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.

Avengers 158 to 163 (including 169)

Avengers 158 to 163 (including 169)

 

Who's the real Simon?
Hey, isn't Thor out in space?
Ultron wants a bride?

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/Ant-Man; Henry "Hank" Pym

Featured allies

Black Knight (body only)
Black Widow; Natasha Romanoff
Captain Marvel; Mar-Vell
Daredevil; Matt Murdock
Hawkeye; Clint Barton
Hercules; Heracles
Jocasta
Two-Gun Kid; Matt Hawk

Wonder Man; Simon Williams

     The Avengers welcome aboard a new regular scribe in Jim Shooter after Gerry Conway left the book. Shooter's run is especially well remembered for the lengthy Korvac saga, but before he got to that, he penned some shorter arcs, introducing archvillain Graviton and Avengers ally Jocasta to the pantheon of characters.

     Shooter had already had a career in comic books since he was 14 years old, though he was now a mature 25 years old He had sent in some Legion of Super-Heroes tales to DC Comics, and they liked them enough to commission him for more comic scripts starting in 1966, while he was still in high school. He created stories for DC for several years, but eventually ended up in the Marvel office as a writer and assistant editor. He had started contributing to Avengers with issue 151 in conjunction with others and now become sole credited writer. Since he was not a writer/editor, Editor-in-Chief Archie Goodwin became editor of Avengers.
     In a strange coincidence, this entry is being posted on Jim Shooter's birthday, September 27.

 

Avengers 158
When Avengers Clash!!

April, 1977

Written by Jim Shooter
Art by Sal Buscema and Pablo Marcos

Lettered by Joe Rosen

Colored by Don Warfield
 

Seeing Scarlet Witch lean on Wonder Man after the battle with the Black Knight statue enrages Vision, so he attacks Wonder Man. The rest of the team revive, and Iron Man advises they let the two fight it out. Once both are staggered, Iron Man threatens Vision with suspension, and the battle ends. At a research center in the Canadian Rockies, we find the staff is being terrorized by scientist Franklin Hall. He displays amazing power over gravity and lifts the entire installation and its surrounding landscape into the sky. Hall is smitten with a coworker, Judy, even though she is married, while another woman, Raquel, plans to ingratiate herself into Hall's good graces. We see how Hall was working with a teleportation beam when an accident scrambled his molecules, giving him mastery over gravity. He chooses the name Graviton and dons a costume in his new identity. The Avengers and Wonder Man arrive, having been alerted by Judy's husband, Joe. Despite the eight-to-one odds, Graviton is able to overwhelm the entire Avengers team, leaving them all unconscious. During the fight, Raquel attacks Judy and stashes her in a closet so she may join Graviton in his victory.
 

Iron Man: "Wonder Man, you're a guest here in Avengers Mansion. I'll thank you not to wreck it--"
 

Jarvis: "Uh, sir, should I clean up the stone gentleman, or...call the morgue?"

Captain America: "Uh, neither, Jarvis! We'll take care of...it, I suppose!"
 

• Archie Goodwin resumes his editorial duties with this issue.
• The cover says "only the victor remains." They're both just fine at the end of the fight. Vision's sometimes secret identity is named Victor, though.
• The title is a bit of a misdirect. Wonder Man isn't an Avenger yet.
• Vision, embracing a new machinelike attitude, says he will soon relinquish his wife. He changes his mind about that.
• Vision uses a disruption attack on Wonder Man, but it does not defeat him, to Vision's surprise. Vision says no human can resist this attack, but Wonder Man's body has changed to a flesh-like substance that is powered by ionic energy--in other words, not a true human.
• Iron Man digs himself out from under a computer towards the start of this issue, but he was just lying on the ground at the end of the last one.
• Captain America says that they will take care of the ruined statue. Doctor Strange eventually comes to reassemble the statue in Doctor Strange (1974) 35, but this isn't until 1979. Doctor Strange investigates the whereabouts of Dane Whitman's soul until Doctor Strange 37, during which time the statue is possessed by yet another entity. It ends up inert and in pieces at Dane Whitman's estate in England at the end of those stories.
• This is the first appearance of Graviton, who will become a recurring high-level threat. In 2013, he is currently serving as Minister of Science on the High Council of AIM, Advanced Idea Mechanics.
• Franklin Hall, Graviton, is a Canadian citizen. There is also a Canadian Frank Hall who was on the 1972 Canadian Olympic sailing team.
• Wonder Man's power has mysteriously increased back to its normal peak. He thinks it happened after being defeated by the Black Knight statue. I think it happened after Shooter became regular writer.

Avengers 159
Siege by Stealth and Storm!

May, 1977

Written by Jim Shooter
Art by Sal Buscema and Pablo Marcos

Lettered by Denise Wohl

Colored by Doc Martin
 

Graviton gloats after his victory over the Avengers. He is upset to find out that Raquel has hurt Judy and annoyed by the other scientists fighting against him, so he removes everyone but Judy from the complex by tossing them all over the edge and lowering them to Earth gently. He transports the installation eastward all the way to New York City with his hostages. A gravitic force field around the island keeps out the Air Force. Jarvis is perturbed by events, but Black Panther and Thor soon arrive at the Mansion to attempt a rescue mission. Thor's hammer is able to shatter the barrier, and he engages Graviton while Black Panther approaches the trapped Avengers with a field disruptor in order to free them. Iron Man manages to free himself before the Black Panther intervenes, and he goes to aid Thor, who is sorely pressed by Graviton. The rest of the Avengers quickly follow, but Graviton is able to encase them all in a force field. When Graviton attempts to boast to Judy, he finds she is no longer there. He follows a trail to the edge of the floating island and despairs that she has thrown herself over the edge. Blaming the Avengers, he summons all his power for one attack and loses control. The entire island collapses onto Graviton's body and falls toward the city below. Wonder Man, Thor, Vision, and Iron Man use their super strength to catch the small, but dense sphere and hurl it out to sea. The heroes mourn the loss of Judy, but on returning home, they find that Jarvis had been on his way to Graviton's island on an Avengers sky-sled, and he caught her as she fell.
 

Iron Man: "Thor's on the ropes! That's...hard to believe!"
 

