World Trust, Part 2: Assembled

With major cities all over the world disappearing in strange black voids, the United Nations have given the Avengers emergency power to act as a world leaders to help get the Earth through this current crisis.[1]

As the team heads to the UN Building in New York, Captain America is followed by their former government liaison, Henry Gyrich.[2] Despite their turbulent past, Captain America has accepted his offer of aid to navigate all the red tape they’ll need to work through.[3] As Gyrich thanks Cap for this opportunity, he grows weary of Gyrich’s constant nattering and tells him to shut up. Following them into the council chambers are the Black Panther — already a UN member as the leader of Wakanda — and She-Hulk, who is bogged down with legal texts on international law that she’s going to have to cram.

Back at Avengers Headquarters, the Vision is monitoring the relief efforts that are already underway. His feels sadness, anger, fear, and confusion over what has happened, but remains focused on his task. In Kenya, Quicksilver and Photon race medical supplies to those in need. The Black Knight and Hercules have been dispatched to Mexico to deal with civil unrest in the region. That’s when Warbird calls in to check and see how the Scarlet Witch. The Vision informs her that Wanda is still feeling ill and Jarvis is tending to her needs. Carol finds this cold, but the Vision justifies his lack of concern as he has other things to worry about.

Warbird is outside of the dimensional void that swallowed up Washington, DC. She has come with the Falcon to assist Nick Fury and a SHIELD team get readings from the energies given off by the void. Using his mental link to Redwing, his pet falcon, Sam is able to dangle a scanner over the top of the void and get a reading. Little do they know they are being observed by an bald man with pale white skin wearing a robe to match. Muttering to himself, he says “Nothing is between us.” As Carol and Falcon head back, she asks Sam what it feels like always being labelled Captain America’s sidekick. The Falcon can only smile, and tells her that compared to Captain America they are all sidekicks.

In Ghent, Germany, Tony Stark is making arrangements with his assistant — Pepper Potts — to have his company use its vast fortune to try and prop up the international markets during this situation. Waiting outside are Jack of Hearts and Ant-Man, with Jack getting impatient every time he looks at a countdown timer on his wrist.[4] When Ant-Man asks why he is so focused on the time, Jack says it’s official Avengers business and to butt out. The two bicker with one another until Iron Man concludes his business. Stark tells them to get ready to roll, ignoring Ant-Man when he says he needs to use the phone as he has an upcoming custody battle over his daughter.[5] With that, Iron Man heads out where he meets with the members of the European Union to address concerns about their economy. At first, the representatives of the member states aren’t willing to trust Iron Man. Since the word is still getting out, Iron Man flips up his helmet, revealing that he is actually Tony Stark to those who don’t already know.[6] This quashes all debate and allows them to get down to business.

Meanwhile, a new dimensional void has appeared off the coast of New York and threatens to swallow a Navy vessel. Luckily, Captain America and a team of Avengers consisting of the Black Panther, Warbird, Falcon, and She-Hulk are there to rescue the crew. It soon becomes a race against time to evacuate the ship before it is sucked into the whirlpool. Luckily, something completely stops the ship. This turns out to be none other than Namor the Sub-Mariner. With the worlds oceans also being swallowed up in these voids, Namor has come to demand he be admitted back into the Avengers so he can help with the current crisis.[7]

Later, She-Hulk finds herself up until the early hours of the morning going over legal texts. She suddenly notices her hand turning white, but when Warbird comes to check on her, Jennifer dismisses it as being overly tired.[8] Deciding she needs a break, She-Hulk accompanies Carol to go and check on Wanda, who is still sick in bed.[9] Hearing a strange scratching noise coming from inside the room, both Carol and Jen barge in. They are shocked to discover the Scarlet Witch hovering over her bed with tarot cards swirling around her. Whatever is doing this has also turned half her skin pitch black and the other half pure white. Shedding a single tear from her eye, Wanda pronounces that “Nothing is.. Between us.”

Elsehwere, the Wasp and Yellowjacket have been stranded in Washington, DC ever since it got swallowed up in the dimensional void. Trying to make sense of what’s going on, they discover that other cities are materializing in this realm as well and interlocking with one another. With so many cultures from so many countries, many with conflicting beliefs, it is only a matter of time before violence breaks out. Almost as if on cue, an explosion on the border between Paris and Bagdad. Deciding to explore the area beyond the cities, Yellowjacket and the Wasp are blasted out of the sky by a powerful energy weapon. Landing on the ground, they are surrounded by a swarm of albino scorpions. Looming over the mall is the man responsible for all this chaos. Calling himself Scorpio and brandishing the Zodiac Key, the man is flanked by a group of men in robes. Scorpio then tells the two Avengers that he holds the key to the future.[10]

Recurring Characters

Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Yellowjacket, Wasp, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Hercules, Black Panther, Vision, Black Knight, Warbird, Falcon, Photon, She-Hulk, Sub-Mariner, Jack of Hearts), Ant-Man, Brotherhood of the Ankh, Scorpio, Henry Gyrich, Ant-Man, SHIELD (Nick Fury), In-Betweener, Pepper Potts (voice)

Continuity Notes

1. Major cities started getting swallowed up last issue. As we’ll learn here and over the next two issues is that this is being caused when the In-Between was split into two halves. This is part of a plot by the new Scorpio and the Brotherhood of the Ankh to sow chaos.

