Avengers/Invaders #10
Past. Tense.
Although the Red Skull used the power of the Cosmic Cube to win World War II for the Nazis, resistance still exists. Trapped in Nazi controlled Europe are two of the Invaders: Spitfire and Union Jack (Jackie and Brian Falsworth). For the past month they have been looking for the rest of the Invaders to no avail. After another fruitless search, they return to their hideout in a buried bunker to tend to their wounded. This is Paul Anslem, who was shot upon returning to 1943 in the hopes of using the Cosmic Cube to save the life of his friends who died. While he was successful in this, Paul was shot himself and the Cosmic Cube has fallen into the hands of the Red Skull, creating this Nazi ruled nightmare.[1]
The entire continent of Europe is now protected with the massive Aryan Wall to fend off would be invaders. The rest of the Invaders — Captain America, Bucky (James Barnes),[2] the Human Torch (Jim Hammond), Toro (Thomas Raymond), and the Sub-Mariner (Namor) — have just returned to from the future with members of the Mighty and New Avengers — Iron Man (Tony Stark who is disguised as Electro), the Wasp (Janet Van Dyne), Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers disguised as the Black Widow), Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew, disguised as the Silver Scorpion),[3] of the Mighty Avengers and Luke Cage (disguised as the Black Avenger), Spider-Man (Peter Parker, disguised as the Challenger), and Wolverine (Logan, disguised as Captain Terror) — have come with them to restore the timeline back to normal.
As the Sub-Mariner and his Atlantean soldiers disarm sea mines, the others watch from the port window of the Atlantean battleship. They see a number of giant beasts floating dead in the water, making the Wasp wonder how many people the Nazis have killed. Iron Man reminds her that they can undo the damage done once they get the Cosmic Cube back and use it to reverse everything and put history back on its proper course. This is of little comfort to Spider-Man, who notes that even if they restore history, Captain America will still be dead in their time.[4] Meanwhile, Bucky returns to his quarters to continue writing about all of this in his journal so there is at least some record of what happened.[5]
Unable to get past the Aryan Wall and needing allies, the Invaders and Avengers make a detour to Africa to seek out an audience with this era’s Black Panther.[6] They are welcomed with open arms and told that there are others who have arrived. This turns out to be Sergeant Nick Fury and his Howling Commandos. Soon, they are working on plans to breach the Aryan Wall.
Meanwhile, two Nazi soldiers report back to the Red Skull in Berlin and tell their master that they have been unable to capture Spitfire and the Union Jack. Annoyed by their failure, the Skull decides to employ drastic measures. Using the Cosmic Cube, he transforms the two soldiers into large mechanical quadrupeds that he dubs his Dogs of War. They have become the ultimate hunting machines and the Skull dispatches them to remove the two remaining thorns in his side.
Later, back in Wakanda, the Black Panther has completed construction of a Vibranium powered boring device that will allow them to dig their way into Europe and past the Aryan Wall. As they begin their trek, Captain America has a moment alone with Iron Man and uses it to ask him about this civil war he heard about in the future. Tony explains how it was a conflict between superheroes over their secret identities and the needs of the nation. He also says that it pitted friends against one another, some whom Stark considered the very best. Cap is sympathetic to this and says that it must have been very difficult for Tony to make the choices he did especially if they thought they were the right ones. Tony thanks Steve for the kind words as they mean a lot to him. Unaware of what Iron Man really means, Cap goes to join the others, leaving Tony to reflect on this in silence.[7]
As they dig their way into Europe, Luke Cage pulls Gabe Jones aside since he is the only other Black man he has seen since arriving in 1943. He asks if Gabe is treated well by the other Howling Commandos. Jones assures the “Black Marvel” that this is the case, saying that in the war they are all equals and treat each other as brothers.