• Graviton claims he's "Lord of the Fundamental Force" on the cover. There are actually four "fundamental forces" in physics, which are gravity, electromagnetism, and the weak and strong nuclear forces. If you think he should team up with three other villains that represent those other forces, he will in West Coast Avengers (1985) 12.
• "Doc Martin" seems to be a pseudonym sometimes used when various people team up to get the work done. "D.R. Martin" is another.
• In a scene back at the Mansion, we see there is a bookshelf with action-figure-sized statuettes of the team members and Wonder Man for some reason.
• Jarvis assumes Black Panther is busy with his own problems. Black Panther had just started starring his own comic series two months previously.
• The Avengers "sky-sled" it not actually seen, just mentioned, but this seems to be its first use.
• Jarvis says the "They also serve who only stand and wait" John Milton quote again this issue. He refutes the quote a bit by later following after the Avengers and saving Judy's life on the way there.
• Graviton goes to New York City because the United Nations is there to be intimidated into surrender.
• Daredevil briefly appears in New York, but he admits he would be of little help and can't reach the floating island.
• As a scientist, Graviton only gives Thor the benefit of "supposed godhood," but then he declares he himself may now be a god if Thor is to be an example.
• Graviton appears, in a fashion, in the third episode of Marvel's Agents of SHIELD in his civilian guise of Franklin Hall. He was played by actor Ian Hall, who had previously played the far more villainous role of Adolf Hitler.



And, yes, they said he's Canadian, because they wouldn't want to change anything.
 

• Thor has been out in space in his own series for several months on an extended saga, so he should not be appearing here at all. We find out much later that from Thor's appearance here until the Collector's supposed death, the Collector has been "collecting" Thor from different points in time and sending him into battle to help the Avengers. This situation becomes clearer over time, but no mention is made of it here.
• Judy and Jarvis become friends after the rescue. He becomes "like a second father" to her. He later takes her to the DMV to get a driver's license in Marvel Two-In-One Annual 4, which is also Graviton's next appearance.
• A letter writer asks for new characters Nova and Iron Fist to be added to the Avengers team. Both will join, but not until the 21st century.

Avengers 160
...The Trial!
June, 1977
Written by Jim Shooter
Art by George Pérez and Pablo Marcos
Lettered by Denise Wohl
Colored by Roger Slifer and David Anthony Kraft
 
After several Avengers leave the Mansion, Beast is ambushed by Grim Reaper in the wrecked lab. Wonder Man, Vision, Scarlet Witch, and Black Panther attack their foe, but the devices in his scythe overcome them one by one. He has come to the Mansion because of the return of Wonder Man. He is determined to discover who is really his brother, Wonder Man or Vision, and he plans to destroy the impostor. He restrains the team with bands on their wrists that can cause severe pain, but they still have freedom of movement. Grim Reaper appoints Black Panther as counsel to the two defendants, and a trial commences. Both Vision and Wonder retell their histories, and Grim Reaper is shocked to find out many of his assumptions about past events are incorrect. Vision is set to announce that he isn't Simon Williams and end the charade, but Wonder Man has his own revelation and shows the energy field inside his body by revealing his glowing eyes to everyone. Seeing that Wonder Man has likewise gone outside of humanity, Vision finds common ground with Wonder Man, but Grim Reaper is unnerved and activates everyone's restraining  bands. Wonder Man, whose body has changed since the bands were devised, is unaffected, and he subdues Grim Reaper, destroys his scythe, and rescues the Avengers.
 
Grim Reaper, regarding Vision: "No! My brother would never marry a stinking Mutant!"
Black Panther: "So...you're a bigot as well as a fool!"
 
Grim Reaper: "Enough! So the Avengers killed you in battle?"
Wonder Man: "No! It was Zemo!"
Grim Reaper: "What?"
 
• The credits box doesn't list who did what job. Hopefully there was no swapping going on.
• Not only does George Pérez return for art duties, but the letters page says he will co-plot the series. He doesn't get credit for it in the credit boxes however.
• This is colorists Roger Slifer and David Anthony Kraft's first Avengers work. They are credited together as Sliferkraft. This is the only time they use that pseudonym. Both are more recognized for their writing work.
• The Yu-Gi-Oh monster/god Slifer the Sky Dragon is named after Roger Slifer. He executive produced the first season of that cartoon. The Storm Shooter and Sonic Shooter Yu-Gi-Oh monsters seem to have no relation to Jim Shooter.
• Thankfully for Scarlet Witch, Vision becomes more human emotionally after this experience and he doesn't "relinquish" her after all.
• It's established that no one bothered to tell Wonder Man that his brother was now a supervillian or had attacked the Avengers in the past. On the other hand, Wonder Man didn't seem to reach out to his brother either.
• The sounds of Grim Reaper swatting Beast with his blade is "Kang!"
• After his capture, the Grim Reaper isn't seen again until Vision and Scarlet Witch (1982) 3. Based on his experience here, he then tries to kill both Wonder Man and Vision.
• The May issue, Captain Marvel (1968) 50, features the Avengers in an adventure around this time. The Super-Adaptoid attacks Iron Man and then goes to Avengers Mansion to assimilate more powers. Rick Jones is visiting there during the attack, and he transforms into Captain Marvel. When the Super-Adaptoid assimilates Captain Marvel's powers, it gains its own set of Nega-Bands. Captain Marvel forces those bands together, and the Super-Adaptoid is sent to the Negative Zone, and Rick Jones swaps places with him, meaning both Captain Marvel and Rick are able to be on Earth at the same time. In issue 51, the Avengers offer Rick a place to stay, but he turns them down.
• What If? (1977) 3 is published this month. The story is "What If the Avengers Had Never Been?" In this alternate universe, later called Earth-776, the team broke up after Avengers 2. When Hulk and Namor team up, as they did in Avengers 3, Iron Man builds powered armor for Ant-Man, Wasp, and Rick Jones to help him, even though they aren't Avengers. They can't use their armor effectively, so Iron Man goes to fights the two enemies alone. The other heroes eventually join Iron Man, but Iron Man is killed in the battle.

 

 

Avengers 161
Beware the Ant Man!

July, 1977

Written by Jim Shooter
Art by George Pérez and Pablo Marcos

Lettered by Denise Wohl

Colored by Jim Shooter

While the team is checking out Wonder Man's new outfit, Ant-Man appears. Based on his comments and his expectation that Hulk and Thor should be there, he seems to think the Avengers team just formed. Everyone present is unfamiliar to him, so he considers them intruders and takes them on single-handedly. Wasp arrives and stuns him with a Wasp's sting and then informs the team of Pym's recent behavior. Multiple scientific failures had led to increased outbursts, and the day before, he had gone into a trance and flown away without a word. Upon discovering he had ruined his lab, Wasp came to seek from the Avengers and found the battle going on. While Iron Man preps the subliminal recall-inducer, Wasp and Beast go to her house to collect items to jog Pym's memory. While there, she is attacked by Ultron, and Beast barely makes it back to the Mansion in time to warn the others. Ultron crashes into the room and uses a new weapon, the encephalo-ray. He makes short work of all the Avengers, only given pause by a hex from Scarlet Witch. Once all the Avengers are down, Ant-Man feels compelled to fight Ultron, but is vacuumed up inside Ultron's new adamantium body. Jarvis returns to the Mansion to find everyone unmoving on the floor.
 

