Avengers Assemble!: A Pseudo-Critical History of The Avengers - Part V

What of the Avengers…?

Roger Stern’s departure heralds something of a decline for The Avengers, both for the title and for the team itself. Walter Simonson joins the Buscema/Palmer team for issues #291-300, in which the Avengers are torn apart by two of their own. In issues #291-293 Namor’s wife Marrina turns into a gigantic sea creature known as the Leviathian and proceeds to destroy anything that is unlucky enough to cross her path. While the Avengers eventually stop her, the battle takes a huge physical toll on the team. Namor is forced to stab the Leviathian using the Black Knight’s sword, an act that not only ends the life of his beloved, but which turns the Knight, through the sword’s curse, into a ‘living blade’. To make matters worse, the Avengers’ leader, Captain Marvel, expends so much energy in the battle that she is left powerless and incapacitated. This opens the door for Doctor Druid, who is being controlled by one of the Avengers’ foes, to use his mental powers to become chairman of the team and eventually enslave the other members. This all comes to a head in issue #297, and while this time only Druid is lost, the will of the Avengers disappears with him and the team disbands.

Some fans consider Simonson’s run to be the nadir of The Avengers but in fact it’s not as bad as its reputation suggests. There is something compelling about watching the team gradually fall apart, and there are even a few truly sublime moments, such as the Sub-Mariner’s final eulogy to the fallen Marrina and the Black Knight’s chilling scream of ‘The blood! The blood!’ as Namor stabs the Leviathian (#293). Buscema and Palmer’s artwork continues to be excellent, managing to meld together Simonson’s off-beat storytelling devices into some sort of coherent whole. Perhaps the stories’ critical flaw is that they are just a little too bleak and fatalistic; through all the various setbacks, the Avengers seem to have little regard for either the team or themselves, which ultimately leads the reader to wonder why they should care about them either.

A new team of Avengers is introduced in issue #300, which crashes and burns three issues later. John Byrne takes over as writer soon after, at which point the Avengers resort to something of a revolving line-up. While this idea certainly has possibilities in practice it leads to merely serviceable plots and little to no development of the characters.[22] Paul Ryan’s artwork is decent enough, but given that the stories are content to retread old territory the title could have used a fresher artistic vision at this point.



Larry Hama joins Ryan with issue #326, which also introduces Rage, a young African-American man who, in his denims and tiger-stripe mask, is designed to stick out like a sore thumb. He shows up at Avengers headquarters demanding to be made an Avenger, claiming the team is implicitly racist in their membership choices. Rage accuses Cap of judging him by his appearance, and says that Cap is worried that he ‘might say things to offend the nice people of Fifth Avenue…’ (#326) After the inevitable fight with the rest of the Avengers, Rage storms out, declaring that they are irrelevant anyway. ‘All you ever do is bash cosmic menaces off in some alternate reality or battle bad guys who have nothing better to do than destroy your headquarters!’ he says, rightly describing about ninety per cent of Avengers stories.[23] In fact, deep down, Rage doesn’t really think the Avengers are irrelevant; if he did then he wouldn’t be so angry with them. In issues #328 and #330, we learn that Rage is actually a bookish fourteen-year old kid who was transformed into his current super-strong incarnation when he hid in a pool of toxic waste to escape a group of bullies. Rage may therefore not only be intended to be a voice for African-American youth, but also for comic book fans in general, some of whom may feel closer to the adult heroes they read about than their own age group. Such fans have, of course, be known to be quite venomous at times about the comics they profess to love so much, their affection turning to frustration and anger when events do not pan out as they would like.[24] These emotions can often by misinterpreted by outside observers, such as when Sersi intervenes in the confrontation between Rage and Captain America, because all she can perceive is ‘the threat, and the very real anger!’ (#326)

Nevertheless, there is some value in not getting too caught up in one’s feelings. Rage’s Granny Staples acts as a moderating influence for him, admonishing him for wanting to use his new-found strength to beat up the bullies that picked on him, and pouring cold water on Rage’s acceptance into the Avengers by telling him that his costume makes him look like a hoodlum. In the end, Rage’s fantasy of fighting alongside his heroes does evaporate, as the Avengers eventually learn that he is a minor and remove him from active duty. Rage, in a sign of maturity, calmly accepts this verdict, realizing that it is time to rejoin the real world, ‘I’ve got a lot of work to do in my neighbourhood, anyway.’ (#342)

A New Type of Avenger!

The Avengers finally regain some consistency, and some of their grandeur, with the arrival of writer Bob Harras and penciller Steve Epting in the mid-330s. Harras and Epting were, in many ways, the heirs to Thomas and Buscema, especially with Buscema’s long-time art collaborator, Tom Palmer, still on board. Harras revived many of the key concepts from the Thomas days – alternate reality counterparts, intergalactic war, Arkon, the Collector, even the Vision to some extent – and blended them with Englehart’s penchant for soap-opera and on-going plotlines (although this may have owed less to Englehart’s Avengers run than to Harras’ stint as editor of the X-Men titles). Epting, meanwhile, created a modern, ‘grim and gritty’ version of the Avengers’ world that, like Buscema, generally kept the characters on edge. Although it’s a bit overdone at times, Harras and Epting bring the Avengers kicking and screaming into the 1990s, as the team update their appearance, technology and most notably, their traditional methods of operation.

The main question the Avengers face during this period is whether or not they should kill if necessary. Sersi and the Black Knight are the first members to push the issue, with Sersi threatening to destroy an entire spaceship in issue #345 if the crew does not surrender their captives, and Dane suggesting in issue #346 that he go in for the kill when the tide of battle turns against the Avengers. These cracks become an ideological chasm in issue #347, when a massive bomb obliterates the Kree galaxy, and half the team decides to hunt down and destroy the entity responsible, the Supreme Intelligence. There are two issues at stake here, the first being whether or not the Supreme Intelligence is a ‘living being’ or a machine and the second being whether or not the Avengers have a right to destroy it. For Captain America, whether the Supreme Intelligence is what we would term ‘alive’ is irrelevant, the fact remains that the Avengers ‘are not judge, jury and executioner. It is as simple as that.’ (#347) Iron Man and the Vision disagree, arguing that the Supreme Intelligence is ‘a machine… a soulless piece of hardware… that we will destroy so that nothing like this will ever happen again’. They may be right, but the Black Knight’s first response to the idea of punishing the Supreme Intelligence is revealing: ‘Let’s kill that scum.’ The Black Knight, Sersi and Hercules appear to be out for blood, for vengeance. The speed with which they destroy the Supreme Intelligence, leaving as little time as possible to back out of their mission, suggests that, instinctively, they realize they are killing a sentient being.

Ultimately, while they disagree with Iron Man and his supporters, Captain America and crew do not physically try to stop them. Soon after, Cap takes a leave of absence, during which time the Black Knight is able to impress his more aggressive fighting style upon the team. By the time Cap returns, the Avengers have become, as noted by one of their enemies, more tenacious and more savage, a notion that the Captain is not wholly uncomfortable with. ‘Maybe that’s because, over the years, the stakes have gotten higher… our enemies have become more vicious, more evil!’ he says, ‘Maybe – just maybe – it is time for a new type of Avenger!’ (#366)




Is this the sign of a paradigm shift within the Avengers? In fact, this is not as clear cut as it sounds. The Avenger who most eagerly embraces the new aggressive approach, Sersi, is not exactly in a healthy mental state at this point, and there is a growing suspicion that she is secretly murdering random strangers just for kicks. When she vaporizes an over-zealous priest in issue #359 after he ‘sacrifices’ a young girl, it is hard to tell if she is making a stand about justice, or is just looking for an excuse to let out her murderous desires. While it transpires that a man named Proctor is actually responsible for Sersi’s madness, which in theory should exonerate her of any wrongdoing, such comforts are clearly a thing of the past for the Avengers. Sersi may well have been under the control of Proctor, but the suspicion remains that Proctor simply released a desire lurking within her that could, given her level of power, ultimately imperil the entire world. The fear that this is true eventually leads her and Dane to leave this dimension for another in which Sersi can be ‘free of Proctor’s curse’ (#375). While it’s said that it’s hard to walk the path of the straight and narrow, Sersi’s predicament shows that having the will to be as ruthless as your enemies also has its price.