At that same moment, Union Jack and Spitfire have been found by the Dogs of War. Pushed back into their bunker, Spitfire begins digging a tunnel at super speed so they can escape out the back. This leaves them with their back against the wall. Setting down Paul Anslem, Union Jack and the two other soldiers provide covering fire while Jackie digs. Once they get out the other side, Brian tells his sister to get the soldiers to safety while he tries to hold back the Dogs of War. However, once they are clear, Jackie races back to save her brother. Shoving him out of harms way, she ends up getting stomps on by one of the Dogs, crushing her legs. With his sister down and the fight lost, Union Jack stands by his sister’s side as the Dogs of War come in for the kill. When they get close enough, his pulls the pins on all of his grenades in order to sacrifice themselves to destroy the mechanical monsters hunting them.
This is just as the Invaders, Howlers, and Avengers emerge from the ground nearby. Seeing the explosion, they fear that they are too late and race to help their friends.[8] This is all observed by the Red Skull through the Cosmic Cube. He is pleased to see that the rest of the Invaders have resurfaced but is bothered by seeing the other disguised heroes with them. He is quite certain that he killed all the other Allied heroes and goes to a room where all of his kills have been nailed to a wall.[9] Ultimately, the Skull decides that he doesn’t care who these newcomers are or if they are heroes he’s already killed, taking pleasure in the idea of killing them all over again.
Recurring Characters
Mighty Avengers (Iron Man, Ms. Marvel, the Wasp, “Spider-Woman”), New Avengers (Luke Cage, Spider-Man, Wolverine), Invaders (Captain America, Bucky, Human Torch, Toro, Sub-Mariner, Spitfire, Union Jack), Paul Anslem, Black Panther, Howling Commandos (Nick Fury, Dum Dum Dugan, Gabe Jones, Reb Ralston), Nazis (Red Skull), dead monsters: Giganto (both Atlantean and Deviant), Behemoth, Titano (corpse), dead heroes (the Angel, Black Avenger, Black Marvel, Blazing Skull, Captain Terror, the Challenger, Citizen V, the Defender, Destroyer, the Falcon, Hurricane, Jack Frost, Major Liberty, Marvex, Purple Mask, Red Raven, Rockman, Silver Scorpion, Vagabond, the Young Avenger)
Continuity Notes
As seen in Avengers/Invaders #8-9, the present day of Reality-616 was erased due to the Skull getting the Cosmic Cube in 1943, this will remain the status quo until the end of this series when everything is set right again. Per Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #1, this timeline will endure as Reality-93198.
In his journal, Bucky recounts how the future Captain America (whom he doesn’t know is his future self) warned him of his “death” in 1945 in Avengers/Invaders #5. As per Avengers #4, Bucky seemingly died trying to disarm a drone in 1945. In reality, he survived and was recovered by the Russians who transformed him into the assassin known as Winter Soldier, as revealed in Captain America (vol. 5) #11. Bucky was a slave for decades until he was freed in issue #14 of that series. He subsequently became the new Captain America in Captain America (vol. 5) #33-34.
The woman who appears to be Spider-Woman here is actually a Skrull spy named Veranke, as will be revealed in Secret Invasion #3. Per New Avengers #42, she took the place of the real Jessica Drew circa Giant-Size Spider-Woman #1. This is ahead of a planned invasion of Earth that will primarily take place in Secret Invasion #1-8.
At the time of this story, everyone believes that Steve Rogers was killed by an assassin in Captain America (vol. 5) #25. In reality, he was shot with a chronal bullet and is current living his life in a never ending loop. He will be rescued from this purgatory in Captain America: Reborn #1-6.
Here, Bucky goes over the Avengers and who they are disguised as and talks about some of their origins and other things told to him:
He mentions that Luke Cage got his powers from a formula not unlike the Super Soldier Serum given to Captain America and that he did so to get out of prison. This was in Luke Cage, Hero for Hire #1. This formula was the work of Noah Burstein, who is later tied descended down from a Nazi scientist named Hans Burstein who worked on trying to recreate the formula for Germany during the war, as seen in Marvels Project #5.
