

• Bill Mantlo steps in to handle the scripting this issue. This is his first Avengers writing credit, but he had done coloring for the series previously.
• Beast appears on the cover in a tube, but he was not collected. He was busy with the X-Men in their series. Narration says that only 13 people have been taken, so since 13 have so far been accounted for without Beast, he can't be hiding in stasis around the ship somewhere.
• Hawkeye mentions that they thought the ship was three cubic yards. He changed that from Vance Astro's actual reading of three cubic meters. Hawkeye doesn't do metric, apparently.
• The Collector's items this issue include a Vandarian power wand, energy creatures from Erdile, a Biogram image, missiles from Dergos, and a positron cannon.
• Collector finally reveals that he has the Power Cosmic and also the existence of the Elders of the Universe. He refers to a "brother" who roams the universe and plays games, probably the Grandmaster. They are not true brothers, more like fraternity brothers.
• The Collector is truly dead until his resurrection in Marvel Super Hero Contest of Champions.

 

 

Avengers 175
The End...and Beginning!

September, 1978

Written by Jim Shooter and David Michelinie
Art by Dave Wenzel and Pablo Marcos

Lettered by Annette Kawecki

Colored by Nel Yomtov

 

The shocked Avengers stand over the Collector's ashes. They search his ship for answers, but the computer's memory that stored information on "the Enemy" has also been turned to dust. They do come upon Collector's time device, and Two-Gun Kid is ready to be sent back to his home time period. They manage to use the teleporter to get the rest of themselves back to Earth, but the coordinates are not accurate, leaving some heroes in precarious situations. While they return home, Michael is trying to see how Carina is coping with the murder of her father. She seems fully all right with it and supportive of Michael's plan to alter the universe into a peaceful place under his complete rule. Michael's ascension is explained as his having absorbed information and power from the computers aboard Galactus' star ship into his own body. Though he was once a villain obsessed with revenge, he found that his new state of being made him forget such small concerns and instead focus on the welfare of the universe. His last selfish act had been transforming himself from the half-computer body he had previously been trapped in. The Avengers meet in their mansion, but they have no idea how to proceed. Ms. Marvel arrives to help, and Quicksilver, after causing tension among the group with his comments about Jocasta and Vision, prepares to return home. Small teams investigate different avenues, and Iron Man is upset to find that Gyrich has removed most of their computers. Jarvis suggest they turn to Starhawk's cosmic senses, and Iron Man calls him in, not knowing that Michael has made Starhawk unable to sense Michael in any way.

 

Wonder Man, after totaling a bus: "I, uh, had to promise the driver that Tony Stark would pay for the bus."

Scarlet Witch: "That's okay, Simon. Mr. Stark makes a habit of bailing out Avengers."

 

Iron Man: "All right, cut it out! The days when Avengers punched each other out at the drop of a cowl are over! We're a team now--and we're going to act like one!"

 

Michael: "...I hold no enmity towards the Avengers. And it would be a pity indeed--to have to destroy them!"

 

• The memory banks of the Collector's time machine reveal how he transported Thor to help the Avengers from issues 162 to 170, then sent him back with his memory erased. The era that Thor came from is not pinpointed, but based on his behavior it is during his time with the Avengers.
• While narration retells Michael and Carina's story, the two have sex in the bedroom of their house. They turn into glowing cosmic images of themselves, but despite their evolved nature, they still are horizontal in an embrace. This is the first shown sex scene in Avengers.
• Narration tells that Carina's body was chosen to appeal to Korvac. It's not her original form. But then, her father, the Collector's, original form looks like this...

  

  His cape is actually Galactus' baby washcloth and the jewel of his collection. (not true)

  
  
  
  

Avengers 176

The Destiny Hunt!

October, 1978

Written by Jim Shooter and David Michelinie
Art by Dave Wenzel and Pablo Marcos

Lettered by Rick Parker

Colored by Bob Sharen

The Avengers and their allies separate to search for any lead on their mystery adversary. Moondragon grows tired of Quicksilver's words and uses her mental powers to remove bigotry and hatred from his mind. She then begins commanding the other heroes around and taking charge of the situation. She calls everyone back in for a meeting, and the information they've gathered is compiled in the computer. Although each member's data seems trivial and unconnected, the computer does produce an address for a home in Forest Hills Gardens. The team is unable to use a Quinjet with their government clearances revoked, so they are forced to commandeer a bus in order to get their nonflying members there. They ring Michael's doorbell, and though he is annoyed, he calmly lets the heroes in. They search the house and find nothing out of order. Starhawk, unable to sense Michael in any way, exclaims that the group has been talking to empty air during the whole visit. Realizing that Starhawk's senses have been tampered with, the Avengers conclude that Michael is their true enemy. He confirms their suspicions and tells them that they have ruined his plans by revealing his presence to the greater powers of the universe. Michael declares war on the Avengers and displays his cosmic power in preparation for a battle.