Beast: "What--? Ants?! Does this mean you had a picnic and didn't invite me?"
 

Captain America: "Don't you ever quit clowning, Beast?"

Iron Man: "Cap's right, McCoy! This isn't the time for your inane antics!"
 

Wonder Man, thinking: "Iron Man...took for granted that I'd follow his orders--as if he considered me...an Avenger!"

• Writer Jim Shooter does not color an issue often. He will only do one other issue of Avengers and five overall of any series in his career.
• The opening blurb on the first page is changed to a shorter version. It now reads, "And there came a day when Earth's mightiest heroes found themselves united against a common threat. On that day, the Avengers were born--to fight the foes no single super-hero could withstand!"
• Wonder Man debuts a new costume in this issue. It was designed by Beast. Who knew the Avengers were all hidden fashionistas?
• Wasp also debuts a new lavender outfit that she only wears in this issue. She does it to get Yellowjacket's attention.
• While being stung by ants, Scarlet Witch calls out for Quicksilver, even though he's not there.
• The Avengers contact old members to help Hank Pym with his memory loss. We see Thor is not available, Quicksilver's home of Attilan is in ruins, and Hawkeye is away from his equipment while working at a dude ranch, but the team know none of this.
• Hawkeye and Two-Gun Kid are working at the Cheery-O's Dude Ranch.
• We see that Wasp has a framed head shot of Mister Fantastic on the wall at her home.
• The subliminal recall-inducer device isn't new. Hawkeye used it way back in issue 27 when he forgot the pass code to the viewscreen, and Hercules used it in issue 99 when he lost his memory.
• When Ultron reappears, he doesn't understand their surprise at his return. He reveals that he had helpers ready to recreate him in the event of his destruction. He points out that Captain America, Vision, and Wonder Man have also returned from supposed death before. (He didn't know Iron Man had as well.)
• Ultron also reveals that he had made a bargain with the Grim Reaper, but that the Grim Reaper did not keep up his end of the deal. He does not mention reviving the Black Knight statue, but the statue did wreck the Avengers lab that allowed the Grim Reaper to gain entry to the Mansion.
• Future Avenger Machine Man premieres this month in 2001: A Space Odyssey 8. He goes by the name Mister Machine at this time.
• Also premiering this month in Eternals (1976) 13 is the Forgotten One, who will later become an Avenger.
• This month features the premiere of Star Wars (1977) 1, the comic book. Marvel's business outlook was not strong around this time, but this series was so popular that it helped revitalize the company's coffers so they could operate with more confidence.
• Current Avengers cover artist Leinel Francis Yu is born in this month.

Avengers 162
The Bride of Ultron!

August, 1977

Written by Jim Shooter
Art by George Pérez and Pablo Marcos

Lettered by Denise Wohl

Colored by Don Warfield
 

Thor arrives in the aftermath of the last battle and hears the news that Beast, Captain America, and Scarlet Witch are dead. He joins Wonder Man, Black Panther, and Iron Man to rally against Ultron. We see that Wasp has been taken to Ultron's lair and hooked up to a machine that will transfer her life force into an artificial body, one that Ultron plans to make his bride. He convinces Ant-Man that the Avengers are the villains and that Wasp's mind is being temporarily moved in order to heal her body properly. The still confused Ant-Man goes along with this and helps with the procedure. The Avengers have no idea where to find Ultron, but ants pour into the lab and spell out STARK LI on the floor. Iron Man deduces that this refers to an abandoned Stark property on Long Island, and the heroes go to that location. Ultron is surprised to see Wonder Man and remarks that Wonder Man should be in a coma, which reveals his beam is not as fatal as it had seemed. Ultron is a match for the heroes and is winning the battle. Ant-Man remains loyal to Ultron, so Black Panther is forced to stun him. Iron Man grabs the bride robot and threatens to destroy it if Ultron does not reveal how to release Wasp. Ultron informs Iron Man that this would kill Wasp as well, but Iron Man continues to bluff. Ultron does not want his woman destroyed, so he surrenders and flees. Once she recovers, Wasp says she did not send the ants with the message, and Ant-Man is still raving against the Avengers. No one knows who sent the ants, unless it was the now-inert form of Ultron's bride using Wasp's ability.
 

Wonder Man: "Still can't reach Hawkeye, huh, Thor?...Is he worth all this grief?"

Thor: "When thou has proven thyself a thousandfold thou mayest question the 'worth' of Hawkeye, my friend! I will disregard thy careless remark--this time!"
 

Thor: "Death to Ultron! Verily, this night we shall avenge our slain comrades, or taste death's bitter cup ourselves!"

• Thor's arrival at the beginning of the issue is another assist from the Collector. He should still be in space and unable to help.
• Although this is Jocasta's first appearance, she is not called by name. She will become a long-time ally and sometimes member of the Avengers, most recently as an instructor at Avengers Academy.
• Ultron thinks to himself  about how he caused Pym's memory loss, but he doesn't reveal it to anyone else. Many years later, Kang will try to take credit for some of Pym's mental problems, but this doesn't seem to be one of them.
• We see Two-Gun Kid reading a Marvel comic of Rawhide Kid. He mentions it's drawn by an hombre named Kirby. The Rawhide Kid comic book was still featuring art by Kirby, though reprints, in 1977. He is sitting under a poster that reads, "Wanted Kid Colt" as well.
• After the supposed death of several Avengers, Wonder Man begins to have a fear of his own death and starts to hesitate in battle. Ultron is even able to detect his slowed reactions.
• Ultron remarks that his encephalo-ray is just a variation on the coma ray that he built for the Grim Reaper. The Grim Reaper used this ray before Ultron and his Masters of Evil team was even introduced.
• Mjolnir striking Ultron produces the "Kang!" sound effect.
• Jocasta's design has what almost looks like a garter on her left leg. A garter is often part of wedding tradition, so this may be appropriate for an artificial bride's input port.

• Hank Pym is in part responsible for the creation of Jocasta, whose personality is based on Wasp's. He and Jocasta will later have a romantic relationship.
• Ultron says the comatose Avengers will die in a few hours unless the process is reversed. He never passes on information to cure them on-panel. In issue 166, we find that Iron Man was able to use the knowledge that the encephalo-ray was like Grim Reaper's coma ray and reverse the process using what they knew from issue 52.
• The Bullpen Bulletins has a blurb about the death of Bob Brown from leukemia. He penciled 11 issues of Avengers between issues 113 and 126.

