Night of the Collector

The Avengers have returned to their headquarters after saving the world from Dormammu alongside the Avengers.[1] They have come with Thor’s step-brother, Loki, whose mind was reduced to that of an infant after his ordeals. Unfortunately, Loki’s presence triggers the alarm forcing the Avengers to fight off their own defenses. Luckily, the Black Panther is able to evade capture and shut everything down before someone gets hurt.[2] Once inside, Thor debates what to do with his convalescent brother and leaves him in the care of the Avengers’ butler, Jarvis, in the meantime.

Meanwhile, the Black Panther takes this downtime to learn more about Mantis, who has revealed little about her past since joining the team.[3] The Panther is particularly interested in her adherence to eastern philosophies.[4] Mantis brushes his off, saying her past was uneventful and thus why she has not spoken of it to them. Suddenly, Mantis enters a trance and suddenly speaks of danger happening in Rutland, Vermont. When she snaps out of this trance, she and the Black Panther tell the other Avengers who hop into a Quinjet and take off, noting that tonight is Halloween, the evening of the Rutland’’s famous Halloween Parade.

The Avengers soon arrive in Rutland, where the annual Halloween parade is well underway.[5] There they are greeted by Tom Fagan, the parade organizer. He welcomes the Avengers and agrees to have some of the Avengers appear on one of the floats while the rest of the team looks around for the trouble that Mantis sensed. Little do they know that they are walking into a trap that has apparently been set by Tom Fagan himself. Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, and the Black Panther all participate in the parade but their presence does not draw their enemy out of hiding. The man they think is Tom Fagan then leads them away from the crowd in the nearby forest. There, he ensnares them in animated animal skins that Fagan claims are the legendary coats of Hercules. As it turns out, “Tom Fagan” is actually the Avengers’ old foe, the Collector, in disguise. He used the annual parade to lure the Avengers into a trap in order to make him part of his collection.[6] He then takes the captured Avengers back to Tom Fagan’s old house where he pins them to a wall with giant tacks like some grotesque butterfly collection.

Meanwhile, the Vision, Scarlet Witch, Swordsman, and Mantis search the town for the threat they came looking for. The Scarlet Witch gets annoyed by the autograph hounds following them and repels them with a hex bolt. That’s when the Swordsman and Mantis decide to split up. Once alone, Wanda admits to the Vision that she is still incredibly jaded over the unwanted attention they have been receiving since their romance had become public knowledge. If people aren’t lavishing over them for being super-heroes they hate them for not being humans.[7] Not far away, the Swordsman and Mantis are discussing their recent battle with the Defenders and how the Vision froze up during their final battle with Dormammu. The Swordsman then changes the subject to his feelings for Mantis. The couple is about to kiss when they hear some muffled cries coming from the bushes. Following the sound, they uncover the real Tom Fagan who has been tied up and left in the woods. Getting the Vision and Scarlet Witch, they learn from Tom that his captor is using his former home as a hideout since none of the heroes had learned he moved.

Twenty minutes later, the Collector waits for the other Avengers to arrive when suddenly, Tom Fagan and his annual party guests arrive. The sudden arrival of so many people in costumes causes the Collector to have a panic attack. When he attempts to leave out the back he discovers that Captain America and the others have been freed while he was distracted. The Collector then clashes two rocks together, creating a flurry of vampire bats that will kill everyone in town. To cover his escape, he then tosses the stones down a booby-trapped chute. Luckily, Mantis is able to contort her lithe form into the chute and recover the stones. While Iron Man disorients the deadly bats with a sonar blast, Mantis clashes the stones together again making the bats disappear. However, the Collector managed to escape.

Still, the Avengers are celebrated for helping save the city. Later, Thor realizes that he has come up with a solution for what to do with his brother. Soon, Loki is brought to Rutland where he is left in the care of Tom Fagan who promises to take good care of the invalid trickster god.[8]

Recurring Characters

Avengers (Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Scarlet Witch, Swordsman, Black Panther, the Vision, Mantis), Collector, Loki, Tom Fagan

Continuity Notes

1. This was the fabled Avengers/Defenders War. See Avengers #115-118 and Defenders #9-11.

2. The Panther recounts how he has had to slip past the defenses before, just prior to joining the team. See Avengers #52.

