Avengers #159
Siege by Stealth and Storm!
Graviton has just defeated the Avengers and is now setting his sights for the rest of the world. One of his research assistants, Raquel, then reveals that she knocked out Judy Parks for betraying him. Graviton has had an unhealthy obsession with Judy and warns Raquel against harming her. That’s when Judy’s husband, Joe, leads those against Graviton in an attack on their captor. Having grown tired of his colleagues, Graviton uses his powers to dump everyone but Judy back onto the ground. He then pilots his floating research facility so that it is suspended over New York City.
There, the United States Air Force scrambles jets but none of their artillery can pierce the gravitational barrier placed around the floating island. News of the floating island begins to spread causing fear and panic in the streets. Other heroes, such as Daredevil, are too focused on dealing with looting in the streets to try to figure out the purpose of the floating island.
Watching the news coverage, Jarvis fears the worst about his charges and raises a glass to the Avengers. That’s when he is startled by the arrival of the Black Panther who has come to the aid of his teammates. As he heads to up to the hanger to take a sky-cycle both he and Jarvis are also surprised to see that Thor has arrived as well.[1] As the two Avengers head off to assist their comrades, Jarvis hopes for the best.
By this time, Graviton has dressed Judy up to be his queen and used his powers to pin the Avengers against a massive concrete wall. That’s when Thor arrives and begins attacking Graviton. Amazingly, the master of gravity is able to hold his own against Thor. While Graviton is distracted, Iron Man frees himself by turning on his jet boots and repulsors up to full blast allowing him to pull out of the gravity field keeping his fellow Avengers pinned to the wall. The Black Panther then tells Iron Man to keep Graviton busy while he uses a device to free the others. Although this distraction works, both Thor and Iron Man are quickly defeated. The rest of the Avengers are prepared to attack and begin to charge.
That’s when Graviton spots Judy’s crown on the edge of his floating base and realizes she threw herself over the edge rather than be with her. This angers Graviton who blames the Avengers for what happened. However, when he tries to command more power than he has before something goes wrong. Instead of destroying the Avengers, Graviton begins drawing the island around himself like he has become a super-dense black hole. The Avengers abandon the island which contracts around Graviton into a super-dense sphere of pure concrete and metal. When the ball falls out of the sky it is caught by the combined strength of Thor, Iron Man, Wonder Man, and the Vision who then collectively toss it into the ocean.[2]
When the Avengers return to their headquarters they are shocked to discover that Judy is still alive and that she was rescued by Jarvis when she jumped off the island.
Recurring Characters
Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Yellowjacket, the Wasp, Scarlet Witch, Black Panther, the Vision, the Beast, Wonder Man), Graviton, Edwin Jarvis, Judy Parks, Daredevil
Continuity Notes
Thor’s sudden appearance here is a surprise to everyone because the thunder god has been on a leave of absence since Avengers #151 to focus on more godly manners. In fact, his appearance here takes place during the so-called “Quest for Odin” that saw Thor traveling the universe searching for his missing father in Thor #255-266. As explained in Avengers #175, Thor was pulled from time by the Collector to assist the Avengers to keep them alive until he could make them all part of his collection in order to save them from destruction at the hands of Korvac.
This is not the end of Graviton, who will return to terrorize Judy Parks anew in Marvel Two-In-One Annual #4.
