Avengers Annual 2001
The Third Man
This story begins with some brief facts on Goliath, aka Hank Pym. It details how his size-changing powers work via dimensional mass shifting. It addresses his past identities and how his powers once caused a great strain on his health. The feature concludes by saying that he no longer has these limitations.[1]
Following their battle with Attuma in Canada, Yellowjacket collapsed, prompting the Avengers to race him back to the mansion for medical attention.[2] As the Wasp carries him inside, Hank’s is becoming more translucent as though he is fading away. They take Hank down to the med-lab where the team’s resident doctor, Jane Foster, looks after him right away. Janet and Triathlon are soon joined by Photon. Monica decided to come back to the mansion to provide moral support since the others have things under control back on Prince Edward Island.
when Hank wakes up, he tells Janet to find that “other Hank” that he hid away in his Hornet’s Hideaway on the property.[3] Not sure what Hank means, Janet flies out and finds the miniature domicile in one of the mansion’s trees. Inside, she is shocked to discover another Hank Pym being held in stasis there. Janet frees this Hank and brings him back to the lab as well, so Jane can examine both men and figure out what’s going on. However, the situation is getting worse and Janet and Monica worry that it might be too late to do anything for them.
Not far away, in the Avengers situation room, Triathlon looks over the Avengers global threat monitor. He is not happy to see the Triune Understanding’s leader — Jonathan Tremont — on the board since Delroy is a member of that religious order.[4] However, despite the Avengers lack of trust in the Triunes, he knows of a way that might help and decides he can’t just sit by and say nothing. It’s at that moment that Jane Foster comes out of the examination room and tells the others that there is nothing she can do for the two Hanks. That’s when Triathlon speaks up and says he might have a solution, but warns his teammates that they might not like it. He suggests going to the Triune Understanding for help since much of their teachings involved the reunification of the divided man. Delroy admits that this is a long shot but it’s the only idea he has. At first, Janet is against the idea because of the recent trouble the Triunes have been giving the Avengers, but she quickly changes her mind when considering that there are no other options.[5]
Soon, the Avengers arrive at the Triune Understanding’s headquarters in Texas. There they are greeted by Jonathan Tremont himself who warmly welcomes them. Bearing no grudge with the Avengers over past conflicts, Tremont agrees to examine the two Pym’s and try to cure them. Getting the Hanks down to Triune’s labs, Jonathan scans them with his abilities. He determines that the two are different aspects of Hank Pym’s personality and their rejection of one another is causing the pair to discorporate. Unless they can reunite the pair, both men will fade into nothingness.
Using his power to establish a mental link between the two, both Hanks are cast into the astral plane, one in his Goliath identity and the other in his Yellowjacket identity. Neither Goliath nor Yellowjacket trusts the other and both men accuse the other of being an impostor trying to steal Hank Pym’s life. Soon arguments turn into a brawl between the two personalities. Sensing this conflict, Tremont reports this back to the Wasp. She realizes there there is a third component to all of this that might hold the key to saving Hank’s life: Herself. Tremont calls Janet to him and connects her to Hank’s mindlink with himself.
As this is happening, Photon asks Triathlon if they can really trust Tremont to save Hank. Delroy takes offense to this, as he is willing to stake his life on the Triune Understanding. Seeing Garrett still harbors a grudge over the Avengers inability to trust him, Photon decides to go for a walk and let him cool off.[6]
When Janet enters Hank’s mind, she discovers that she is wearing one of her old costumes.[7] She gets the two Hanks to stop fighting she learns how Goliath always suppressed the Yellowjacket persona out of fear that it would hurt Jan again.[8] Goliath was successful until recently when he was exposed to Kulan Gath’s magic, which split his two personalities apart in the physical world.
As this is happening, Photon is approached by two members of the Triune Understanding who asks to speak with her in private. Away from prying eyes and ears, the pair reveal themselves as Firestar and Justice. They reveal that their recent decision to take a leave of absence was only a cover story so that they could infiltrate and spy on the Triune Understanding and find out what their ultimate goals are. They think they have figure it out and take Photon to a hanger where the Triunes are busy constructing a space ship. The two undercover Avengers explain that the ship is to be powered by the mental energies of its followers so Tremont can face some unknown evil in space. However, the process is untested and the lives of his followers could be at risk.
