Avengers (vol. 3) #61
The Powers That Be!
After saving the world yet again, the United Nations have decided to reward the Avengers by officially making their headquarters sovereign land and its members ambassadors.[1] As this historic announcement is being made, the Secretary of Defense — Dell Rusk — speaks with the President to express his concerns over this. The President disagrees, and orders Rusk to cease any investigations into the Avengers new appointment.[2]
Meanwhile, Avengers Mansion is undergoing extensive renovations to match its new role as an embassy for the team. The Wasp greets Jarvis as he is showing around the new staff, and Captain America is arguing with their liaison Henry Gyrich over the number of active team members on the roster.[3] Gyrich then goes on to hassle Jarvis over the security and another rant about how the Avengers need him to deal with all the red tape. As the Wasp and Cap grow more annoyed, Henry actually opens up to them: His professional and personal lives are both in the toilet and he wants this job to make amends for all of the times he’s screwed up over the years. After thinking about it for a moment, Captain America agrees to give Gyrich a second chance and appoint him their UN liaison, but warns him not to screw this up.
That’s when the Sub-Mariner arrives with a brand new meeting table that he had personally made in Atlantis to replace the one he trashed the other day.[4] When Steve offers Namor the opportunity to rejoin the Avengers, the Atlantean ruler laughs in his face. Before departing the Sub-Mariner says that the thing he likes the most about Captain America is that he was always able to make him laugh.
In another part of the mansion, the Avengers are posing for their brand new ID photos. When the Vision gets his done, She-Hulk and Warbird convince him to smile. However, he doesn’t like how it looks and alters the photo to remove his grin. That’s when the Scarlet Witch enters the room and asks the Vision how he is doing. He gives her a token response and phases up through the ceiling.[5] After Wanda leaves the room, both Jen and Carol admit that they don’t understand the Vision and Scarlet Witch’s relationship.[6] Moments later, the Vision approaches Wanda upstairs and apologizes for his aloofness of late. When he tells her that when she is well it makes him feel good, it makes her smile.
While down in the training room, the Falcon is going through a training session as Captain America inquires if he’s sticking around. Sam intends to stay on the team, which works for Steve, as he has someone that he wants Sam to keep a close eye on. That’s when Thor enters the room and when Steve asks if he’s sticking around, the thunder god says he has more important matters to attend to and teleports away.[7] Up on the roof, Iron Man confronts the Black Panther about his recent actions. Stark is furious that T’Challa hasn’t been using people like chess pieces to suit his own goals and doesn’t give a shit about the team.[8] The Panther admits to this, saying that Iron Man is his knight. When Tony asks if T’Challa is remaining on the team, the Panther asks if this will be a problem. Stark says it won’t be for him.
In yet another part of the mansion, Yellowjacket, the Wasp, and Ant-Man have a good laugh together. This leads to Hank and Jan asking Scott if he plans on staying on the team. Scott declines, saying that his primary concern is his daughter Cassie, as he is in the middle of a custody battle with his ex-wife.[9] As he departs, Ant-Man wonders where his rival, Jack of Hearts, has been hiding all day.
Jack is current confined to a secret room in the sub-basement of the mansion under devices that drain his energies. Looking at the clock on the wall on the other side of the baren room, Jack sees that he has just over 8 hours left. Annoyed, he blasts the wall with his zero energy powers.
At Ant-Man leaves the mansion astride a flying ant, a crowd of fans and members of the media eagerly await for the Avengers to come out an announce their new roster. Soon Captain America emerges from the mansion and introduces the new roster which consists of the Black Panther, Warbird, the Vision, Scarlet Witch, Iron Man, Falcon, She-Hulk, Yellowjacket, and the Wasp. While this has always been the tradition, Janet also takes this special occasion to raise the Avengers brand new flag.