Appearing From The Shadows



Bob Harras’ channelling of Thomas and Englehart is most evident in his ongoing story involving the coming of the Gatherers and their attempt to kill off Sersi. The Gatherers are a group of survivors taken from dead alternate worlds, each of which has died because of the Avengers. They have come to our world because they believe that Sersi is about to destroy it, and since our world is the template for all others they are by extension attempting to save every world in existence. The notion that all worlds are merely reflections of our own would appear to take some of the sting out of the concept of alternate worlds, placing them in a subservient relationship to our own. However, the menace of the Gatherers is somewhat enhanced by their shadowy nature. One aspect of this is that, to survive on our world, the Gatherers must kill their ‘Earth Prime’ counterparts, like reflections that have come to life to murder their owners. More importantly, the Gatherers are both the source for and a reflection of much of the tension that exists for our own heroes. The first Gatherer to make his existence known is the Swordsman, counterpart of the long-dead Avenger, who casts his shadow upon the cover of issue #343. The Swordsman blames the Avengers for his death, taking a particular dislike to the Vision for his ‘affair’ with Mantis. While the Vision and the Avengers are unperturbed by the Swordsman’s accusations, the Swordsman suggests that this may be because ‘the truth is too painful’ (#344), and his re-appearance does cast some doubt on the Avengers’ nobility in the reader’s mind at least. But if the Swordsman’s appearance re-opens some old wounds for both him and the Avengers, it also offers a chance at redemption. Once he accepts that the Vision of our world is not the same character as he knew, the Swordsman and the Vision are able to become friends rather than rivals, with the Vision helping the Gatherer to adjust to our world.

On the other side of the coin, the darkest, most sinister of all the Gatherers is their leader, the red-eyed Proctor, who it turns out is using the Gatherers to take his revenge on Sersi. On his world Proctor was Sersi’s ‘Gann Josin’, which is a bonding ‘that creates a mental union between two people and makes them lifelong soulmates’ (#361). But then, years later, that world’s Sersi tired of Proctor and left him ‘discarded like a child’s toy, forgotten at day’s end’ (#374), driving Proctor mad with a thirst for revenge. At the same time as Proctor emerges the Black Knight has been made this world’s Sersi’s ‘Gann Josin’ in an effort to slow her apparent descent into madness. But in true soap-operatic style, the Knight is actually in love with another teammate, Crystal, who is in turn the estranged wife of Quicksilver. Dane’s dilemma is a reflection of the ideological shift going through the Avengers at the time: should he choose the impulsive, ruthless, uncontrollable Sersi, or the sweeter, gentler, but still powerful Crystal? Proctor is a vision of what the Black Knight may become if he chooses the former - more so than he knows, as it turns out that Proctor’s counterpart on this world is the Black Knight. But the existence of another option turns out to be Dane’s salvation: ‘I had no Crystal to love,’ Proctor tells him, ‘no innocent to save me from Sersi’s bonding… Rather, I embraced it…’ (#375) While the variations between the Avengers and their alternate-reality counterparts provide much of the tension, again it all resolves itself into a neat little symmetry in the end. As Proctor killed his world’s Sersi so does this world’s Sersi take his life, which in turn results in Sersi and Dane leaving this world, thus providing Crystal and Quicksilver with a second chance to save their marriage. Yes it’s sentimental, but like the best Avengers stories there’s a sense that you’ve just been witness to something bigger than this world and that the universe has a beautiful and fascinating order to it.

That’s not so when the other half of the Mantis/ Swordsman pairing makes her re-appearance in the next major cross-reality story, ‘The Crossing’. Unlike the Gatherers storyline, which played out its twists over the course of many months, ‘The Crossing’ reads like it was conceived to ‘shake things up’ for the Avengers as quickly as possible. Its major selling-point was that one of the key Avengers, Iron Man, was to be revealed as a traitor, who had secretly been working for Mantis and the Avengers’ old foe, Kang the Conqueror, for many years. Like most other things in this storyline, this seems like little more than an excuse to shock the readers. Kang’s and Mantis’ intentions are never really made clear; while with Proctor the gradual revelation of his plan added to the mood, here it is just tedious and infuriating. Furthermore, the Gatherers were interesting foils for the Avengers because they had both a relationship to the Avengers and a motivation for fighting them; in this case all we have is two unrelated tribes suddenly at war with each other. Mike Deodato’s pencils add some interest at least, although one is constantly in fear that all of the women’s spines are going to break. If there’s one thing that ‘The Crossing’ did get right it’s that, for the first time since the early 200s, all the classic Avengers were back on the one team again. Alas, this wasn’t enough to attract readers to the title, and less than a year later Marvel would decide to take more drastic measures.

This World Be A Joyless Place!

Although ‘The Crossing’ promised to alter The Avengers forever, its effects turned out to be remarkably short-lived. In 1996, Marvel agreed to turn over four of its longest running titles – The Avengers, Captain America, Fantastic Four and Iron Man – to popular writer/artists Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld, who, in the early 1990s, had left Marvel in order to help form Image Comics. In ‘Heroes Reborn’, Lee and Liefeld were given carte blanche to re-vamp the origins of some of Marvel’s oldest and stodgiest characters, with Liefeld taking The Avengers. The set-up was that the Avengers and the Fantastic Four had apparently sacrificed themselves to save the world, but instead had been transported to a ‘pocket reality’ with no memories of their past lives. (As part of this change, the titles were cancelled and the numbering began again from #1.) The theory was that with a blank slate before them, the creators would be free to re-create the characters from a modern-day perspective.




Considering the changes in comic books and in popular culture in general over the 30 plus years since The Avengers’ debut, one would think that Liefeld and company would see ‘Heroes Reborn’ as an opportunity to flesh out the Avengers’ mythos. Unfortunately, they take the opposite tack, and seem intent on trying to recapture past glories. There are a few novel twists – the Avengers are now a government-funded department of the espionage agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., and as such, have to worry about public perception a bit more than their old-world counterparts.[25] For the most part, however, the stories read like an Avengers’ ‘highlights reel’, with only the barest semblance of a plot to back them up. Loki schemes, Kang tries to conquer, but the stories don’t seem particularly concerned about finding a reason for them to be there as they are with having Thor and the Hulk beat the tar out of each other. Accordingly, any storytelling abilities of the artists go out the window, replaced by pin-ups of muscle-bound morons and big breasted bimbos. The long-legged, stick-waisted figure of the Enchantress at the end of issue v.2 #1 truly defies the laws of human anatomy.

Halfway through the series Liefeld has gone, and while the writing improves slightly, the whole concept becomes even more of a shambles. The sub-plots of the first seven issues that had shown the most promise (the creation of Ultron, the revelation that the Scarlet Witch is the Enchantress’ daughter) are either downplayed or discarded, and the characters stumble along with no apparent purpose. By the end of it all, it’s all horribly depressing as the Avengers are simply playthings to be thrown around at will: they have no history, no connections, and assuredly no future, which makes whatever they are fighting for utterly pointless. ‘Maybe in the next life,’ (v.2 #13) says one of the heroes, just before the end (mercifully) comes. It would be a much happier one.

Covers copyright Marvel Comics

[22] Byrne’s concurrent work on the Avengers’ sister title, Avengers West Coast, was considerably more interesting, involving the world’s governments dismantling the Vision as a result of his attempt to take over their computer systems, and the resulting mental deterioration of the Scarlet Witch.
[23] In issue #329, in which Rage does join the team, the Avengers accept a charter from the United Nations which says that this is basically all they are allowed to do lest they offend any current member nations, but the potential conflict is never played out.
[24] Of course, this level of intensity isn’t limited to comic book fans.
[25] This theme would be expanded upon several years later in another alternate version of the Avengers: The Ultimates.

Avengers Assemble!: A Pseudo-Critical History of The Avengers - Part IV

I’ve Got To Save The Day

Jim Shooter returns as writer in issue #211, with husband and wife team Janet and Henry Pym, better known as the Wasp and Yellowjacket, in tow. Through the subsequent mental disintegration of Henry Pym, Shooter would examine what it means to be a ‘hero’. Now on the same team as Cap, Thor and Iron Man, Hank feels insecure about his importance to the team, and is eager to prove that he belongs. But his eagerness makes him irritable and aggressive: he blasts one of the Wasp’s costumes to pieces when her indecision makes them late for a meeting, and he is resentful when the other Avengers voted Cap stay on as chairman without him. It is clear that, at this stage, Yellowjacket is primarily concerned with appearing like a hero rather than being one. In issue #212 he strikes down a female enemy who has stopped fighting, because, by his own admission, he is ‘so desperate to be the star’ (#213). The diminutive Janet ends up saving her husband, and his teammates’ end up court-martialling him, which adds to his sense of being ‘a failure as a husband’ and ‘as a hero’ (#213). In desperation, Hank concocts an even bigger simulation; he builds a robot to attack the Avengers at his court-martial which only he knows how to stop. The court-martial goes badly, with Hank’s delusions on full display. He chastises Cap for being ungrateful to him for ‘saving’ his life, and begs Jan to ‘tell them I really was the hero’ (#213). If Hank’s words weren’t enough to convince the Avengers otherwise, then the sight of Jan’s face as she takes off her glasses - one black eye and tears streaming out of the other - surely is. To top it all off, Hank’s plan is a failure – the Avenger who saves the others from the robot is not him, but Jan, who instinctively acts to save her husband. His ruse uncovered, Yellowjacket leaves the mansion with his head bowed low, his life as a hero all but over.



