Once an Invader, Part 2

Hawkeye and the Wasp have just learned about their mutual attraction for one another. Luckily, they stop their make-out session just as Captain America and Goliath arrive to see how Hawkeye’s recovering from his recent injuries.[1] When Hank jokingly suggests that that he’ll beat Clint for making time with his ex-wife, Hawkeye says that’s not funny coming from him. Having the time he hit Janet brought up again makes Hank embarrassed and he insists it was a one time situation and he wouldn’t hurt someone close to him again.[2] However, Janet’s downcast eyes during this conversation would suggest otherwise.

Meanwhile, in the Middle East, John Walker is in the process of reforming the Invaders. Taking on the role of Captain America, Walker, Union Jack, and Spitfire have just liberated Blazing Skull, who was being held prisoner in a literal hole in the ground for months. When the Skull talks about his time as a prisoner it deeply disturbs Union Jack.

Out at sea they reach their destination where Atlantean ships are attacking some battleships near an oil tanker. Spitfire believes that their are fighting the Atlanteans, but John corrects her by saying that they are on their side. Walker tells his team that their mission is to defend the oil tanker while the Sub-Mariner and his forces deal with the enemy ships. This is enough information for Blazing Skull and he leaps out of the chopper head first. Walker then climbs down a ladder to a capsule that is strapped to the bottom of the helicopter. Inside is a young woman named Tara. Once purging the chamber of nitrogen, John lets the woman loose and upon contact with air she bursts into flame, revealing that she is a Human Torch.[3]

By this point, the terrorists on board one of the battleships have gunned down Blazing Skull. He gets up seconds later unharmed and tells them to aim for his head, hoping that it will finally kill him after decades of immortality. That’s when Tara crashes into the deck of the boat, burning a hole right through the vessel. Walker then decides to go down to deal with the other three ships, ordering Union Jack and Spitfire to remain on the chopper. When they ask if John is going to finally tell them everything about their mission and where Tara comes from, he says no. Despite his lack of answers, the two British heroes decide to continue going along with this because they were given their orders from the government. However, Spitfire warns Walker that sooner or later they are going to demand that he talk.[4]

Back in New York, while the rest of the Avengers are sitting down to dinner, Hawkeye and the Wasp are meeting in secret. Janet thinks it was a bad idea that they kissed earlier, because she made a rule not to date one of Hank’s friends.[5] Clint points out that he’s not friends with Hank, and besides, they can keep things a secret without anyone finding out. However, the talk turns into another make out session as the pair can’t keep their hands off one another now that the genie is out of the bottle.

After the Invaders clash with the Mazikhandarian navy, they are invited back to Atlantis for a victory banquet. There, the Sub-Mariner thanks them for all of their help. Namor is pleased to see that at least one of these new Invaders is an original member, and warmly greet Spitfire.[5] However, he tells her that times have changed since they fought alongside her. The Mazikhandarian government has been attacking oil tankers of late, causing deadly spillage in Atlantean waters in an effort to affect American oil imports as well, leading to this alliance between Atlantis and the Invaders. When Namor suggests that they invade Mazikhandar, Spitfire protests this idea. Walker points out that the country routinely violates the human rights of their women and children. Namor scoffs at John’s phony altruism, pointing out that the only thing that interests the United States is the country’s oil reserves. However, he does confirm that the country routinely commits human rights violations, telling Jacqueline that they would still be doing the right thing.

While at Avengers Mansion, the She-Hulk is spending the day entertaining Martian and Jenny Lehigh, who have been living with the Avengers since the death of their mother.[7] They end up running into the team’s government liaison Henry Gyrich, making him spill all of his paperwork on the floor. This gets some laughs from Ant-Man and the Falcon. However, Gyrich is in no laughing mood. He tells them that he has just heard about the situation in Mazikhandar with the Sub-Mariner and the Invaders. Worse, the Invaders were formed by the Secretary of State, during the time when the Red Skull filled the position under the alias Dell Rusk.

Meanwhile, upstairs, Hawkeye and the Wasp have upgraded from making out to third base. The fun all comes to a crashing halt when Hank comes up to get her for a mission briefing and catches Jan and Clint in bed together!

