Avengers #172
Holocaust in New York Harbor!
Hawkeye has returned to Avengers Mansion to find that nobody is there to greet him. He hopes that the rest of the team has not disappeared like Two-Gun Kid did earlier and goes looking for sign of life inside.[1] Moments later, NSA agent Peter Gyrich arrives and is annoyed to see that the front door to the mansion was left open after he warned the Avengers about their lax security.
At a nearby convent, the Avengers have just destroyed Ultron when suddenly, his bride Jacosta and Captain America both vanish into thin air.[2] Leaving Ultron with the nuns to turn over to the authorities, the Avengers race back to their headquarters to begin searching for their missing teammates. There, the Scarlet Witch is delighted to see Hawkeye has returned. As he tells them how the Two-Gun Kid also disappeared he mentions ambushing a guy wandering around the mansion. From the description they know it was Gyrich and untie him. The NSA agent is furious and serves the team papers that revoke their special security status, which cuts them off from all government resources and forbids them from flying their Quinjets. As Iron Man goes over this notice, the Scarlet Witch receives a distress call from Crystal in Attilan. She tells Wanda that Quicksilver mysteriously vanished just like the other missing Avengers.
That’s when Jarvis returns from his jog and tells the team that he heard a radio report about Tyrak attacking the harbor.[3] Although everyone is rearing to go battle Tyrak, Iron Man pulls rank and splits the team up to focus on both Tyrak and searching for their missing teammates. He sends the Scarlet Witch, Vision, Hawkeye, Wonder Man and Ms. Marvel to deal with Tyra. He then assigns Yellowjacket and the Wasp to contact all other past Avengers to check in on them. Thor and the Beast are put on stand-by in case anything else comes up while Iron Man uses his lab equipment to try and find out where their kidnapped teammates went.
Wanda and the others quickly find Tyrak who had gone on the rampage in order to draw out the Avengers and avenge his previous defeat at their hands. While Wonder Man and Ms. Marvel pit their strength against the Atlantean warrior, the Vision fells him with solar blasts that dehydrate the water-based villain. With Tyrak defeated, Wonder Man picks him up and tosses him back into the ocean. With that, Ms. Marvel decides its time to go her own way and thanks Wonder Man for the experience and looks forward to fighting next to him again in the future. Moments later, the Vision suddenly vanishes before the eyes of his teammates.
Meanwhile, T’Challa has returned to America and resumed his identity of school teacher Luke Charles. That’s when he gets a call from Yellowjacket and promises to attend a meeting of the Avengers after he looks into his own missing person case.[4] While in the lab, Iron Man can’t find any trace of their missing teammates. He is joined by Yellowjacket and the Wasp who tell them that they were able to contact the Black Panther, Whizzer, and Captain Marvel. However, they have some bad news as both the Beast and Thor have taken off, with the latter battling a stone giant in Jamaica Bay.[5] Iron Man figures Thor can take care of himself as they have to keep focusing on their missing teammates.
Little do they know that the man responsible is observing them and can’t believe they haven’t figure out who is responsible. Behind him in stasis tubes are Captain America, Quicksilver, the Vision, Moondragon, Two-Gun Kid, and Jacosta.[6]
Recurring Characters
Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Yellowjacket, Wasp, Hawkeye, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Black Panther, the Vision, Moondragon, the Beast, Wonder Man), Ms. Marvel, Henry Gyrich, Tyrak, Collector (unidentified), Edwin Jarvis, Two-Gun Kid, Ultron (deactivated)
Continuity Notes
The Two-Gun Kid was snatched away in Avengers #170. He and other Avengers are being kidnapped by the Collector, as we’ll see in Avengers #173-174.
Ultron was seemingly destroyed last issue. However, the robot will rear his ugly head again in Avengers #202.
Mention is made of the Avengers last battle with Tyrak. See Avengers #154.
This investigation is explored in Marvel Two-In-One #40 where the Black Panther and the Thing battle the Nightspawn.
The Beast was called away by help rescue Havok from the Living Monolith and later save the X-Men from Mesmero and Magneto. Thor also gets involved in the battle with the Living Monolith. See Marvel Team-Up #69-70 and X-Men #111-114 and Classic X-Men #17-20.
The identity of the kidnapper is revealed to be the Collector, who has been gathering the Avengers into his collection to protect them from destruction at the hands of Korvac. See Avengers #173-174.