Keeping this a secret, Monica goes back and talks to Triathlon about his feelings towards the Avengers. He admits that a lot of his feelings are due to being the new member of the team and an outside. His defense of the Triunes stemming from how they turned his life around after he was a disgraced Olympian caught in a steroid scandal. He feels like he’ll always be an outside, figuring that Monica will be able to relate with this because she is Black like he is and they have both experienced being othered in the past. Photon tells him that he’s feeling what ever new comer to the Avengers feels when they start out. She says that it goes away over time as one becomes more experienced and new members join the team and start looking at you as a mentor. She points out that Triathlon isn’t the new guy anymore now that Jack of Hearts has joined up and suggests he start mentoring him.
Back inside Hank’s mind, the two Pyms ask Janet that she has to decide which one of them stays and which one goes. Janet, however, doesn’t think this decision is up to her as she loves every part of Hank Pym. She tells them that the third piece of the puzzle is not her and she breaks connection. As the two try to figure out what to do next, they come around to the idea that it is a unified Hank Pym that matters. Once they reach this conclusion a third Hank, this one in his old Ant-Man costume, appears. As he assumes normal size, the costume disappears and they now see Hank Pym the scientist. Deciding to reunite, Goliath and Yellowjacket take’s Hank’s hands. The three men then merge together to make a unified whole.
Moments later, Hank wakes up in the lab alive and well. After getting a clean bill of health and kissing Janet, the pair then meet with the others. Janet, grateful for Triathlon’s help, hugs him. Soon, the Avengers are heading back to New York. As they leave, Monica spots Firestar and Justice in the crowd and gives them a small nod.[9] There is still much more to be done, but at least for now, they can savor their recent victory.
Recurring Characters
Avengers (Goliath, Yellowjacket, Wasp, Photon, Firestar, Justice, Triathlon), Jane Foster, Jonathan Tremont
Continuity Notes
This story starts off with a Hank Pym fact-o-rama. Glossing over various details.
It explains how Hank’s powers work by mass shifting to another dimension. This was first explained in the fiction in Iron Man #194. The other dimension this mass is borrowed from is revealed to be the Kosmos dimension. The first Kosmosian appeared in Tales to Astonish #44. The dimension itself was not seen until many years later in Thunderbolts #13.
It lists all of Hank Pym’s many identities over the years including Ant-Man (Tales to Astonish #35), Giant-Man (Tales to Astonish #49), Goliath (Avengers #28) and Yellowjacket (Avengers #59).
It also states that Hank’s size changing powers caused great strain on his body. This had been the case since he first became Giant-Man. Eventually, Hank had to give up on his size-changing powers all together starting in Avengers #140. Over the years he began stabilizing his formula allowing him to become Giant-Man again in Avengers #366. As of Avengers (vol. 3) #31, Hank has stated that he worked out all the health risks from his formula.
The situation with Hank Pym in this story is somewhat complex. Unknown to everyone, he was split into two separate entities by a magic spell in Avengers (vol. 3) #28. One is the repressed Goliath while the other is the emotional Yellowjacket. Yellowjacket then took Goliath’s place in issue #37. I am glad we’re finally at this story so I can stop writing about this.
The battle between the Avengers and Attuma in which Hank collapsed took place in Avengers (vol. 3) #43.
This is the same structure that Yellowjacket used years earlier when he kidnapped the Wasp and convinced her to marry him in Avengers #59-60.
The crisis monitor lists active threats as well as the current location of various Avengers. The status of these characters are reflective of the status quo at the time this story was originally published. Lets talk about that in some greater detail:
Villains:
Supreme Intelligence: Is stated as being active and its last known location being Hala, the Kree home world. This would be following the Avengers last encounter with him in Maximum Security #1-3 and Avengers (vol. 3) #36. His location is confirmed when we see him next in Defenders (vol. 2) #8.
Thanos: Is presumed deceased at the time of this story. This is following the events of Thor (vol. 2) #22-25 when he was seemingly consumed by hellfire. However, this was later revealed to be one of the Thanosi, clones of the real Thanos who operated as his proxies for a time, as explained in Infinity Abyss #1. The real Thanos will turn up next in Captain Marvel (vol. 4) #17-19.
The Mandarin: Is also listed as being deceased. He seemingly perished in Iron Man (vol. 3) #9-10, but will turn up alive again in the GLX-Mas Special #1.
Doctor Doom is said to be located on “Planet Doom”, this is an alternate name given to Counter-Earth, the world created by Franklin Richards following the events of Onslaught: Marvel Universe #1. Doom returned here in Heroes Reborn: Doomsday #1, and conquered it in Heroes Reborn: Doom #1. Doom will ultimately abandon this world in Doom #1-3.
Wizard was last seen trying to get revenge against Deadpool in Deadpool (vol. 3) #45. He’ll pop up next in Avengers (vol. 3) #43.
Dormammu: Last seen in Magik #1-4, next appearing in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #57-58.
