Avengers #141
The Phantom Empire!
The Beast is heading home from the hospital after his formula saved the lives of Yellowjacket and the Wasp. He is ambushed by an army of men in green uniforms. Luckily, Captain America arrives and lends a helping hand in driving them off. However, the Beast doesn’t think it was all luck that brought Captain America there. He tells the Beast that these soldiers are connected to Roxxon CEO Hugh Jones. He tells about how recently Nomad clashed with the Serpent Squad who were using the Serpent Crown to control Jones. Later, when Captain America and the Falcon were in Washington, DC to find the Red Skull. Jones suddenly rolled up to them and pointed them to the Skull’s hideout, but refused to divulge his sources. During his fight with the Red Skull, the same armed men attacked and killed the Skull’s troops. Captain America was able to follow them back to the Roxxon building and later to the ambush on the Beast.[1] Captain America is intrigued to hear that the Beast is now affiliated with the Avengers.[2]
Meanwhile, back at Avengers Mansion, the same woman has come demanding to see the Beast. Jarvis informs her that the Avengers are still out and she insists on continuing to find him on her own. The other Avengers are at the hospital visiting Hank and Janet Pym, who are still recovering from their recent injuries.[3] The greeting is interrupted by Captain America and the Beast, who pull the rest of the team away to discuss the recent attack. While Janet and Hank muse over their returning to the Avengers, the woman looking for the Beast arrives and is told that she just missed him. Janey thinks the young woman looks familiar, that’s when Hank recalls that they saw her at the wedding of Reed and Sue Richards.[4] Outside, the other Avengers are brought up to date about the possible connection and criminal activities of Roxxon and the Brand Corporation.[5] That’s when they spot a Quinjet flying by, signaling the return of Iron Man and Moondragon from their mission to find Hawkeye.[6]
Arriving at the mansion, the Avengers learn that Hawkeye is lost somewhere in time and that Kang the Conqueror is probably involved. As the Avengers try to figure out their priorities, the mystery woman arrives, having finally tracked down the Beast. She happens to be Patsy Walker, whom Hank met during his time working for the Brand Corporation. After a moment of speaking in private, the Beast returns with Patsy. She suddenly blurts out Hank McCoy’s real name to the other Avengers, but this is not a concern since the Beast is no longer keeping his true identity a secret. As it turns out, Hank was blackmailed into helping Patsy become a superhero. By this time, the Avengers have figured out their next move: With Thor and Moondragon going to search for Hawkeye, the rest of the team is going to investigate the Brand Corporation. As they leave, Patsy insists on accompanying the team, despite Captain America’s reservations, the Beast assures him that he’ll keep an eye on Patsy.
On the roof of the mansion, Moondragon uses her mental powers to summon Immortus to assist them against Kang. When the time traveler appears before them he agrees to help them navigate the timestream to find Hawkeye. As they travel through time they are ambushed by Kang, who had been waiting for the Avengers to go searching for their missing teammate. After a brief battle, Kang retreats after being hit by a blast from Thor’s hammer. Although Immortus won’t reveal what happens next, he continues to guide the two Avengers further through time.
Back on present-day Earth, the Avengers arrive outside the Brand Corporation unaware that they are being observed by Hugh Jones and Buzz Baxter — Patsy’s ex-husband and the head of security at Brand. Having expected the intruders, they contact their operatives to confront the heroes directly. Moments later, the Avengers are confronted by the Squadron Supreme. At first, Captain America can’t understand why they are heroic Squadron are attacking them, or why one of them is dressed in the Golden Archer costume that was previously worn by Hawkeye. The Avengers give it their best, but they quickly fall under the power of Lady Lark’s singing voice, much to the delight of Hugh Jones.[7]
Meanwhile, Thor, Moondragon, and Immortus exit the time stream and find themselves in the middle of the American Frontier. Immortus believes they are in the year 1871 when suddenly they are confronted by someone with a ghostly voice correcting them by saying it is actually 1873.
Recurring Characters
Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Yellowjacket, Wasp, Scarlet Witch, the Vision, Moondragon, the Beast), Kang, Immortus, Roxxon/Brand Corporation (Hugh Jones, Buzz Baxter), Squadron Supreme (Hyperion, Doctor Spectrum, Whizzer, Golden Archer, Lady Lark), Patsy Walker, Edwin Jarvis, Night Rider (voice only)
Continuity Notes
Lots of Captain America exposition going on here:
What he doesn’t tell the Beast is that he was Nomad. Steve Rogers was disenfranchised after discovering that the leader of the Secret Empire was the President of the United States in Captain America #175. He briefly retired as Captain America, taking on the Nomad identity from Captain America #180-183.
The battle against the Serpent Squad happened in Captain America #181.
While the hunt for the Red Skull was chronicled in Captain America #185-186.
The Beast states here that he has not worked with Captain America for “years”. (see below) Although the Beast was among the mutants captured by the Secret Empire in Captain America #174-175, the last time the pair were face-to-face was when the X-Men attended the wedding of Yellowjacket and the Wasp in Avengers #60.
Janet was injured by a mine blast in Avengers #137 while Hank suffered from complications caused by a microbe in his system last issue.
This is a hint to the mystery woman’s identity. Patsy Walker attending the wedding that took place in Fantastic Four Annual #3.
Captain America mentions how this case will hit the “core” of the Falcon’s personality. This is a reference to Captain America #186, where the Red Skull tricked everyone into thinking that Sam Wilson was once a petty thug named “Snap” Wilson and changed his whole personality using the Cosmic Cube. All-New Captain America #3 would later go on and reveal that the “Snap” Wilson identity was a false narrative created by the Skull in order to make the Falcon question his identity. Click here for more on these contradicting facts.
Hawkeye has gone missing since issue #137 when he went to use Doctor Doom’s time machine to re-recruit the Black Knight.
There are a lot of facts that are dropped here about the Squadron Supreme:
A footnote here reminds readers that the Squadron Supreme was last seen in Avengers #85-86.
Captain America says here the Squadron is acting like their super-villain counterparts, the Squadron Sinister. The Avengers faced the Squadron Sinister in Avengers #69-71. They are nearly identical group because the Grandmaster previously encountered the Squadron Supreme and based his own group on them. This was detailed in Squadron Supreme #7 and confirmed by All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #10.
Mention is made how Hawkeye previously wore the Golden Archer outfit. That was in Captain America #179 to convince Steve Rogers to continue fighting crime. This Golden Archer was previously called Hawkeye when he was seen in Avengers #85-86. At the time, Clint Barton was in his Goliath identity. I presume that this odd switch around was for the benefit of readers so there weren’t two characters named Hawkeye in the same story.
It is mentioned here that the Squadron Supreme comes from another dimension. Although generally referred to as “Other-Earth” during this story-arc, it has since been designated as Earth-712 in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes 2005.
Topical References
Hank states that he hasn’t been face-to-face with Captain America for years. This is a topical reference as it denotes the length of time between publications. Per the Sliding Timescale, it has been roughly about two years.
Any reference to the present day of the Modern Age taking place in the 20th Century should also be considered topical. Because of the Sliding Timescale, it now does not begin until the 21st Century.