Avengers 163
The Demi-God Must Die!

September, 1977

Written by Jim Shooter
Art by George Tuska and Pablo Marcos

Lettered by Denise Wohl

Colored by Don Warfield

 

Hercules, Iceman, and Black Widow are flying in their Champscraft through the skies of Manhattan when Iron Man attacks them and causes them to crash. He manages to stun all three Champions, but Hercules recovers quickly. Iron Man recalls how the evil Olympian Typhon had appeared at the Mansion and captured Beast. Typhon had sought Hercules, not realizing that he was no longer an Avenger. With Beast being threatened, Iron Man summoned Hercules and the Champions under Typhon's orders and then set out to weaken them with a sneak attack. He had also hoped to communicate secretly with Black Widow, but Hercules' quick recovery didn't allow that to happen, so Iron Man keeps up the pretense of battling Hercules. Iron Man leads him to Avengers Mansion and manages to knock Hercules out before being felled himself. Typhon prepares to finish Hercules off, but Black Widow and Iceman intervene, soon joined by Beast, who freed himself from his bonds. This gives Iron Man and Hercules time to recover. Typhon is removed from the scene by his benefactor Pluto, who feels Typhon could not defeat all the heroes combined.
 

Iron Man, thinking: "If Typhon even suspects I'm sandbagging, I know he'll kill the Beast without a second thought! If I go down, it has to be convincing! It has to be real!"
 

Beast, thinking: "You're a real funny man--an Avenger, and not much else...yet for what you've been worth as a hero, lately, you might as well join a zoo!"

• Some copies of this issue sold for 35₵.
• Despite this being an inventory issue, except for the penciller, it has the same team as usual, and George Pérez does contribute the cover. It was also not a surprise, as the next-issue blurb in issue 162 mentions this was planned to be the next story.
• The Champions comic series was still being published, but bi-monthly. It would soon end in January of 1978.
• Only two current Avengers actually appear in the story, Iron Man and Beast. This could also have been a backup issue for Champions if needed to serve in that capacity.
• Iceman says he will create an iceberg big enough to sink the Queen Elizabeth II ocean liner. That boat never sank by iceberg or other hazard. It went out of regular service in 2008 after 39 years of use.
• The "Kang!" sound effect is used when Iron Man dents a lamppost and later is struck by a fire hydrant.
• Iron Man at least mentions that Yellowjacket's memory is recovering, tying it into the previous issue. He speculates Wasp and Yellowjacket will return in a week or two.
• Typhon has had only one appearance once since his defeat in Avengers 50. He fought Hercules in Marvel Premiere 26 and ended up in Pluto's domain along with his "wife" Cylla.
• Typhon has been given extra powers by Pluto and now wields fire and lightning.
• Typhon claims he is a "scion of Typhoeus." That is just an alternate name for Typhon, and this character in later appearances will continue to be linked to the main Greek deity by that name, not as his offspring.
• Beast is the only Avenger to this point to have also been an X-Man, so this is a bit of a mini-reunion for him and Iceman.
• The Amazing Spider-Man pilot movie aired this month. Spider-Man won't be an Avenger for some time, but this is the first live-action Marvel TV movie to air. It won't become a regular, though short-lived series until next year.

Avengers 169
If We Should Fail--The World Dies Tonight

March, 1978

Written by Marv Wolfman
Art by Sal Buscema and David Hunt

Lettered by John Costanza

Colored by Ken Klaczak

 

Iron Man, Captain America, and Black Panther are at the Mansion when a man in powered armor bursts in and attacks them. Though he is fighting them, he reveals that his true goal is for the Avengers to kill him. Sensing something is not right about this, Iron Man is finally able to subdue him. Once his helmet is removed, Iron Man recognizes him as Jason Beere, a rival industrialist to Tony Stark that has access to wealth and technology. Iron Man keeps him alive, but unconscious, and tracks down Beere's diary and notes. They reveal that Beere wanted the world to end when he himself died and that there are four neutron warheads set to explode when Beere's heart stops beating. The three Avengers split up, each tracking one of the first three bombs, but they don't yet know where the fourth is. They each face different threats, with Captain America fighting natives in Peru, Black Panther grappling with a polar bear in the Arctic, and Iron Man facing down the Russian military. All three devices are brought back to the Mansion, but they are not bombs. They fit together to form a recording device which plays a taunting message. It says that Beere found out he would die due to illness within a month, which is when he hatched the plan. It also says that the Avengers were duped by false notes and that the fourth bomb will still be activated. Iron Man deduces that fourth bomb is attached to Beere's heart inside his own body. Feeling that surgery will be too risky, Beere is placed in cryogenic refrigeration so he can never die.

 

Black Panther: "Bizarre! Someone we've never met attacks us--demands we kill him. The ways of the civilized jungle still puzzle me."

• This is writer Marv Wolfman's only issue writing Avengers, but he had previously been the editor of the series. He edits himself in this issue.
• This is David Hunt's only issue for inking Avengers, but he had previously done lettering and coloring for the series. As for inking, he won't do another issue until West Coast Avengers (1985) 28.
• This is also Ken Klaczak's only coloring work on Avengers. He did a few other issues of coloring and lettering here and there. He seems to be friend of Jim Shooter, as his credits are tied to work Shooter did at DC, Marvel, and then Defiant Comics.
• This inventory issue of the series likely falls chronologically before issue 164, as the storyline gets very linear after that point. It could also have occurred before issue 163, but its location here puts it closer to its publication date and gives Captain America more time to recover from his Ultron-induced coma.
• Beere calls his armor a hyper-suit.
• Iron Man takes Beere to the Stark plant in Flushing, Queens. From other issues in Iron Man's own series, this seems to be the company's main headquarters in the sixties and seventies. It's not the abandoned Long Island plant from issue 162, though Flushing is also on Long Island.
• The devices Iron Man use to keep Beere alive are an Iron Man chest plate and an artificial respirator that he himself had used to stabilize his heart when it still had shrapnel in it.
• Iron Man is not impressed with conventional Russian weaponry, but he jokes that being forced to watch Captain and Tennille reruns might subdue him. This television variety show aired from 1976 to 1977, after which time the hosts, singers Captain & Tennille, asked to be let go from their TV contract so they could get back to touring. Since the show was not airing new episodes in 1978, Iron Man is correct in saying episodes would be reruns.
• This is the only appearance of Jason Beere before he is frozen. After this, he's just a prop. He recently had his own write-up in Avengers Roll Call 1 in 2012, though, so he hasn't been forgotten.
• Beere's code name of the Eternity Man is given to him by Iron Man after he is frozen and seems to be on the road to living forever.

