Avengers #14
Even Avengers Can Die!
The Wasp was shot during the Avengers battle with Count Nefaria. With his lover’s life hanging by a thread, Giant-Man races her to the nearest hospital with his fellow Avengers in tow. In the emergency room, the Wasp is given immediate medical attention. After performing an examination, the head surgeon tells them that the bullet struck the Wasp’s left lung, threatening it with collapse. If this happens, her right lung won’t be far behind and she will die. Giant-Man is delirious with grief and demands the doctor do something. Unfortunately, the only doctor who can treat her, and potentially save her life, is Doctor Svenson of Norway.[1]
With only 48 hours to spare, Thor races to Norway to recover the doctor. when he arrives at Doctor Svenson’s home, the doctor refuses to accompany the thunder god, telling Thor that he is not who he seems. Thor ignores this and takes Svenson back to America. There, he tells the Avengers that he cannot treat the Wasp. This angers Giant-Man and when he grabs the doctor he pulls off what is actually a life-like mask. As it turns out “Doctor Svenson” is actually an alien from another world. However, before the alien creature can tell them anything he suddenly drops dead.
Believing that Svenson has been kidnapped by alien invaders the Avengers split up to conduct individual searches for the real doctor and his alien captors. Giant-Man uses his master control helmet to link up with ant colonies all over the world. However, this turns up nothing leading him to believe that Svenson must be somewhere on Earth where ants can’t live. Captain America enlists the Teen Brigade’s communications expertise to try and find him but this also turns up nothing. Tony Stark launches a “Geiger-counter missile” to search for radiation sources that are not Earth-made, he also concludes that they must be some remote location. When Thor returns from Asgard with nothing as well they all compare notes and figure that the aliens must be hiding out on one of the poles. Taking a craft to the North Pole, Mjolnir detects alien emanations coming from under the ice.
Digging through the ice, the Avengers suddenly fall down a massive shaft and discover a massive underground city hidden beneath the ice. They are soon attacked by the aliens that live there and are quickly immobilized by a paralysis ray. They are taken to the leader and learn that this race of aliens are called the Kallusians. They fled their homeworld because their part of the universe is in the midst of an intergalactic war. Chased by a race of lizard creatures, the Kallusians found refuge on Earth.[2] However, this discovered that they couldn’t breathe the air on Earth and they were forced to wear respiratory devices that contain oxygen from their homeworld. This was in limited supply and they were at risk of dying when they came upon Doctor Svenson as he was researching on breathing in northern climates and he has been working on solving their situation while they hide out on Earth.
That’s when Thor reveals that the paralysis ray had no effect on him and takes the leader of the Kallusians hostage. With their leader captive, the rest of the aliens free the other Avengers. That’s when Doctor Svenson enters the room and reveals that he is helping the Kallusians willingly and is not being held against his will.
At that moment, the Kallusian’s pursuers arrive in Earth’s solar system and detect that they are hiding out on Earth. Although they destroy a Kallusian outpost, they manage to send a warning back to the colony. With the Wasp’s life on the line, the Avengers force the Kallusians to leave Earth before they bring their war down on the planet. With no other choice, the Kallusians agree to leave Earth and teleport the Avengers and Svenson back to New York before leaving. The Watcher witnesses the Kallusians leave Earth and muses how one injured woman prevented the Earth from being a casualty in a galactic war.[3] He then heads off into space to observe the outcome of the battle. While back on Earth, Doctor Svenson performs surgery on the Wasp and later announces to the Avengers that she is going to live.[4]
Recurring Characters
Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Giant-Man, Wasp), Teen Brigade (Rick Jones), Kallusians, Yirbek, the Watcher
Continuity Notes
Doctor Svenson’s first name is never mentioned here. It is revealed to be Hjamal Knute Svenson in the Avengers entry of Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #1. The hospital the Wasp is being treated at is identified as Newhope Memorial Hospital in Avengers #275.
The Kallusians pursuers are not mentioned by name in this story. They are identified as the Yirbek in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #12.
It’s later revealed in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #12 that the Yirbek massacred the Kallusians. Harsh.
Wasp’s time in the hospital is expanded upon in Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes #5.
Topical References
Teen Brigade is depicted using ham radios in this story. This should be considered topical. Per Avengers: The Origin #1-5, Teen Brigade are now hackers who use the internet. One could assume that instead of using a ham radio to search for Svenson, they’re using the interent to try and geolocate him (maybe pinging his cell phone?)