Red Skull: States that his last known activity was in San Diego. This is in reference to when he attacked the San Diego Comiccon in Fantastic Four (vol. 3) #23. However he was also seen again in issue #27 of that series. He’ll turn up again in Captain America (vol. 3) #41.
Hydra: Last seen in Captain America Annual 2000/Captain America (vol. 3) #37-38, next appearing in US Agent (vol. 2) #1.
Warlord Kro: Last seen in Black Panther (vol. 3) #27, next appearing in Avengers (vol. 3) #45.
Alkhema: Last seen in Avengers (vol. 3) #19-22, next seen in Avengers: The Ultron Imperative #1.
The Hulk: Is stated as being last seen in Virginia here. He was last seen in Avengers (vol. 3) #40.
High Evolutionary: Was recently duped by Mister Sinister into shutting down all mutant powers, as seen in Uncanny X-Men #379-380 and X-Men (vol. 2) #99. He won’t be seen again until X-Men (vol. 2) #200.
Crimson Cowl: Last seen in Thunderbolts #42, appearing next in issue #46 of that series.
Attuma: The Avengers have been dealing with him since Avengers (vol. 3) #43.
Triune Understanding: We saw then Avengers (vol. 3) #36-37.
Loki: Is listed as being incarcerated in New York. This has been the case since he was trapped in the body of Jake Olsen as seen in Thor Annual 2000. He’ll be freed by Karnilla in Thor (vol. 2) #36.
Kang: The Avengers have been actively dealing with Kang since Avengers (vol. 3) #41.
Magneto: Magneto had just recently been taken out of circulation after being crippled by Wolverine in X-Men (vol. 2) #111. Magneto will be confined to a wheelchair until he is seemingly killed in New X-Men #115. He’ll be back alive and well in Excalibur (vol. 3) #1 with no concrete explanation. House of M #7 suggests that this was the result of the Scarlet Witch’s powers.
MODOK and AIM: Was last seen in X-51 #11-12, he’ll appear again in Citizen V and the V-Battalion #1-2.
Avengers:
Hawkeye: Is listed as a former Avenger. He had just recently left the team in Avengers (vol. 3) #9 and joined up with the Thunderbolts in Thunderbolts #21. He’ll leave the Thunderbolts in issue #75 of their series, rejoining the Avengers in issue #73 of that series.
Iron Man: His status here isn’t legible. However, he was last seen in Avengers (vol. 3) #42. At the time of this story he’s off doing his own thing as seen in Iron Man (vol. 3) #42-46, Annual 2001. He’ll be back helping the Avengers in Avengers: The Ultron Imperative #1.
Justice and Firestar: Are listed as being in Cap D’Antibes, France, which is where they said they were going when going on a leave of absence in Avengers (vol. 3) #27. In reality, they were sent to infiltrate and spy on the Triune Understanding, as we’ll learn later this issue.
The Triune Understanding had been secretly influencing the Avengers reputation in order to boost their supporters since Avengers (vol. 3) #14. While the team is certain that the Triunes were involved in the smear campaign, they have yet to find proof.
Triathlon had been a spokes person for the Triune Understanding since Avengers (vol. 3) #8. More recently, in issue #27, the Avengers liaison Duane Freeman forced them to admit Delroy into their ranks. In Delroy’s defense, he was unaware of Tremont’s secret smear campaign against the Avengers.
Inside Hank’s mind, Janet is wearing one of her old costumes. She first started wearing in back in Avengers #45 until she changed it in issue #48.
Not wanting to hurt Jan again is a reference to the time that Hank — as Yellowjacket — struck Janet in Avengers #213. That slap in the face led to the end of a 153 issue marriage.
If you’re getting tired of the Triune Understanding plot line like I am, it’ll all be wrapped up in Avengers (vol. 3) #49-50.
House Cleaning
At Avengers Mansion, Jarvis calls his girlfriend Glory Garsen to tell her that he’ll be running late and to get a seat at the restaraunt.[1] This is because the Avengers are away and there have been a few e-mail inquiries from their government liaison, Duane Freeman, that need to be answered before he leaves the mansion for the day.
However, the questions on the e-mail are quite complicated ones indeed. Duane is asking for some clarification of incidents that happened before the Onslaught disaster. Primarily, he’d like to know what happened to the Wasp’s insectoid form, and how Tony Stark was cleared in the case of three murders.
