Men of Deadly Pride!

Jarvis is delivering milk to Tigra’s room when she suddenly jumps out at him from the shadows as an amusing prank. Jarvis is frightened but doesn’t spill a single drop, impressing Tigra immensely. She takes the time to tell the Avengers butler how she became a were-cat when her alter-ego, Greer Grant was fatally wounded. In order to save her life a secret society of Cat People put her through a mystical ceremony that turned her into one of their own species.[1] Jarvis is impressed by the story, but has to continue making his rounds because — as it turns out — he is allergic to cats!

At that moment, Tony Stark has gotten up after an evening with his latest fling. After calling his secretary to have flowers delivered, Tony changes into Iron Man and leaves for a meeting at Avengers Mansion before his date wakes up. At that same moment, Steve Rogers is waking up and begins changing into Captain America. As he heads for Avengers Mansion he thinks about how the team has been shaken up since their recent roster change and wonders if Tigra is going to work out as a member of the team. On the West Side, Doctor Donald Blake finishes his shift for the day and heads to a nearby alley where he transforms into Thor. Although Don Blake is exhausted after pulling an all-nighter at the hospital Thor is refreshed, invigorated, and looking forward to the meeting at Avengers Mansion.

Things aren’t going so smoothly at the Pym house in New Jersey however. Yellowjacket, is impatient with his wife the Wasp, who can’t make up her mind on what costume to wear to the meeting. Hank is anxious to get to Avengers Mansion and is quickly losing his temper with her. When they take Janet’s limo into the city they get caught in a traffic jam. Annoyed with all the delays, Yellowjacket shrinks in size and flies the rest of the way under his own steam. Concerned about Hank’s lousy temper, Janet follows after him as the Wasp to try and find out what’s wrong with him.

The couple arrive ten minutes late, and the team are already getting down to business. As founding members of the Avengers, Iron Man and Thor agree that Captain America should remain the current chairman of the team. This upsets Hank who reminds them that he was a founding member of the Avengers and deserves a say as well.[2][3] While he agrees with the motion, the fact that his position appears to be forgotten angers him. Listening to her husband yell, Janet wonders what’s really bothering him and wishes he would confide in her so they can work through it together.

Meanwhile, in a secluded part of the Virginia wilderness there exists a hut that harkens back to an earlier time. The occupants are a warrior named Gorn and his lover, the sorceress known as Linnea. They have lived here in tranquility for centuries thanks to Linnea’s magic, but Gorn has grown restless and wants to go back into the outside world. With their horse, the couple ride into the nearest city, Washington, DC. The appearance of these Hyborean era strangers generates a lot of attention to the couple. Needing foot, the go to a nearby restaurant, where they struggle with the waiter on duty due to the language barrier between them.

When a talent scout notices how beautiful Linnea is, he tries to give her his card. Thinking that this man is trying to charm his woman, Gorn attacks him. Linnea convinces Gorn to stop attacking the patrons and the two leave. Back on the street, Gorn is stopped by a police officer who has issue with the fact that the warrior is walking around DC with a sword. When Gorn tries to get physical, the cop sprays him in the face with mace and slaps some handcuffs on him. As Gorn struggles to see, Linnea uses her magic to incapacitate the officer. Humiliated over being rescued by a woman, Gorn slaps Linnea across the face. This upsets her and she flies off, and Gorn — realizing what he had done — is horrified and ashamed of himself for striking a woman.

Reports of Gorn and Linnea soon reach Avengers Mansion and the team decides to go an investigate. As a Quinjet is being prepared for flight, Yellowjacket complains that his disrupter is on the fritz and hopes to get it working before they arrive in Washington. When Janet suggests using her chaufeur to get the needed parts from Hank’s lab back home, Yellowjacket gets upset, accusing her of flaunting her wealth to solve his problems. Janet runs off crying and the other Avengers — witness to Hank’s abusive behavior — wonder how they should react to the tensions between the two of them.

Meanwhile, Gorn has wandered into a bad part of town and when some muggers try to rob him the warrior begins defending himself with his sword. When the police arrive on the scene they see Gorn as a threat and when he refuses to stand down, they gun him down on the street. That’s when Linnea returns and discovers that Gorn is dead. Angry that the outside world killed her lover, Linnea — now calling herself the Elfqueen — begins going on a rampage, using her magical powers to destroy everything in her path.

Luckily, the Avengers arrive on the scene to stop her, but they discover that her magical powers are great. As the other Avengers battle the Elfqueen, Yellowjacket tries to blast her with his disrupter and discovers that his weapon is not working again. It’s here that Captain America realizes that the woman they are fighting is deeply upset about something. He tries to rationalize with her even though there is a language barrier between the two. Unfortunately, his work is ruined when Yellowjacket — finally fixing his disruptor — blasts the Elfqueen from behind. When Linnea tosses some debris his way, the Wasp flies in and blasts it away with her bio-stings. This angers Hank even more, as Janet’s rescue has emasculated him even further.

Luckily, Cap manages to calm the Elfqueen down again and learns that she was upset because Gorn was murdered. Sensing an inner nobility within Captain America she realizes that they don’t want to kill her. Deciding she no longer wants any part with the outside world and departs without further conflict. With the battle with the Elfqueen over, tries to make sense of the encounter while Yellowjacket continues to vent his anger.

Recurring Characters

Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Yellowjacket, Wasp, Tigra), Edwin Jarvis, Ernest Carrothers, Bambi Arbogast (on the phone)

Continuity Notes

1. Greer Grant originally started her career as the Cat, as we saw in The Cat #1-4. Her transformation into Tigra and her early adventures were chronicles in Marvel Chillers #3-7.

2. Thor, Iron Man, Yellowjacket, and the Wasp were all founding members of the Avengers when they formed in issue #1 of the series.

3. Hank mentions that he originally joined the team as Ant-Man. This was Hank’s first costumed identity, one of many that he has had over the years. They are:

   • Ant-Man: Hank first became Ant-Man in Tales to Astonish #35 until he changed his identity in Tales of Suspense #49. At the time of this story, he has reprised the Ant-Man role in Avengers #93, 99-100, Iron Man #44, Incredible Hulk #154-155, Marvel Feature #4-10, and Captain Marvel #35 & 37.

   • Giant-Man: Hank’s second identity adopted in Tales to Astonish #49. He retired this role prior to Avengers #28, when he discovered that the process of increasing his size was having a negative impact on his health.

   • Goliath: However he came out of retirement and rejoined the Avengers in issue #28 as Goliath, an identity he held until Avengers #58.

   • Yellowjacket: Suffering a nervous breakdown, Hank invented the Yellowjacket persona next in Avengers #60. Other than his brief returns to becoming Ant-Man, Hank has consistently maintained the Yellowjacket identity at the time of this story.