Earth’s Mightiest Frauds?

The Avengers are in a public relations nightmare after they were accused of being impostors by the Squadron Supreme, who then upstaged the group when they attempted to rescue the passengers of a crashed airliner.[1] With the group taking to the media to denouncer the Avengers, Thor is about to throw a fit and has to be calmed down by Iron Man.[2] Captain America wants to listen to Hyperion’s current press release, but Hawkeye gets fed up of hearing his lies and shatters the TV with an arrow.[3] The Vision points out that the public has been able to believe the Squadron’s lies following a failed Skrull invasion and the recent revelation that the Thunderbolts were actually the Masters of Evil in disguise.[4][5] Hawkeye wants to go and start a fight and prompting Cap to ask that they speak in private.[6]

The Scarlet Witch heads to the kitchen where she finds Warbird fixing herself up a drink. Wanda admits that she is having troubles with the Vision, as she misses how caring he once had been in the past.[7] Wanda also expresses her concern about Carol drinking so early in the day. Danvers takes offense to this and tells Wanda that she knows her limits.[8] Meanwhile, Cap and Hawkeye have a heart-to-heart about the role of leader on the team. Steve acknowledges that Clint did a good job leading the west coast team and is willing to step down if Clint wants to take his place. Hawkeye is admits that he was just blowing off steam and agrees to follow his lead moving forward. Although this discussion ends on a positive note, Steve is deeply troubled with his team since everyone seems to be having personal problems: Wanda’s mind is pre-occupied, the Vision is damaged.[9] and there is something going on with Warbird.[10]

Captain America decides the best course of action is to confronted the Squadron Supreme at their temporary home, Project PEGASUS.[11] On the way, Cap tells Warbird that they will need to rely on her Binary powers, leading to another argument about how she chooses to use her abilities. Iron Man interrupts and tells Cap to drop it as he has an idea what’s going on and will talk to Carol about this delicate issue later in private.[12] When the Avengers arrive at the Project, the Squadron aren’t home. They are met there by Andrew Kappelhoff, the current administrator. Captain America asks to look around, but Blue Shield and the security staff aren’t sure that they are the real Avengers, having been poisoned by the Squadron’s smear campaign. However, Warbird manages to prove they’re the real deal when she recognizes one of the guards from when he worked as security for Henry Gyrich, back when he was the Avengers government liaison. After recounting their past encounter, Kappelhoff decides to trust the Avengers since only the real Warbird would have remembered something so specific.[13]

The Avengers are taken on a tour of the Project grounds and Kappelhoff explains that while PEGASUS began as a search for alternative energy sources, they also have been researching parahuman activities. They are then introduced to Doctor Rivera who specializes cataloging the abilities of superhumans. Captain America asks him to pull up their records on villains who have mind control powers. Rivera calls up his list and although incomplete, will take too long to go through before the Avengers security clearance is revoked.[14] The Avengers instead decide to search the living quarters of the Squadron Supreme to see if they can find any evidence that they might be mind controlled by someone else.[15] However, they are caught in the act when the Squadron Supreme return home. As a battle breaks out, Cap orders the Scarlet Witch to use her power to summon Wonder Man. She is able to do so even more easily than last time but part of her doesn’t feel right exploiting Simon Williams like he some kind of genie they can summon to get out of a tight spot.[16]

During the fight things aren’t going the Avengers way as Doctor Spectrum uses his Power Prism to trap Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir. Hawkeye gets tripped up by Haywire and the Shape while Warbird battles Power Princess without using her Binary powers. Iron Man tries to take down the Whizzer but his super-speed and the cramped confines of the facility make this easier said than done. The Scarlet Witch is able to hold her own against Moonglow’s magic, while Wonder Man tries to free Thor’s hammer while the thunder god clashes with Hyperion. The tide of battle begins turning when the Avengers begin working together as a team. That’s when the Scarlet Witch can sense what is controlling the Squadron Supreme and begins using her magic to interfere with it. However, before she can fully free the heroes she is knocked out by Blue Shield who is acting under orders from Kappelhoff.

Realizing that he is the one controlling the Squadron Supreme, Hawkeye grazes “Kappelhoff” with an arrow, that rips free an image inducer. This reveals that the Project PEGASUS director is actually the villain known as the Corruptor. With the Squadron Supreme free from his control, Power Princess knocks him out with a single punch. With the villain now restrained, Moonglow uses her magic to try and compel the Corruptor to reveal who employer him, however all this does is make him repeat the same phrase about Alexander the Great over and over. Things between the Avengers and the Squadron are hardly copasetic in the aftermath of the battle, with Captain America chastising Hyperion for carelessly allowing his team to be mind controlled again. Cap has also deduced that Carol has lost her Binary powers and when he confronts her about it, she believes that he is going to try to kick her off the team and flies off.

A few hours later, the wealthy Imus Champion is getting a report on how the Avengers freed the Squadron Supreme. Although he succeeded in his original goal, recovering an alien ship, he is not happy to lose two assets in order to gain one and vows that there will be a reckoning.[17]

Recurring Characters

Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Warbird), Squadron Supreme (Hyperion, Power Princess, Whizzer, Doctor Spectrum, Skylark, Moonglow, Haywire, Shape), Corruptor, Imus Champion, Jason Rivera,

Continuity Notes

1. Mention is made of how many of the Avengers were believed to have been killed battling Onslaught. In reality, they were transported to a pocket dimension by Franklin Richards in order to save their lives. They lived there for a bit before being brought back to their native reality. See Onslaught: Marvel Universe #1, Avengers (vol. 2) #1-13 and Heroes Reborn: The Return #1-4.

