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.