3. Mantis and the Swordsman joined the Avengers in Avengers #114. Although he past is unrevealed here, her origins are delved into in Avengers #121, 123, 129 and Giant-Size Avengers #4. Her memories of the past at this point have been stripped of her mind, but Mantis was a trainee of the Kree Priests of Pama who were training her to become the Celestial Madonna.

4. Black Panther mentions he was educated outside of Wakanda to learn about the outside world, this was first depicted in Avengers #87. He also mentions how recent troubles in his homeland have led him to consider leaving the Avengers. This is a reference to Jungle Action (vol. 2) #6-8, where T’Challa had his first clash with Erik Killmonger.

5. Mention is made how Earth’s heroes have often been involved in Rutland’s annual parade. This happened in Avengers #83, Marvel Feature #2, Thor #206-207, Amazing Adventures (vol. 2) #16. As for the timing, see below. Sidebar: The footnote here stops short of also referencing Justice League of America #103, which also featured a story taking place during the Rutland Halloween parade. In fact, with the exception of Avengers #83 and Marvel Feature #2, all of the above-referenced stories were the first — and unofficial — Marvel/DC crossover.

6. A footnote here reminds readers that the Collector previously appeared in Avengers #28 and 51.

7. The reason the Scarlet Witch is being persecuted for being a “non-human” is that she and the general public all believe that Wanda is a mutant. However, she actually isn’t. It will be revealed later in Uncanny Avengers (vol. 2) #4-5 that she was experimented upon by the High Evolutionary. In order to cover up his work, the Evolutionary made it so that future genetic tests would have Wanda register as a mutant.

8. Fagan mentions how he once tried to help Loki, that was in Thor #206. He will remain in this state until his mind is restored and begins terrorizing Thor anew in Thor #231-234.

Topical References

• Typically, real-world people who appear in Modern Age stories are considered to be topical references. There are a few exceptions, such as Marvel Comics creators and, in this issue, that of Tom Fagan. Although the real-life Fagan died in 2006, he exists in the Modern Age of the Marvel Universe in his relative prime.

• The Vision states here that evil forces have gathered in Rutland Vermont on Halloween for three years in a row. This assessment of time should be considered topical as it refers to the passage of time between the publications of Avengers #83 (1970), Marvel Feature #2/Thor #206 (1972), and Thor #207/Amazing Adventures (vol. 2) #16 (1973) and this story (1974). See Below.

• Dated pop-culture references: Greta Garbo

The Passage of Time and Rutland, Vermont’s Annual Halloween Parade

As stated above, the Vision talks of events happening at the parade for three years in a row. However, per the Sliding Timescale, only about a year has passed in Marvel Time. As such, it would be unlikely for Halloween to come and go three times in one year.

As I’ve stated in my interpretation page this is one of those instances where a holiday (Halloween) appears in a group of stories in total defiance of the Sliding Timescale. Clearly, these stories were written prior to Marvel establishing their Sliding Timescale and this is one of those few instances where the Timescale doesn’t make sense.

So how does one explain it away? Marvel has not provided a solution to the issue so my explanation is merely speculation. However, I apply Occam’s Razor since the simplest solution is usually the best.

I choose to believe that instead all of these parades being Halloween parades, they are just parades celebrating super-heroes. In a world where the Avengers are regularly saving the world, it doesn’t seem very outlandish for a small city like Rutland to throw multiple parades to honor super-heroes. Maybe because of super-heroes the people of Rutland actually celebrate Halloween multiple times a year. Businesses in the real world have “Christmas in July” sales, why would “Halloween in May” be any less outlandish?

Since a lot of these stories also involve some mystical element where magical events happen because it’s Halloween, I just opt to think that instead, it is an event of some other mystical significance since — particularly in the Marvel Universe — Halloween doesn’t have a monopoly on mystical convergences. I’d like to think that Rutland is a place of mystical importance, kind of like the Florida Everglades is the Nexus of All Realities.

That said, if you apply my logic it raises the question: Which of these parades really happens on Halloween and which ones are “just because”. I think people’s millage on that will vary and that would all boil down to personal preference. While I’m fond of splitting hairs on finer details like this, you’ve got to have a stopping point and this is where I draw my line.