2. Iron Man doesn’t want Thor to wreck any family heirlooms like when Captain America recently went on the rampage in the mansion, as seen in Captain America (vol. 3) #3.

3. Here, Hyperion also casts doubt that the Fantastic Four are real either. They too ended up in Franklin’s pocket dimension. See Fantastic Four (vol. 2) #1-13.

4. Captain America exposed a Skrull plot, but not before the ringleader made the world doubt their governments and superheroes. See Captain America (vol. 3) #3-7.

5. The Thunderbolts were the Masters of Evil disguised as superheroes. This was a plot by Baron Zemo to win the world’s trust when the Avengers and Fantastic Four were believed to be dead following Onslaught. Zemo’s plot was exposed and stopped by his own team, who began to like being heroes. See Thunderbolts #1-12.

6. Here, Hawkeye states that he once lead his own team of Avengers. He is referring to the West Coast Avengers which he helped found in West Coast Avengers #1 and lead almost consistently until they disbanded in Avengers West Coast #102.

7. Vision and Scarlet Witch got married in Giant-Size Avengers #4. This marriage came to an abrupt end when the Vision was deconstructed by an organization called Vigilance. When he was rebuilt, he was stripped of his emotions leading to their estrangement, as seen in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #42-45. However, the Vision has since regained his emotional capacity as seen in Avengers Spotlight #40. However, he has remained cold toward Wanda, telling her to move on from their relationship in Avengers (vol. 3) #4.

8. This is of course hinting at the fact that Carol has a drinking problem. This will lead to Danvers getting kicked off the Avengers next issue. She will eventually hit rock bottom in Iron Man (vol. 3) #24-25. She will realize her problem and start going to Alcoholics Anonymous starting in Avengers (vol. 3) #26.

9. The Vision was blown in half during the Avengers battle with Morgan le Fay in issue #3. His body has been undergoing reconstruction ever since and he has been confined to the mansion as a holographic projection. He will be fully restored in Avengers (vol. 3) #12.

10. Other than her drinking problem, Carol is losing her Binary powers she obtained in Uncanny X-Men #163-164. She made this discovery in issue #4 and has been keeping it a secret. When the team fought the Squadron last issue, she refused Cap’s orders to use her Binary powers without explanation.

11. The Squadron Supreme come from Earth-712, per Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes 2005 #1. They have been trapped on Earth-616 since Squadron Supreme: The Death of a Universe #1/Quasar #13. They have been allowed to stay at Project PEGASUS since Quasar #16. In issue #19 of that series they learned that they were being barred from returning home by Professor Imam, their world’s Wizard Supreme. They will remain stranded until they find a means to return home in Avengers Annual 1998.

12. Tony wants to talk to Carol about her alcoholism. Something he’s had experience with himself as seen in Iron Man #120-128 and 167-182.

13. Henry Gyrich was the Avengers tyrannical NAS liaison from Avengers #168 until he was reassigned to Project: Wideawake in New Mutants #1. The incident Carol is referring to happened in Avengers #183 when Jenkins tried to get her finger prints when after signing on to active Avengers duty.

14. Rivera states that some of the villains on this list are deceased but keeps records anyway since superhumans have a habit of coming back from the dead. Those he is talking about are…

    • Doctor Faustus: Was shot in the head in Nomad (vol. 2) #19. Despite this, he will some how returns with no explanation in Captain America (vol. 5) #22. Given that Faustus is a master of hypnosis and mind bending, it’s entirely possible that his death was somehow faked.

    • Beautiful Dreamer: Here status at the time of this story is unknown since many of the Morlocks were seemingly drowned by Mikhail Rasputin in Uncanny X-Men #293. However, she would later be reported alive and one of the few mutants that retained her powers following M-Day, as reported in X-Men: The 198 Files #1.

    • Mister Doll: Went on to become the original Brothers Grimm when his spirit possessed giant wooden dolls. He was ultimately defeated by Spider-Woman and his spirit dissipated in Spider-Woman #12.

    • Mastermind: Had just recently died of the Legacy Virus in Uncanny X-Men Annual #17. He will be resurrected many years later as many deceased mutants were when the nation of Krakoa was established. He’ll turn up alive again in Empyre: X-Men #2.

15. The Avengers want to figure out if the Squadron is being mind controlled because they are somewhat infamous for that happening. See Avengers #85-86, Defenders #112-115 and Quasar #13-16. They are absolutely being mind controlled here as we’ll learn later this issue.

16. Wonder Man died during a battle with the Kree in Force Works #1. More recently, Wanda has willed him back to existence as seen in Avengers (vol. 3) #2-3. She almost summoned him back in issue #4, but she got distracted at the time. It is later explained in Avengers (vol. 3) #11 that Simon has been able to cling between life and death due to his love for the Scarlet Witch.

17. Imus Champion used the Squad to distract the Avengers so his teams could recover an alien ship from the bottom of the ocean last issue. This ship crash landed during the Thanos War which took place in Captain Marvel #25-33 and Avengers #125. His revenge will be seen in Avengers Annual 1998.