Avengers Annual #1
The Monstrous Master Plan of the Mandarin!
Tony Stark is giving a demonstration of a new device that will help prisons contain riots by knocking out anyone in the cell block with a stun beam. Coincidentally, in one of the cells is Arthur Parks, aka the Living Laser.[1] Someone has been teleporting electronic components into his cell and he uses them to build a new laser device. The escape triggers the alarm and when Tony Stark learns of the escape he secretly changes into Iron Man to try and stop Parks from escaping prison. However, when he arrives, Parks defends himself until he is teleported away. Iron Man recognizes this technology of that used by the Mandarin, but can’t believe it since his old foe recently died in a nuclear explosion.[2] Still, this is a serious concern and Iron Man flies off to repair his armor he sends a warning to the Avengers and asks for the team to meet with him.[3]
Meanwhile, the Living Laser finds himself in the secret lair of the Mandarin. Provided a new costume, the Laser is revealed to be part of a menagerie of Avengers foes that the Mandarin has gathered for his latest scheme. They include the Swordsman, and Power Man, as well as the Executioner and the Enchantress. In order to prove his supremacy over this gathering, the Mandarin seemingly summons the Sub-Mariner to join their ranks. When Namor naturally rejects this alliance, the Mandarin seemingly destroys the Atlantean monarch. However, this is a phony projection to trick the others into complying.[4] With this out of the way, the Mandarin then shows them a massive synthetic diamond he has created and tells them that it is their key to world domination.
Later, Iron Man has arrived at Avengers Mansion where he awaits the other Avengers to arrive.[5] He is then ambushed by Hercules, a guest of the current team, who mistakes Iron Man for an intruder. The fight is quickly broken up by Thor who has arrived for a meeting and convinces Hercules to stand down.[6] Soon the rest of the Avengers arrive and after exchanging some pleasantires, the meeting is called to order by Captain America.[6] Exchanging information, the Avengers learn that many of their enemies are currently on the loose. That’s when the meeting is interrupted by a call from SHIELD Director Nick Fury. Fury wants to enlist the Avengers aid to deal with three crisis situations that have developed in Asia, Africa, and South America, as SHIELD does not have the authority to get involved in those countries. Taking the initiative, Captain America then divides up the team so each location can be investigated at the same time. While most of team heads off to these three hot spots, Captain America and Quicksilver remain behind to see if there is any connection between the three attacks and who might be responsible. The departure of the Avengers is observed by the Mandarin who believes the destruction of the Avengers will only be a matter of time.
In South America, the Swordsman and Power Man lead a squad of the Mandarin’s soldiers in South America. Here they are seeking to strip mine the region’s diamond resources. In order to prevent the authorities in a nearby city from interfering, they stage a siege on the city. When the Swordsman and Power Man confront the president of the country here, they show him a massive sword suspended over the city that once dropped will cause a massive explosion that will destroy the whole city. Before they can get the president to abdicate control to them, the Swordsman and Power Man are ambushed by Goliath and the Wasp. Ultimately, the Swordsman activates the device that causes the massive sword to fall out of the sky. Luckily, Iron Man is on the scene and he uses his repulsor rays to slow the swords descent until he can knock it into the nearby jungle where it harmlessly explodes. Although they are captured, the Swordsman and Power Man refuse to reveal the identity of their employer. Iron Man tries to get clues from their communicator, but it has long since been disabled.
In India, the Enchantress and Executioner are attacking a city with an army of trolls. That’s when Hercules and the Scarlet Witch arrive to stop them. The Executioner decides to test his strength against that of the Olympian demigod and when the Mandarin tries to order the Asgardians to stay on task, the Executioner tosses away his communicator. He then begins spinning his ax around in creating a vortex that teleports the combatants to the Citadel of Silence. There, Hercules and the Executioner fight in hand-to-hand combat, while the Enchantress pits her magic spells against the Scarlet Witch’s hex powers. Just as the Enchantress turns a pile of rubble into a make-shift Frost Giant, Hercules overpowers the Executioner and tosses him into the stone creation, shattering it to pieces. The feedback from the “Frost Giant’s” destruction knocks out the Enchantress as well. Hercules then uses strands of the Enchantress’ hair to tie up their foes for Thor to collect later. He then uses the Executioner’s ax to return himself and the Scarlet Witch to Earth.
