The Castle of Count Nefaria

A gang of Maggia goons are caught by the Avengers during a fur heist. When word gets back to the Maggia’s American bosses, they fear reprisal from their leader, Count Nefaria who operates in Europe. When the American leader contacts Nefaria via a device that projects his image across the world, his worst fears come true and he is punished for his failure. Furious over the Avengers interference, Count Nefaria decides that he will deal with the heroes personally. Over the next few weeks, Nefaria arranges to have his castle shipped brick-by-brick and rebuilt in America atop the New Jersey Palisades.

The Count then uses his cover as a European nobleman to invite the Avengers to his home as part of a charity event. The Avengers agree to make an appearance and soon arrive at Castle Nefaria with Rick Jones and the members of the Teen Brigade. Count Nefaria welcomes the Avengers with open arms and offers them rooms to freshen up before the festivities start. While they are busy upstairs, Captain America orders Teen Brigade to wait outside until the event is open to the public. When the Avengers enter each individual room they find them lit by incredibly bright lights. These are specially treated lights that Count Nefaria created to make time stretch out and make the Avengers think only moments have passed when they have actually been in the room for hours. During this time, Count Nefaria uses a special device to create evil duplicates of the Avengers that will do his bidding.

These evil Avengers are then sent to interrupt a high-level meeting at the Pentagon. There they demand that the government put them in charge and that all laws be replaced with ones of their own makings. They then warn that they will destroy anyone who stands in their way. They then go to the capitol building in Washington, DC to declare war against the government. Once these impostors leave they dissolve into nothingness. However, the damage is already done and soon word travels that the Avengers have apparently gone rogue. The government then gives orders that the Avengers are to be shot on sight.

Count Nefaria is pleased with how his plan is unfolding but he is overheard by the Teen Brigade who have come back inside the castle to see what’s taking so long. Nefaria catches the youths and has them locked in the castle dungeon. He then turns off the lights affecting the real Avengers and convinces them that the charity show was postponed until the next day and sends them on their way. Confused, the Avengers depart even though Captain America is suspicious that Teen Brigade is nowhere around. Once they are away from Castle Nefaria, the Avengers are attacked by the military. Not knowing why they are attacked, the Avengers can’t bring themselves to harm American troops and retreat. Giant-Man and the Wasp learn what happened after checking a newsstand and relays this information to the rest of the team when they all meet at their secret emergency headquarters. The Avengers deduce that Count Nefaria must have done something while they were at his castle and decide to get to the bottom of it.

Meanwhile, the Fantastic Four read the news and prepare to go look for the Avengers. However, they are stopped by a Pentagon official who warns them that the public is not reacting well over the Avengers alleged defection and are now ordering other super-heroes to remain in place to prevent any public revolts.

At that same moment, Rick Jones remembers that he has a communicator given to him by Iron Man and attempts to contact the Avengers. Unfortunately, Iron Man’s receiver was damaged in their earlier clash with the military. Count Nefaria picks up the broadcast however and has the youths moved to another cell lined with discs covered in a chemical that will paralyze them if they touch it. Outside, all of the Avengers except Captain America come into contact with similar paralyzation traps set by Nefaria. Captain America fights his way down into the dungeon and frees Rick and the others. Finding the antidote, Captain America sends Teen Brigade out to cure the other Avengers while he goes to face Count Nefaria. Along the way, Cap looks out a window and spots an American battleship passing along the Hudson River. Using his shield, he flashes a message to them in morse code before getting hit with a stun blast and taken prisoner.

Captain America is not a captive for long as the Avengers come crashing in after they have been freed. With his plan falling apart, Count Nefaria admits to his crimes and tries to bargain with the Avengers. This is overheard by the General of the battleship who was drawn to the castle by Cap’s message. This clears the Avengers’ name and Count Nefaria finds himself facing deportation and punishment from the other Maggia heads in Europe once they find out he failed. However, this is not a happy ending for the team as Rick arrives carrying Wasp in his arms. He tells them that she was shot while trying to protect him and the other members of Teen Brigade.[1]

Recurring Characters

Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Giant-Man, Wasp), Teen Brigade (Rick Jones), Maggia (Count Nefaria), Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Girl, Human Torch, Thing)

Continuity Notes

1. This story, particularly the events that led to the Wasp getting shot are detailed in Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes #5

Topical References

• The Teen Brigade members state here that they are ham radio enthusiasts. This should be considered topical as this is a dated hobby for teenagers. Per Avengers: The Origin #1-5, the Teen Brigade are now a group of hackers who communicate via the internet.