Avengers #80
The Coming of Red Wolf
A man is being stalked through the rainy streets of New York City by a Native American warrior called Red Wolf and his wolf, Lobo. The commotion is heard by the Vision who decides to intervene, preventing Red Wolf from killing the man. Red Wolf attacks the android for interfering with his revenge, but ultimately, the synthezoid wins by knocking his opponent out. Even though he just quit the Avengers, the Vision realizes that this is something for his teammates to look into and takes Red Wolf and Lobo back to Avengers Mansion with him.
Meanwhile, back at the mansion, Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor are going over their files on the Zodiac crime cartel. While Iron Man and Thor insist that they focus on shutting down this organization, Captain America isn’t certain if they should divert all their resources to combating the Zodiac. The Black Panther interjects pointing out that the Avengers need to focus on more just causes such as dealing with the organized crime that is rampant in the city and directly affects the students he teaches. This starts a debate between everyone over where they should be focusing their resources. That’s when the Vision arrives and presents them with a new dilemma: What to do about Red Wolf.
When Red Wolf wakes up, he is furious that he has been brought to the Avengers against his will. However, Captain America gets him to calm down and talk about why he was willing to kill a man. Red Wolf tells them his life story, of how he grew up on a reservation as a boy. His people were a curiosity that drew visitors and his elders were willing to put on mock tribal dances and sell goods to ignorant tourists. However, the young man who grew up to be Red Wolf wanted more out of his life. One night, watched as the elders put on a private dance to celebrate Red Wolf. Red Wolf was a legend of his people and was believed to be a warrior from the sky to lead his people against those who would oppose them. Seeing the dance, this young man believed there was no such thing as Red Wolf.
As he grew into a man, the youth became aware of the wealthy Cornelius Van Lundt who was using his influence to buy up his people’s land. After serving in the military and almost losing his life on the battlefield, the man returned to America and became a construction worker in New York City. However, he was always drawn back to his homeland. He returned home to find Van Lundt trying to pressure his father into selling his land. The man stopped this from happening, but Van Lundt warned him that his assistant, Jason Birch, will be back to set them straight. Later that evening, Birch organized a drive-by-shooting that killed his parents. Wounded in the hail of bullets, the delirious young man went to the tribal hogan and put on the garb of the Red Wolf, and climbed to the top of the sacred mountain. There he put on a dance to Red Wolf summoning the spirit of the Great Wolf, who appeared in the flames. The Great Wolf told him that he will become the next Red Wolf. That’s when the man passed out.
When he awoke he was attacked by a female wolf. Forced to slay her, he found that she was just protecting her cub. The man, now embracing the Red Wolf identity, adopted the pup and named it Lobo. Raising the wolf and training it to be his loyal assistant, Red Wolf then returned to the city where he resumed his job in construction work. However, this was merely a cover to track Cornelius Van Lundt and Jason Birch, vowing to kill them to avenge the death of his parents.[1]
After hearing this story, the Vision offers his assistance to Red Wolf, but refuses to kill. Even though he has to settle with “white man’s justice”, Red Wolf accepts his assistance. This leaves the Avengers divided on where to devote their resources. Both Goliath and the Scarlet Witch decide to side with the Vision, while Captain America, Quicksilver, Thor, and Iron Man decide to stay behind and continue their hunt for the Zodiac cartel. While the Black Panther decides to go it alone against organized crime.[2] As each of them leaves on their various missions, the Vision wonders if this schism among the team could spell the end of the Avengers.
Recurring Characters
Avengers (Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Goliath, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Black Panther, the Vision), Red Wolf, Cornelius Van Lundt, Jason Birch, Lobo, Owayodata, Red Wolf (Wildrun, in flashback)
Continuity Notes
Red Wolf does not refer to himself by name here, however, he is identified as William Talltrees next issue. His tribe nor the true name of the “Wolf Spirit” are named here. Red Wolf is identified as being Cheyenne and the wolf spirit is named Owayodata in Marvel Chillers #5. William’s parents are identified as Thomas and Rebecca Talltrees in the next issue and the Red Wolf entry of Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #9, respectively. The first Red Wolf seen in the flashback is Wildrun, as confirmed in Official Index of the Marvel Universe: Avengers. Wildrun will make his first physical appearance in Fantastic Four Annual #25.
While not referenced here, the Black Panther’s solo mission sees him working alongside Daredevil in Daredevil #69.
Topical References
The people of Red Wolf’s tribe are referred to as Indians, American Indians, and red skins in this story. While the term Indian was the accepted term back when this story was published in 1970, a lot of these terms are no longer used and some (particularly “red skin”) is considered racist. The term Indian is a misnomer that dates back to the days of early colonialists who “discovered” America, who mistook the indigenous population for people of India because ancient white people were fucking ignorant as shit. At any rate, accepted terms now are Native American, First Nation, the Indigenous, or Aboriginal. If you don’t want to come off sounding like an ignorant prick you could also refer to individuals by which tribe they originate from.
