Avengers #17
Four Against the Minotaur!
Captain America has just finished giving a tour of Avengers Mansion to the new recruits and already things are off to a rocky start. Rick Jones secretly resents Captain America for not letting him officially join the Avengers over these new-comers. Meanwhile, both Quicksilver and Hawkeye have aspirations of taking over as leader of the Avengers, with Hawkeye openly questioning Cap’s ability to lead. Captain America isn’t one to take the abuse and warns Hawkeye to watch himself, earning him the respect of the Scarlet Witch at least. With the tour order, Captain America orders the team to prepare for their first mission: To convince the Hulk into rejoining the Avengers.[1]
Soon, the news about the Avengers renewed hunt is spread all over the media. However, none are aware that at that moment the Hulk is being drawn to the lair of his most deadly foe, the Leader.[2] In the meantime, Captain America has his new recruit participate in a training session to hone their abilities. Hawkeye flamboyantly tries running the training course on his own but has to be saved by Quicksilver. That’s when a strange robot comes crashing into the room claiming to know where to find the Hulk. Thinking this invader is attacking, the Avengers attack the robot. The group works in tandem to take the robot down: While Cap distracts the robot, the Scarlet Witch trips it with a hex bolt. Quicksilver then rips a panel off the robot’s back, exposing its controls. This allows Hawkeye to fire an explosive arrow, severely damaging the robot. As the robot begins shutting down, it manages to tell them that the Hulk can be found in the desert.
What the Avengers don’t know is that they are being lured into a trap as the robot was sent by the Mole Man. Soon, the Avengers use their new jet-stream cruiser to the site of the team’s previous encounter with the Hulk, a missile testing site in the New Mexico desert.[3] The group are unaware that the Hulk is nearby fighting for his life in the Leader’s headquarters which is hidden in a nearby mesa. As they search the site, the Mole Man activates a trap door to send the Avengers falling into his subterranean domain. Thanks to Hawkeye’s suction cup arrow, the group is able to break their fall and scale the rest of the way down by rope. Quicksilver then speeds off to scout up ahead. However, he comes running back when he sees the monster that the Mole Man has unleashed upon them — a horned creature called the Minotaur.[4] Unfortunately, none of their attacks phase the monster. The creature then causes part of the tunnel to collapse, separating Quicksilver from the others.
As the Hulk fights his way through the Leader’s complex above ground, Quicksilver finds himself captured by the Moloids and brought to the Mole Man. The Mole Man wants to know the secret of Quicksilver’s super-speed but he refuses to talk. Meanwhile, the other Avengers continue to battle the Minotaur. Captain America manages to anger the beast enough to trick it into blindly charging into a wall, where its horns get embedded into the rock. With the monster now trapped, the Avengers are free to begin their search for Quicksilver. By this time, Quicksilver has been shackled to a torture device, but even the Mole Man’s threats are not enough to make him talk.[5] That’s when the Avengers come crashing in and free their teammate. Outnumbered, the Mole Man then activates an elevator device that sends the Avengers back to the surface.
Deciding their hunt for the Hulk is a bust, the Avengers realize that they don’t need his strength after all and head for home. Meanwhile, in the Leader’s secret facility, Glenn Talbot finds Bruce Banner among the wreckage and presumes the Hulk’s alter-ego dead, as he has no pulse.[6]
Recurring Characters
Avengers (Captain America, Hawkeye, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch), Rick Jones, Mole Man, Moloids, Hulk, the Leader, Glenn Talbot
Continuity Notes
The Hulk was a founding member of the Avengers when they first formed in Avengers #1. However, he quit in the following issue when he discovered that his teammates did not trust him. The Avengers previously hunted the Hulk for a time shortly thereafter. See Avengers #3 and Fantastic Four #26.
The events of this story take place simultaneously with the events of Tales to Astonish #69, during the Hulk’s battle with the Leader.
The Avengers last encountered the Hulk in Avengers #5 during their battle with the Lava Men.
The Scarlet Witch theorizes that this creature must be the source of the Greek myth of the Minotaur. She’d be wrong as Asterius — the entity that is better known as the Minotaur — does exist in the Marvel Universe. The creature will make its first appearance in the Modern Age in Hercules and the Heart of Chaos #2. This creature, like all of the Mole Man’s monsters, is likely a Deviant Mutate. See Marvel Universe #4-6.
Quicksilver here likens the Mole Man to Magneto, the leader of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch were forced into Magneto’s service from X-Men #4 through 11.
Obviously, the Hulk isn’t dead as he’ll recover in Tales to Astonish #70.