 

Herb: "Gee, guys, I, um, don't have anything against super-heroes, but...well, don't things have a habit of getting trashed when you're around? I mean, I've only got three more payments on my mortgage and--"

Woman: "R-Relax, Herb, they're probably just here to open a 7-Eleven or something!"

Hawkeye: "Terrific. 'Avengers attack suburban home! Defeated by stylish décor!' The tabloids are gonna love this."

• This is Rick Parker's first issue lettering the series. He is also a cartoonist and would be one of the artists to create the "Bull's Eye" cartoons for the Bullpen Bulletins in the late eighties and nineties. He also drew the Beavis and Butthead series for Marvel.
• This is colorist Bob Sharen's first issue. He had only been doing color guides for Marvel for about two months before doing this issue.
• The cover declares the price is still 35₵. DC Comics had raised the price of their comics to 50₵ in September, but they would drop it down to 40₵ in December. Marvel would eventually raise their prices to 40₵ as well in May of 1979.
• Hawkeye calls Quicksilver a "Simon Pure." This is a character from A Bold Stroke for a Wife, an English play from 1717. The character's name became a term for either someone of integrity or someone who pretends to have that that quality, but it is really a hypocrite. We can assume Hawkeye is using it the latter sense.
• When Wonder Man is frustrated with inactivity, Black Panther suggests he reads some Keats. He's referring to John Keats, a 19th-century romantic poet, perhaps best known for his "Ode on a Grecian Urn."
• When Jocasta reveals herself in a crowd, someone wonders if Alan Funt is around. Alan Funt was the creator and host of Candid Camera, which filmed people's reactions to staged events. The show appeared on television in one format or another from 1948 until 2004.
• When the Avengers arrive in Forest Hills Gardens, a bystander says they may be there to open a 7-Eleven. 7-Eleven sold Slurpee cups featuring a large variety of Marvel characters on them in 1975 and 1977.
• Wasp declares that Michael and Carina's home is decorated in good taste, so at least Michael's rule of the universe would have been visually stylish.
• There is a letter in the letter column from future Marvel archivist Peter Sanderson.
• The Bullpen Bulletins mentions new artist John Romita Jr. starting on Iron Man (1968). He will later be the regular Avengers artist at the start of the 2010 series. It also compliments Dave Wenzel on his work on Avengers and states the Korvac Saga is 10 issues long, which tracks back to it starting on issue 167. (skipping 169)

 

Avengers 177

The Hope...and the Slaughter!

November, 1978

Written by Jim Shooter
Art by Dave Wenzel, Pablo Marcos, and Ricardo Villamonte

Lettered by Denise Wohl

Colored by Nel Yomtov

 

The Avengers are poised to strike at Michael, but they are all frozen in place by his cosmic power. Moondragon sends out a mental summons to the nearby Guardians of the Galaxy, who race to Michael's house in a borrowed Quinjet. Michael laments the fact that these events have revealed him to the powers of the universe and ended his chance for a silent takeover. When the Guardians arrive, Michael does not freeze them, and he shows his overwhelming power by destroying the Drydock space station with Vance Astro in it, killing his first hero. Nikki rushes to attack, and she distracts Michael, ending the paralyzing effect in place on the other heroes. They all attack in turn, but no one is powerful enough to do serious harm to Michael. Iron Man suggest they use Carina as a hostage, but Michael responds by killing Yellowjacket. Several Avengers die in the assault, and the rest are knocked out or stunned except for Captain America, who engages Michael in hand-in-hand combat. Moondragon has remained out of the fight, and she stands by weeping now that she has sensed Michael's inner self. During this battle, several of the more powerful heroes have had time to recover, and they pile onto Michael. He reaches out his consciousness to Carina for mental support and finds that she has been shocked by all the carnage and has a seed of doubt about Michael's intentions. Sensing that their love is not as perfect as he had hoped, he wills himself to die. Carina is distraught and starts fighting the heroes with her own formidable cosmic power. After calming down somewhat, she resolves to join Michael in death and mentally forces the last remaining hero, Thor, to fatally wound her while she lowers her defenses. She dies next to Michael, reaching for his hand. Moondragon explains to Thor that Michael's plan was not truly evil and that Michael had also reached out with his power before dying to resurrect and heal all the heroes that had been slain. Thor wonders if perhaps the Avengers were standing in the way of goodness this time. Moondragon uses her mental power to remove everyone's memory of her disturbing revelations, letting them believe that they won a great victory over yet another villain, but she herself will remember.