Unfortunately for Hank, the more he tries to become a hero, the worse things get. In a lapse of judgment, in issue #217 he accepts an offer from his enemy Egghead to help his niece, which ends up with Yellowjacket attacking the Avengers and landing in jail. The departure of Tigra, who has only been an Avenger for five issues, in issue #216 makes an interesting comparison: she quickly realizes that she is not in the same league as the other Avengers, and happily says her goodbyes. Whilst in jail Hank has time to contemplate his past mistakes. Things seem to go awry when Egghead and the new Masters of Evil capture him at his trial, and force him to work for them. But Hank gets his payback as he uses his intellect to trick his foes and defeat them all single-handedly. ‘I’ve come to terms with myself in the past month,’ he tells Egghead, ‘I know who I am, and who I’m not! I’m not Ant-Man anymore! I’m not Giant-Man… or Goliath… or Yellowjacket! I’m Henry Pym!’ (#230) Hank no longer needs to ‘play super hero’, after all, any good man can wear a costume, as Hank tells the Avengers as he hands over the Yellowjacket suit. But a better man will admit to the Avengers and, more importantly, to Jan that what he did, he did to himself. This time around, Henry Pym can leave the mansion with his head held high.

By the time Yellowjacket makes his exit Roger Stern has become the series’ writer, and he soon focuses on another Avenger who is over-eager to be a hero, albeit on a much grander scale. In issue #238, the Vision’s powers are substantially increased after Starfox uses his home planet’s supercomputer, ISAAC, to help repair damage to the android’s body. As a result, the Vision is ‘at one with ISAAC’ and is now able to ‘out-think, out-deduce any computer system in the world.’ (#238) However, with this expansion in capability comes a expansion in ego; ISSAC, as Starfox explains, ‘for all intents and purposes’ runs his world, and the Vision gradually takes a more proactive role in the Avengers’ affairs. When most of the other senior Avengers are taken off-world (#243), the Vision assumes chairmanship of the Avengers for himself, a position he retains once the others return. He quickly uses the chairmanship to expand his influence with both the government and the public, developing a persona that is part-lobbyist, part used-car salesman. While his teammates are happy to see that he has ‘mellowed out’ (#250), they also find it at a little unsettling, sensing that the Vision may be trying a little too hard to be the charismatic leader. Subconsciously, the Vision too senses this: in issue #251, the Vision dreams of himself as the wise, handsome, human leader of Marvel’s super-human community who is suddenly interrupted by a mechanical abomination that claims to be part of his true self. The machine’s claim is soon verified when its face-plate is removed to reveal the Vision’s ‘human face’ lying underneath, and then Wanda pulls off the skin from the Vision’s face to reveal the machine’s face underneath. The Vision wakes up in a sweat, trying to reassure himself that ‘it was… just a dream.’ (#251)



One way of interpreting the Vision’s dream is that by denying his ‘machine-like’ side, the Vision has become unbalanced, out of touch with himself and those around him.[19] In issue #252, after arsonists destroy his and Wanda’s suburban home, the Vision becomes fed up with ‘the human approach’. Under ISAAC’s influence, the Vision abandons his android body, and uses his souped-up artificial intelligence to take control of the world’s computer systems. Needless to say those freedom-fighting Avengers are soon on his case; however, the Vision’s attempts to prevent them from stopping him are masterful, utilizing both his technological capabilities and his understanding of the human psyche. He takes control of the mansion’s systems, and then when the Avengers get through those, he tries to convince them by way of argument. His explanation for his actions is the same for all Avengers, but in each case he chooses the holographic form which is likely to hold the most weight for his intended audience: the casually-dressed brother-like figure for Wonder Man, the muscle-bound warrior for Hercules and the Black Knight, and the handsome, human-faced companion for the Scarlet Witch. The Avengers, however, manage to argue successfully that, while the Vision can control the world’s machines, he won’t be able to control the human element. It’s all over relatively quickly given the previous fifteen issues of build-up, but perhaps this is meant to be a sign that the Vision never really wanted that much power anyway. ‘I wanted to be a good husband to my wife… to be able to live in peace,’ he tells Wonder Man, ‘The world wouldn’t let me… I had to try…’ (#254) Like Yellowjacket the Vision’s desire to become a better hero stemmed from confusion about what it takes to be a better man. And for both of them, the mark of a good man is that, in the end, they try to correct their mistakes.

I Don’t Know Which One Of You Is The Bigger Idiot!

The Vision sub-plot takes up most of the first half of Roger Stern’s run on The Avengers, winding its way around various miscellaneous threats. These issues are enjoyable without being remarkable, with the artwork being a little too light to be taken seriously. During this time, the creative team counters the dourness of the line-up by adding characters that genuinely want to be Avengers, including Starfox, She-Hulk and a new Captain Marvel. Captain Marvel, in particular, is a breath of fresh air: there has been a tendency in The Avengers for African-American characters to take the moral high ground, but Monica Rambeau is as down-to-earth as anybody and relates well to her teammates. She is the most powerful of the Avengers without being overbearingly so, and is eventually elected leader of the team. Meanwhile, Hawkeye is jettisoned off to form a West Coast branch of Avengers, who would provide further hi-jinks by teaming up with the main group every now and then. There’s certainly a bit to like ‘about the playful good humour and happy fellowship’ (#250) of the Avengers during this period, but without that extra oomph to the stories they are easily forgotten.

With the Vision and Scarlet Witch’s departure in issue #255 however, Stern begins to hit top gear. By that time most of the Avengers’ members are characters that have been introduced to the team during his run. But the main change is that John Buscema and Tom Palmer return to The Avengers, and their darker, more accomplished artwork seems to inspire Stern to up the ante. Over the next thirty issues, the Avengers face such heavyweights as the giant alien Terminus, the space pirate Nebula and her army of intergalactic misfits, the omnipotent Beyonder, multiple versions of Kang the Conqueror, Baron Zemo and a souped-up Masters of Evil, and last but not least, the entire pantheon of Greek Gods. The vestige of camp that has clung to the Avengers in the post-Thomas era is finally swept away as the Avengers have to smarten up significantly to deal with these new and more powerful threats.



Having said that, the more powerful the threats, the more child-like they are in their outlook upon the universe - and therefore the more dangerous. Kang, Nebula and the second Baron Zemo, none of whom have super-powers, demonstrate quite a bit more cunning and organization than their counterparts. But even here there is an element of childishness inherent in these foes: Nebula is the granddaughter of the Avengers’ old foe Thanos, Baron Zemo the son of the Nazi scientist who fought the original Avengers, and Kang a younger, more bloodthirsty version of Immortus. Kang’s rise and fall in issues #267-269 is essentially engineered by Immortus to teach his younger self a lesson in maturity, which he fails when he snatches from Immortus a globe containing the memories of all the divergent Kangs, and goes mad as a result. Similarly, Baron Zemo recruits an army of super-villains to take over the Avengers’ mansion in issues #271-277 because he is unable to accept that his father, not Captain America, was responsible for his own death. The second Zemo’s own downfall comes when, in a tantrum, he lunges at Cap and falls off the mansion’s rooftop.

Terminus is even more pathetically juvenile; in issues #256-257 he trudges through the Savage Land causing massive destruction like an overgrown toddler smashing his playthings. ‘You are mine, to do with as I choose!’ he tells the natives (#256). When Hercules destroys his armour Terminus flounders in the snow like a huge flabby baby. The Avengers leave him flat on his back, shouting empty threats, in denial that he no longer has the power to do whatever he wishes. In issues #281-285, Zeus, most powerful of the Greek Gods, sentences the Avengers to eternity in Hades, based on the false belief that they are responsible for his son, Hercules, being placed into a coma. Zeus, blind with rage, will not listen to the Avengers’ protestations of innocence, and many of his children are just as headstrong; the Avengers waste a considerable amount of energy and breath before they are able to talk some sense into them. For the Beyonder, who continually pops up in issues #260-261, the whole of reality is his toybox. The Beyonder is intent on experiencing as much of the universe as possible, whether it be flipping switches in a research facility, or impaling himself on a sharpened blade. He pursues the Avengers not out of malice, but because he thinks it is their ‘form of sport’ (#261). Because of his naivete and limitless power, the Avengers are more scared of the Beyonder than anyone. ‘With his power… a dream might erase all of reality!’ thinks Captain America, gritting his teeth in horror (#265). The rational foes, the schemers, simply want to rule the world; if existence comes to its final end then it is more likely to be through a single act of irrationality.

