Avengers #60
… Til Death Do Us Part!
Captain America has received an invitation to the wedding of Yellowjacket and the Wasp. Cap can hardly believe it as Janey Van Dyne has been in love with Hank Pym for years. Even though he is busy with a project, he decides to pay a visit to the Avengers and demand to know what’s going on.[1] Hawkeye tells Cap about how Yellowjacket claimed to have murdered Goliath and, despite this, the Wasp intends to marry him.[2] When Yellowjacket and the Wasp arrive at the mansion, Hawkeye is spoiling for a fight. However, the Wasp orders him to stand down as she still intends to marry Yellowjacket regardless what they all think.
Meanwhile, Jarvis — the Avengers butler — welcomes in the priest who will be officiating the marriage.[3] He then admits the catering crew that has been hired to prepare food for the wedding. However, they turn out to be the Circus of Crime in disguise. After tying Jarvis up, the Ringmaster and his cronies change into their costumes and begin waiting for Thor to show up to the wedding so they can get revenge against the thunder god.[4]
Outside, the Avengers are starting to receive guests, starting with Crystal who has come to assist the Invisible Girl with fitting the Wasp’s wedding dress.[5] The other guests soon follow and they include the rest of the Fantastic Four, the Black Knight, Daredevil, the X-Men, Doctor Strange, Nick Fury, Captain America, and Iron Man.[6] Soon the ceremony is well underway, and despite some grumbling among the Avengers, Yellowjack and the Wasp are pronounced husband and wife. Disgusted by this scene, Hawkeye goes into the kitchen to see what is taking the cake so long. He then walks in on the Circus of Crime who quickly knocks the archer out. The Ringmaster then decides that they should attack instead of waiting for Thor to show up. Soon the cake is brought outside and when the Wasp cuts through it with a replica of the Black Knight’s ebony blade, Princess Python’s snake suddenly bursts out from the cake.[7]
When the other heroes offer aid, the Avengers ask to deal with this on their own and send them all away. That’s when the Circus of Crime comes crashing out of the kitchen to fight their foes. The Avengers are more than a match for the Circus of Crime. However, when Janet gets hurt, Yellowjacket suddenly grows in size, ripping his costume to shreds and revealing that he is none other than Hank Pym. Goliath quickly trounces the Circus of Crime and they are turned over to the authorities. As they are being led away by the police, the Clown wonders why Thor never showed up.[8] In the aftermath of the battle, Hank explains that a lab experiment caused his change into his Yellowjacket personality.[9] Everyone is happy to see that Hank is alive and well, and Janet is willing to overlook this ordeal since she finally managed to get Hank to marry her.
Recurring Characters
Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Yellowjacket, Wasp, Hawkeye, Black Panther, Vision), Circus of Crime (Ringmaster, Clown, Princess Python, Cannonball, the Great Gambonos), Edwin Jarvis, Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Girl, Human Torch, Thing, Crystal), Black Knight, Daredevil, X-Men (Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Angel, Iceman, Beast), Doctor Strange, Nick Fury, Spider-Man
Continuity Notes
Captain America appears here between Captain America #109 and 110. This was during a plot line where Steve Rogers is trying to re-establish a secret identity. He succeeds in making people believe Steve Rogers died and a new Captain America has taken his place by Captain America #113. Cap previously revealed his identity to the public in Tales of Suspense #95 when he attempted to retire as Captain America. It didn’t take and he was back in action in issue #96.
This revelation was made last issue and, as we’ll learn later, is all a fabrication by Yellowjacket caused by a change in personality. This entire story is expanded upon in Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes (vol. 2) #5-8, which reveals that the Avengers were well aware that Yellowjacket was actually Hank Pym but were only playing along in the hopes of causing him snap back to reality.
The priest hopes that this wedding is more peaceful than the Richards wedding. He is referring to the marriage of Reed Richards and Sue Storm, aka Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Girl. This wedding was crashed by an army of super-villains organized by Doctor Doom. See Fantastic Four Annual #3.
During a period where he was stripped of his godlike powers, Thor joined the Circus of Crime thinking that they were an innocuous circus troupe. When he learned the truth and that they were trying to manipulate him into committing a robbery, he brought them to justice. See Thor #145-147.
Crystal is referred as being the newest members of the Fantastic Four. She joined the team in Fantastic Four #81 when the Invisible Girl’s pregnancy (first announced in Fantastic Four Annual #5) made it unsafe for her to continue fighting on the team. Crystal continued being a member of the Fantastic Four even after Sue gave birth in Fantastic Four Annual #6. Crystal will remain on until exposure to Earth’s pollution forced her to leave in Fantastic Four #105.
It’s during this mingling that Yellowjacket is plucked out of time along with various Avengers from across history to fight in the Destiny War. When he is returned to his proper place in time he will have no memory of those events. See Avengers Forever #1-12.
The Black Knight had just recently obtained the Ebony Blade in Marvel Super-Heroes #17. This is a replica since the real sword is enchanted and thirsts for blood. Not exactly something you’d use to cut a cake.
A footnote states that Thor was occupied battling the Silver Surfer, referring to the events of Silver Surfer #4. However, the Official Index of the Marvel Universe: Avengers, this story takes place during the events of Thor #159, where the thunder god was learning the truth about his alter-ego, Donald Blake.
This story states that the accident induced schizophrenia. However, this is not an accurate assessment (see below). Avengers A.I. #5, clarifies that Hank actually suffers from bipolar disorder and his frequent changes in powers and identities over the years are attributed to this.
Topical References
The camera equipment used by news crews in this story are from the late 60s.
The priest states here that the Richards wedding happened “a few years ago”. However, this is a topical reference that denotes the length of time between the publication of Fantastic Four Annual #3 and Avengers #60. Per the Sliding Timescale, these two weddings are barely a year apart.
Yellowjacket’s sudden change in personality is blamed on a schizophrenic episode caused by an experiment. This is not a correct diagnosis because that’s not how schizophrenia works and can be chalked up about what little people knew about mental health when this story was published in 1969. This diagnosis should be considered incorrect and ignored. As explained above, it has later been determined that Hank suffers from bipolar disorder.