Avengers 153 to 157 (including Avengers Annual 6)

Avengers 153 to 157; Avengers Annual 6

 

Conway edits himself.

Generals, warlords, monarchs

all can't be trusted.

 

Beast; Henry "Hank" McCoy
Captain America; Steve Rogers
Iron Man; Tony Stark
Scarlet Witch; Wanda Maximoff
Vision
Wasp; Janet Van Dyne
Yellowjacket; Henry "Hank" Pym

Featured Allies/Enemies
"Black Knight" (petrified body only)
Black Widow; Natasha Romanoff
Daredevil; Matt Murdock
Doctor Strange; Stephen Strange
Hercules; Heracles
Hulk; Bruce Banner
Namor; Namor McKenzie
Valkyrie; Barbara Norriss
Wonder Man; Simon Williams

     Gerry Conway's tenure as writer/editor on Avengers was fairly short, only from issue 151 to 157, and he needed a little help to finish a couple of those issues. He was contributing to several other series at this time, so it's no surprise he needed some assistance. He will not make a return to Avengers later, and he soon jumped to DC Comics by mid-1977. His career continued to flourish, and he also made the move to writing animation episodes for shows like Transformers and GI Joe and feature films like Conan the Destroyer with fellow Avengers scribe Roy Thomas. In 1990, he began working for network television and produced and wrote episodes of Father Dowling Mysteries and several other series, including more than one of the Law & Order franchise.
    This time period also saw a crossover with the Super-Villain Team-Up series. This series had typically featured Doctor Doom and Namor, and they figure directly into these Avengers issues as well and lead Captain America to be in several later issues of Super-Villain Team-Up as well. The seeds of the Serpent Crown and Wonder Man's return continued from Englehart's run, and Conway continues to Wonder Man with the team in action and explore the reactions to his return. The team shows a little Christmas cheer in a short Holiday Grab-Bag story before Christmas Eve is soured in their own series by an unprovoked attack.

Avengers 153

Home is the Hero!

November, 1976

Written by Gerry Conway

Art by John Buscema and Joe Sinnott

Lettered by John Costanza

Colored by Petra Goldberg 

Scarlet Witch goes by herself to investigate the whereabouts of the Serpent Crown after their previous battle at the Brand Corporation. She encounters the Living Laser there, who is after the Crown and retrieves it for himself. When Brand security attacks them, Living Laser disappears with the Crown. Back at the Mansion, the rest of the team returns with a comatose, but strengthening Wonder Man. Bob Frank, the Whizzer, is waiting to see Vision. As they talk, a light beam flashes in Whizzer's eye, making him go berserk and attack Vision. Other Avengers come running, but Whizzer also attacks them. From his comments, he believes he's fighting villains from his past, not the Avengers. Wasp and Yellowjacket are able to attack him by surprise, knocking him out. When they take Whizzer to the Lab, the Avengers find that Wonder Man had wrecked the lab and fled the mansion. Back at the Brand Corporation, Scarlet Witch engages the security team and is shot in the shoulder, so she retreats. In New York, Wonder Man begins to speak coherently. We see that he had been summoned by the Living Laser. The Laser admits to causing Whizzer's trance earlier, and he uses the Serpent Crown to take control of Wonder Man's mind.
 

Beast: "Since when was I elected donkey for this troop?"

Vision: "In many ways, you are our strongest member, Hank McCoy--and thus, you may sometimes be unduly burdened."

Scarlet Witch, thinking: "It isn't possible! After all the villains I've fought--I've been shot by a two-bit thug!"

• In the upper left corner box, rather than the Vision standing, he is now passing through "A" in the title.
• Scarlet Witch does not typically fly with her powers. It is revealed later she was using "an experimental flying belt," though it's not visible. A footnote in issue 164 was supposed to explain this, but that issue went to the printers without footnotes by mistake, so it was finally cleared up in the 168 letter column over a year after the fact.
• The explanation as to why the Serpent Crown is still in the ruins at Brand Corporation is they simply forgot about it and left it there.
• Living Laser was last a main villain in Avengers with issue 79. John Buscema was the regular artist back when that issue came out.
• The public thought that Living Laser is dead after a battle in Captain Marvel (1968) 35, but it turns out that was an android duplicate.
• When Brand Security attacks the Living Laser, they think he's with the Avengers. Silly goons.
• None of the team had seen Whizzer since the wedding of Quicksilver in Fantastic Four (1961) 150. They had feared he was dead.
• The Living Laser may take control of Wonder Man, but he mentions that he has no idea how Wonder Man came back to life.
• The story is said to continue in "Giant-Size Avengers" 6, but no such publication is printed. Instead it is Avengers Annual 6.

Avengers Annual 6

No Final Victory!

November, 1976

Written by Gerry Conway

Art by George Pérez, Mike Esposito, John Tartaglione, and Duffy Vohland

Lettered by Joe Rosen

Colored by Petra Goldberg 

Scarlet Witch returns to the mansion and warns the team about the Serpent Crown before she passes out. Vision takes her to the hospital, and Beast goes out into the street to look for Wonder Man, while the rest of the team tends to the recovering Whizzer. Iron Man tracks the Serpent Crown's energy emissions and detects it heading to California, so Iron Man and Captain America fly after it. Whizzer tells Yellowjacket and Wasp his story since he last met the team. He had hit rock bottom, drunkenly wandering the Bowery when a vision of his late wife caused him to recover. He had been seeking answers about his son Nuklo from the American government and discovered his son was being held prisoner in California. He then sought the Scarlet Witch and Vision for assistance. Outside, Beast is attacked by the hypnotized Wonder Man, but Beast is able to knock him out after a brief tussle. Iron Man and Captain America track the readings to a Pacific Palisades compound that is occupied by a heavily armed United States Army unit. The Army won't respond to radio communications and eventually fires on the Quinjet with a tank. The heroes engage the soldiers and their tanks, but the Living Laser appears on the scene wearing the Serpent Crown and defeats the Avengers with a surprise laser blast. We discover that Nuklo is at the compound as well. General Pollock was in charge of his treatment, but chose to go renegade and sell him to the Living Laser, who has upgraded his powers since his last appearance. After these discoveries, the rest of the Avengers and Wonder Man, tipped off by Whizzer as to Nuklo's location, appear and battle the troops. Vision gets the Serpent Crown off the Living Laser's head. Pollock releases Nuklo to assist, and Nuklo goes wild, attacking everyone, knocking out the Living Laser and General Pollack. Nuklo continues to grow in size and seems on the verge of exploding. Whizzer, who had been left behind in New York, appears on the scene at high speed and contains the blast. After the air clears, Nuklo and Whizzer are both alive, but injured.