When commenting on Spider-Woman, Bucky mentions that she is very secretive. This is alluding to the fact that she is actually a Skrull spy, as I mentioned above.
When commenting about Wolverine being a killer, Bucky states that he has met the type before. He is probably referring to the fact that he has met Wolverine before. This was in Wolverine: Origins #17-20, many decades before Logan first started using the Wolverine identity. Also during their first encounter, Wolverine didn’t have Adamantium claws and forgotten that he had bone ones as part of his physiology and is probably why James isn’t making the connection here.
The Black Panther here is referred to as T’Chaka, the father of T’Challa the modern day Black Panther. In Black Panther (vol. 3) #30 it was established that T’Chaka was the Panther of World War II. However, due to the Sliding Timescale this eventually became impossible. As such, Marvel has made the rare move of a hard retcon and has since stated that the Panther of World War II was actually Azzuri, first seen (and named T’Chanda) in Fantastic Four Unlimited #1. His first appearance as the Panther of World War II was first seen in Captain America/Black Panther: Flags of our Fathers #1.
The superhero civil war was over the passage of the Super Human Registration Act (SHRA) which required heroes to register with the government. This split the community in half with Iron Man supporting registration and Captain America being against it. The two fought against one another until Cap surrendered when he learned the public overwhelmingly supported the new law, as seen in Civil War #1-7. Tony blames himself for Steve’s death, as seen in Civil War: The Confession #1.
Although Union Jack and Spitfire are killed here, they are resurrected using the Cosmic Cube when history is set right in Avengers/Invaders #12.
Nailed to a massive wall are a large number of heroes from the Timely era of Marvel Comics, many of whom had not been seen in comics for about 70 years at the time of publication. They include:
The Angel, aka Thomas Halloway, one of the earliest costumed adventurers first seen in Marvel Comics #1.
Black Avenger aka Jerry Carstairs and previously known as the Thunderer. He is the hero that Luke Cage is posing as in this issue. He first appeared in Daring Mystery Comics #7.
Black Marvel aka Daniel Lyons, who first appeared in Mystic Comics #5
Blazing Skull aka Mark Todd, who also first appeared in Mystic Comics #5
Captain Terror aka Dan Kane, he is the hero Wolverine is disguised as in this story. Kane first appeared in USA Comics #2.,
The Challenger (Bill Waring), the hero who Spider-Man is posing as in this story. Waring first appeared in Daring Mystery Comics #7.
Citizen V (John Watkins) first appeared in Daring Mystery Comics #8
The Defender (Don Stevens), who first appeared in USA Comics #1
Destroyer, was an identity being used by two men at the time. The first was Keen Marlow who first appeared in Mystic Comics #8. The other was Roger Aubrey who was revealed to be the second Destroyer in Invaders #25. It is unclear which version of the Destroyer is present here, but we’ll get into that in my index of issue #12.
The Falcon (Carl Burgess) who first appeared in Daring Mystery Comics #5.
Hurricane (Harry Kane), who first appeared as Mercury in Red Raven Comics #1, and started using the Hurricane identity in Captain America Comics #1. He is later revealed to be the Eternal known as Makkari in Marvel Universe #4.
Jack Frost who first appeared in USA Comics #1.
Major Liberty (John Liberty) also first appeared in USA Comics #1
Marvex the robot who first appeared in Daring Mystery Comics #3
Purple Mask (Dennis Burton) who began his career as Laughing Mask in Daring Mystery Comics #2. He took on the Purple Mask identity in issue #3 of that series
Red Raven who first appeared in Red Raven Comics #1
Rockman aka Daniel Rose also first appeared in USA Comics #1
Silver Scorpion, aka Betty Barstow, is the character that “Spider-Woman” is disguised as in this story. She first appeared in Daring Mystery Comics #7
Vagabond aka Pat Murphy, who first appeared in USA Comics #2
Lastly, we have the Young Avenger (William Bryon) who first appeared in USA Comics #1.