 

Michael: "Know this, as humble as you are, I would rather enter into death myself than slay you--were it not for Carina and what I have found with her!"

 

Captain America: "Or maybe you don't even count me--because I'm just a man? Hear that, Mike? This is no god hitting you...no super-man! Just a man!"

 

Moondragon: "He was not evil, Thor! He sought not to rule us...nor even to interfere with our madness! He wished only to free us from the capricious whims of Eternity!"

 

Thor: "Can it be that Michael was just--and we were the villains? Verily, then, his innocent blood is on our hands!"

• Jim Shooter did not have a cowriter for this issue, probably because it was the crux of the story he wanted to tell.
• This is inker Ricardo Villamonte's first Avengers issue.
• For those more familiar with Avengers film characters, that is Dr. Don Blake on the cover, Thor's secret identity.
• Narration translates the name Michael as meaning "like unto God."
• Black Panther has an opportunity to attack Carina, but he doesn't. He still feels it's dishonorable to attack a woman. Yellowjacket has no such qualms and takes her hostage briefly.
• Captain America's shield striking Michael's head makes a "Kang!" sound effect.
• When Donald Blake has the entire team to give medical aid to, he goes to Iron Man first, even though his wearing armor will make him the most difficult to help right away.
• A future story reveals that Michael's suicide was not due to Carina's doubt. Now that Michael was revealed to the universe, Galactus became aware of him and was not happy Michael had stolen the energies from Galactus' computers. An Ultimate Nullifier beam was on its way to Michael, and Michael sent out a "gene packet" to his ancestors and then ended his own life, allowing him to plant the seed for a return in the future. The Ultimate Nullifier's effects would have been more permanent for him, so this was his way of avoiding that worse fate.
• Carina will also return. Her glowing body is mistaken for Wasp's when Henry Pym discovers it in Underspace and builds the Infinite Mansion there. Avengers Academy student Veil brings back Carina into normal space in 2011 thinking it is Wasp, who was missing at that time.

Avengers 167-168, 170-172: Korvac Saga, Part 1

The future arrives.
Do you know the Enemy?
Pop, go Avengers

Beast; Henry "Hank" McCoy

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 Panther; T'Challa

Charlie-27
Crystal; Crystalia Amaquelin
Hawkeye; Clint Barton
Jocasta
Martinex
Moondragon; Heather Douglas
Ms. Marvel; Carol Danvers
Nikki; Nicholette Gold
Quicksilver; Pietro Maximoff
Spider-Man; Peter Parker
Starhawk; Stakar/Aleta Ogord
Two-Gun Kid; Matthew Hawk
Vance Astro; Vance Astrovik
Vance Astrovik (future Marvel Boy/Justice)
Wonder Man; Simon Williams
Yondu; Yondu Udonta

    
     Since issue 169 was a fill-in story, it was featured in the entry for Avengers 158 to 163, where it likely took place chronologically.    
     A lot of characters are included in just a few issues, as the Collector plucks various people away without any warning, causing a lot of concern. But he takes his time, stringing the tension along and his identity remains a mystery until later. These events don't stop other Avengers' foes Ultron and Tyrak from rearing their heads and causing their own mayhem.
     We also get to see the Guardians of the Galaxy make their Avengers debut. Someone who has only seen the Guardians of the Galaxy film would not recognize this older team of characters. That team name was co-opted in 2008 by the current team of heroes who got the cinematic treatment, but it originated in 1969 in a story featuring heroes from Earth's solar system in the 31st century. After a few scattered stories, they end up in Avengers and become temporary members of the Avengers during their stay in the 20th century. Despite the Guardians being from the future, both Captain America and Thor have had previous adventures with them and are happy to help them. It should be noted that Marvel had yet to use the idea of multiple universes and alternate time lines extensively, so the story has the characters worried about changing history and affecting the future the Guardians come from as if it is the future of the current Marvel Universe.
     These issues are considered part of the Korvac Saga even though Michael Korvac does not appear in issues 169 through 173. His arrival and the battle against him bookend the ends of the "saga." The complete Korvac Saga, issues 170 through 177, was voted on by fans as the 47th best Marvel comic in the first 75 years of Marvel's publishing history.
      

Avengers 167
Tomorrow Dies Today!