Interlude: And You Shall Learn Why We Be Called Avengers!

When a series has run as long as The Avengers has, there are some questions that fans inevitably ask themselves and each other. Who is the best character in the Avengers? What is the ideal Avengers line-up? What is the greatest Avengers story? The answers to these questions are always subjective and have been debated so often that I can’t really add that much value to them. But if you’ll allow me to indulge in my fanboy persona for a moment, I will say this: the Roger Stern/ John Buscema/ Tom Palmer books (issues #255-286, except #280) were the greatest Avengers run ever. And here’s why:

Firstly, the plots, especially from #267 onwards, were never contrived or nonsensical; instead, they always flowed logically from earlier developments in the series.[20] Yet because no-one had ever thought of them before, they always seemed fresh and new. If Kang the Conqueror is continually mucking about with the time-stream, then it makes sense that his actions would create doubles of himself, and that these doubles would be hell-bent on destroying each other. Similarly, if small groups of villains have always failed to defeat the Avengers, then it makes sense for someone to organize an army of villains to defeat them. And if Hercules is beaten into a coma in such a battle, then it makes sense that his ever-impetuous father Zeus might blame the Avengers for his son’s state and seek his revenge. Thomas, Englehart and Shooter, for all their strengths, were sometimes rather ham-handed in the way they created situations to shock readers, in Stern’s case, the surprises are entirely due to a clever structuring and sequencing of events.

Secondly, the Avengers are treated with respect, rather than as overgrown children. Just about every writer of The Avengers has attempted to manufacture petty conflicts within the Avengers ranks, in the belief that the resulting histrionics will heighten the emotional tension in the title (and they often do). Of the Stern/Buscema line-up only Hercules and the Sub-Mariner regularly behave in this way, and the other members consider them fools for it. The advantages of this approach are twofold. One, although the Stern/Buscema line-up is not the most powerful the Avengers have ever had, treating the Avengers as professionals means that everything around them, including their enemies, is elevated as a result.[21] Two, because the Avengers do generally show restraint in their emotions on the occasions when they do lower their guard it becomes a lot more significant. The scene at the end of #277, in which Captain America kneels amongst the ruins of the Mansion, crying over the torn picture of his late mother is, for my money, as touching a moment as the series has ever seen. But Cap’s invitation to Namor to join the Avengers, Wasp’s resignation as chairwoman and Captain Marvel’s subsequent acceptance of the post, and Hercules’ admittance to his father that it was his actions that led to him being beaten into a coma, are all similarly poignant.



Finally, while I’ve extolled the virtues of Buscema and Palmer’s artwork before, they had become even better artists by the mid-1980s. Buscema had always been an exciting artist but by this stage he had developed a greater range, adept at dispersing quieter moments amidst the action. This gave his pencils a more mature, realistic look, more like a fantasy artist than a doodler. Buscema and Palmer’s artwork was grand but not overblown, heavy but not ugly. To me, more than just about anybody else, they make a world in which heroes routinely hop out of New York and travel into space and through time seem possible, and yet at the same time mysterious, almost beyond reach.

In the final analysis, the main criticism of the Stern/ Buscema/ Palmer run that I can think of — and the reason why it is only the greatest run, and not the definitive run — is that Stern’s writing has not had a large influence on subsequent stories. Certainly one can see an influence on the creators that directly followed, particularly John Byrne, who tended to portray a slicker, more professional Avengers outfit than in years past. However, these stories also tended to privilege the plot at the expense of the characters, which led to a somewhat more de-humanized book than when Stern was handling the writing chores. As we shall see, things swung back the other way once Bob Harras became the writer, and basically all of the writers since have made sure to keep ‘character conflict’ at the forefront of the action. As a result, these writers have generally looked beyond Stern’s tenure to the stories of Shooter, Thomas and Englehart for their inspiration. Also, these early writers created a larger pool of characters than Stern, who was more adept at renewing established concepts.

From the mid-1990s onwards, mainstream superheroics has put a lot of emphasis on portraying characters that readers can relate to, partly as a reaction against the ‘grim and gritty’ comics that were prevalent earlier in the decade. As a consequence, writers have made sure to flesh out the everyday lives of their characters, showing that, for all their powers, they’re just as human as anybody else. But in doing so there are instances where the stories try a little too hard, where they seem like their main aim is to prove to readers that their characters are as cool as any of the people you would see in movies, or on TV, or down at the mall. In contrast, Stern, Buscema and Palmer’s stories rarely seemed like they had anything to prove. And that, for me, will forever be the difference.

Covers copyright Marvel Comics

[19] Another interpretation is that the appearance of the machine foreshadows the Vision melding further with ISAAC (the machine and ISAAC do share some facial similarities).
[20] You could also make the same claim about the roster changes that Stern made.
[21] The line-up is pretty powerful when Thor, the She-Hulk, Namor and Captain Marvel are briefly together though.

Avengers Assemble!: A Pseudo-Critical History of The Avengers - Part III

The Passion Only We Two Could Have

Roy Thomas’ successor as Avengers writer was Steve Englehart, who joined the title with issue #106. Perhaps in an effort to emulate Thomas, Englehart’s initial plots tended to rely on shocking and bizarre situations, with the explanations for these situations often being somewhat incongruous. However his later stories were quite effective at stringing out plot-lines over the course of several issues and then tying them together, even if some of the seams showed through. Similarly, the artwork became smoother and cleaner as Englehart’s run went on, with the rough but dynamic sketches of penciler Bob Brown eventually morphing into the gorgeous layouts and backdrops of the very talented George Perez. Notably, Englehart’s ability to juggle several plot-lines simultaneously allowed him to interject an element of soap-opera into the title, which led to a greater focus upon the characters themselves.

The main players in Englehart’s ongoing drama were the Vision and the Scarlet Witch on one hand, and newcomers the Swordsman and Mantis on the other. The Vision and Wanda’s love is still in its early stages when the mustachioed musketeer and his Oriental lady-love arrive on the scene. Mantis appears to be a considerably more accomplished woman than the troubled mutant sorceress: whereas the Witch’s power is unpredictable and leaves her drained, Mantis’ mastery of the martial arts is enough to cripple even the mighty Thor.[12] The Vision and Mantis soon develop a mutual admiration for each other’s abilities. Mantis is impressed by how the Vision saves her after she is thrown off the top of a building, while the Vision in turn is impressed by how Mantis uses logical deduction to dispatch one of their foes. (For the Vision, this is probably the equivalent of Mantis lying naked in his bedroom.) In both body and mind they seem to be a cut above their counterparts. Another similarity is that neither of them knows their true origin. ‘I know what it means to be tutored – or programmed – and not know why,’ says the Vision to Mantis when she comes into his room, ‘—so perhaps, as we seek our own answers, what one of us learns will be of help to the other.’ (#128) ‘Yes, our lives must draw more closely together,’ Mantis replies. As it turns out, there’s no real connection between their pasts at all. When their origins are revealed they are told in parallel narratives, with the Vision only having to go back in time a mere three decades to learn the answers to his past, while Mantis has to travel back to the beginnings of civilization.

And what of those who love them? The Swordsman is the first to become jealous of the Vision’s and Mantis’ mutual admiration society. At heart, the Swordsman feels he is unworthy of Mantis: he is basically considered to be a loser (and is often referred to as such) and continually tries to prove himself to her. This doesn’t always work out for the best – in #123 he tries to exact revenge on the men who killed Mantis’ mother and inadvertently causes the slaughter of the priests who raised her. The Swordsman’s need to validate himself in Mantis’ eyes is considered a sign of weakness by her – when she abandons him in issue #128 she says that she hopes he ‘will prove a stronger man’ than he has been. The Swordsman promptly proves his manliness by becoming a violent, slobbering mess. The Scarlet Witch also tries to prove her worth when she becomes aware of her love’s growing admiration for another: thinking that the Vision is attracted to Mantis’ power she over-compensates by becoming more aggressive in her use of her powers and boasting about ‘crushing’ her foes (#125). But unlike the Swordsman, Wanda channels her feelings of inadequacy into adding another dimension to her powers, as she begins to learn ‘true’ witchcraft from the aged Agatha Harkness. Tellingly, she stays behind from a mission in order to continue her studies, even though it means that she can’t track of what the Vision and ‘that man-trap’ are doing (#130). While Wanda loves the Vision, she can get along without him – a level of independence that the Swordsman has not achieved.