This brings up memories of a particularly dark chapter in the lives of Iron Man and the Avengers. At the time, Tony Stark had gone mad and murdered three of allies: the reformed Rita DeMara, the female Yellowjacket; Marilla, the nanny to Crystal’s daughter Luna; and Amanda Chaney, the public relations manager for Force Works. When Iron Man was exposed as the killer Janet Van Dyne was seriously injured by Tony. This forced Hank Pym to perform an experimental procedure on Janet to save her life. The process then mutated her into the insectoid form mentioned in Duane’s e-mail. In the end, Tony Stark died when he turned on his master — whom they all believed was Kang, but later turned out to be Immortus in disguise — but not before the Avengers brought Tony’s younger self out of the past to help them. This teenage Tony Stark remained in the present day and took over the mantle of Iron Man. During the Onslaught incident, it was this Tony Stark that sacrificed his life alongside the Avengers and Fantastic Four.[2] This is where things get confusing…
Rather than dying, the heroes were transported to another dimension by Franklin Richards, the son of Reed and Sue Richards of the Fantastic Four.[3] There, they lived re-imagined versions of their lives until they were fought and returned home.[4] Among the returning heroes was an adult Tony Stark, one with memories of three different Tony’s: The older Stark who sacrificed himself, his teenaged replacement, and the Tony Stark who lived in the pocket dimension. He returned to the Avengers confused, but all those memories were quickly fading. He decided to investigate and went to the grave site where the older Tony was buried after his death. There Stark discovered the grave was now empty. On top of this, there were traces of residual energies, traces of which were in Tony’s system as well.
With all the details put out plainly, Jarvis then offers Freeman the best explanation for what had happened.[5] He explains that when Franklin Richards transported the heroes to the pocket dimension he also “corrected” things that were contrary to how he remembered the heroes. In the case of the Wasp, she was restored to her human form, Hawkeye had his damaged hearing repaired.[6] while Tony… Jarvis pauses for a moment and explains that the two Starks prior to Onslaught are dead and gone. That the Tony Stark among them now was brought before a court martial hearing when the Avengers got back together. The Avengers all unanimously agreed that since Tony was being mentally controlled by “Kang”, then he was not criminally responsible for the murders. While Tony accepted that he wouldn’t be punished for these deaths, they still weighed heavily on his conscience. Iron Man then stormed off to make sure that nobody could tamper with his mind like it was during those dark times.
The next quest from Freeman is regarding the composition of Captain America’s shield, which Freeman believes is made out of Adamantium. This is an easier answer, Jarvis explains that Cap’s shield was created when scientist Myron MacLean fused Vibranium with a new steel alloy. Unfortunately, the bonding process happened while he was asleep and as such he has never been able to recreate the formula.[7] Jarvis points out that MacLean later went on to invent Adamantium, and this is likely where the confusion comes from.[8] He also notes that Captain America’s shield is stronger than Adamantium, which can be dented by Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir.
Jarvis hopes he is done for the day when one last e-mail comes in asking him to clarify if the Falcon is a mutant or not. This annoys Jarvis because he frequently has to answer this one. He hastily pounds out an explanation, saying that the Falcon got his ability to communicate with his bird, Redwing, after the Red Skull linked their minds with the Cosmic Cube.[9] He clarifies that the time a Sentinel registered Falcon as a mutant was due to the fact that the robot was heavily damaged and was malfunctioning.[10] Before Jarvis can leave, another e-mail comes in and he realizes that he might not get to dinner with Glory after all…
Recurring Characters
Edwin Jarvis, (in flashback) Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Giant-Man, Wasp, Hawkeye, Black Widow)
Continuity Notes
You don’t remember Glory Garsen? She and Jarvis first met during the Inferno crisis back in Avengers #298. They started dating but she is seldom see, only appearing in Avengers #325 and Annual 1999. Time of this writing (January, 2023) this is the last time we hear from/of her.
This is an ever so brief and merciful recap of the dreadful Crossing event. Covering the storyline’s “greatest” hits before sweeping it under the rug for good. The deets:
The entire event was built around the conceit that Kang was trying to conquer the present day, “revealing” that Tony Stark had been a sleeper agent for Kang since the early days of the Avengers, as “revealed” in Iron Man #323.
Doing “Kang’s” bidding, Tony murdered Yellowjacket and Marilla in Avengers: The Crossing #1, while Amanda Chaney was killed later on in Force Works #19.
The Wasp was seriously injured by Tony in Avengers #393. Hank’s attempt to cure her transformed Janet into her insectile form in the following issue.
The teen Tony Stark was recovered from the past in Avengers: Timeslide #1. The adult Tony then sacrificed himself to save his friends in Avengers #395. Per Marvel Legacy: The 1990s Handbook #1, the Avengers pulling teen Tony forward in time created an divergent reality that has been designated Reality-96020.
