Interlude

Returning to active duty, Wonder Man signs into the Avengers database. Congratulated by his fellow Avengers, Simon admits that he is looking forward to rejoining the team because his acting career has not been going as well as he hoped. When the Beast asks how he passes auditions with his glowing red eyes, Simon reveals that he can actually make his eyes return to normal with some concentration, although it does cause him some headaches later. He tells them that while his play bombed he just recently found a new gig working at the local TV station, but it tight lipped about his role, saying it is a secret.[1]

With Wonder Man all signed in, the Falcon announces that he will be leaving the Avengers. Although he was made welcome on the team, he was only ever a member to fill a government quota and prefers being a solo crime fighter.[2] After seeing the Falcon off, Captain America suggests they get back down to business and vote Iron Man back in as chairman of the team.[3]

Meanwhile, at the New York Port Authority, a man rushes out into the snow to catch a cab. He tells the driver to take him to Avengers Mansion on the double. The driver muses to himself that his odd passenger probably belongs in a mental institution, unaware of the fact that this man had just come from the Solomon Institute for the Criminally Insane.

Back at the Mansion, Ms. Marvel talks to Captain America outside about the departure of the Falcon. Steve is fine with Sam’s departure and muses about how the Avengers work as a team compared to other groups. While the X-Men are all outcasts and the Fantastic Four are all family, the Avengers stay together because the members want to be part of the team. As they talk, some kids look over the retaining wall from the road and one of them tries to throw a snowball at Captain America for laughs. Cap sees this and nonchalantly tosses his shield at the projectile before it can hit him. This scares the shit out of the dumb kid who runs off to change his pants. Watching the pair from inside his private office is Tony Stark. He is pleased that the team is functioning pretty well on its own and debates if he still wants to be the leader of the team. After his recent struggles with alcoholism he is reconsidering how much stress he has in his life and thinks it might be better to take it a bit easier.[4]

While down below in the mansion’s sub-basement, the Vision hones his skills in the training room. He is interrupted by Jocasta, the Avengers robotic ally. She admits that the rest of the team overlooks her and she feels lonely. As a fellow artificial being, she hopes that the Vision and her can find comfort from one another, particularly since the Vision misses his wife. When the android refers to his own loneliness in a very poetic way, Jocasta points this out. This annoys the Vision who dismisses his feelings, insisting that he should have none because he is not a human.[5] As the Vision takes out his frustrations on another training session, Jocasta can fully understand where he is coming from.

Back upstairs, Jarvis is walking past the front door with a tray full of food when someone knocks at the door. Luckily, the Wasp is there to answer it for him. When she opens the door, the man who came seeking the Avengers collapses in Janet’s arms, remarking how beautiful she looks before passing out. In the rec room, Wonder Man and the Beast are playing a game of ping-pong together. Since Hank keeps winning, Simon suggests they do something else. McCoy suggests they see what’s on TV and flips it onto the Uncle Elmer Show, much to Simon’s horrors. This is because his gig is on this popular children’s show where he plays the dimwitted Mister Muscles and is the butt of Uncle Elmer’s jokes. Seeing Simon humiliated on television amuses Hank to no end, but the viewing is cut short when Captain America calls the team for a meeting, much to Simon’s relief.

In the meeting room, the team meets the strange man who has come to their door. He insists that he needs the Avengers help, but the group wonders if his fears are valid since he has come from a mental health institution. As the team debates on if they should help, the Wasp is adamant that they should. However, soon representatives from the Solomon Institute come to recover their patient, who is named Selbe. When hearing that the Institute has found him, Selbe is horrified. Although the recovery of their patient doesn’t sit well with Iron Man and Captain America, they have no choice by to hand Selbe over. When they return to the meeting, the two senior members believe they should stay out of whatever is going on since they just recently won back their autonomy and potentially breaking the law could get them into hot water. The Beast tells them that they might not have a choice in the matter, pointing out that the Wasp is gone to try and rescue Selby. Resigned to the fact that the Avengers now have to get involved, Captain America orders Wonder Man to fire up a Quinjet so they can pay a visit to Doctor Solomon.

Recurring Characters

Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Wasp, Vision, Wonder Man, Beast, Ms. Marvel, Falcon, Jocasta), Pernelle Solomon, Selbe, Redwing

Continuity Notes

1. The Vision is distant with his teammates, this is because his wife — the Scarlet Witch — went on a leave of absence in Avengers #192 to sort out her life and decide if she wants to retire from heroics and start a family. She makes up her mind in issue #199.

2. Falcon’s membership on the Avengers came about when the team was assigned a new NSA liaison named Henry Gyrich in Avengers #168. In order to eliminate what he saw as security problems, he reduced the number of active Avengers on the team in issue #181 and forced the Falcon onto the team to fill a diversity quota. Sam only agreed to join the team as a favor to Captain America. The Avengers recently won back their autonomy in issue #191.

3. At the time of this story, Iron Man was framed for the murder of a foreign diplomat in Iron Man #124. In order to take attention off the Avengers, Iron Man stepped down as leader so he could focus on clearing his name, which he accomplished in Iron Man #127 when he discovered that Justin Hammer, a rival businessman, was hacking his armor remotely in order to spoil a lucrative government contract intended for Stark International.

4. Tony Stark’s drinking got out of control due to various outside stresses both as the owner of Stark International and as Iron Man. His spiral into alcoholism was chronicled in Iron Man #117-128, where he fought his way out of a heavy addiction. Tony will remain on the wagon until Iron Man #167.

5. The Vision has been questioning his own humanity since the return of Wonder Man in Avengers #151, since the android’s brain patterns are based on those of Simon Williams. This has been exacerbated by the Avengers’ recent battles with Ultron in Avengers #161-162 and 170-171. The latter story featured Ultron creating Jocasta using the mind of the Wasp as a template.

Topical References

• When commenting on his acting career, Wonder Man states that the play he was performing in was “Kerr in the Times said it moved so slow, the actors should have been arrested for loitering!” This is reference to theater critic Walter Kerr, who wrote for the New York Times from 1966 until 1982. That and the fact that Kerr died in 1996 makes this reference topical. The reference to the New York Times should also be considered topical since it is a real world publication.