‘It’s Wanda I love,’ the Vision tells Mantis, ‘No matter how irritable she has been lately.’ (#128) For those who believe that true love is destined to be, all these various conflicts are wrapped up rather nicely. When Kang the Conqueror returns to threaten his love the Swordsman pulls himself together and eventually dies a heroic death saving Mantis’ life. The Swordsman’s demise is enough for Mantis to realize how selfish she has been and that she really does love the big screw-up after all. But death does not part them, as the Swordsman’s body is re-animated by an alien presence, allowing the two lovers to be together for all time. Meanwhile the Vision is sufficiently buoyed by learning the secrets of his heritage to ask Wanda to marry him. Hence, after months of speculation, the whole thing comes to a neat little ending with the combined wedding of the two happy couples. The Vision and the Scarlet Witch continue their lives as Avengers, while the Swordsman and Mantis head for the stars. It seems that, in the end, they were nothing more than a passing phase for the Avengers, as the Avengers were nothing more than a passing phase for them.

I’ll Give You More Power!

Whereas, during their early adventures, the Avengers’ foes seemed to take a special pleasure in seeking them out and beating them senseless, in the 1970s the Avengers increasingly found themselves thrown in the way of the merely power-hungry. In issues #129-132 Kang the Conqueror travels to the twentieth century in order to seek out the woman who will be the Celestial Madonna, ‘she who will bear the one!’ (#129) According to Kang, the few records that survive of our era say that ‘her mate… will be the most powerful man on Earth… Father to the child -- and through him, ruler of the heavens!’ (#129) Kang, of course, intends to be that man, and since the indicators show that the Celestial Madonna is a member of the Avengers our heroes are in his sights. It seems that Kang doesn’t lack for ambition, as Thor says, ‘if he be mad, then ‘tis a great madness indeed!’ (#129) Yet after the Avengers thwart his scheme, it appears that Kang will be happy with anything he can get. In issues #141-143, Thor, Hawkeye and new member Moondragon encounter him in the old American West, terrorizing the small town of Tombstone. Stationed in his futuristic citadel, Kang now wants to conquer all of time through conquering the nineteenth century; a fair indication that the Avengers already have him on the back foot.[13] Eventually, when confronted by Thor, Kang panics and turns up the power-levels of his suit beyond capacity, thereby destroying the suit and him self along with it. Kang’s denial that he is no longer synonymous with power is evident in his final words: ‘I’m Kang – invincible!’ he screams as he is torn apart, ‘No! More! Kang! Conquers! Conquers! More! Kang! Kang! KANG’ (#143)

Kang is not the only one seeking an object of seemingly ultimate power. In issues #147-148 the Avengers return to the Squadron Supreme’s world, which is now run by a cartel of corporations through the power of an ‘arcane obscenity’ known as the Serpent Crown. The cartel is headed by U.S. President Nelson Rockefeller on whose head the Crown proudly sits. But those who wear the Crown do not possess its power in as much as it possesses them. The Crown psychically links together all those wear it and in the process each of them becomes the ‘serpent’s slave.’ (#147) The Scarlet Witch comes into possession of the Crown for only a short period of time, but that is enough time for her to turn on her husband, the Vision, when he tries to take it off her. The Crown not only has a hold on its wearers, but by its mere presence, can exert influence over even the mightiest of super-beings, as shown by the Squadron Supreme blindly accepting Rockefeller’s authority. Disguised as the President, new Avenger the Beast delivers a clever parody of Rockefeller’s motives in an attempt to open the Squadron’s eyes to the truth. ‘We run your lives, and you don’t know it…,’ he tells them, ‘all we really want is power! The talk’s just to get you to give it to us!’ (#148) Once the Squadron take on the Avengers’ view and look past the symbol of Rockefeller’s power they quickly realize their Emperor has no clothes (as indeed he does at this point). Like Kang, Rockefeller is banking on a power outside of his self to grant him authority, but once this is gone, he has even less to fall back on.



In issues #164-166, written by Jim Shooter and drawn by John Byrne, Count Nefaria is intent on relying on the power of no-one but himself. He frees a trio of Avengers foes from prison only to steal their powers and increase them a hundredfold, making him essentially the most powerful man on the planet. Nefaria revels in his power because it allows him to ‘indulge any whim I’ve ever had’ (#165), yet it becomes apparent that, as Thor notes, Nefaria’s lust for power arises out of fear. When Thor first attacks Nefaria, the Count pleads with him to stay back and only regains his confidence when he learns that he can withstand the blows of the mighty thunder god. Still, there is something greater that Nefaria shies away from – death. Nefaria’s face is filled with dismay when the aged Whizzer reminds him that he will die within twenty or thirty years, at which point he will be no more than ‘a nightmare that has ended’ (#165). Nefaria hopes to prevent this, only to have the scientist who gave him his powers trick him into believing that he is now aging at an accelerated rate. This drives Nefaria mad, and in an attempt to better mark his passing, he tries to take New York City with him. He is, as Thor says, a man with the power of a god, but without the wisdom to match. The Avengers eventually put a halt to Nefaria’s rampage in spectacular fashion, with the Vision falling an entire mile on top of him, thus grinding him into the street.



Nefaria’s aim of godhood is achieved by another Avengers’ foe, Michael Korvac, who in the process seemingly finds a higher purpose for his power. Korvac’s aim is to ‘make subtle alterations in the fabric of reality, eventually taking control – and correcting the chaos, healing the injustice that civilization has heaped upon a battered universe’ (#175). Led into believing that Korvac is ‘the Enemy’, the Avengers set out to expose him. This comes to a head in the awesome issue #177, in which the Avengers provoke Korvac into battle and he slaughters them one-by-one (!), before eventually dying himself.[14] Thor considers this proof that Korvac is evil, but Moondragon tells him that Korvac has restored the Avengers to life with his dying breath. ‘He was not evil…’ she tells Thor, ‘He sought not to rule us… He wished only to free us from the capricious whims of eternity!’ (#177) Moondragon’s views are debatable – Korvac clearly wants to have authority over all of existence, even if his reign would be a ‘sane and benevolent one’ (#176).[15] Yet, if left unchecked, Korvac’s alterations may well have seemed like part of the natural order of the universe. Again, it all comes down to freedom, and for the Avengers, freedom is more important than peace. But, at the least, the encounter with Korvac shows that the choice between good and evil is not as clear-cut as the Avengers might believe.

Happily Ever After

‘Folks need people who add excitement to their lives,’ says the blue-furred Beast to his good pal Wonder Man at the start of issue #181, ‘people who can do things they can’t –‘, and then he bounces jubilantly into the air.[16] Issues #181-202 are fondly remembered by those Avengers fans who were teenagers in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and it’s not difficult to see why. During these issues, the Avengers are the bunch of buddies that your average quiet, fantasy-loving white boy wishes he had. They fight giant Japanese robots and skull-faced assassins. They rescue pretty young women and plant kisses on their female foes as they are carted off in handcuffs (as Hawkeye does with Deathbird). They go out drinking until sunrise and stumble back arm-in-arm singing Herman’s Hermits (the Beast and Wonder Man again). And last, but not least, they ‘stick it’ to the man who is causing problems for their happy family, Henry Peter Gyrich, by suggesting that if he wants to remove the Avengers’ government security clearance then perhaps he should go out and fight the supervillains himself.[17] Adding to the communal feel is the fact that no particular creator stamps their authority upon the book during this period; David Micheline is the main writer, but he is helped out by Steven Grant, Jim Shooter and Mark Gruenwald, while star artists John Byrne and George Perez share penciling duties and also make contributions to the plots. If Englehart’s run can be summed up by Mantis and the Vision talking intensely in a dark, spare room then issues #181-202 can be summed up by the Avengers standing around in the snow drinking cocoa.