In Avengers Forever #8, it was revealed that Kang was actually Immortus in disguise and that he brainwashed Stark into thinking he was a sleeper agent. The Crossing event was all one big deception to keep the Avengers busy as part of the time master’s ongoing scheme to manipulate their destiny.
The scene of Teen Iron Man punching Holocaust in the face is from the Avengers battle with him in Avengers #402.
Not long after that, the Avengers and Fantastic Four seemingly sacrificed their lives to stop Onslaught in Onslaught: Marvel Universe.
Here, it is stated that Franklin Richards is a mutant, which has been the perception since he first started manifesting his powers in Fantastic Four #130 (Although they were shown to manifest chronologically earlier than this in Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Comics Magazine #4. However, Fantastic Four (vol. 6) #26 will reveal that Franklin was never actually a mutant to begin with. That his powers subconsciously altered his genetics to appear mutant because that’s what everyone thought he was. Time of this writing, what Franklin truly is has yet to be properly explained.
The Avengers and FF lived those new lives in a pocket dimension. For Tony most of those events were chronicled in Iron Man (vol. 2) #1-13. All the heroes were brought back to their proper reality in Heroes Reborn: The Return #1-4. When Tony appeared again in Iron Man (vol. 3) #1, he publicly walked back his death by claiming it was faked and he was a prisoner of terrorists this entire time until he was rescued by Iron Man.
In this scene, there is a statue of Jarvis brandishing a vacuum cleaner hose. This is paying homage to the cover of Avengers #201.
Jarvis glosses over some of the other characters who had the reset button hit.
Janet Van Dyne’s restoration to human form was pretty apparent when she resurfaced in Avengers (vol. 2) #1, and again when she returned home in (vol. 3) #1.
At the time of this story, Hawkeye was believed to has suffered hearing loss after biting down on a sonic arrow in Hawkeye #4. However, Hawkeye (vol. 4) #19, states that Clint has always been hard of hearing after an abusive childhood. Marvel has yet to clarify these conflicting accounts. I posit a theory here. In any case, Hawkeye’s hearing remains restored until he’s deafened again in Hawkeye (vol. 4) #15.
One unspoken change that likely happened is that the Vision had Wonder Man’s original brain engrams and body restored. Wonder Man’s engrams were erased in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #44. The Vision later was given the brain engrams of Alex Lipton in Avengers Spotlight #40. He also lost his original body when it was swapped with a counterpart from another reality in Avengers #360. Characters have been acting like Vision got the Wonder Man brain engrams back since they returned from Onslaught, particularly in Avengers (vol. 3) #23.
The creation of Captain America’s shield by MacLain was first told in Captain America #303. This question stems from earlier editions of Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (#2, 15, and Deluxe Edition #2) that incorrectly state that the Shield was a mixture of Vibranium and Adamantium. References to Adamantium being part of the composition has been expunged since Cap’s profile in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Avengers 2004 #1. However, the Adamantium entry in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #1, refers to this unknown metal as “Proto-Adamantium”. As of this writing (January, 2023), Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty (vol. 2) is still in publication. It deals with a conspiracy surrounding the true origins of Captain America’s shield. How this might impact what Jarvis says here remains to be seen.
MacLean went on to invent Adamantium in the decades that followed. The first time it, Myron, and his claim to creating it all first happened in Avengers #66.
The Falcon’s mind being altered by the Red Skull and given the ability to commune with Redwing happened circa Captain America #117, but wasn’t fully explained until issue #186.
The who “Falcon is a mutant” thing comes from people reading Falcon #2, where a trashed Sentinel calls him a mutant. They took it at face value, and it is a good example why you need to research everything and never make absolute statements in fiction. Calling a contradicting fact a retcon and calling it a day is lazy and the type of sloppy work you’d find on a certain crowd sourced website I despise.
Topical References
When Jarvis gets an e-mail his computer says “You’ve got mail!” During the early days of the Internet, service provider AOL provided customers with its own e-mail client that would utter this dread phrase whenever you received new e-mail. It was featured heavily in their ad campaigns in the early to mid 1990s. The phrase was so ubiquidious in the 90s that they even turned it into a soppy rom-com starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan where two people fall in love over — get this — E-Mail!!! PRETTY CRAZY STUFF, RIGHT? Anyway, the only time you hear this phrase is when some 40+ year old waxes nostalgic about the 1990s, so its usage here is topical.
In a flashback featuring Teen Tony, the young Stark greets Jarvis by saying “what it is!” This should be considered topical because this is dated late 90’s early 2000’s slang. If anyone said this today, they would be rightly laughed in the face. Its use here should be considered topical.