January, 1978

Written by Jim Shooter and Roger Stern
Art by George Pérez and Pablo Marcos

Lettered by Joe Rosen

Colored by Phil Rachelson

SHIELD summons the Avengers when a gigantic spacecraft appears next to the SHIELD space platform and seems poised to collide with it. Once the Avengers are assembled, they fly into space and board the strange craft. They split up to search it, and Beast is the first to encounter Nikki and Charlie-27, who grabs Beast by the scruff of his neck. Not having familiarized himself with the Avengers' full archives yet, Beast starts a scuffle. The rest of the Guardians and Avengers converge on the fight and split up the combatants. The Guardians claim that their ship's natural meteor deflectors would have prevented any collision, and they state why they have come to this time period. They followed their enemy Korvac here, thinking he may plan to attack the young Vance Astro and cause the Guardians to never exist. On Earth, Wasp is holding a fashion show featuring her clothing designs. Nighthawk is in attendance as Kyle Richmond, and he notices an intense man staring at the model Carina Walters. Porcupine, a supervillain, is there at the hotel to rob it when he and his henchmen stumble upon the fashion show and demand the attendees' valuables. Yellowjacket, Wasp, and Nighthawk make short work of the robbers, but during the fight, the intense man and Carina discover they have a deep, unspoken bond, and they teleport out of the ballroom together.

Wonder Man: "Sometimes I--I feel as through I'm not man enough to be a super man!"

Thor: "They are called the Guardians of the Galaxy in their own far-future era! They are heroes of passing valor!"
Captain America: "You should have recognized them, Beast! I met them once before and recorded their descriptions in the Avengers' archives!"

• Roger Stern is the co-plotter for this issue, and it's his first Avengers credit. He had previously written adventures of the Guardians of the Galaxy in Marvel Presents 10 through 12. That series ended in 1977, and the Guardians made one appearance in Thor Annual (1966) 6, also written by Stern, before appearing here. Stern will later become editor of Avengers and also the regular writer for an extended stint.
•  Beast mentions that he uses a five-gallon container of shampoo.
• Captain America says he regularly wakes up at 0600 hours.
• The SHIELD satellite is the same one the Avengers left the galaxy from in Avengers 96. Since we saw it, a group of Sentinel robots took it over and occupied it up through X-Men (1963) 100. SHIELD recently reclaimed and rebuilt it.
• Tony Stark is already aboard the space platform, but since Iron Man is required, he has to take a shuttle back to Earth to suit up as Iron Man and come back to the platform with the Avengers. Captain America chews him out for taking so long to respond to the summons.
• Thor shares his concerns about how he keeps showing up to help the Avengers and how he feels he should be elsewhere. He surmises that this new threat may be why he didn't instantly return to space after Nefaria was defeated.
• Wonder Man is summoned to the Mansion by a "people beeper." Pagers hadn't reached widespread use, but they had been available for professionals since the 1950s.
• Wonder Man gives up on wearing a costume and starts wearing a red safari jacket with his red eyeglasses. Work it, Simon. Remember he's an engineer, not a stylist. 

• The Quinjet hanger has at least four Quinjets, with markings QJ-1, et cetera, and a little SI logo for Stark International.
• Iron Man forgoes flying at one point and uses his built-in roller skates. Two heroines who used roller skates as part of their ensemble, Dazzler and Kitty Pryde, wouldn't be introduced until 1980, but roller discos had been popular for a few years already.
• These Guardians of the Galaxy are from the 31st century. With the rise of using alternate dimensions to account for time travel, their universe is later called Earth-691, from their first published adventure being in January (1) of '69. The members here will all become honorary Avengers.
• Beast, ever enjoying actor references, thinks Charlie-27 resembles a space Hoss Cartwright.

Must be the belt buckle

• Vance Astro is an alternate version of the Vance Astrovik from the main Marvel Earth-616 who will become Justice, a future Avenger. The Guardians' version was born in the twentieth century, but went into hypersleep for hundreds of years. He idolizes the Avengers from his youth. This is not the only time two alternate versions of the same person will both be members of the Avengers. There is later a teenage version of Tony Stark from an alternate dimension that is part of the team as Iron Man for several months.
• Vance Astro stays in space because he fears that having two versions of himself interact on Earth might mess up the time stream.
• It is later discovered that Stakar, the male half of Starhawk, is the son of future Avenger Quasar, although it is the Quasar from Earth-691. Stakar's mother is Her, the female counterpart to Adam Warlock, who just appeared and died in the previous Avengers story.
• Speaking of Quasar, this month features Wendell Vaughn's first appearance in Captain America (1968) 217, where he goes by his first alias, Marvel Boy. Vance Astrovik will also use the Marvel Boy alias before he goes by the code name of Justice.
• People in the future still speak English as their main language, even though they are from different planets.
• One of the models at the Wasp's fashion show is named Denise Vladimir. Avengers letterer Denise Wohl had previously been credited as Denise Vladimer. She didn't letter this issue, however.
• Korvac was an enslaved Human computer technician in the 31st century. His masters punished him by grafting a powerful computer onto him, replacing the bottom half of his body. That computer was able to analyze and siphon cosmic power from the Grandmaster and allow Korvac increased power and the ability to travel through time.
• This is the only Avengers appearance for petty super-criminal Alex Gentry, the Porcupine.  He started his career as an Ant-Man villain and coincidentally runs into Hank Pym again in this issue. Porcupine will later retire from crime after being a continual failure. In Captain America 315, he is down on his luck and tries to sell his most recent version of the Porcupine suit to the Avengers for $10,000. He gets pulled into a fight with the Serpent Society and ends up falling on one of his own quills and dying. Captain America buries him in a plot reserved for Avengers comrades, and his Porcupine armor is put on display on the second floor of the Mansion with a plaque reading "Honored Foe of the Avengers."