2. Henry Gyrich was an infamous government liaison to the Avengers. His tenure lasted from Avengers #165 to 231. He famously revoked the team’s security clearance in issue #172, forced the team to pair down its roster in issue #181 (which included forcing the Falcon onto the team). Gyrich only backed down after the Avengers stopped the menace of the Grey Gargoyle and saved countless lives in Avengers #190-191. Petey later went on to become a member on the Commission on Superhuman Affairs starting in New Mutants #1 and hasn’t been much of a thorn in the side to the Avengers since.

3. Gyrich mentions the “Kang affair” here. He is referring to when Kang recently invaded present day Earth in Avengers (vol. 3) #41-54.

4. Jack’s wrist timer is counting down from 14 hours. This is a hint that Jack is losing control of his powers. As we’ll learn in Avengers (vol. 3) #61, Jack now has to spend hours in a specially prepared room to drain off his excess radiation or risk exploding.

5. Since we first saw him in Avengers #181, Scott Lang had custody over his daughter, Cassie. We’ll learn in Avengers (vol. 3) #62 that his ex-wife, Peggy Rae has remarried and wants custody of her daughter. Part of this has to do with the fact that Peggy doesn’t believe Scott’s life as a superhero makes things very safe for Cassie.

6. At the time of this story, Tony Stark’s double life as Iron Man had just recently become public knowledge following the events of Iron Man (vol. 3) #55.

7. Namor had originally joined the Avengers back Avengers #262. After an absence from issue #270 on, he returned to the team in issue #282 and remained an active member until Avengers #293, following the death of his then-wife Marrina. He briefly returned to the team between Avengers #305 and 310. Since then, he has maintained reserve status, but hasn’t been associated with the team in recent times. The last time he worked with the Avengers was between Avengers (vol. 3) #1-3.

8. Jen’s sudden change of pigment is due to the fact that Jack of Hearts has been unintentionally absorbing the gamma radiation that makes her She-Hulk. This will become an issue in Avengers (vol. 3) #67 and 72-75, as it affects her ability to change and control her She-Hulk form. It’s also the cause of Jack’s powers going out of control. The problem resolves itself when Jack seemingly dies in Avengers (vol. 3) #76.

9. Here, Carol states that she doesn’t trust the Black Panther. At the time of this story, it was recently revealed that T’Challa first joined the Avengers back in Avengers #52 in order to spy on the group. See Black Panther (vol. 3) #8 for the details.

10. The identity of this Scorpio, time of this writing in February, 2023, remains unrevealed. Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #14 confirms that this Scorpio is unique and unrelated to any past individuals who took up the identity.

Topical References

• When Gyrich is listing off countries that are siding with the Avengers he says “even Iraq, for God’s sake”. This is in reference to the relations between the United States and Iraq at the time this comic was published. This was shortly after the 9/11 terrorists attacks that saw the destruction of the World Trade Center and damage to the Pentagon along with the death of roughly 3000 Americans. Although this attack was perpetuated by the terrorist group al-Queda, then President George W. Bush also used the attack as an opportunity to accuse the nation of Iraq of holding weapons of mass destruction. This led to an invasion that in 2003 and would stretch out until 2011. This is a whole complicated matter in itself, so please excuse the brevity when talking about George W. Bush’s war crimes that he totally got away with. At any rate, this vague reference should be considered topical.

• After Iron Man finishes his business dealings we see a listing of current stocks through the visor of his helmet. Companies listed include AOL Time Warner, General Electric, Tyco International, Citigroup Inc, Dynegy Inc, Lucent Technologies, Qwest Communications International, Home Depot, Pfizer Inc, J.P Morgan & Chase Company, AT&T Corporation, Solectron Corporation, EMC Corporation, The Walt Disney Company, Wal-Mart Stores, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Monstanto Corporation. These should be considered topical references as these were all real world companies. Some have since changed their names, merged, or gone out of business since this comic was published. The only exception would be The Walt Disney Company, since they now own Marvel Comics.

• Member states of the European Union are identified by flag pins that identify which country they come from. One man in the crowd is wearing a British flag. This should be considered a topical reference. Britain had been a member of the EU since 1973 until they stupidly and catastrophically decided to leave it in 2020 and fucked their economy ever since (at least time of this writing in 2023).

• She-Hulk is depicted as having an Apple brand laptop. This should be considered a topical reference as this is a real world brand.

• When concerned about violence between nation cities, the story focuses on tensions between the western world and the Middle East, particularly Iraq. This story was written following the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001 and prior to the US led invasion into Iraq in 2003. As such, this story is written during a period when threats to the west by Middle Eastern terrorists and political tensions between both regions were pretty high. Not that relations between these areas has gotten any better in the last 20+ years, but this story was written in the context of the period it was published. As such, said context should be considered topical.

Translations

This story features dialogue in various languages that are not translated into English. They include:

• Swedish: Tack sa för urspruglig = Thank you for coming.

• Spanish: Gracias para asistir = Thanks for coming.

• German: Vielen dank alle für kommen. = Thank you all for coming.

• Italian: I nostri affari non fuzioneranno come questo = Our business doesn’t work like this.

• Norwegian: Det er slutten av verdenen = It’s the end of the world.