Frenzy in a Far-Off Land!

Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch have both noticed that their powers have been weakening lately and fear that it may be a sign that their time with the Avengers is almost over.[1] They suspect this power loss has something to do with the time they have spent away from their homeland.[2] After talking it over, they ask Captain America for a temporary leave of absence to try and restore their powers, it is a request he gladly grants.

Meanwhile, the Wasp is trying to get through to her boyfriend Goliath. He has been in a depressed state since he found himself trapped at a height of 10-feet. He also can’t stand the sympathy he is getting from Jan over his condition. That’s when he notices a newspaper story about his old college professor Doctor Franz Anton, who is doing research on the growth of body cells in South America. Seeing this as a possible solution to his problem, Goliath takes a specially built air-cycle to find Professor Anton. However, he leaves without telling anyone and when Janet notices he’s gone she starts to worry about him. When she asks Cap for advice, he tells her that there is nothing they can do until Hank comes to terms with his situation.

Elsewhere, the Black Widow radios in to her Chinese handler, Hu Chen and asks for new instructions. He tells her that her original mission remains unchanged and she is ordered to eliminate the Avengers. While the Widow accepts these orders she can’t help but have conflicting feelings about Hawkeye. This is because she had been brainwashed and her true feelings are conflicting with her programming. Once she has ended her call with China, her minions — Swordsman and Power Man — begin fighting over her. She allows this to carry on because they need the practice but breaks it up when things start getting too serious.

Back at Avengers Mansion, Captain America decides that the team needs to track down the Black Widow and her compatriots. The team splits up and searches the city for signs of the trio. Shrinking down to wasp-size, Janet hangs around a dive bar down by the docks and overhears a man talking about spotting the Black Widow near a rundown warehouse on the corner of Bleecker Street. When she reports this back to Captain America, Hawkeye asks to deal with this on his own since he feels responsible for what’s happened to Natasha.

Meanwhile, Goliath arrives at the home of Doctor Anton and discovers that someone has trashed the place. Looking outside for clues as to who attacked Franz, the titanic Avenger is ambushed by a group of strangely garbed soldiers. They attempt to take him prisoner, but Golaith is far stronger than they expected. He knocks them all out save for one and demands to know what he has done with Doctor Anton. The lone soldier tells Goliath that his people have taken Franz to their hidden land and offers to show the giant where it is.

Back in the United States, Hawkeye ambushed the Swordsman and Power Man at their warehouse hideout.[3] Hawkeye finds himself at a disadvantage when the Swordsman cuts the rope he is swinging from. As he falls to the ground, his quiver of arrows spills all over the floor. Running for cover, the archer sees that Natasha has gathered up his arrows. When he tries to retrieve them from her, she blasts him with her widow’s sting. This only disorientates him for a moment and he is forced to knock her out in order to recover his weapons.

While in South America, Doctor Anton is a prisoner of this secret civilization of people. They have brought him to their hidden realm where their ruler, the so-called Keeper of the Flame, tells his people that the intruder has come to steal the cobalt flame that they all worship.[4] Anton tries to explain that he stumbled upon their society by accident and means them no harm. This falls on deaf ears and the Keeper decrees that Anton is to be sacrificed to the flame. That’s when Goliath arrives to rescue his colleague. Seeing the giant, the Keeper deems him another intruder and orders his people to kill him as well. Before Goliath can defend himself, the room is plunged in darkness and he is lead to safety by Prince Rey, the former ruler of this secret kingdom.

Meanwhile, Hawkeye and the Swordsman have been battling each other one-on-one. Momentarily stunned by an electro-blast from the Swordsman’s weapon, Hawkeye plays possum long enough to ambush his foe and defeat him in battle. By this time, Power Man has recovered from Hawkeye’s original attack and tries to attack the hero from behind. Luckily, the Black Widow has fought off her brainwashing and blasts Power Man with her widow’s sting. This allows Hawkeye to strike the nearby wall with a blast arrow, burying Power Man in rubble. With the battle over, Hawkeye and the Black Widow are happily reunited. She pleads with him to believe that she was brainwashed into attacking the Avengers, but it will take more than words to convince Hawkeye, who really wants to believe her.

Back at Avengers Mansion, the Wasp is watching the news and catches a story about the disappearance of Doctor Anton. She recognizes Hank’s air-cycle parked outside Anton’s home and rushes Captain America to tell him the news. He has read about the situation in the papers and tries to assure her that Goliath can look after himself as he is one of the strongest Avengers.

At that moment, Prince Rey continues to lead Goliath to safety. Along the way, Goliath has so many unanswered questions: Who are these people? Who is the Keeper of the Flame? What is the significance of the flame they worship? These are all answers for later, but Prince Rey assures him that unless something is done about the Keeper of the Flame, the planet Earth might be doomed. Elsewhere in the underground kingdom, the Keeper of the Flame rallies his people as the intruders and exiled Prince Rey must be destroyed.

Recurring Characters

Avengers (Captain America, Goliath, Wasp, Hawkeye, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch), Black Widow, Swordsman, Power Man, Prince Rey, Keeper of the Flame, Franz Anton, Hu Chen

Continuity Notes

1. Mention is made of the Avengers’ recent battle with the Swordsman and Power Man. This happened last issue. The reason their powers are fading here is that the Scarlet Witch is sought after by the demon known as Chthon who seeks to possess her body. Something we will not learn until Avengers #185-187.

2. The Maximoff twins theorize that they might not be true mutants. This turns out to be correct as we’ll learn in Uncanny Avengers (vol. 2) #4-5. That story reveals that the pair were actually experimented upon by the High Evolutionary. Once he was finished he covered his tracks by having the pair’s genetics register as being mutant.

3. Swordsman reminds Hawkeye that he taught him everything he knows. Swordsman’s past connection with Hawkeye was revealed in Avengers #19. However, he is not the only one who trained Hawkeye. He was also taught by master archer Buck Chisholm, aka Trick Shot, as revealed in Solo Avengers #1-3 and Hawkeye (vol. 3) #1-6.

4. The Keeper of the Flame is not identified by name in this story. He is identified as Lann in Incredible Hulk #240.

Topical References

• Dated pop-culture references: Rock Hudson, H. Rider Haggard

• Dated Cold War references: Iron Curtain, Reds