Avengers 168
First Blood
February, 1978

Written by Jim Shooter
Art by George Pérez and Pablo Marcos

Lettered by Denise Wohl

Colored by Phil Rachelson

The Avengers return to the Mansion with the Guardians of the Galaxy along for the ride. They are able to land inside the hanger, but an alarm alerts them there is an intruder. They find Henry Peter Gyrich in the meeting room and demand answers. He berates them for their poor security and says he could have easily gotten away with not only equipment, but United States secrets stored on the Avengers' computers. He points out that he can revoke their security clearance as well as their other privileges and storms off. Captain America chews out Iron Man for his recent leadership of the team and strikes him. Scarlet Witch intervenes and counters by saying that Captain America has proven himself less than useful in the last few battles. Brooding, Captain America stalks away. When Iron Man turns to the Guardians to plan how to help them, he sees that Starhawk has disappeared. We see Starhawk in his feminine form of Aleta going to a home in Forest Hills Gardens to confront Korvac. The two enemies seem calm, but Korvac, now calling himself Michael, warns Aleta that Starhawk is the only being in the universe that can sense him and that cannot be allowed. They enter into a psychic struggle, and although Starhawk is powerful, Michael incinerates Starhawk with his cosmic power. To remove any trace of his activity, Michael resurrects Starhawk as he was down to the molecule, but he removes Starhawk's ability to ever perceive Michael in any way. Starhawk returns to his comrades and does not have any memory of this encounter with Michael.

Scarlet Witch: "The days when Avengers engage in senseless brawls among themselves are past--as long as the Scarlet Witch can help it...and I most certainly can!"

• Inker Pablo Marcos ends his consecutive streak of issues at 15 in a row. This is the longest streak by an inker so far.
• That's Henry Peter Gyrich in the chair on the cover. Based on the star logo, that's Captain America's chair he's sitting in, and Captain America is absent from the cover. Inside the issue, we see the Vision's chair has a diamond logo like that on his chest and Yellowjacket's chair has his insect symbol on it. Wonder Man sits in a chair that is only partially seen, but it looks like there may be a "W" on it. There is yet another chair with a simple "X" on the back. Perhaps this is Beast's because of his former ties to the X-Men.
• Although the film version won't come out until 1982, the novel First Blood, the first tale of John Rambo, had been published in 1972. The title for this story refers to Starhawk's temporary death as the first casualty against Korvac.
• The team is worried Charlie-27's super dense body is too much for elevator cables to hold. He only weighs 555 pounds. Thor actually weighs more, at 640 pounds.
• Gyrich works for the National Security Council, which is a real organization. It is chaired by the President of the United States and advises him on national security issues. In 1978, President Jimmy Carter had cut back greatly on the NSC's staff and authority after perceived abuses under former Secretary-of-State, Henry Kissinger.
• Poor Jarvis is tied up by Gyrich when he breaches the Mansion. Jarvis says he was taken by surprise, but he suggests he should take a jiu-jitsu course to be better prepared for intruders. In Avengers 201, Jarvis uses boxing to defeat a far more formidable looking man and remarks he was a former boxing champion and has been tutored a bit by Captain America.
• The rather large hole in the wall of the Mansion that Gyrich used to enter has been there since issue 165.
• Captain America punches Iron Man's face and produces a "Kang!" sound effect.
• We see the first Avenger ally to just disappear out of the blue, and it's the Two-Gun Kid right in front of Hawkeye. He disappears to become part of the Collector's collection.
• Starhawk has two people living in his/her body, step-siblings Stakar and Aleta Ogord. They were merged together in an incident with an energy-conversion device. They have lived this way for hundreds of years and got "married" to each other during that time. Although Aleta appears human, she is an Arcturan from the planet Arcturus.
• When Korvac introduces himself, he says he has taken the name Michael, implying that wasn't his name before. Speaking of odd marriages, he also introduces Carina as his wife, even though they met only hours before.
• Several heroes with extra-sensory powers feel a psychic echo of the battle between Korvac and Starhawk. They include Spider-Man (spider-sense); Doctor Strange, Captain Marvel, and the Silver Surfer. Captain Marvel has cosmic awareness and should know more details, but he feels they are being kept secret by an outside force.
• Spider-Man is also from Forest Hills, Queens, where Michael makes his home. Peter Parker is shopping nearby with Mary Jane Watson when the backlash from the psychic combat causes wind and property damage.
• The Next Issue blurb has the story title for issue 170, so the use of a fill-in story for 169 was not yet planned when this issue went to press.

