The Coming of… The Swordsman!

A mercenary-for-hire named the Swordsman has decided to join the Avengers since an Avengers ID card could allow him to get away with anything. He breaks into Avengers Mansion while Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch are on monitor duty. When they confront the intruder, the pair discover that the Swordsman is aptly named since he has great control over his trademark weapon. Not even Quicksilver’s super-speed gives him much of an edge over their opponent and he ends up getting slashed by Swordman’s weapon. Fearful for her brother’s well-being, the Scarlet Witch knocks him out with a hex bolt.

Hearing the commotion, Captain America enters the room and hears about how the Swordman attacked trying to prove his value as a member of the Avengers. Captain America then looks up his record on their computer database and discovers that the Swordsman has a huge record in Europe and has been exiled from a number of countries, hardly someone who is Avengers material. While they are distracted, the Swordsman uses his weapon to cut the lights and escapes.

Later, while Captain America is running through is training regime he is interrupted by Hawkeye who asks if anything happened while he was out. When Captain America mentions their encounter with the Swordsman, Hawkeye knows exactly who he is talking about as they had a past together. This dates back to when Hawkeye was a trick shooter working for a carnival. It was the Swordsman who trained him everything he knew about the bow and arrow.[1] At that time, the Swordsman cared little about show business and was only interested in getting rich. On an evening when the box office was robbed, Hawkeye went to tell the Swordsman about it and learned that he was the one responsible. He tried to cut Hawkeye in for his silence, but the youth wanted nothing to do with it. Chased by the Swordsman, Hawkeye tried to get away by running across a tightrope. The Swordsman then cut the rope and left Hawkeye to fall to his death. Luckily, Hawkeye’s fall was broken because he got tangled in the role.

Meanwhile, in Washington DC, a pair of Hydra agents have arrived outside of Nick Fury’s old office at the CIA looking for secrets about SHIELD.[2] There they spy a letter from Captain America on the desk, unopened. Using a device to teleport the letter off the desk and into their grasp, they are annoyed to discover that it is only Captain America’s request to join the spy agency.[3] It is crumpled up and then tossed out on the street where it is picked up by a local crook. During a poker game, this hood learns that the Swordsman is offering anyone a reward with any information that can help him trap an Avenger. The crook then gets in touch with the Swordsman and sells him the letter that Captain America wrote to Nick Fury.

The Swordsman then forges a response and sends it to Avengers Mansion. Captain America is elated to get a response and justifies accepting the job at SHIELD, saying he needs it to have a life outside of the Avengers. While Captain America goes to the meeting place in the letter, Hawkeye goes out on patrol. He rounds up some crooks which include the guy who sold off Cap’s letter and he squeals about the Swordsman’s trap. When he races back to Avengers Mansion to warn Captain America, he learns from Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch that Cap is already long gone.

At that moment, Captain America is ambushed in a warehouse by the Swordsman. As the two battle one another, the other Avengers try to contact Cap over the radio. Unfortunately, his communicator was damaged in the battle. That’s when Hawkeye remembers that they have a tracking device they can use to find their leader. As they race to the scene, the Swordsman tries to run over Captain America with a forklift. When Cap leaps onto the roof of the vehicle, his foe drives it into a stack of wooden crates, knocking Captain America out. As the other Avengers arrive on the scene, the Swordsman goes up to the top of a construction site. There, he dangles a tied-up Captain America over the edge of the partially constructed building on a wooden plank. He then gives the Avengers 10 second to make him the leader of their group or he’ll send Captain America falling to his death. While the rest of his team tries to figure out their next move, Captain America does it for them by throwing himself over the edge before the Swordsman has a chance to do it himself.

Recurring Characters

Avengers (Captain America, Hawkeye, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch), Swordsman, Hydra

Continuity Notes

1. Actually, the Swordsman wasn’t the only person who trained Hawkeye. He was also trained by Buck Chisholm, aka Trick Shot. See Solo Avengers #1-2 and Hawkeye (vol. 3) #3 and 5.

2. The Hydra agents mention their recent defeat that the hands of Nick Fury and SHIELD. This happened in Strange Tales #135-136.

3. Captain America wrote this letter in Avengers #15. Fury won’t get into contact with Cap until Tales of Suspense #78.