However, while the boys are off drinking and fighting big robots, things are not going so well for the female contingent of the team. In issues #197-198 it is revealed that the attractive Ms. Marvel is suddenly three months pregnant, and even more disturbingly, there is no father. The child is really a man named Marcus, son of the Avengers’ long-time foe Immortus, who in order to escape his home dimension of Limbo, kidnapped Ms. Marvel and, through sexual intercourse, implanted her with his ‘essence’ so that she would give birth to him once she returned to Earth. Hawkeye unwittingly destroys the machine that would make Marcus’ transferal to Earth permanent, meaning that he has to return to Limbo, to ‘live in solemn, solitary hell unto infinity’ (#200). But, after having initially wanted to have nothing to do with her ‘child’, Ms. Marvel decides that she will accompany Marcus back to Limbo. The Avengers have their misgivings but soon help the seemingly happy couple on their way. Once they are gone, Iron Man tries to cheer up the disconsolate Hawkeye, telling him that ‘we’ve just got to believe that everything worked out for the best.’ (#200)

At first pass this all seems reasonable enough, and if Ms. Marvel had never been heard from again, most readers (go on, admit it) would probably have assumed that Iron Man’s words had come true. It was up to X-Men writer Chris Claremont to show that, despite their camaraderie, the Avengers still had a great deal to learn about human relationships.[18] Ms. Marvel returns in Avengers Annual #10, and reveals that, in reality, Marcus had been controlling her all along, which she learnt when Marcus died on his return to Limbo. Ms. Marvel blames the Avengers for their complicity in the affair: ‘There I was pregnant by an unknown source… confused, terrified…’ she tells them, ‘You didn’t question. You didn’t doubt. You simply let me go with a smile and a wave and a bouncy bon voyage.’ (Annual #10) In issue #200 Ms. Marvel’s reservations were touched upon, but it seemed that she had forgiven Marcus for his actions. Claremont’s critique reveals those actions to be tantamount to rape: Marcus’ admission that he had used a ‘subtle boost from Immortus’ machines’ to win Ms. Marvel’s love now seems little different to using a date-rape drug, and his description of Carol as ‘the perfect vessel’ (#200) seems blatantly misogynistic. Marcus is the dark corollary of the Boys’ Own hero, ‘possessing the powers of a god, the body of a man, the emotional maturity of a child.’ (Annual #10) For the Avengers and their fans time moves on as they come to learn that they need to make the extra effort to help those they care about. This issue would raise its head again before too long; this time, the Avengers would learn from their mistakes.

Covers copyright Marvel Comics

[12] Mantis also manages to save the Scarlet Witch from a thuggish construction worker in her first appearance.
[13] On the other hand (and in fairness to our 19th century ancestors), since Kang comes from the 41st century perhaps there’s little difference.
[14] This is even more impressive considering the Avengers’ ranks have reached battalion-levels by this point.
[15] Moondragon’s views may also be coloured by her own views of godhood – she is, after all, the one who told Thor he was ‘slumming’ it with the Avengers, and she would later try and use her powers to bring about ‘universal peace’ herself.
[16] Yep, Wonder Man wasn’t as dead as he seemed.
[17] Gyrich is also the man who demanded that the Avengers reduce their roster size to a ‘mere’ seven members; perhaps in defiance of the government it takes about another couple of years for the Avengers to actually reduce their membership to this level.
[18] Part of the credit should go to Carol Strickland for her article ‘The Rape of Ms. Marvel’, which reportedly influenced Claremont’s work.

Sounds Like Chicken: ...Like A Cannonball To The Ocean Floor

The title and cover of Sounds Like Chicken’s one and only full-length recording brings to mind an album filled to the brim with blood and cutlasses, loot and scurvy. In fact, beyond the titles and a few tracks, the pirate theme turns out to be more of a jumping-off point than a full-blown concept, which works better. A seven-piece ska band from Melbourne, SLC did a decent job of capturing the energy of their live shows on this release. ‘Walk Ye The Plank’ kicks things off right, a lurching beast of a tune punctuated by a barking chorus of ‘Hey! Ho!’, which, even though it’s been used dozens of times, doesn’t seem tired here. From there, the album stumbles a little - ‘The Battle of Stentorian’ aspires to be epic, but isn’t entirely convincing. But then ‘Global Domination’ saunters in with its tight rhythms, rumbling vocals and loud guitar, and the SLC banner again flies high. ‘A battle cry from the rebel elite’ may sound like something of an oxymoron, but its sentiment is perfect for a bunch of rowdy young males. ‘Entrails’ takes aim at B-grade actors and watchers of current affairs programs, both of which, in terms of being objects of denigration, are only slightly harder targets than Michael Jackson. ‘Scourge of the Black Spot’, an intentionally shanty-like tune, is one of several tracks that revolves around dodgy in-jokes, in this case the mythical Captain Borange (guess what that rhymes with). Nevertheless, these bits of nonsense do add a bit of colour and range to the album: a good example is the hapless student asking for ‘Piano Lessons’, which leads into the building groove and eventual outburst of ‘The Awakening Pt 2’. The instrumental ‘The Payoff’ initially seems like a breather amidst all the blood and butchery, but turns out to be the best track of the lot. It combines a chilled-out rhythm with a ripping saxophone solo, moving beyond the borders of ska into the realms of reggae and jazz. ‘Spilt Beers and Drunken Tears’ rolls in like the fag-end of a drunken night that’s devolved into crap but which you still wouldn’t trade away. The slightly rough, unbroken chorus is a highlight. ‘The Ballad of William Stout’ is another slice of gibberish, while the closer, ‘Take A Bullet To The Grave’, ends the album on a suitably furious note. Like the rotting skull on its cover, ‘Like A Cannonball…’ almost seems like the id set loose, but it’s generally reined in before the throat’s bled dry. All in all, it’s a fun package – as goofy as the band’s moniker, and as sharp as the knife of the filthiest brigand.

Wool and Water

Meg sits knitting, anxiously slipping off the stitches, through the height of the afternoon. The cool sea breeze enters the room and lightly disturbs the smooth flaps of her cotton dress. A sign of strong seafaring weather, says her aunt wistfully, sewing with her three attractive cousins (less wistful than capricious and haughty) at the long wooden bench. Hopefully it means a fine homeward gale for our own distant sailors. Meg gives her a smile. Like the wily warrior, he would one day return. But for now there is a huge school order to fill, and she doesn’t know if it will be finished by the following Monday. The needle guides her tingling hand, over and under, and along the tossing threads of blue wool, forming a pattern that loops, that shimmers…
Waves lap, under the ache of the caustic sun. Then the rummy haze and the stars like moss-covered silver. To follow the crack of gunfire and to bathe in a pool of blood and salt, and after all is done, will he return to port with them, perched upon the spar, or will they skin his worthless bones? He is resting in the cabin, below deck, when John Black bursts in to tell him that a coastal town has been sighted to the west. His only reply is to look at the wall, to the east. The mate, in jest, punches him on the shoulder, ‘Cairn’t ye show yuir face for once, ye Ol’ Grey Dog?’ They call him that though he is neither old nor grey. Eventually, Black leaves and he returns again to dividing up the loot. Then, having completed his task, he lies down, curled upon his hammock, and closes his blistered eyelids. He does not lie down on shore again for forty more years.

She spies him at the base of the pier, hunched over, smelling the mackerel.
‘Beautiful morning, isn’t it?’ she calls to him.
He looks up, and takes the hook out from between his teeth. ‘Why Meg, m’lady, it’s abs’lootly balmy. Lord don’ make it better for me, nay?’
The net hangs loosely over the bow. ‘You’re a fisherman now, then?’
‘Bin cast by dis here ocean too darn’d long. Nee’d to set down, ye kno’. Nee’d to claim it f’me own.’ She looks into his old grey eyes. ‘So howz ye’ve bin, Meg?’
‘Business is well. My niece is running most of the day-to-day stuff now.’
‘Goo’. Goo’. Tha’s be cheery news.’ He walks halfway across the pier, and then turns around.
‘Come inside, m’lady, m’dame, m’maharanee.’

At ten-thirty sharp each day, he mops the cedar-wood floor and scrubs off the salt that seeps from the chimney bricks. He shaves the carp, and wraps them in blankets. Always the fisherman, he wears his waterproof coat and galoshes indoors as he potters around the cupboards making coffee for her, Chinese tea for himself. He coughs up saliva constantly. He lights three candles, and places them all in the centre of the round table at which she sits. Then he sits down opposite her, and rubs his grey beard red, twisting and twirling the long thick hairs with his fingers, and all the while he is saying,

‘I men t’ come ho’, Meg. Men t’ come ho’.’

An albatross, Ishmael’s bane, flies boldly out to sea. I leave him, and walk barefoot across the waterlogged sand. Even now, the sky and ocean meet in a calm turquoise. But what is this thing that lures men away, following the strip of red-gold, and brings them back as cloaked beggars?
There is a memory that I did not tell him about, that I do not have. I stand outside each night, wrapped in my blue woollen cardigan, and trace a crooked path from my waist up to my chin. When I look up, I see him floating into shore, nestled lightly on a sailboat hewn from a falling star. I walk out to him, and he smothers me, in pearls, in spices, before finally, drenched in essence, we drift together until daylight comes. Drift until the moment I turn over to find him gone, departed, a glint upon the waves.

