The Power of Babel!

After returning home from Vietnam, the Avengers are bidding farewell to Libra who is surrendering to the police for crimes he committed as a member of the Zodiac cartel. Although Mantis cannot bring herself to call him her father, she has learned much from their encounters together. As Libra is taken away by the police, Captain America arrives. While the other Avengers want to celebrate the fact that he has been cleared of a murder charge, something has the Star-Spangled Avenger deeply depressed.[1]

Inside, Captain America is not willing to talk about what bothers him. Iron Man instead fills him in on their trip to Vietnam and recent battle with the Star-Stalker. This report is interrupted when a woman comes buzzing at the door with Rick Jones’ Avengers entry pass.[2] When they answer the door, the woman faint collapses into Captain Ameirca’s arms. Before passing out, they learn that her name is Lou-Ann and that Rick is in some kind of danger involving someone named Thanos.

While the Avengers have no idea what the woman is talking about, over the next few days it all becomes clear. They are soon visited by Captain Marvel who seeks assistance against his eternal foe, Thanos. This leads to the Avengers meeting and, in a huge misunderstand, battle Mar-Vell’s new allies Drax the Destroyer and Moondragon. At the end of said battle, Mar-Vell and his allies were suddenly teleported away, leaving the Avengers to figure out their next move alone.[3]

Soon, the Avengers are alerted by Star-Core that Thanos’ invasion fleet has been detected near the Earth’s sun. Using a modified Quinjet and the Zodiac’s star-blaster ship, the Avengers head into space to intercept the invaders. They arrive just as the invasion force passes the son and soon a battle breaks out in the silent void of space.[4] Thanos orders his minions to battle on despite opposition. Seeing that his master has achieved godhood, the leader of the invasion force complies.[5] The battle eventually finds itself in Earth’s orbit, with downed ships crashing in the middle of New York. The citizens of the city paying little heed having gotten used to years of super-hero battles.

As the battle rages on, the Vision decides to board the lead ship with the Scarlet Witch, Mantis, and the Swordsman. However, when he tells the Swordsman to pay attention, his teammate loses his temper. His is angry with the Vision because of his interest in his lover, Mantis. Saying this outloud upsets Wanda, whom the Vision is in a relationship with. However, the Vision refuses to confirm or deny this accusation. The matter is quickly dropped and once Wanda and the others put on their space gear they are lead into space by the Vision. Floatin in the void of space, the Scarlet Witch uses her hex powers to open a way through the mothership’s force field. Inside, they battle the minagery of aliens that have been gathered to fight for Thanos. During the battle, they all note that the aliens all appear to be speaking in their native tongue — English for the most of the Avengers except for Mantis, who hears them speaking in Vietnamese. When the battle is over, they discover that this is due to a universal translater, which they deduce is necessary for so many different races to work together.

The four Avengers destroy the mothership, thus destroying the the universal translater. No longer able to communicate with each other, the different aliens soon grow hostile toward each other and soon fight among themselves to the death. With the aliens defeated, the Avengers return to their headquarters on Earth. Although the main battle is over, Mantis and the Vision are both concerned about the power Thanos wields with the Cosmic Cube. Little do they know that Thanos is hiding behind a nearby chimney waiting for the right moment to attack.

…This story continues in Captain Marvel #33.

Recurring Characters

Avengers (Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Scarlet Witch, Swordsman, Black Panther, the Vision, Mantis), Thanos, Lou-Anne Savannah, Libra, (flashback) Captain Marvel, Drax the Destroyer

Continuity Notes

1. Captain America was framed for the murder of the Tumbler in Captain America #169. This was all part of a larger scheme enacted by the Secret Empire. Captain America shut them down but not before discovering their leader was none other than the President of the United States, who then killed himself in Captain America #175.

2. Captain America mentions here that Rick used to be his partner. Rick has been Cap’s sidekick on two occasions: The first from Avengers #5 through 17, and later as the new Bucky from Captain America #110-115.

3. This is an encasulated retelling of the events that took place in Captain Marvel #25-32.

4. The narration recounts how the Avengers last space battle took place during the Kree/Skrull War. See Avengers #89-97.

5. Thanos achieved godhood through the power of the Cosmic Cube in Captain Marvel #31.

Topical References

• One of the theater marquees advertises the adult film Deep Throat. It was a infamous porno film from 1972 starring Linda Lovelace. It is best known as being the first adult film of having a plot. However, that’s giving it too much credit since it’s about a woman who has a clitorius in her throat giving way for the film’s focus on oral sex, which — I know how impossible to believe to you of the PornHub generation — was a novel concept in adult film at the time. The film is also notable becauase it was the psudenem given to Mark Flett, the informant who helped reporter Bob Woodward break the Watergate Scandal that led to the impeachment and resignation of Richard Nixon. Anyway, once can presume that this marquee is on display in Times Square, which until the 1990s was home to a number of adult movie theaters and other adult themed establishments. This should be considered topical because porn theaters are a dying industry and the ones that used to be Times Square are all gone since New York cleaned up its act.