Wasp: "Hank...the Vision's changed. We've all changed since you and I left the Avengers. It frightens me--even more than the Serpent Crown. I feel--lost."

Captain America: "...we should also say a prayer--for a man with the courage of Abraham, a father willing to make the greatest sacrifice of all--his son!"

• What happened to Annuals 1 through 5? The numbering is a continuation of the Avengers Specials, but the name has been changed to Annuals. Special 5 came out way back in 1972. It's a coincidence that next issue of Giant-Size Avengers would have also been issue 6.
• Jack Kirby does the cover for this Annual, much as he had been doing the covers for the regular series.
• Beast is the only Avenger to seek out Wonder Man. This foreshadows their strong friendship.
• Whizzer reveals he saw the villains Isbisa, Future Man, and Madame Death in his hallucination. Iron Man was Madame Death since no female Avengers were handy. He didn't see Wasp, after all.
• Beast ends up carrying Wonder Man back to the mansion over his shoulder. This is the third story in a row the poor guy is lugging unconscious foes around.
• The Living Laser learned about the Serpent Crown from a book in his prison library about the ancient continent of Lemuria written by a Dr. M.C. Higgins.
• General Pollock is next seen in Marvel Two-in-One 51, trying to invade the SHIELD Helicarrier. In that issue, Nick Fury mentions that Pollock had been out of the country since his defeat here.

Night Vision!

November, 1976

Written by Scott Edelman

Art by Herb Trimpe

Lettered by Irving Watanabe

Colored by Irene Vartanoff
 

Vision drifts through the city in his intangible state, lost in thought. He unfortunately stops and becomes solid in the middle of a city street. A milk truck smashes into him, but the driver leaps clear and avoids injury. The police arrive and try to calm the driver, but they take Vision to the station for causing the accident. Coincidentally Whirlwhind is being held prisoner at that station, and he stages a breakout while Vision is there. Whirlwind manages to get outside, but Vision pursues him and is able to recapture him. Vision claims he has wasted enough time, so he reassures the driver that Tony Stark will reimburse him for the loss of his truck and flies away.

Whirlwind: "He who fights and whirls away--will whirl and win another day. Good day, Vision!"

• This is a short eight-page story after the main tale.
• This and Avengers 145 are the only Avengers stories that Scott Edelman has written.
• This is the first time Herb Trimpe will do art for Avengers. He inks his own work for this story.
• A police officer mentions to Vision that the common citizens do tend to get upset when their property is destroyed by superheroes.
• Whirlwhind was defeated in Avengers 139 and has been in jail since. He is being kept in a regular jail cell with no extra security measures for a super criminal.

Avengers 154
When Strikes Attuma?

December, 1976

Written by Gerry Conway

Art by George Pérez and Pablo Marcos

Lettered by John Costanza

Colored by Don Warfield
 

While dropping the Serpent Crown into the depths of the Pacific Ocean, Vision is attacked by a submersible. He investigates and finds Lord Arno and his warriors inside, and the Atlanteans manage to subdue Vision with a sonic rifle. After the Whizzer is taken to the hospital for his injuries, Triton, the Inhuman, arrives at the Mansion looking for help. Arno reveals that his master is Attuma, whose plan is to blackmail the Avengers into attacking Namor at Hydrobase. Back at the Mansion, Triton betrays himself to be a disguised Atlantean when he lacks knowledge of Quicksilver's current affairs. Tyrak is not a typical Atlantean and shows off his increased strength and handy weaponry by beating Scarlet Witch, Captain America, Iron Man, Wasp, and Yellowjacket by himself. Only Beast is left standing, and he escapes through the window rather than be captured. Two more Atlanteans exit the craft that brought Tyrak to the mansion, and the unconscious Avengers are collected for transport.

Attuma: "To me, you are symbolic, Vision. You represent heroic humanity--in a way most ironic! And because you do, you must be broken completely--and subject to total humiliation!"

• This is the first Avengers to feature inker Pablo Marcos.
• The front page still refers to the Annual as "Giant-Size Avengers" 6. They really miss that title.
• The Avengers' plan to get rid of the Serpent Crown is to drop it in the Pacific Ocean. This seems very shortsighted since the Crown originally resurfaced after being under the ocean. More Serpent Crown mind control at work?
• This issue introduces several new Atlanteans--Mako, Gort, Lord Arno, and Tyrak, all who work for Attuma.
• The Vision thinks that all Atlanteans should be in a state of suspended animation. This happened in Sub-Mariner (1968) 68 when the city of Atlantis was poisoned by nerve gas and the entire city was so afflicted. They are eventually revived by, of all people, Doctor Doom in Super-Villain Team-Up 13.
• While Vision is unconscious, Attuma takes Vision's cape and begins to wear it.
• Wonder Man states that he has been comatose for 10 years. He hopes to bond with Captain America, who went through similar circumstances when he was frozen at the end of World War II.
• Jarvis shows his action-hero side when he brandishes a large energy rifle at "Triton's" craft. Scarlet Witch has to calm down the nervous butler. He later jumps on Tyrak's back as well.
• Tyrak says the Atlanteans have been watching the Avengers for weeks in preparation of this plan.
• Tyrak bursts forth from his Triton exoskeleton disguise in full Tyrak costume. I'm still trying to figure out how he got his helmet in that normal-sized head space. Also, Tyrak is seven feet tall, and Triton is only 6'2". I guess Atlanteans are used to crushing pressures.

Tyrak                               Triton

 

Super-Villain Team-Up 9
Pawns of Attuma!

December, 1976

Written by Bill Mantlo

Art by Jim Shooter and Sal Trapani

Lettered by Denise Wohl

Colored by Hugh Paley
 

The Captured Avengers are fitted with Attuma's slave collars that force their compliance and sent to Hydrobase to destroy it and Namor. Unfortunately Namor is not even there. He is in Latveria, where he discovers that the man he thought was Doctor Doom is really an imposter, Rudolfo, the rebel prince of Latveria in a Doombot's shell. Tiring of the surface men's affairs, Namor flies away. Doctor Doom bides his time at Hydrobase, waiting for his bodyguards to show up and free him. Instead, the Avengers arrive and demand that Namor be brought before them. Instead Doom and the others at Hydrobase battle the Avengers. Because of the slave collars, the Avengers' reactions are dulled, and they are eventually defeated. Beast, after fleeing the Mansion, goes to the hospital to recruit Whizzer and Wonder Man to go after the Avengers. Namor encounters some fighter planes on his journey, and they open fire on him. After he disables the jets, he discovers that the latest news is that Attuma is planning an attack off the coast of Maryland.
 

