Avengers (vol. 3) #4
Too Many Avengers!
The criminal known as Whirlwind has developed a brand new costume and is testing it out by robbing a bank. He figures it is smooth sailing until the Avengers arrive.[1] Whirlwind is absolutely shocked by the sheer number of Avengers who have come out to stop him. Led by Hawkeye, they include Justice, Darkhawk, the Sub-Mariner, Falcon, Stingray, Machine Man, Spider-Woman, Starfox, Firestar, Binary, Rage, the Black Panther, the Swordsman, Quicksilver, Hercules, Magdalene, and Crystal. Unfortunately, this proves to be too many Avengers, as the confined space of the bank and the lack of coordination causes the heroes to trip each other up, allowing Whirlwind to make an easy getaway. The entire thing is all caught on tape and makes headlines in the news, much to the embarrassment of everyone involved, particularly Hawkeye.[2]
Seeing this as a huge problem, the founding Avengers — Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Giant-Man, and the Wasp — have all called a meeting with their new government liaison Duane Feeman. After a round of introductions and explanations, they get down to work. It quickly becomes clear that Freeman supports the Avengers and is a huge fan, a nice change of pace for Iron Man after having to deal with the likes of Henry Gyrich in the past.[3] They begin going through the list of Avengers to winnow down the group to a more manageable number. This job has been made easier as many have already left such as Stingray, Sandman, Photon, Firebird, Darkhawk, Spider-Woman, Living Lightning, and the Black Widow.[4] Captain America’s first suggestion is that there be at least three founders on the team until it gets back on its feet. This is unanimously agreed upon, and Cap, Iron Man, and Thor all step-up to fill those spots, although Thor informs them that he will also be searching for the missing Asgardians.[5] This works great for Giant-Man and the Wasp, who wanted some time alone to work on their renewed romance and personal lives.[6]
Captain America’s next suggestion is the Scarlet Witch, as she will likely be living in the mansion while the Vision’s body is repaired following their battle with Morgan le Fay.[7] Down in the sub-basement, Wanda sits in silent vigil by the restoration tank where the Vision’s body is slowly being repaired by nanites. He surprises her by suddenly appearing as a holographic projection. Wanda tells him that she will be there should he need anything. However, the Vision pushes her away, telling her that she can be free of her obligations as a wife, since their marriage was basically over ever since he was disassembled some time ago. This is very upsetting to Wanda who decides to accept that the Vision no longer has a need for her and storms out of the room. Once she is gone, the Vision drops his cold, calculating façade and softly calls out her name.[8]
Outside, the media is abuzz, waiting to see who will be on the newest Avengers roster. When the Black Knight, She-Hulk, Quicksilver, and Crystal emerge from the mansion they tell the reporters that they are not rejoining the team as they have other obligations.[9]
While in the den, Hawkeye paces the room annoyed that he wasn’t asked to sit in on the meeting given his long history on the team.[10] Hercules and the Falcon try to get Clint to take it easy, while Moondragon makes a point of staying as a courtesy.[11] Not far away, the three New Warriors — Rage, Firestar, and Justice — are also waiting, but Rage figures that there won’t be a spot on the team for them because they are too young.[12] That’s when Justice tells them them that there is a bulletin on the police band about Whirlwind and they all go out to investigate. This is seen by Hawkeye, who decides to follow along and see what the kids are up to. In the lab, the Beast is running a full diagnostic on Binary’s powers. Carol wants to get back on the Avengers and is also trying to come up with a new name. She hasn’t decided on one yet, but might go with Warbird. When the tests are done, Hank confirms what Carol already suspected — she’s starting to lose her Binary powers.[13]
Upstairs, the Scarlet Witch is trying to process the hurt she feels after being rejected by the Vision. Feeling alone, she wishes that Wonder Man could be there to comfort her. Simon Williams begins to start materializing in his energy form outside the window, but dissipates before anyone can see when Janet comes upstairs to tell Wanda that she made the team.[14]
Back in the meeting room, the founders meet with other prospective members individualls. Although Wanda agrees to stay, the others: Quasar,[15] Sersi, Magdalene, the Swordsman,[16] the Sub-Mariner, Machine Man, and the Black Panther all have other commitments. Taking a break, Cap believes that they are making progress but there are still more people to interview, particularly Hawkeye, who hasn’t answered their summons. Duane takes the momentary downtime to ask the Avengers for their autographs.
