Avengers #161
Beware the Ant-Man!
The Scarlet Witch is showing off the new costume she made for Wonder Man to the other Avengers, little knowing that the Ant-Man is hiding in some equipment with his ants. No longer remembering his allies, he considers them intruders and orders his ants to swarm them. The Avengers are confused and as they question their teammate, they learn that he has somehow forgotten everything that has happened since they first formed the Avengers together.[1] When Ant-Man renews his attack, the Avengers are ill-prepared for his swarm of ants, or the fact that Ant-Man retains his normal strength when at ant-size.
The sound of battle attracts the Black Panther and the Beast who were in the records room going over Avengers history.[2] The pair fair just as well against Ant-Man’s onslaught of ants. That’s when the Wasp arrives and zaps Hank with one of her bio-stings, knocking him out. She then restores him to normal size and uses her cybernetic connections to send the ants away. She then explains to her teammates that Hank had suffered a nervous breakdown. She explains that, ever since they got married, Hank had put a great deal of pressure on himself to invent new things.[3] Each failure put a strain on his mental health but he refused to get any help. Instead, Janet started seeing a psychiatrist to discuss Hank’s condition and was instructed on how to mitigate these problems. She was told to reinforce positive behavior by making Hank recall happier times. This is the reason why Janet was so insistent that she and Hank rejoin the Avengers during the most recent change over.[4]
When they returned to their lab the day before, the Wasp decided to impress Hank with her new, more revealing costume. However, when she went into his lab she discovered that it was trashed and her husband was nowhere to be found. That’s when she decided that she couldn’t handle this alone anymore and went to the Avengers to help, only to find her husband attacking them as Ant-Man. The Avengers promise to do whatever they can to help restore Hank’s mind. While Iron Man takes Hank to the Subliminal Recall-Inducer to try and restore his memory, the Beast is sent back to the Pym house with Janet to get things that might help jog Hank’s memory. The pair drive back to the Pym house in New Jersey. Going inside alone, Janet is ambushed by someone waiting inside.
Back at Avengers Mansion, the mental probes on Ant-Man are doing nothing but causing him a great deal of pain. Stopping this avenue, Wanda suggests that they call in some of Hank’s closest friends to try to jar his memory. Captain America tries contacting Thor, Quicksilver, and Hawkeye, but does not get an answer from anyone as they are all busy with personal business.[5] For Hawkeye in particular, he and the Two-Gun Kid have gotten a job working on a ranch. The gunslinger from 1873 finds some things — like airplanes — hard to get used to, but he figures he’s going to like it in the future when some women ask him and Hawkeye out to get some milkshakes.
Back at Avengers Mansion, the team is no closer to restoring Hank’s lost memories. That’s when the Beast comes stumbling in after being attacked by the person waiting at the Pym house. Suddenly, Ultron comes blasting in through one of the walls. The Avengers can hardly believe he is back, but Ultron explains that he rebuilt himself after their last encounter.[6][7] He also reveals that he was the one who created the weapons used by the Grim Reaper. He then uses his encephalo-blaster to take down all of the Avengers. When Ant-Man tries attacking him, Ultron sucks the diminutive hero up in a vacuum built into his finger and departs. That’s when Jarvis retuns from a grocery run and is shocked to discover the Avengers are all apparently dead.
Recurring Characters
Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Ant-Man, the Wasp, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Black Panther, the Vision, Beast, Wonder Man), Ultron, Two-Gun Kid, Edwin Jarvis
Continuity Notes
There is a lot of references being dropped here:
Hank Pym was a founding member of the Avengers in Avengers #1. At the time he was in his Ant-Man guise. He has undergone a plethora of identity changes over the years from Giant-Man (Tales to Astonish #35) to Goliath (Avengers #28) to, most recently, Yellowjacket (Avengers #59).
He refers to Iron Man’s gold armor. He is referring to the original suit of armor Tony Stark created in Tales of Suspense #39 and later painted gold in #40. He wore this suit in some of the Avengers earliest cases. He switched to his first version of his iconic red and gold armor in Tales of Suspense #48.
Ant-Man also thinks that Captain America is an impostor, saying the real Captain America was dead. Everyone believed Cap died in 1945 until his frozen body was found and revived by the Avengers in Avengers #4.
The Beast is watching a record of how the Avengers formed due to Loki trying to force a fight between Thor and the Hulk. See Avengers #1 (again).
Hank and Janet got married in Avengers #60.
Hank and Janet were on a leave of absence from the team dating back to Avengers #75. Hank even went so far as announce that he and Janet were permanently retiring from heroics during the Kree/Skrull war circa Avengers #91. It didn’t stick. Long story short, they were asked to return to the Avengers in issue #137 and they officially joined the new roster in issue #151.
At the time of this story, Thor is busy searching for his father as seen in Thor #255-266. Meanwhile, Quicksilver is unreachable because the Inhuman’s city had just been destroyed. See Inhumans #1-12. Lastly, Hawkeye took a leave from the Avengers to help the Two-Gun Kid get used to life in the Modern Age. See Avengers #144.
Ultron points out that his return shouldn’t come as a surprise since Captain America, Wonder Man, and the Vision have all come back from the dead. We’ve already covered Cap, but the other two:
Wonder Man seemingly died in Avengers #9 as a side effect to his powers. He turned up alive again in issue #151. Issue #163 reveals that he didn’t die but entered a deah-like state while undergoing a transformation into a being of pure ionic energy.
The Vision started off his life as the android Human Torch of the 1940s and 50s. The Torch had seemingly died in 1949, 1954 and again in the modern age only to be revived again. Most recently, Ultron used the Torch’s body to create the Vision. See Marvel Comics #1, Young Men #24, Saga of the Original Human Torch #1-4, and Avengers #57-58, 133-135.
Ultron last battled the Avengers in Avengers #127 and Fantastic Four #150.
Topical References
Two-Gun states that the current year is 1977. This should be considered a topical reference. Per the Sliding Timescale, this story takes place during the fourth year of the Modern Age.
Dated pop-culture references: Quick-Draw McGraw