Ms. Marvel 18
The St. Valentine's Day/Avengers Massacre!
June, 1978

Written by Chris Claremont
Art by Jim Mooney and Ricardo Villamonte
Lettered by Denise Wohl

Colored by Phil Rachelson

Ms. Marvel is flying home when she is attacked by a man in powered armor called the Centurion. Wasp and Scarlet Witch are nearby and rush to her aid. Ms. Marvel changes to her Carol Danvers identity and mixes into the crowd to recover her wits. Wonder Man, Vision, and Yellowjacket arrive to help their teammates. When Ms. Marvel changes back into her costume, the Centurion senses her immediately and is able to follow her movements, leading her to believe that the armor can track her Kree battle uniform. Her theory is confirmed when she changes back to Danvers and is again clear of her opponent's sensors. She improvises a new outfit and gets back in the fight. The Avengers are wary of the Centurion's Meson disruptor beam, which they believe would be fatal to any of them but Wonder man, so they hang back out of range to wait for Thor or Iron Man. Ms. Marvel lures Centurion to a power plant and jury-rigs a magnetic field that disables the armor, ending the threat.

Wasp: "It's Ms. Marvel! She's changed her costume!"

Yellowjacket: "My apologies, Jan. I thought you were one-of-a-kind in the costume-a-day department."

• Wasp is sporting an older costume on the cover, but she wears her orange outfit inside.
• This issue features the first time readers see the character of Mystique in her "normal" blue-skinned form. She is called by the name Raven Darkholme, not Mystique yet. Though she is one of Ms. Marvel's premier foes, she gains more fame as an X-Men villain.
• Though the rest of the Avengers have met Carol Danvers before, Wonder Man has not, so he does not know who she is.
• Wasp recognizes the newly black-suited heroine as Ms. Marvel because she still has the same hairstyle. Carol Danvers' hairstyle does actually change when she takes on the Ms. Marvel identity. She is able to instantly will herself into her Kree battle uniform, and the change also changes her hairstyle.
• Ms. Marvel throws Wonder Man into Centurion in a variation of the X-Men's "fastball special," where Colossus throws Wolverine at a target. Wonder Man wasn't actually ready or willing for it, so it's wholly ungraceful and not that effective. Also Wonder Man presumably falls many stories down to the street and is not seen again until the end of the issue.
• The story is set in winter, with snow on the ground and tops of buildings. The Avengers issues in this time frame don't have snow in the background.

Avengers 170
"...Though Hell Should Bar the Way!"
April, 1978

Written by Jim Shooter and George Pérez
Art by George Pérez and Pablo Marcos

Lettered by Denise Wohl

Colored by Jim Shooter

Iron Man apologizes to Captain America for his lapses in leadership and is ready to tell him his secret identity as Tony Stark, but Cap stops him and accepts his apology, promising to toe the line under Iron Man's command. The deactivated bride of Ultron is delivered to Avengers Mansion and comes to life suddenly in the lab. The movers run to the Avengers to inform them of the activation. The team rushes to the lab, but a falling security door splits the team into two groups. The forward group of Wasp, Yellowjacket, and Vision are unable to stop her from leaving the Mansion. Wonder Man, Beast, and Scarlet Witch catch up to her outside and are poised to destroy her, but Iron Man arrives and intervenes. Thor flies toward the mansion and sees the battle, so he hurls his hammer at her, not even recognizing her from the previous adventure. Captain America is nearby and throws his shield to deflect Mjolnir. Iron Man explains to the team that they should purposely let her escape so Iron Man can track her emissions to the location of Ultron.

Charlie-27: "It's a wonder anyone reaches maturity in this idiotic, backward era!"

Wonder Man: "This door and I have a personal thing going now! It's a grudge match--and I mean to settle it!"