Outside, more former Avengers decide to make their departure. D-Man heads back into the sewers with grocery bags full of food for his people down in Zero Street,[17] while Tigra, Starfox, and Moondragon head off for adventure in space. Iron Man, meanwhile, finds Binary looking through the bottles of alcohol in the bar, trying to come up with a new name for herself. The casual way she talks about drinking concerns Tony,[18] but he decides to keep his concerns to himself for now.[19]
As Justice and Firestar catch up to and engage Whirlwind, Captain America and the others get back to work. When Captain America elects Carol Danvers onto the team, Iron Man objects at first. However, when he can’t tell them why — at least not yet — he decides to withdraw his objection and she is chosen for the team. By this time, Justice and Firestar have defeated Whirlwind on their own. Hawkeye — who had been watching the battle from the sidelines — applauds the two. He then takes them back to Avengers Mansion where he tells the gathered press that the two young heroes are going to be on the new Avengers roster. This announcement details the founders intended choice on the team, Hawkeye himself. When they tell him as much, Clint gets upset at first but then starts trying to convince Cap to have both Justice and Firestar share his spot on the time. Firestar gets annoyed and is about to storm out with Justice when Captain America stops them. He tells them that he is really impressed with how they handled Whirlwind he has decided to give them a shot, not as full members, but trainees. Firestar is reluctant, but Justice is overjoyed and accepts for both of them since it has been his dream to be on the Avengers.[20]
With the team roster finally sorted out, Giant-Man and the Wasp depart saying that if they’re ever needed they are one call away. With that, Duane Freeman heads out to address the media and introduce the newest Avengers line-up. He welcomes Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Ms. Marvel, Firestar, and Justice to the stage. Once the new team is front and center, Captain America shouts “Avengers Assemble” and the crowd goes wild.
Recurring Characters
Avengers (Beast, Black Knight, Black Panther, Captain America, Crystal, Darkhawk, D-Man, Falcon, Firestar, Giant-Man, Hawkeye, Hercules, Iron Man, Justice, Machine Man, Magdelene, Moondragon, Quasar, Quicksilver, Rage, Sandman, Scarlet Witch, Sersi, She-Hulk, Spider-Woman, Starfox, Stingray, Sub-Mariner, Swordsman, Thor, Tigra, Warbird, Wasp, Wonder Man, Vision), Whirlwind, Edwin Jarvis, Megan McLean, Duane Freeman
Continuity Notes
Hawkeye sarcastically compliments Whirlwind on his costume and asks if he saw it in a dream. This is a subtle nod to the fact that this costume is identical to the one worn by his Counter-Earth counterpart, as seen in Iron Man (vol. 2) #3-5 and Avengers (vol. 2) #8-9, and Heroes Reborn: Masters of Evil #1.
When reporting on the incident, reporter Megan McLean mentions the Avengers recent victory over Baron Zemo. This happened in Thunderbolts #12, when Zemo finally launched his plan for world domination after the Masters of Evil spent months posing as super-heroes to gain the public trust.
In the typical Busiek fashion, this scene is peppered with all sorts of interesting facts and references. The details:
The Wasp compliments Captain America’s new shield. This one is fashioned after his original triangular shield he used in Captain America Comics #1 and replaced with his trademark round shield in the following issue of that series. Cap’s shield ended up getting lost at sea in Captain America (vol. 3) #2. The shield will be recovered in issue #13, but in shattered form. It will ultimately get repaired in issue #22 of that series.
It is also mentioned here that Captain America has been given founder status even though he wasn’t one of the original Avengers. That distinction belongs to the Hulk who helped found the team with Thor, Iron Man, Ant-Man, and the Wasp in Avengers #1. The Hulk quit in the following issue when he discovered that nobody on the team trusted him. Captain America was later revived in Avengers #4 after years in suspended animation. This issue is the first acknowledgement that Cap had been given founder status.
Henry Gyrich was the Avengers first government liaison starting in Avengers #168. He was their liaison until around issue #229, when he was moved on to Project: Wideawake in New Mutants #1. He was replaced by Raymond Sikorski in Avengers #235. He operated in this role until the US government pulled their support of the Avengers in issue #326. In issue #329, the Avengers got UN backing and no longer required a liaison from the US government.
It is stated here that the Black Widow left without explanation. It’s later revealed in Avengers Annual 1999 that she tried to keep the Avengers going when Cap and the other core members were believed to have died after Onslaught. See Onslaught: Marvel Universe #1, Avengers (vol. 2) #1-13, and Heroes Reborn: The Return #1-4 for what actually happened to Cap and the others.
Asgard became deserted after the world ash Yggdrasil was tricked into thinking Ragnarok already passed, resulting the Asgardians being exiled to Earth. Although Red Norville found them all on Earth and revived their memories they went missing again. Thor will soon find his people and save them from the Dark Gods, leading to the restoration of the Golden Realm. See Thor #491-494, 497-500, Journey into Mystery #503-513, and Thor (vol. 2) #1-12.