That evening, Henry Gyrich arrives back at his apartment. Inside he finds Dell Rusk waiting for him in his apartment. Introducing himself as the new Secretary of State, Rusk orders Gyrich to provide his office with information on the Avengers. Refusing, Henry eventually relents when Dell overpowers him and nearly chokes him. Rusk threatens him to comply or else he’ll have him eliminated. As Gyrich begins getting the picture, neither man notices Redwing, the Falcon’s pet bird, is sitting on a window ledge watching their conversation.
Recurring Characters
Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Yellowjacket, Wasp, Scarlet Witch, Black Panther, Vision, Warbird, Falcon, She-Hulk, Jack of Hearts), Dell Rusk, Sub-Mariner, Ant-Man, Henry Gyrich, Edwin Jarvis, Redwing
Continuity Notes
This decision comes after the Avengers saved the world from Scorpio and the Brotherhood of the Ankh. See Avengers (vol. 3) #57-60. This prestigious position will be taken away after Iron Man loses his shit during a UN meeting, as seen in Avengers #500.
Dell Rusk will be revealed to be the Red Skull in disguise, see Avengers (vol. 3) #65-70.
Gyrich wants the Avengers to reduce their team down to seven core members. This is something he forced the team to do way back when he had the power to do so in Avengers #181.
Namor smashed the Avengers previous meeting table in Avengers (vol. 3) #59.
When the Vision phases through the wall, his internal components under his skin become visible as he becomes intangible. This is a side effect of his battle with the Gremlin, a rogue creation of Phineas Horton and Sigmund Fell. See Avengers Icons: The Vision #1-4. This will remain the Vision’s status quo until his destruction in Avengers #500. This will be corrected when Tony Stark finally restores the Vision in Avengers (vol. 4) #19.
This is reference to the long and complicated relationship between the Vision and the Scarlet Witch. I’m kind of tired of writing about it, so we’ll just do the basics: They got married in Giant-Size Avengers #4, they separated in Avengers #312, and Vision declared it over in Avengers (vol. 3) #4. The pair have been getting getting close again since Avengers (vol. 3) #57.
At the time of this story, Thor had become the ruler of Asgard since the death of Odin Thor (vol. 2) #40. This marks a long term departure from the Avengers for the thunder god. Ultimately, Thor’s rule will come to an end and the gods will seemingly perish in Ragnarok in issue #85 of that series. In reality, the Asgardians are cast down to Earth in mortal guises. Thor will return in Thor (vol. 3) #1 and quest to reunite his people. He won’t properly rejoin the team until Avengers Prime #1-5.
The Black Panther’s relationship with the Avengers has been rocky as of late. This was because when he joined the team back in Avengers #52 it was so he could spy on them and learn if they were a threat to Wakanda. This truth was only recently revealed in Black Panther (vol. 3) #8. His recent association with Doctor Doom (beginning in Black Panther (vol. 3) #26-29) was also revealed in Avengers (vol. 3) #59, fraying the Avengers truth in him even more.
Since his first appearance in Avengers #181, Scott Lang has had full custody over his daughter, Cassie. However, in Avengers (vol. 3) #58, Scott revealed that his ex-wife is trying to get custody of her. This is because she is remarried and fears for Cassie’s safety due to Lang’s superhero career. Peggy Mae will win custody of Cassie next issue.
Topical References
The news reporter in this story is from TBS. This should be considered a topical reference as this is a real world broadcasting company. It’s also an odd choice as TBS stopped producing their own news programming in 1996, usually opting to simulcast important coverage from CNN, its sister network.
A shop window is advertising a flat screen television on sale for $1700, marked down from $2000. Adjusting for inflation the retail price of this TV would be about $3181 and would have been marked down to $2703 in 2023 money. This is also one of the early flatscreens that became commercially available in the early 2000s which were between 23 and 47 inches. At this price, you can get a much better television today. As such, the make and model of this TV should be considered topical. Other TVs in the shop window are depicted as CRT models. They should also be considered topical as this has since become an obsolete technology as flatscreens became the standard.
