Avengers #23
Once an Avenger…
Captain America has just quit the Avengers and the Scarlet Witch blames this on Hawkeye who has been giving Cap a hard time since they all joined the team.[1] Hawkeye doesn’t take ownership and believes that Captain America will come back in due time. Quicksilver steps between the two, reminding them that their constant bickering is why Cap left in the first place.
As Steve Rogers, Captain America has traveled to Upstate New York where he applies to be a sparring partner to a boxing champ. At first, Rogers is mocked by the other men but he is hired immediately when he knocks them all out with his superior fighting skills. Steve is a natural in the ring but despite the distance and the new job, he can’t get his mind off the Avengers and he wonders what they have been doing while he has been gone.
Meanwhile, the Avengers is being observed by Kang the Conqueror. Seeking revenge against the group, Kang sees Captain America’s departure as the perfect opportunity. Using a time ship disguised as another floor of Avengers Mansion, Kang goes back in time to the present day and lands the ship on the roof of the hero’s headquarters. This sets off the alarms, prompting Hawkeye, Quicksilver, and the Scarlet Witch to investigate. They are surprised to find a new floor of the building once they climb the roof access. Kang then traps them inside and when the three Avengers try to escape, he draws the oxygen out of the room until they pass out. With the Avengers as his prisoner, Kang returns to his home era in the year 4000.[2] There he meets with a local king and his daughter Princess Ravonna.[3] Kang reminds them that he has spared their kingdom because he loves Ravonna and has come once again to ask for her hand in marriage. Ravonna refuses, saying that she will not sully herself by being married to a savage commoner. Insulted, Kang warns Ravonna that his patience is limited and eventually it will be too late for her to accept his proposal.
Back in the present day, news of the Avengers’ disappearance hits the media. Eventually, Steve Rogers hears about it in a radio report while training with the champ. When Steve tries to leave, the champ refuses to let him go. In response, Rogers knocks him out with a single punch and heads back to the city.
When the Avengers finally wake up they find themselves trapped in seemingly indestructible glass cylinders. Luckily, the Scarlet Witch is able to shatter her own jail with her hex powers and frees the other. Trying to escape this facility they note the future equipment and correctly deduce that they are prisoners of Kang the Conqueror. Kang then appears before them in a holographic projection and orders them to surrender to him or suffer the consequences. When they refuse, Kang unleashes his army upon them. The trio tries to make a run for it, smashing their way through the various traps set up in Kang’s fortress. Ultimately, Kang has to take control of the situation and uses a paralysis ray, but only manages to catch Hawkeye and the Scarlet Witch. Suddenly, Captain America appears in the monitor that observes the present day. He has used a recreator device to learn that Kang kidnapped the Avengers and challenges the time traveler to face him.[4]
Ravonna goads Kang into accepting Captain America’s challenge and he uses his machines to bring the Star-Spangled Avenger into the future. There he runs into Quicksilver who is glad to see Cap back in action. The pair fight their way through Kang’s army and get into his control room. However, the time traveler is able to fend off their attacks with his atomic shield and later uses his molecule expander to increase the size of Captain America’s shield to knock the hero out. He then takes down Quicksilver with a blast from his Spectro Wave weapon. Kang once again demands that Ravonna accept his hand in marriage. She once again refuses, but before he can order his armies to attack, Hawkeye and the Scarlet Witch ambush him. Apparently, before Quicksilver was knocked out he was able to disable the paralysis ray, freeing them. As Captain America and Quicksilver get back to their feet, Kang orders his armies to invade the city.[5]
Recurring Characters
Avengers (Captain America, Hawkeye, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch), Kang, Ravonna, King Carelius
Continuity Notes
Hawkeye, Quicksilver, and the Scarlet Witch all joined the Avengers in Avengers #16.
This future is not the future but a future of an alternate reality. Known as Other-Earth, this reality has been designated Earth-6311 in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes 2005.
Ravonna’s father is not identified by name in this story. Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #6 reveals that her father’s first name is Carelius. Their last name is also revealed to be Renslayer.
Kang states that the recreator device here was previously used by Iron Man. A footnote states that the recreator device was used by the Avengers in a previous issue and Stan Lee admits that he can’t remember what story. It looks like Stan Lee is confusing the Image Projector from Avengers #3 with the Recreator created by Mister Hyde from Journey into Mystery #105. One could presume that Thor turned it over to the Avengers after he defeated Hyde in Journey into Mystery #106 and that Iron Man used it at some point afterward — Kang being a time traveler who has also created and visited divergent realities could have seen it at a future date or in some other reality.
This story is expanded upon in Thor Annual #17 and Avengers Forever #9.
Topical References
Dated pop-culture references: Billy Graham
References to the Modern Age taking place in the 20th Century should be considered topical. The Sliding Timescale has pushed the Modern Age forward to the point where it now starts in the 21st Century.