Captain America asks the Janet if she and Hank got themselves married again. Janet jokes that Hank is gun shy after what happened last time, which is kind of a weird way of phrasing it. See, Hank and Jan got married back in Avengers #60. Their marriage came to an end when Hank struck her in Avengers #213, prompting Janet to divorce him. After some time apart, the two had an on-again-off-again relationship that started in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #42. Their most recent romantic reunion was when they were on Counter-Earth during the Heroes Reborn event.
The Vision was blasted in half by Morgan’s magic last issue. He will be undergoing repair until issue #12.
The Vision and Scarlet Witch got married some time ago in Giant-Size Avengers #4. They were happily married for years until the Vision was disassembled by the organization called Vigilance in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #42-45. Although he was completely restored it was bereft of his emotional connection to his memories. He and Wanda became estranged shortly thereafter when the Vision left to join the east coast team in Avengers #311. Despite his cold logic on display here, the Vision had long since had his emotional capacity restored, as seen in Avengers Spotlight #40.
Here, the Black Knight and She-Hulk state that they are already affiliated with Heroes for Hire. Dane joined the group in Heroes for Hire #2, while She-Hulk became their lawyer in issue #8. While Quicksilver and Crystal are returning to Attilan to spend time alone together. The couple were separated when Crystal sacrificed herself with the other Avengers in Onslaught: Marvel Universe #1. She was reunited with Quicksilver in Quicksilver #4.
Hawkeye was the first new recruit in the Avengers in issue #16, he had been one of the most enduring members of the group.
Falcon states that he never wanted to be a full time Avengers. This is true. He was asked to join the group by Captain America in Avengers #181 when they were being pressed into having more visual representation on the team. When this obligation was no longer being enforced, Falcon left in Avengers #194, although has returned from time to time as needed and retains reserve status.
Unlike Firestar and Justice, Rage made it onto the Avengers in issue #329. However, he was let go when it was discovered that Rage was only 14 years old in Avengers #342. Here, Rage states that he is still a minor. Per the Sliding Timescale, two years have passed from when he was 14, making him about 16 years old at the time of this story.
Carol’s baseline abilities were passed onto her from the Kree Captain Marvel when both were caught in a Psyche-Magnatron explosion in Captain Marvel #17. These powers began to manifest in Carol in Ms. Marvel #1 and she became a crime fighter by that same name. Carol later lost her powers when they were full absorbed by the mutant known as Rogue in Avengers Annual #10. Carol would later gain new cosmic powers after being experimented upon by the Brood, becoming Binary, in Uncanny X-Men #163-164. Carol’s Binary powers will have full faded by next issue, leaving her with her baseline Ms. Marvel abilities.
Wonder Man died in a battle against the Kree in Force Works #1. Since Avengers (vol. 3) #2, Wanda has been able to summon Simon’s energy form. It’s later explained in issue #11 that Simon is hanging between life and death due to his love of the Scarlet Witch.
Quasar states that he is still the chosen protector of the universe. He was given this task in Quasar #3 and eventually left Earth issue #60 of that series to better focus on the job.
Magdalene and Swordsman state that they are still acclimatizing to life in this reality. The pair were former members of the Gatherers, Avengers from across the multiverse that were duped into helping the homicidal Proctor in his insane schemes. See Avengers #343-344, 348, 355-356, 358-361, 363, 372-375 for the whole sordid saga.
D-Man became the defenders of Zero Town, a commune of homeless people who live in the sewers back in Captain America #410.
Carol states here that she knows how much reporters can drink because she used to be the editor of a magazine. She is referring to her tenure on Women Magazine, a publication owned by Daily Bugle published J. Jonah Jameson. She was on the job starting in Ms. Marvel #1 until she was fired in issue #22 of that series.
Tony is concerned that Carol is an alcoholic. Stark had his own struggles with alcohol as documented in Iron Man #120-128 and again in issues #167-182. Carol is indeed having addiction issues. She will be confronted with them in Avengers (vol. 3) #7. Carol will hit rock bottom when she accidentally causes a plane crash when using her powers while drunk, as seen in Iron Man (vol. 3) #24-25, she will realize her problem and start going to Alcoholics Anonymous starting in Avengers (vol. 3) #26.
Vance first tried to join the group in New Warriors #1, but Cap turned him down for being too young at the time.
Topical References
Giant-Man has a pager that can transform into a miniature ship. This should be considered a topical reference as pagers are an obsolete technology thanks to cell phones. I guess you could interpret this scene as Hank flying in an iPhone?