Avengers Assemble!: A Pseudo-Critical History of The Avengers - Part II

A Climatic Culmination of Cooperative Creativity!

Roy Thomas replaced Stan Lee as writer with issue #35, and would chronicle The Avengers for the next seventy issues. He was joined by artist John Buscema for around half of those issues, with Don Heck, Sal Buscema, Barry Smith and Neal Adams (among others) also lending a hand. Although Lee and Kirby were the team that created the Avengers, from around the 50s onwards Thomas and Buscema would produce what was arguably the definitive run of Avengers comics. More literate than Lee and more classical than Kirby, Thomas and Buscema created a world for the Avengers that drew heavily upon both science fiction and mythology, but which was still realistic enough to make you believe that the Avengers actually live in a mansion in the center of New York.[6] Subsequent creative teams would each attempt to capture the epic scope of the Thomas/Buscema tales, while keeping the Avengers grounded in the city that surrounds them.

Thomas, for one, was evidently keen to mix things up for his heroes. He had the Avengers travel through time and to alternate universes, sent them into space to stop interstellar conflicts, storm the halls of Olympus, home of the Greek gods, and fight giant demons made out of fire and ice. But he also had the Avengers head to the mountains to avenge a tribe of Native Americans, protect the streets from the dangers of racist hate-groups, and hire themselves out as demolition workers to a greedy tycoon. Notably, Thomas tightened up the relationships between the main cast members, with Yellowjacket (formerly Goliath) marrying the Wasp, Goliath (formerly Hawkeye) revealing his true identity to his teammates, albeit obliquely, and the Vision and the Scarlet Witch gradually falling in love. Most of the line-up either lived in or spent the majority of their time hanging around the Mansion, while solo adventurers Thor, Iron Man and Captain America were reserved for guest appearances.

Buscema’s art, meanwhile, reflected this blend between the everyday and the extraordinary. When a long-haired, muscle-bound warlord stumbles into the room and proclaims himself Arkon the Magnificent, you believe it. Conversely, Buscema also makes it seem perfectly natural for a police officer to threaten a ten foot hero with arrest for blocking city traffic. Buscema’s artwork is a little darker in tone than that of most other Avengers artists; no-one walks when they can prowl, no-one talks when they can scream in anguish, and a lot of the members that appear during his run – the Vision, the Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, the Black Panther and the Black Knight – aren’t exactly the most happy-go-lucky bunch of characters. One often gets the sense when reading through his stories that the Avengers’ world teeters on the edge of destruction. Nevertheless, Buscema’s art set the visual template for other artists to follow – strong figures, dynamic angles, and just the right amount of detail to set the scene for the action. Having said all that though, let’s start with an issue drawn by Buscema’s predecessor, Don Heck, to show how the world has become a much more disturbing place for Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

Time, the Rushing River…

Although in The Avengers, readers are continuously confronted with the possibility that things may take a turn for the worse, at the end of the day, our heroes are still around to protect the world from those who would threaten it. By the time the next issue rolls around, most of the possible courses that events may have taken are shelved are forgotten, thus lending a seeming inevitability to the Avengers’ lives. In Avengers Annual #2, the current-day Avengers are confronted with an alternate history in which the original line-up, under the influence of the villainous Scarlet Centurion, have effectively taken over the world.[7] The Centurion has basically tricked the Avengers into neutralizing every being with superpowers, under the pretence that this will correct a ‘cosmic imbalance’ and enable the Centurion to create a paradise on Earth. The Avengers therefore believe that they are doing ‘good’ in following the Centurion’s instructions, but the results are almost as bad as if their worst foe had been left unchecked. All the heroes are defeated (even before the super villains), and the public stand in silent fear of anyone in a costume, as shown when the current-day line-up arrive on this world.[8] Clearly, despite the Avengers’ best intentions, something has gone horribly wrong.



Or has it? Maybe it’s the case that one’s intentions are defined by one’s actions. ‘She’s snarling out her words so venomously… with such strong hatred!’ notes the Wasp as she fights against her alternate self, ‘years of self appointed world-saving have made her as cruel as the worst super-villain!’ (Annual #2) Or perhaps one’s intentions are irrelevant, as long as the results of one’s actions are for the best. ‘Are we certain we have the right to oppose them… merely to safeguard our own existence?’ the current-day team wonders, ‘If we were guilty of robbing the earth of a virtual golden age..!’ Captain America convinces them otherwise, ‘Mankind has often tried to escape from freedom… into the open arms of tyranny! Over the long haul, the result’s always been the same…’ These Avengers will fight to stop any dictatorship, benign or otherwise.

‘Time is like a river,’ says the Black Panther, ‘Dam it up at any one point… and it has no choice but to flow elsewhere… along other, easier routes!’ While it may seem, in hindsight, that history is following its natural course, any other course would seem just as natural had it occurred. When the new Avengers have left the Mansion and we check in on what the original Avengers are doing, it’s as if we’ve been following these characters for the past five years, and the new Avengers are the interlopers. Where the two teams fundamentally differ is in their attitude to history. The ‘old’ Avengers are aiming to shape history, as shown when they ban all scientific inquiry ‘lest any other mortal gain super-powers’ (as is wont to happen in the Marvel Universe). The ‘new’ Avengers, on the other hand, are willing to take their chances. They would be content to let this new timeline stand, if only it meant that mankind had freedom of choice. The ‘new’ Avengers are not dictators but facilitators: they believe that if you let history take whatever course it will things will generally work out for the best, but they’re still ready to help out if things should go wrong.



Further adventures through the looking-glass take place in issues #69-70, when the Avengers face off against the Squadron Sinister, a group of super-villains that bear more than a passing resemblance to DC Comics’ premier super-team, the Justice League of America.[9] Once again heroes become villains, although the Squadron’s first appearance may be more a case of cross-company rivalry than anything else. However, the Avengers’ next encounter with the Squadron turns everything back on its head. Our heroes have returned from Arkon’s dimension only to find that they are the last witnesses to a ‘doomed and burning earth’ (#85). It turns out that they have traveled two weeks into the future, but with the help of the Scarlet Witch’s hex-power, manage to return back to their own time. Or so it seems – when they enter their meeting-room they find it occupied by Nighthawk of the Squadron Sinister and four other strangers who claim that they are the intruders. Yes, the Avengers are once again trapped in a parallel world, but on this world the Squadron Sinister are not villains at all, instead, they are Earth’s mightiest heroes - the Squadron Supreme. One couldn’t blame the Avengers for wanting to go sit in a corner and hope that they wake up, but they are intent on saving this world from destruction. The obvious reason for doing so is that they are trapped on this world, so that if it dies, they die too. But, in another sense, whatever world the Avengers happen to be on is their own. The Avengers are eventually returned safe and sound to what seems to be their original home, but the Vision is not so easily reassured. ‘There may be paradoxes within paradoxes…’ he says to Quicksilver, ‘How can we be certain that we have not been rescued by a third world – all but identical to our own?’ (#86) Don’t judge a place lest ye be judged – you may be in for a longer stay than you think.

Whose Side Are You On, Baby?

When the Native American hero, the Red Wolf, tells how his parents have been killed for refusing to sell their land, some of the Avengers think that while his cause is just, it pales beside the menace of the Zodiac Cartel. Captain America thinks that one shouldn’t be so quick to make this judgment. ‘We run around calling ourselves Avengers --,’ he tells his teammates, ‘yet when this man comes before us with something to avenge… we turn a deaf ear – because his cause isn’t world-shattering enough for us! We forget that the world can end with a whimper – as well as a bang!’ (#80) As the Avengers entered the 1970s, they would increasingly realise that evil need not come with super-powers. Angry mobs and organized crime are potentially just as dangerous to the well-being of society as the plans of ‘costumed madmen’.