Lastly, in Africa, Thor and Hawkeye confront the Living Laser who is terrorizing the locals with his weapons. Although the Laser proves to be an easy foe to defeat, the two Avengers are not prepared for the sudden arrival of Ultimo, the Mandarin’s massive android.[8] During the battle, Thor’s hammer is knocked out of his grasp, leading to a mad scramble to find the weapon before 60 seconds elapses and he reverts back into Donald Blake. Luckily, Hawkeye distracts Ultimo long enough for Thor to recover Mjolnir just moments after he becomes Don Blake. Transforming into Thor again, the thunder god knocks Ultimo back into the volcano he emerged from. Thor then summons a storm that buries the android under tons of rubble.
By this time, Captain America and Quicksilver have tracked the origin point of all these villains to a space station orbiting over the planet. Racing to a nearby military base, the pair take a space shuttle to the station. Once inside they confirm that the Mandarin is behind all the attacks. A fight breaks out until the rest of the Avengers arrive, prompting the Mandarin to back off. He then reveals his massive synthetic diamond and reveals that it can produce a hate ray which he intends to use to plunge the world into chaos. He then subjects the Avengers to the beam and everyone starts fighting each other. Luckily, the Wasp was out of range and she manages to shut off the hate-ray before anyone is seriously hurt. When the Mandarin tries to destroy the Avengers, Quicksilver redirects one of his cannons so it punches a hole in the outer hull of the space station. The sudden decompression then sucks the Mandarin out into the void of space.
After using the diamond to plug the hole in the ship, the Avengers decide the best course of action is to destroy the space station. After rigging it to explode, the Avengers head back to Earth. On the way back, the team all agree that having everyone come back and work on this case was a good idea and everyone unanimously agrees that the whole team should get together on occasion in the future.
Recurring Characters
Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Goliath, Wasp, Hawkeye, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch), Hercules, Mandarin, Living Laser, Swordsman, Power Man, Enchantress, Executioner, Ultimo, Edwin Jarvis, Nick Fury
Continuity Notes
A footnote reminds readers that the Avengers recently fought the Living Laser in Avengers #34-35.
The Mandarin seemingly perished in a nuclear blast in Tales of Suspense #86.
Hawkeye complains about being interrupted while going to visit the Black Widow. Natasha has been in the hospital recovering from a gunshot wound since Avengers #44.
The Mandarin used similar technology to trick the Avengers into accepting the Swordsman onto the team in Avengers #20.
Iron Man muses over how he and the other founding members have been on a leave of absence for some time. Iron Man, Thor, Giant-Man and the Wasp all left the team in Avengers #16, making way for Hawkeye, Quicksilver, and the Scarlet Witch under the command of Captain America. However, Giant-Man and Wasp since rejoined the ranks in Avengers #28.
Mention is made about how Hercules is currently in exile from Olympus. This happened in Avengers #38 when Hercules was tricked into attacking the Avengers. He will remain in exile until issue #50.
Thor states that it is has been a few days since the original members have all met together. That happened in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #3, when the group considered admitting Spider-Man onto the team. Here, Goliath corrects Iron Man who calls him Giant-Man. Goliath changed his name in Avengers #28.
A footnote reminds readers that Iron Man previously fought Ultimo in Tales of Suspense #76-78.
You better believe the Mandarin also manages to cheat death this time. He will appear again in Incredible Hulk #107.
Topical References
Dated pop-culture references: Buck Rogers
Dated Cold War references: Red China
Dated/Racist terms: Orientals
The Avengers lament over the destruction of the Mandarin’s space station because it could be useful to space exploration. It is stated that other space stations will be built in the future, suggesting that no space stations have existed prior to this story. This should be considered a topical reference now that space stations have been consistently in Earth orbit since the USSR launched the first one in 1971.
Supplementary Materials
This issue features pin-ups of Hercules, the female Avengers (Black Widow, Wasp, and Scarlet Witch), as well as a comparison between the original Avengers (circa Avengers #1) and the current roster (circa Avengers #28)
Most importantly, it includes the first blueprint of Avengers Mansion. This version states that the mansion is attached to a nearby warehouse where most of the Avengers equipment and vehicle are stored. This blueprint is long obsolete and will be later updated with a new one in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #1.
