Avengers #72
Did You Hear the One About Scorpio?
Rick Jones is running across the rooftops to reach Avengers Mansion where he bumps into Captain America. When Rick addresses the fact that he is Cap’s ex-partner, the Star-Spangled Avenger explains that at the time the Red Skull had taken over his identity.[1] Cap is glad to see Rick as he just called an urgent meeting of the Avengers. Inside, the other Avengers — Yellowjacket, the Wasp, Goliath, the Black Panther, and the Vision — are all waiting and welcome Rick as well.[2] Captain America calls the meeting to order, saying that they will soon be contacted by SHIELD.[3] Moments later, they are contacted by Dum Dum Dugan who asks them to look into the recent kidnapping of a number of city officials. Evidence shows that the man responsible is a mercenary Scorpio.[4] When asked why SHIELD isn’t looking into this, a teary-eyed Dugan informs them that Nick Fury was apparently killed by an assassin named Bull’s Eye. Although the killer was dealt with, the heads of SHIELD are still in mourning over their lost leader.[5]
As the Avengers plan their next move, that’s when Rick Jones speaks up and says he encountered Scorpio earlier that evening. After he stopped being Bucky, Rick decided to pay a visit to Nick Fury at his apartment to try and become a SHIELD agent. There he found Scorpio lurking around inside. When he tried to stop him, Rick was blasted by Scorpio’s Zodiac Key. As Scorpio fled, Rick switched place with his partner Captain Marvel, although he tells the Avengers that Marvel just happened to be by.[6] Although Captain Marvel had the element of surprise he too was felled by Scorpio’s Zodiac Key. Although Scorpio managed to escape, he dropped his list of the people he kidnapped.
That’s when Scorpio hacks into the Avenger’s communication system. After admitting to the kidnapping Scorpio causes the communicator to self-destruct, knocking everyone out. When the Avengers come to, they are prisoners in Scorpio’s hideout. There the villain reveals that he isn’t operating alone, but part of a large criminal organization called the Zodiac.[7] That’s when the other members — all themed on the different zodiac signs — appear and introduce themselves to the Avengers. Aries congratulates Scorpio for defeating the Avengers, but asks that he return the Zodiac Key. As the Zodiac being their world domination plot, Yellowjacket and the Wasp pool their cybernetic abilities and summon a swarm of ants to sabotage the device keeping the Avengers restrained.
As the Avengers battle the members of the Zodiac, they are surprised when Scoprio pulls off his mask revealing that he is none other than Nick Fury. Meanwhile, through their telepathic link, Captain Marvel suggests swapping out with Rick. However, Rick is not ready to reveal his secret to the Avengers and insists on fighting on his own. Admiring Rick’s courage, Mar-Vell allows Rick to do things his way.
However, in all of the confusion, Aries manages to nab the Zodiac Key and uses it to immobilize the Avengers. Before he can blast them a second time, Rick leaps at Aries and spoils his aim. With the Zodiac Key drained of its power for the time being, Aries orders the Zodiac to retreat. With the battle over, Nick Fury reveals that he was posing as Scorpio because the original was his brother, Jacob Fury. He explains that his brother disappeared under a hail of bullets and is presumed dead.[8] Since then, he uncovered his brother’s hideout and found the Zodiac Key. Since then he was spending his time living a double life as the director of SHIELD and as Scorpio in the hopes of shutting down the Zodiac cartel. His alleged death at the hands of Bull’s Eye was actually a Life Model Decoy that took his place, allowing Fury to go deeper undercover.
It’s then that Captain America commends Rick for how he conducted himself in battle and expresses interest in them being partners again. At first, Rick is elated but remembers his connection to Captain Marvel. Rick then politely declines and leaves, since he is bound to the promise he made to Mar-Vell and his current situation may last forever.
Recurring Characters
Avengers (Captain America, Yellowjacket, Wasp, Goliath, Black Panther, Vision), Zodiac (Aries, Scorpio, Taurus, Libra, Pisces, Gemini, Capricorn, Aquarius, Virgo, Sagittarius, Cancer, Leo), SHIELD (Nick Fury, Dum Dum Dugan, Gabe Jones, Jimmy Woo), Rick Jones, Captain Marvel
Continuity Notes
The Red Skull used the Cosmic Cube to swap bodies with Captain America. At the time Rick had convinced Cap to let him become the next Bucky. When the Red Skull was posing as Captain America, he told Rick to get lost, something Rick took to heart. For Rick as Bucky see Captain America #110, for the Red Skull posing as Captain America see Captain America #115-119.
Yellowjacket says Rick is always welcome in a meeting of the Avengers. This is because he helped assemble the group, as seen in Avengers #1.Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #1 clarifies that while Rick carries an honorary membership on the team.
Captain America states here that Iron Man and Thor are away on personal business. Iron Man is busy fighting the new Crimson Dynamo in Iron Man #21-22 and Thor is battling Kronin Krask in Thor #172.
SHIELD dealt with Scorpio in Nick Fury: Agent of SHIELD #1-5.
Fury was seemingly killed by Bull’s Eye in Nick Fury: Agent of SHIELD #15. We’ll learn later on in the story that this was actually a Life Model Decoy.
Rick just recently was merged with Captain Marvel. See Captain Marvel #17-19.
The identities of the members of the Zodiac Cartel are unrevealed here. They are named in various other places. I saved you the trouble by looking them all up:
Taurus is revealed to be Cornelius Van Lunt in Avengers #77.
Gemini is identified as Joshua Link in Avengers #120.
The rest of the Zodiac members were named in the Zodiac entry of Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #12. They are: Gustav Brandt/Libra, Noah Perricone/Pisces, Marcus Lassiter/Aries, Willard Weir/Capricorn, Darren Bentley/Aquarius, Elaine McLaughlin/Virgo, Harlan Vargas/Sagittarius, Jack Kleveno/Cancer, and Daniel Radford/Leo.
Jake Fury’s being Scorpio of the Zodiac is… complicated. TL;DR version: The Jake Fury that is seen operating as Scorpio is actually a Life-Model Decoy that is mentally unhinged and has been used by Fury from time-to-time to manipulate events. See Secret Warriors #25. At the time of this story, the real Jake Fury was under deep cover as the Kraken, leader of a terrorist group known as Leviathan.
