Avengers #222
A Gathering of Evil!
The She-Hulks is trying to repair he Cadillac after its electrical systems were fried by Hawkeye the day before. When she can’t fix it, She-Hulk loses her temper and pounds the car into scrap and tosses it out. That’s when the Wasp arrives at Avengers Mansion and surprises She-Hulk with a bunch of clothing she bought for the jade giantess.
Meanwhile, Tony Stark is overseeing the work of an important computer program. He is approached by Scott Lang, one of his employees, who wants to know what the situation with Hank Pym is, almost letting his secret identity slip.[1] Tony tells Scott that Pym’s job with the company is on hold since he is currently in jail.[2] This gets Tony thinking about the Wasp, and he wonders how Janet will handle the pressure of leadership of the Avengers so soon after her divorce from Hank. Changing into Iron Man and going on patrol, he figures he’ll use the team’s next meeting to ask her and find out.
In Brooklyn, Steve Rogers is woken up by his alarm clock and discovers he fell asleep at his drawing table. Changing into Captain America, Rogers then rides his motorcycle to the mansion. While in Chicago, Doctor Donald Blake wonders if he made the right choice moving away from New York. Changing into Thor, the thunder god doesn’t find this too much an inconvenience as he can travel the 1000 miles between the two cities in less than 15 minutes.[3] Back in New York, Hawkeye heads back to his penthouse apartment after punching out at his dayjob at Cross Technological Enterprises. Since he forgot to do groceries, he decides to head to Avengers Mansion early to raid to pantry and flags down a taxi.
At the Mansion, the She-Hulk is trying on different outfits when the Wasp opinions on how she should deal with her rocky relationship with Hawkeye. Since the pair got off on the wrong foot, Janet suggests treating Clint with kindness. When the other Avengers arrives everyone compliments She-Hulk’s new outfits except for Hawkeye, who cracks jokes. Instead of fighting with Hawkeye, She-Hulk kisses him on the lips instead, deeply confusing the archer.
Meanwhile, at a secret laboratory, Egghead laments over how he has not accomplished his goals and at 52 years old he doesn’t have much time left.[4] Seeing him mope, Egghead’s maid suggests that he come up with a cure for baldness, or create eternal youth. This inspires the mad scientist who decides to use such discoveries which he will withhold from the world until his demands are met. Needing henchmen to assist on this endeavor, Egghead gets to work. His first recruit is the notorious undersea villain known as Tiger Shark. Using a remote piloted torpedo, Egghead breaks Tiger Shark out of his Atlantean prison.[45]
At that moment, at Ryker’s Island prison, Hank Pym laments in his cell over the mess he has made of his life. When he goes to the mess hall for lunch, he is joined by David Cannon, who is Pym’s old foe Whirlwind. Cannon promises to pay a visit to the Wasp once he gets out.[6] This angers Hank who attacks Cannon. When the guards pull the two apart, Hank is sent to solitary confinement for punishment, with Whirlwind vowing to make him pay. That’s when Tiger Shark comes bursting through the wall. After dispatching the guards, Tiger Shark tells Whirlwind and the Scorpion to come with him.[7] Instead of escaping right away, Tiger Shark goes to the women’s cell block and frees Karla Sofen, aka Moonstone. They then escape via a boat summoned by their mysterious benefactor.[8] They soon arrive at a suburban home on Long Island where the escaped criminals bicker among themselves until Egghead reveals it was he who broke them out of prison. The villain explains that he has plans for all of them in his latest schemes and names Moonstone as the deputy leader for this latest incarnation of the Masters of Evil.
However, Whirlwind doesn’t want to sit around waiting to be told what to do and decides to go ahead and try to get revenge against the Wasp. He goes to Avengers Mansion where he takes the place of the Wasp’s current chauffeur to try and get the drop on his old foe. However, the Wasp is able to hold her own against Whirlwind despite the surprise attack. The rest of the Masters of Evil soon arrive after learning that Whirlwind went out against orders. However, before they can get away Hawkeye spots what’s going on and fires a signal flare into the sky warning the other Avengers of the attack. Soon Thor joins the battle, who is more than a match for the combined might of the Masters of Evil. She-Hulk also tries to join the fight, but the Wasp refuses to allow her to go into battle wearing one of the expensive outfits she bought for her. Annoyed, She-Hulk strips down to her underwear so she can lend a hand.
Soon, the Masters of Evil are defeated by the Avengers and handed over to the authorities. Watching this defeat from his hideout, Egghead curses his team for prematurely attacking their foes and hopes that this will be a lesson to them to follow his orders from now on.
Recurring Characters
Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Wasp, Hawkeye, She-Hulk), Masters of Evil (Egghead, Whirlwind, Tiger Shark, Scorpion, Moonstone), Hank Pym, Edwin Jarvis, Scott Lang
Continuity Notes
Scott Lang knows Hank Pym because he stole Hank’s Ant-Man costume to save his daughter in Marvel Premiere #48. Afterwards, Hank gave Scott his blessing to continue being Ant-Man. Although Hank knows Lang’s secret identity, the rest of the Avengers do not.
Yellowjacket had recently rejoined the Avengers in Avengers #211 and things went quickly downhill from there. After unintentionally prolonging a battle in issue #212, he was court-martialed in the following issue. The pressure of wanting to prove himself made Hank irrational and he struck Janet and then staged a robot attack to try and win over the other Avengers, it ended spectacularly. Hank was kicked out of the Avengers and the Wasp divorced him. More recently, in Avengers #217, Hank was framed for the theft of Adamantium and has since been locked up in jail while he awaits trial.
At the time of this story, Don Blake had just recently moved to Chicago in Thor #319.
Egghead’s age is factual here. Per the Sliding Timescale, this story takes place during the “sixth” year of the Modern Age. As such, Egghead was born 46 years prior to the start of the Modern Age (Fantastic Four #1).
Tiger Shark has been imprisoned since his defeat at the hands of Ms. Marvel and Namorita in Ms. Marvel #15-16.
Whirlwind is a long time foe of Hank Pym and the Wasp. He started his career as the Human Top in Tales to Astonish #50 and eventually changed his name to Whirlwind in Avengers #46. He posed as Janet’s chauffeur until he was fired in Marvel Feature #6. Hank later learned that “Charles Matthews” was Whirlwind in disguise in Avengers #139. Whirlwind has been in prison since he was taken down by Iron Man, a story that won’t be told until Iron Man Annual #11.
The Scorpion has been in prison since he was defeated by Spider-Man and Captain America in Marvel Team-Up #106.
Moonstone has been imprisoned since she was defeated by Spider-Man in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #61.
Topical References
The She-Hulk is depicted driving a classic 1950s era Cadillac convertible. It’s appearance here should not be considered topical since it is a vintage car.
Hawkeye jokingly compares She-Hulk to Cheryl Tiegs and Loni Anderson, two models who were at their height of their popularity in the 1970s and 80s. Unless you want to think Hawkeye is being incredibly meanspirited by comparing She-Hulk to women who are (at this writing) in their 70s, then this should be considered a topical reference.
Janet jokes about her limo getting trashed in the battle, telling her teammates that she was planning on buying a DeLorean. These luxury cars were — as anyone who watched Back to the Future will tell you — quite popular among the wealthy when this story was published. However, the DeLorean Motor Company went bankrupt the year this story was published. Unless you want to believe Janet wants to buy a DeLorean because they are now considered a classic car, then this would be a topical reference.
