Breakaway!

The Sub-Mariner has abruptly left Avengers Mansion in the middle of a lawsuit against him, prompting the Wasp to demand where he has gone.[1] The Black Knight explains that Attuma had kidnapped Namor’s lover, Marrina, and he has left to rescue her.[2] When Hercules tells Janet a woman can’t understand Namor’s position she gives him an earful because she hasn’t liked the way he has questioned her leadership. This angers the demigod who storms out before he does something he regrets.

Outside the mansion, Hercules comes upon a truck that has jack knifed in the middle of traffic and helps the driver get the vehicle back upright. The man is so grateful he offers to buy Herc a drink at a local bar.

Meanwhile, the Wasp goes to her limo and has her driver take her around the city so she can relax. That’s when the alarm at her penthouse goes off prompting Janet to shrink to wasp size and fly there to investigate. Inside she discovers Paladin has broken in and is waiting for her. He explains that he just got in from a job in Belgium and decided to surprise her when she didn’t respond to his voice mail. Jan is happy to see Paladin and his timing is just right since she needs an escort to come with her when she goes to Passaic County Jail.

While at the New York division of the FBI, Agent Derek Freeman is visited by Captain Marvel. As they have worked together in the past, she was hoping he could help her hunt down Moonstone, who managed to escape captivity the other day. Derek informs her that Moonstone isn’t the only villain to get busted from prison as the Grey Gargoyle, Whirlwind, and Mister Hyde have all been busted out as well. While the FBI is still trying to figure out what’s going on, he promises to keep Captain Marvel in the loop.[3] He then boldly asks Monica out for dinner, which she accepts once she has some more free time.

Monica then returns to Avengers Mansion where the Black Knight runs her through some tests to learn more about her powers and how she might be able to counteract her weakness to Dark Force energies.[4] Measuring the full range of her energy forms, the Knight theorizes that if she can figure out how to transform herself into neutrinos she might be able to pass through Dark Force material. Marvel isn’t sure she can assume such a form and Dane suggests that she might have to observe neutrinos in action to be abele to mimic their properties which will require a trip to the sun.

Meanwhile, in New Jersey, the Wasp and Paladin visit Rita DeMara, the woman who tried to steal Hank Pym’s old Yellowjacket costume.[5] Unfortunately, Rita knows her rights and refuses to speak with them. When her lawyer shows up moments later, he is furious to see two vigilantes trying to question his client and orders them out of the room. Getting a closer look at the lawyer, Janet recognizes him as Paul Duval, aka the Grey Gargoyle.[6] With his cover blown, the Gargoyle and his assistant, Screaming Mimi, drop their disguises and attack. The Wasp and Paladin are briefly disorientated by Screaming Mimi’s sonic scream, but are still able to put up a fight.[7]

As the Wasp and Paladin try to fend off Mimi’s hallucinogenic screams, Captain Marvel reaches the sun. There, with radio guidance from the Black Knight, she is able to detect and begin mimicing the properties of neutrinos. That’s when Dane receives a distress call from the Wasp. Since there is a seven minute lag in communicating with Captain Marvel, Dane finds himself having to choose between staying behind and making sure Monica is safe or going to help her teammates. While at a nearby bar, Hercules is arm wrestling five sailors all at once. The force of the match causes the table to shatter under the strain and wrecks Herc’s communicator before he can receive Janet’s distress call. Meanwhile, the Black Knight tires contacting Captain America for aid, but Cap is out on the road and it will take him a few hours to get back to New York. With no other help on hand, Dane wonders what he should do next.

By this time, the Wasp has been trapped in a trash can that has been turned into stone by the Grey Gargoyle. After shaking off the effects of Screaming Mimi’s powers, the Wasp frees herself. She finds Paladin pinned under a filing cabinet also turned into stone, but he tells her to go after the Gargoyle, Mimi, and Yellowjacket who have escaped. This proves to be an easy task since the Grey Gargoyle turned everyone opposing them into stone. Outside, she finds the villains trying to make a getaway in a van and uses her bio-stings to blow out the tire, causing it to crash. As the Grey Gargoyle and Screaming Mimi exit the ruined vehicle to battle the Wasp she is joined by both Paladin and the Black Knight. Watching from inside the vehicle, Yellowjacket gets a call on the radio from the person responsible for breaking her out of prison. He tells her to forget the others and escape as she has a more important role to play than the other two.[8]

While Rita makes a run for it, the Grey Gargoyle attempts to turn the Black Knight’s Ebony Blade to stone. However, the spells that protect it cause Paul Duval to revert back to human form instead. After Paladin nabs Screaming Mimi, Captain Marvel arrives having received Dane’s distress call. While she wasn’t able to make it in time to help out, she reports that her attempts to mimic the properties of neutrinos was a complete success. Seeing Paladin with the Wasp comes as a surprise to the Black Knight who was becoming attracted to his leader and wonders who this mystery man is and what his connection to Janet might be.

Later, back at Avengers Mansion, Captain America is filled in on everything that has been happening by the Knight. The debriefing is then interrupted by the Sub-Mariner who is calling from Hydrobase. He informs them that he has failed to rescue Marrina from Attuma and needs the Avengers help in rescuing her or else she may die.

Recurring Characters

Avengers (Captain America, Wasp, Black Knight, Hercules, Captain Marvel), Yellowjacket, Grey Gargoyle, Screaming Mimi, Paladin, Derek Freeman, Sub-Mariner

Continuity Notes

1. Namor was served last issue. The lawsuit against Namor never really comes to fruition. The closest thing is a trial for Namor’s crimes against humanity which happens in Namor the Sub-Mariner #13. I would presume that since Namor was found not legally responsible due to insanity, it made the civil suit a bust.

2. Marrina was kidnapped in Alpha Flight #36. Namor found out last issue. It should be noted that Namor is not longer the ruler of Atlantis following the events of Prince Namor the Sub-Mariner #1-4.

3. Freeman confirms that these breakouts have nothing to do with the recent murder of super-villains that has been happening. This story references Captain America #318-320, however the conspiracy is much larger than that. Villains are being murdered by the so-called Scourge of the Underworld, a group of assassins formed by Golden Age hero Thomas Halloway, aka the Angel, as explained in US Agent #4. Other murders occurred in Iron Man #194, Thing #24 & 33, Secret Wars II #2, Thor #358, Marvel Age Annual #1, West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #3, Avengers #263, Fantastic Four #289, Marvel Fanfare #29, and Amazing Spider-Man #276 & 278.

4. Monica has found herself stymied by Dark Force matter in Avengers #237 and 269.

5. Hank is referred to here as Janet’s ex-husband, they had recently divorced circa Avengers #213 after he struck her. Later, he retired from costumed heroics in Avengers #230. More recently, Rita had attempted to steal the Yellowjacket costume in issue #264.

6. Janet recognizes the Grey Gargoyle from when she and the Avengers fought him back in Avengers #190-191.

7. Janet also recounts having heard that Mimi was a former wrestler that was arrested a while back. This was in Marvel Two-In-One #56.

8. This mastermind turned out to be Baron Zemo, who is reforming the Masters of Evil to defeat Captain America and the Avengers. See Avengers #273-277.

Topical References

• In this story, it is stated that Namor is being sued for two billion dollars worth of damages he has done to private property over the years. This figure should be considered topical due to inflation. 2 billion of 1986 money would be worth nearly 5 billion in 2021.

• Paladin states here that he left Janet a message on her answering machine. This is topical since answering machines have pretty much been replaced with voice mail.

• Janet is depicted as having a rotary phone in her penthouse. This should be considered topical as these types of phones have since become obsolete.