• Although it had been stated George Pérez was co-plotting the series before this, this is his first credit as co-plotter
• This is the last issue of Avengers Jim Shooter will do color guides for.
• Beast quotes "eminent philosopher Johnny Olson." He's referring to the announcer on The Price is Right.
• Captain America verifies in this issue that he has lost the last of the super strength he gained back in March of 1973 in Captain America 159. It just wore off over time.
• Hawkeye informs the team via telephone about Two-Gun Kid's disappearance and says he's coming to New York. We also see that Quicksilver vanishes into thin air in front of his wife Crystal.
• One of the movers mistakenly calls Yellowjacket "Bumblebee." DC Comics had a Bumblebee character that was introduced in 1977 as a member of the Teen Titans. She was DC's first African-American heroine.
• We see that the Guardians of the Galaxy are staying in a rented house in Saugerties, New York, and keeping an eye on the young version of Vance Astro. Charlie-27 saves the boy from being hit by a semi.
• This is the first Avengers appearance of future Avenger Justice. He has yet to develop his telekinetic powers since he is just a boy here. It's not his first overall appearance. He had previously been in two Defenders stories. Doctor Strange erased his memories of those adventures, however.
• Ultron will claim next issue that he is the one who activated Jocasta.
• Jocasta is surprised to see Wasp alive. She assumed that if she has been activated, Wasp should have been killed in the process.
• Vision uses his disruption attack on Jocasta, but Ultron equipped her with antimatter pods inside of her structure. Apparently, they fill Vision with an energy he must process carefully, or those around him could be harmed by it. It takes him about two minutes to do so.
• Jocasta's voice sounds just like Wasp's voice through a robotic filter.
• Beast sings a bit of "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" when attacking Jocasta in the garden outside Avengers Mansion. He just substitutes the word "kick" for "kiss." Although the song was number one on the music charts in 1929, it had more recently charted with Tiny Tim's version in 1968.
• Beast mentions that he had been looking for Thor earlier, but Thor had vanished. When Thor again arrives at the end of the issue, he says his "long-delayed return" is well timed, and he knows nothing of the last several Avengers adventures. This is yet another Thor sent by the Collector.
• Future Marvel staffer Peter Sanderson has a letter printed in the letter column.
• Future Avengers Luke Cage and Iron Fist start their buddy series, Power Man and Iron Fist (1978) this month. They start with issue 50 since they are taking over the numbering of Power Man's solo series.

Avengers 171
"...Where Angels Fear to Tread"
May, 1978

Written by Jim Shooter
Art by George Pérez and Pablo Marcos

Lettered by Denise Wohl

Colored by Phil Rachelson

The Avengers track Jocasta through the city's crowds and even holes in buildings. Ms. Marvel is nearby shopping in her civilian identity, and she gets a seventh sense premonition that the Avengers are heading into danger, so she changes into her Ms. Marvel identity and joins the Avengers. They track Jocasta to a convent, and a nun, Sister Eucalypta begins to show them around. After a bright light flashes, Scarlet Witch and Eucalypta have disappeared. The rest of the heroes hear Ultron's voice, and a fight breaks out between all of them and Ultron. He is able to hold them all at bay due to his indestructible adamantium outer shell. Meanwhile Scarlet Witch awakes in a room with dozens of mirrors on the walls and floor. Disoriented, she falls through a trapdoor and then ends up back in this chamber, kept purposely out of the fight with Ultron. Ms. Marvel breaks away from the combat to search the convent and is attacked by Sister Eucalypta, who turns out to be a robot. Ultron lures all those fighting him into a small force sphere and imprisons them so he can reunite with his bride, whom he names Jocasta. Jocasta feels her programming compel her to obey Ultron, but she also feels he is evil and attacks him, to his surprise. As he recovers, the Scarlet Witch and Ms. Marvel appear, and Scarlet Witch hexes Ultron, causing his molecular rearranger to malfunction and his outer shell to crack. Thor uses his hammer to absorb Ultron's energy through the cracks and sends the energy into space. Now empty, Ultron's shell collapses. As the heroes regroup, Jocasta suddenly disappears and so does Captain America.

Ultron: "My desires are the same as ever! I want your death...I want your wife...and then...I want the world!"

Jocasta: "I love you...and yet, I know what you are! I must end your evil despite my desires!"

Ultron: "This cannot be! I did not program this foolishness into you!"