Doctor Doom: "The mighty Avengers! Bah! You are sheep to be driven before the might of Doom!"

• The cover shows Vision wearing his cape, but inside it is missing. Attuma is still wearing it after taking it in Avengers 154.
• This issue's art was laid out by Jim Shooter. Although he is mostly known for his writing and editing, he did sometimes do rough breakdowns and penciling as well.
• Earlier in this series, Namor had been hampered out of water, unable to survive there without a serum Doctor Doom had been providing to him. Rudolfo gives him an antidote, and Namor is then freed from this restriction.
• Namor had been doing the bidding of Doctor Doom because he swore an oath to do so in order to keep the serum coming. Doom was supposedly killed in Super-Villain Team-Up 7, so Namor believes he's freed from any such oath.
• Doom's "death" was from falling off a cliff. He was captured in his weakened state by Namorita and eventually taken to Hydrobase to help cure the Atlanteans.
• Scarlet Witch complains of her broken arm, which is in a sling and bandaged in the forearm area. Her injury was really a bullet wound to the upper arm. I suppose a bullet fragment could have caused additional damage.
• The Avengers' reactions are so slow due to their slave collars that even onlookers can tell something is wrong with them.
• Doctor Doom is incensed when the Avengers attack him. He refers to a non-aggression pact that Latveria has with the United States. American Secretary of State Henry Kissinger appeared in Super-Villain Team-Up 6 with this pronouncement. The enslaved Avengers don't much care.
• Beast has a Quinjet remain stationary outside a window on the 30th floor of the hospital with no pilot. Apparently it has a hover mode.
• Atlantean ally Tamara belongs to a water-breathing alien race, the Banari, who have crimson red skin, but she is the only survivor of that race. When she sees Vision, she briefly thinks she may have found one of her people.

Avengers 155
To Stand Alone!

January, 1977

Written by Gerry Conway

Art by George Pérez and Pablo Marcos

Lettered by John Costanza

Colored by Glynis Wein
 

The Avengers try to rally against Doctor Doom and his allies, but they fail, and the Avengers are imprisoned. Doom has no idea why they attacked, but a groggy Captain America murmurs, "Attuma," and Namorita asks Doom for help against the warlord. Working together, the Avengers manage to destroy Vision's slave collar, but instead of helping his team escape, he leaves the chamber completely. Attuma and his strike team attack a research platform to steal its technology, which accelerates plant growth. Beast, Wonder Man, and Whizzer are there to defend the platform, and there are doing well against the Atlanteans. Namor flies onto the scene, and Attuma calls out, pretending the heroes are really his allies, not his enemies. Namor believes Attuma's ruse and attacks the heroes instead of his true foe. Attuma takes the device he sought and dives into the ocean, and Beast follows him. Namor finally recognizes Whizzer and stops fighting just as Wonder Man decks Namor with a powerful blow. Attuma reaches his sub and declares he will use the chlorobeam to transform Tyrak. We discover that Vision has gone to Doctor  Doom with some kind of offer.
 

Doctor Doom: "If you other Avengers would avoid his fate, I suggest you surrender--at once--else I lose my patience!"

Captain America: "Doctor, you've got to be kidding!"

• The last two digits of the UPC reset to 01. Oh, that's because it's a January book. I should have realized that before.
• This is the first appearance of Hydrobase in Avengers. It will eventually be the Avengers' temporary headquarters when the Mansion is destroyed and being rebuilt. Hydrobase gets its name from the first owner, Doctor Hydro.
• A narration caption says that this issue is the 13th anniversary of the Avengers first battling Namor. That would be Avengers 3 in January of 1964.
• The sound effect for an Atlantean blasting Vision is "Chump."
• We find out that Beast placed an electronic tracking device on Tyrak's ship after leaving the mansion in issue 154.
• Narration calls the research platform a "Sealab." The United States Navy constructed three different Sealab installations in the sixties to test how divers would respond to extended periods underwater at deep depths. These tests ended in 1969 after one fatality. The lab in this story is testing a beam to increase plankton growth, though.
• Namor doesn't recognize Whizzer right away. He first dismisses him as "a costumed human," then thinks Quicksilver has arrived at the battle when he sees a foe with super speed. He finally recognizes him as his old World War II ally after beating him up a bit.
• A footnote says Namor met Whizzer in Marvel Premiere 27 and 28. Those stories actually appeared in issue 29 and 30 of Marvel Premiere.
• Bullpen Bulletins mentions Gerry Conway and George Pérez are working on a series for Marvel based on the 1976 film Logan's Run. Conway only wrote the first issue, but Pérez drew the first five issues. The series only lasted seven issues. 1977 also saw a short-lived Logan's Run television show. One of those episodes was written by Avengers contributor Harlan Ellison.

Avengers 156
The Private War of Doctor Doom!
February, 1977
Written by Jim Shooter
Art by Sal Buscema and Pablo Marcos
Lettered by Joe Rosen
Colored by Don Warfield


Vision convinces Doctor Doom that Attuma's plan might result in an army of warriors as powerful as Tyrak and that they should join forces, and Doom reluctantly agrees. Namor recovers and reconciles with Wonder Man and Whizzer back on the research platform. Beast contacts them via radio and tells them he has stowed away on Attuma's vessel. Doom frees the Avengers and disables their slave collars as well. He tracks the energy beam that powers the collars back to its source, Attuma's citadel. Beast is discovered in Attuma's vessel and captured. Namor is the first to attack the citadel, but a supercharged Tyrak is able to defeat him. Soon the Avengers arrive, and, with Wonder Man's help, they overpower Tyrak despite his increased size and strength. The Avengers track down Attuma, but they find that Doctor Doom had already defeated him and taken the cell stimulator device. The Avengers return to Hydrobase and engage in battle with Doom while Vision sneaks in and destroys the device. Doom decides to leave now that he has no purpose there, and the Avengers let him go.
 
Captain America: "Huh? Tyrak! But...bigger--much bigger!"
Tyrak: "And stronger, puny one...stronger than all of you!"
 