Recurring Characters

Avengers (Captain America, Goliath, Wasp, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Falcon, She-Hulk, Ant-Man), Invaders (US Agent, Sub-Mariner, Union Jack, Spitfire, Blazing Skull, Human Torch), Edwin Jarvis, Henry Gyrich, Martin Leigh, Jenny Leigh, Cassie Lang

Continuity Notes

1. Hawkeye was injured during the Avengers fight with the Wrecking Crew in Avengers (vol. 3) #77-81. His recovery has been remarkably fast since this scene takes place moments after last issue, where Clint is depicted still wearing casts on his right hand and left leg.

2. Everyone is referring to the time when Hank hit Janet in Avengers #213. Prior to that moment the couple had been married since issue #60. Janet divorced him right after he hit her. The two had been on-and-off for years after and are on the outs again starting in Avengers (vol. 3) #79. The situation has become more complicated after Clint and Jan revealed their mutual attraction to one another last issue.

3. New Invaders #9 reveals that Tara was constructed using the same technology that created the original Human Torch. As detailed in Marvel Comics #1, the Torch involuntarily burst into flame whenever he was exposed to air until he was caught in an nitro explosion that somehow corrected the problem. Tara here hasn’t been so lucky.

4. It’s later revealed that the Invaders were reformed by the Red Skull while he was posing as Secretary of Defense Dell Rusk. Their purpose was to carry out the Skull’s secret objectives. For more on the Skull’s time as Dell Rusk see Avengers (vol. 3) #65-70.

5. Janet made the “no-romance-with-my-ex-husband’s-friends” rule in Avengers #224. Tony Stark learned this the hard way when he started romancing her and then she found out that he was secretly Iron Man.

6. Since Namor is bringing up the current roster of Invaders, we might as well get into detail about its current members:

   • Namor the Sub-Mariner was a founding member of the Invaders, forming the group with Captain America, Bucky, the Human Torch, and Toro in Giant-Size Invaders #1.

   • Spitfire joined the group after a bite from vampire Baron Blood (Invaders #8-9) reacted with a blood transfusion from the Human Torch (Invaders #11) gave her her powers, as see in Invaders #12. This slowed her aging process and a second blood transfusion in Namor the Sub-Mariner #12 restored her to her prime, explaining how she looks like a woman in her 20s instead of an old woman.

   • John Walker, of course, is not the original Captain America. However, he did briefly carry the mantle after the government forced Steve Rogers out of the costume, as seen in Captain America #333-350. Until recently, Walker had been operating as the US Agent since Captain America #354. He took up the Captain America identity again last issue.

   • This Union Jack is Joe Chapman, the third known Union Jack. The original Union Jack was Montgomery Falsworth, who joined up with the Invaders in issue #8 of their series. However, he suffered a crippling injury in issue #9 that put him in a wheelchair until his death. His son, Brian took over the identity starting in Invaders #19. Brian died sometime before Captain America #253, the story wherein Montgomery passed the mantle to Chapman before dying himself. Chapman only just recently joined up with the Invaders, as seen last issue.

   • Blazing Skull: Was not a founding member of the Invaders, but did briefly join the team, as seen in Invaders (vol. 2) #2-4.

   • Tara: We already covered her origins and her connections to the Human Torch. Her name is a feminine version of Toro, the name used by the Torch’s original sidekick.

7. Kelsey Lehigh sacrificed her life to protect Captain America’s life against Thunderball in Avengers (vol. 3) #78. She was later resurrected as the new Captain Britain in issue #80. However, she has been convinced to keep this a secret from her children or risk them dying in a horrific way. The children came to live with the Avengers along with their grandmother in issue #82. This is the last time we see the Lehigh children and their grandmother at the mansion before Avengers Disassembled. We’ll see them again in New Excalibur #24, where it is revealed that they had moved back to England.

Translations

There are words and phrases used here that are in Arabic that are not translated to English. I am not an expert, but it seems like some of them are spelled phonetically or the improper words are being used. I could be wrong though.

• Koos = As I pointed out in the index entry for last issue, I think this is not the correct word. Blazing Skull says this means “son of a dog”. Google Translate says that the correct analogue would be abn alkalb.