One of the main themes of Thomas’ run is how one spark of hatred can quickly lead to mass hysteria. In issues #73-74, a group known as the Sons of the Serpent blow up the Equal Employment Bureau and target high-profile African-American figures such as television presenter Montague Hale, singer Monica Lynne, and Avenger and King of the Wakandians the Black Panther. The incidents ignite a fiery on-air debate, led by Hale and bigoted late-night host Dan Dunn that threatens to divide America along racial lines. Similarly, in issue #92, a politician named H. Warren Craddock leads a witch-hunt against the Avengers’ ally, the alien Captain Marvel (essentially xenophobia on a cosmic scale), which results in a group of rioters tearing up the Avengers’ mansion. Most insidious of all though is the violence stirred up in #98 by the mysterious Mr. Tallon, who in moments transforms a ‘curious crowd’ into a bunch of ‘frenzied revolutionaries’. The objects of their war-mongering are ostensibly the representatives of an (unnamed) Asian communist nation, but the crowd quickly turns into a chaotic mass of pure hatred that doesn’t care who or what it engulfs. Mr. Tallon’s power derives not from his arguments, but from a hymn of martial pipe music that fills anyone who hears it with the desire to ‘smash America’s foes’ (#98). Hence, when Captain America and the Avengers turn up to try and reason with the crowd, all of their ideas of peace and brotherhood soon fly out the window. ‘Let’s go tear up those Commies!’ (#98) shouts a rabid Captain amidst the storm, and the dark side of national pride is shown in all its horror.



In all of these cases, however, those who incite the intolerance turn out to have another agenda entirely. The Supreme Serpents are eventually revealed to be the bickering TV personalities Dunn and Hale, who put on their ‘racist act’ for the sole reason that everyone would be watching. ‘Did you truly think we cared for anyone – any cause,’ Hale asks the Avengers, ‘except power for ourselves?’ Similarly, the real H. Warren Craddock turns out to have been replaced by a shape-changing Skrull, and Mr. Tallon is actually Ares, Greek god of war, who is stirring up trouble as part of his plot to crush the Earth forevermore.[10] There are at least two views that one could take on this tendency for racial prejudice to be revealed as nothing more than a super-villian’s grab for power. On one hand, it could be seen to trivialize racism by attributing its cause to ‘costumed madmen’ rather than to particular social and political factors. However, another argument that I have seen advanced is that it demonstrates how baseless racism really is. This seems plausible enough, although continually disguising the identity of the perpetrators does seem like a choice that has been made mostly for dramatic effect.

Whatever explanation you hold to, it’s hard to see exactly what the Avengers are fighting for or against here. Hale speaks to Monica Lynne of ‘the cause’, but his cause turns out to be nothing but a sham. Nevertheless, after Hale is exposed, both Monica and the Black Panther are convinced that they have gained a new purpose. ‘A cause may be right,’ says the Panther, ‘Even though a leader or two may be wrong.’ (#74) But who or what exactly is standing in the way of this cause? Super-villains? Gullible fools? Perhaps the answer is that there are no sides, but that each person must try to help others find the truth behind the lies that people tell. A teammate of the Panther’s, who has no ties to any race, religion or creed, would show just how arbitrary the distinctions the human race makes for itself can be.

Who Is The Vision?

As the Avengers assemble to decide whether or not to accept the Vision into their ranks, Goliath/Henry Pym tells their scarlet-faced ally that he is not really an android - but a synthozoid - who is ‘basically human in every way… except your body is made of synthetic parts!’ (#58) The Vision is not so sure, ‘I wonder… is it possible to be… “basically human”?’ he muses. Despite Hank’s encouragement, we often see the Vision doubt his status as a ‘human being’, and perhaps with good cause. He was created by the evil robot Ultron-5 to be nothing more than ‘an inhuman slave’, without a name or ‘soul’. When he first attacks the Wasp, she describes him as ‘some sort of unearthly, inhuman vision --,’ (#57), an apt description for the ghostly figure that swoops into her apartment, like a stalker from a B-grade horror flick. Except that any human stalker, when faced with a locked room, would have to try and bash the door down to get at the terrified girl; the Vision, on the other hand, simply has to lower his density and walk through the wall. Even after the Avengers have accepted the Vision as both a friend and a colleague, they still find it hard to get over how ‘unspeakably cold’ (#58) the android’s voice is.



On the other hand, the Vision certainly does show some human traits. For one thing, he has a tendency to question his own reason for being. It’s true that when he first encounters the Avengers, he seemingly has a limited capacity for independent thought - ‘There is nothing to reason about, human ---,‘ he says to Goliath, ‘I was sent to destroy you – and destroy you I must!’ (#57) But later, when he faces off against Ultron-5, different thoughts are upon his mind. ‘I have human thoughts… human memories!’ he says to his creator, ‘Why, Ultron-5? Who… or what… am I?’ (#57) Other signs that the Vision may be more human than first thought include the hatred he feels for his creator Ultron-5, and most famously, the tear he sheds when the Avengers finally accept him as one of their own.[11] It turns out that the Vision’s mind is based on the ‘brain patterns’ of the late Wonder Man, which the Avengers copied and Ultron stole from their lab. The Vision uses this to his advantage in issue #79, when he reveals to Wonder Man’s brother, the Grim Reaper, that he has the mind of his lost sibling, thus leading the Reaper to free the Avengers lest he condemn his brother to death. The Vision’s use of the Reaper’s fraternal ties suggests an understanding of human psychology that is beyond that of a mere machine.

However, does the fact that the Vision shows human traits qualify him to be a part of the human race? The Vision’s first betrayal of Ultron turns out to be part of his programming, and Ultron briefly re-gains control of the Vision in issues #66 and #67. These incidents raise some doubt about how much free will the Vision truly possesses. Furthermore, as the Vision notes, the robotic Ultron is just as prone to showing emotion as his progeny, as shown when he hurls himself at the Vision in rage, (temporarily) destroying himself in the process. After defeating the Reaper in issue #79, the Vision decides to leave the Avengers, claiming that ‘I am not his brother – nor am I a brother to any true human being!’ (#79) It may be that while the Vision understands Eric Williams’ emotions, he can not feel them in the same way that the Reaper does. However, the Vision’s exile from the human race does not last long – in issue #80 we see him posing as a streetwalker, complete with rubber mask. In that issue, he decides to help the Red Wolf bring the murderers of his family to justice. ‘I had [quit],’ he tells the Red Wolf, ‘for reasons of my own! Yet now I am back – for better reasons!’ (#80) It seems that the Vision has worked out that he is better off being a part of the human race than being apart from it. But what is the basis for his decision?

Perhaps a clue can be found by looking at the Vision’s closest tie to the human race - his burgeoning love for the Scarlet Witch. One of the first signs of the Vision’s affection for Wanda is when he surrenders himself to save her from a gang of armed hitmen. ‘Before now, I’ve always thought of him as cold… aloof,’ thinks the Scarlet Witch, ‘But I was wrong – so wrong!’ (#81) While it may seem that the Vision’s emotions often overcome his reason where Wanda is concerned, the line between the two is not always clear. When some of the Avengers, including the Scarlet Witch, are captured by a Skrull battalion, the Vision’s anger seemingly gets the better of him, as he bashes the Skrull commandant half-to-death in his efforts to learn where they have taken his lady love. Iron Man yells at him to stop, ‘You’ll kill him! You don’t know what you’re doing!’ (#96) The Vision corrects him, ‘My brain is a miniaturized, high-speed computer. I always know what I am doing. I—am—killing--him.’ Similarly, when the Olympians turn up to kidnap one-time Avenger Hercules, the Vision is too busy playing ‘nursemaid’ to Wanda to help, earning him the ire of Hawkeye of the process. The Vision is unperturbed, ‘I reject your line of reasoning,’ he tells the archer, ‘I help those I care for, Hawkeye, above all else!’ (#99) What the Vision realizes is that cold logic can only take you so far; once you begin to examine the reasons behind your actions, eventually you’ll come to something that has no foundation, no argument supporting it, but which is simply a matter of choice. And if that is the case, then why not follow what you feel is right, since that makes as much sense as anything else.

Covers copyright Marvel Comics

[6] Lee, however, has everyone beat for wordplay.
[7] It is later revealed that, through the vagaries of time travel, the Scarlet Centurion is actually an earlier version of Kang the Conqueror.
[8] Two other interesting points about this world: 1) of the original Avengers, it is the Hulk that is the least willing to follow the instructions of the Scarlet Centurion, and 2) once the Avengers have done their dirty work, the only super-beings who still oppose them are Doctor Doom, Doctor Octopus, Electro and the Mandarin.
[9] Superman is re-cast as Hyperion, last survivor of an alien world; Batman becomes the bored tycoon Nighthawk; Green Lantern appears as the prism-powered Doctor Spectrum; and the Flash morphs into the super-fast Whizzer (who like the Flash, also took his name from an old comic-book hero).
[10] And don’t forget the Valkyrie, leader of the short-lived feminist super-group the Lady Liberators (seen in issue #83), who turns out to be the Avengers’ old foe, the Enchantress.
[11] Note that, in a sign of their trust in the Vision, the Avengers are all unmasked when they induct him into their ranks.