• Most of my older collection was purchased as back issues, but I recall having this for a very long time, so there's a good chance this was my first issue of Avengers. I also recall a time when I had no idea who Wonder Man and Whizzer were or what they were doing in this book.
• Archie Goodwin gets editing credit for this issue, probably because the normal writer/editor didn't do the writing either. Jim Shooter was filling in for Gerry Conway. Conway does not get any credit in the issue, but it's probable that he did at least create some of the plot since it continues off his story in the previous issue.
• Kudos for the cover having Vision with no cape this time. Once Attuma is defeated in this issue, Vision takes it back
• The title, "Private War of Doctor Doom" was later used as the title of an episode of the Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes cartoon as well the title of a collected reprinting of issues from Avengers 150 to 156.
• Now that Wonder Man has returned to life, Vision is feeling very sensitive about his own feelings and whether they are his or a simulation of Wonder Man's.
• Beast playfully calls Attuma "Charlie A'Tuna," based on StarKist Tuna's Charlie the Tuna mascot.
• Doctor Doom vows revenge on Vision specifically, but the man has a lot on his plate, so he doesn't really follow through.
• It may seem strange that the Avengers just let Doom go, but there is that pesky non-aggression pact to think about.
• At the end of the issue, Captain America steps outside to investigate something. A footnote says to check Super-Villain Team-Up 11 for answers, but it actually is in issue 10 of that series. In it, Cap mentions how a spy ship was hovering nearby. Cap got to the pilot, but the man poisoned himself before he could be questioned. A scepter in the ship led Cap to the Latverian embassy in New York. He doesn't involve the other Avengers, but he does leave a sealed letter with Jarvis in case he doesn't return from the adventure. He guests in Super-Villain Team-Up until issue 12.
• Also this month, the Avengers appear in one panel of Defenders (1972) 44. Hellcat warns them they may be needed to face an unknown menace, but the Defenders end up handling it.
• Jessica Drew debuts in Marvel Spotlight (1971) 32 this month. She will later join the Avengers. She is known by the code name Arachne here, but she will take the Spider-Woman name in her second appearance.

 

Marvel Treasury Edition 13
'Tis the Season!

1976

Written by Roger Stern

Art by George Tuska and Don Perlin

Lettered by Gaspar Saladino

Colored by Don Warfield

 

The Avengers battle the Fantastic Four at Central Park in a snowball fight for United Charities. Spider-Man is passing by and also visits with the teams. Scarlet Witch spots a shooting star, which is really the Silver Surfer streaking by in the sky. We see how other heroes are spending their Christmastime in New York and Los Angeles.

 

Thing: "It's clobberin' time!"

Beast: "It remains to be seen just who will clobber whom, my friends! Have at you!"

• This story is a series of short interstitial scenes that mostly serve to introduce and bridge four reprint stories. Many Treasury Editions simply reprinted material with no new content. Since the Tales to Astonish (1959) reprint story is only 10 pages long, it was probably to help make up the difference in pages.
• The Marvel Treasury Edition series was oversized, 10" by 14", and sold at newsstands. I got mine back then at 7-Eleven.
• Thor and Iron Man do not take part in the charity event. They do appear in a reprint story.
Although it does not overtly state it's Christmas Eve, everyone's celebrations imply that it is. Avengers 157 says that it takes place on Christmas Eve, so this probably takes place the afternoon before those events. The city is blanketed in snow here, but there is no snow in Avengers 157.
Avengers 58 is reprinted, the story when Vision joins the team. The characters recall these events because Wasp's winter outfit is the same as the one she wore in that issue.
There are also reprints of Marvel Team-Up (1972) 6, Tales to Astonish 93, and Daredevil (1964) 86.
In addition to those previously mentioned, the new content includes scenes with Hulk, Doctor Strange, Nighthawk, Valkyrie, Clea, Daredevil, Black Widow, Ghost Rider, Angel, Hercules, Iceman, and some of their friends.
The only hero we see receive a Christmas present is Hulk. He gets a pair of mittens from the Defenders. He wears them to dinner and can't eat while wearing them, so Valkyrie has to spoon-feed him.

Avengers 157
A Ghost of Stone!

March, 1977

Written by Gerry Conway

Art by Don Heck and Pablo Marcos

Lettered by Gaspar Saladino

Colored by Don Warfield

 

Iron Man, Yellowjacket, and Beast are in a lab at the Mansion when they are attacked by a strange figure. It proves resistant to their attacks and is able to defeat them all. It is revealed to be the petrified body of the Black Knight that had been stored in Doctor Strange's cellar. A metal hand had reached through a dimensional aperture and revived the statue. The statue came to the Mansion to seek revenge for being forgotten. It attacks Captain America, Wasp, and Jarvis in the kitchen and is able to defeat them as well. Wonder Man and Scarlet Witch are returning home, and Jarvis is able to warn them of danger. The statue still strikes Scarlet Witch by surprise and takes out Wonder Man after a short battle. Vision is the next to return, and the statue tells of its supposed abandonment and need for vengeance. Vision, having been told events previously by Doctor Strange, explains that Dane Whitman's spirit had left the stone body behind and now resides in the 12th century in the body of an ancestor. Doubting its own identity, the enraged statue pounds on Vision's diamond-hard body and destroys itself in its outburst of anger.

 

Wonder Man: "Who are you, mister? What are you trying to do?"

Black Knight Statue: "If you don't recognize me, my name would be meaningless to you."

• The opening caption says this takes place on Christmas Eve. The streets don't seem to have any decorations evident, and no one is carrying any packages, so that date may have been decided after the art was drawn.
• The metal hand is most likely Ultron, but it is not revealed for certain. Teleporting his hand to another location  and bringing stone to life is a bit outside of his normal capabilities. Ultron does return to the series soon, but he doesn't take credit for these actions. Wonder Man also babbled about a "reaching hand" in issue 152.
• Wonder Man and Scarlet Witch are not in the Mansion because they're out Christmas shopping. These two will later become romantically involved.
• Wonder Man complains about a $2.50 cab fare. That would be $9.64 in 2013 dollars. A current on-line calculator for cab fare from Midtown to 890 5th Avenue, the address of the Mansion, was going for about $8.99 to $9.87, so about the same adjusted for inflation. That's a trip of about a mile and a half.
• The statue mentions that it also wants revenge on Thor, Black Panther, and Mantis, but settles for the others that are present and previously "betrayed" it.
• After convincing the statue it is not truly Dane Whitman, Vision reflects that as an artificial man with a mind based on someone else's memories, he might say the same of himself.
• The statue lies in pieces on the floor at the end of the story. That ready was Dane Whitman's body that was destroyed! Whitman's spirit does return to it in Avengers 226, and magic puts the rubble back together and restores it to living flesh.