• Jim Shooter becomes the writer/editor with this issue. He had also replaced Archie Goodwin as Editor-in-Chief of Marvel Comics by this time.
• With this issue, Pablo Marcos has inked 17 issues of the series. This is the most thus far by any of the 30 inkers that have worked on the series, and it only took him 18 months to do it.
• Ms. Marvel mentions she owes the Avengers a favor. They had just saved her life in Ms. Marvel 18.
• Captain America calls Jocasta "Tin Lizzie." This is a nickname for the original Ford Model T automobile.
• Beast speaks some Latin to Sister Eucalypta. It translates, roughly, to "Sister, we believe a runaway (something) is in the area. (something) the safety of this house. Can we come in?" There are a couple of words that I couldn't translate.
• Ultron uses his encephalo-beam on Yellowjacket, but it now has no effect. Yellowjacket immunized the team against this weapon with a biochemical formula.
• Cap's shield striking Ultron produces a "Kang" sound effect. Actually four Avengers are all attacking Ultron in that panel, so that's my best guess as to what caused it.
• Ultron gives Jocasta her name in this issue. In Greek legend, Jocasta was the mother of Oedipus and later his wife as well. Ultron is often described as having an Oedipus complex because he has tried to kill his creator, Henry Pym, and created a wife in Wasp's image. In psychology, a Jocasta complex involves a mother having an intense relationship with her son, even if it's not sexual.
• While his energy is being absorbed, Ultron calls out for his mother. Presumably he's calling to Wasp.

Avengers 172
"Holocaust in New York Harbor!"
June, 1978
Written by Jim Shooter
Art by Sal Buscema and Klaus Janson
Lettered by Denise Wohl
Colored by Phil Rachelson

Hawkeye returns to the Mansion, but everyone else is out. The Avengers are processing the recent disappearances and return home to find that Hawkeye is back and that he trussed up Henry Gyrich, thinking he was an intruder. They free him, but he revokes all the Avengers' clearances and special privileges and leaves angrily. Crystal contacts them to tell them of Quicksilver's disappearance, and the team tries to contact everyone who has been an Avenger to check on their whereabouts. Jarvis informs the team that Tyrak has resurfaced and is attacking the harbor, so a team of Vision, Ms. Marvel, Hawkeye, Wonder Man, and Scarlet Witch head to the emergency while the rest remain behind. Tyrak has attacked to draw out the Avengers and defeat them in an effort to reclaim his honor and return to Atlantis as a conqueror. He is as formidable as ever, and he defeats all the team but the Scarlet Witch, who dizzies him with a hex. As he advances on her, Vision revives enough to use his thermal beams to dehydrate Tyrak. The Atlantean collapses, but the Avengers are unable to summon the authorities to take him into custody after Gyrich had revoked their privileges. Faced with a dying Tyrak, Wonder Man throws him back into the ocean to save his life, and Tyrak does not resume the fight. As the team leaves the harbor, Vision disappears suddenly. We see he has been put inside a stasis tube in a secret lair along with the other missing Avengers and their allies.

Scarlet Witch: "Clint, it's so good to see you again! I can't tell you how much I missed your aggravation!"

Wonder Man, regarding Ms. Marvel: "I've never seen anybody so...aggressive! And she doesn't just strike a pose and point like Wanda or the Wasp! She hauls off and belts people--like a man would!"

•  This is Klaus Janson's first issue as inker on Avengers. He'll do a few issues here in the seventies and then return as regular inker in 2010 over 30 years later. He may be best known for his collaborations with Frank Miller on Daredevil and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns.
• Iron Man tells everyone to never be alone during this crisis, but he then goes to the lab by himself to research the problem. Beast calls him out on this, and Iron Man says he'll stay in contact with Tony Stark as his second person.
• When Black Panther is called, he mentions his own missing persons case. He is referring to Marvel Two-in-One 40 and 41, where he fights a vampire zuvembie (yeah, that's one creature) and the former Dr. Spectrum with the aid of the Thing and Brother Voodoo while searching for prominent citizens in his community who have been kidnapped.
• Beast stays at the Mansion, but by the end of the issue, he is gone. He answered a call from Polaris in Marvel Team-Up (1972) 69 and left in a Quinjet. He then appears in X-Men 111 searching for the X-Men after he finds that they are missing from Xavier's school. He appears in that series through issue 114 before returning to Avengers.
• After Beast leaves, Thor gets embroiled fighting the Living Monolith in Marvel Team-Up 70. Yellowjacket suggest the Avengers go help Thor, but Iron Man says Thor should handle it himself while they focus on the disappearances.
• In the Collector's tubes, we see Moondragon has also been collected. Her disappearance was not otherwise depicted.
• What If? (1977) 9 is published this month. The story is "What If the Avengers Had Fought Evil During the 1950's?" It does not feature the established Avengers, but instead a new group consisting of  3-D Man, Gorilla-Man, The Human Robot, Marvel Boy, and Venus. Although this story is not part of the official Marvel Universe, the same heroes would be seen as a team in Avengers Forever and then later as the Agents of Atlas group in 2006.
• This is the month of the DC Implosion at DC Comics. DC Comics had been struggling financially, laid off part of their staff, and canceled about 40% of their series. If DC had landed the Star Wars license, this might have been Marvel's fate instead.