West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #10
The Search for the Thing!
Then
Following their battle with Master Pandemonium, the Thing has finally decided to officially join the West Coast Avengers. This is celebrated by the team, except their ally Firebird who had hoped to be asked to join the team instead. Delighted to have Ben Grimm on board, Hawkeye tells him to come back to Avengers Compound on Saturday afternoon so they can make an official announcement to the media.
Now
Hawkeye is furious that the Thing hasn’t shown up on time and with the media waiting outside for their announcement, he asks the rest of the team to try and find their missing teammate. As he leaves the room, Mockingbird compliments her husband on his improved leadership skills.[1] Outside, they bump into Firebird who tells the couple that she is finally leaving. Hawkeye admits that he had been neglectful to her desire to join the Avengers and apologizes for snubbing her for the Thing. He then suggests that she look into the vision she had earlier, as they tend to be important and shouldn’t be ignored.[2]
That’s when Hank Pym gets word back from Wonder Man, who went to check local hospitals for the Thing. There he ran into She-Hulk and Ms. Marvel who told him that the Thing was there, but he broke through the wall and ran off.[3] Hawkeye then sends Wonder Man and Tigra to check the airport and train stations to see if Ben is trying to skip town. When Iron Man stresses that unless they deal with the press right away, the team is going to look like fools. Clint tells Iron Man off, reminding him how he served on the Avengers during a time when its most powerful members were on a hiatus and got along just fine without them.[4] Hawkeye then goes out to talk to the media and instead of announcing the Thing’s membership, they ask for the public’s help finding Ben Grimm.
By this time, the Thing — disguised in a heavy trench coat and hat — has arrived at the Los Angeles International airport. There he catches Hawkeye’s public plea on one of the TV’s and after seeing Wonder Man arrives, Grimm decides to leave before he is found. Wonder Man explains to the airport manager what’s going on. He is about to continue his search when he is stopped by a reporter and decides that he can’t pass up an opportunity to plug his role in the upcoming Arkon film.[5]
Back at Avengers Compound, Hawkeye contacts Mister Fantastic of the Fantastic Four, who agrees to keep an eye out for his former teammate. Clint can’t help but notice that Reed Richards becomes curt during their conversation after learning Ben accepted an invitation to join the West Coast Avengers and wonders why.[6] He then contacts the Wasp, leader of the east coast Avengers to tell her what’s going on. When he mentions how the Thing was going to be their sixth and final member, Janet points out that the team no longer has a membership cap now that they are no longer affiliated with the government.[7] This mortifies Hawkeye, who passed up having Firebird join the team this whole time. However, he can’t help but laugh about the whole ordeal.
By this time, the Thing heads to a train station and manages to back out before he is spotted by Tigra. Believing this to be another dead end, Tigra is about to return to base when Hawkeye tells her to head for Zuma Beach where an eye witness claims to have seen the Thing.[8] After she is gone, the Thing returns to buy a ticket out of town. However, when the ticketing agent tells him that the Avengers are asking everyone to show ID, the Thing hightails it out of there in a taxi.
Soon the Avengers arrive on Zuma Beach and begin sweeping the area for the Thing.[9] There they find a man in a robe looking out to sea and ask him if he has seen the Avengers. The man whirls around, stripping off his cloak. He is tall, gaunt, with wrinkled pale white skin. Introducing himself as Headlok he explains that he called in the Thing sighting in order to lure the Avengers into a trap. Not physically able to fight for himself, Headlok reveals that he has the beat man known as the Griffen as his mental slave. Wonder Man can hardly believe that the Griffin is still alive after their last encounter when a Quinjet crashed on him. Headlok reveals that the Griffin who was evolving into a more bestial state at the time was able to burrow his way out of the flaming rubble.[10]
As Wonder Man battles the man-monster, the other Avengers try attacking Headlok directly. However, the telepath has been able to use his power to obscure their perceptions and they cannot hit him. Meanwhile, Wonder Man loses concentration in the heat of battle, allowing Headlok to enthrall him as well. As the other Avengers fend off against both Griffin and Wonder Man, Mockingbird tries to focusing her mind to push through Headlok’s illusions and pinpoint his exact location. Although the others are having a hard time finding their target even though Bobbi is pointing at him. However, Headlok does get knocked out by somebody.
That somebody turns out to be the Thing, who is hiding in the shadows of a rock outcropping. He tells Hawkeye and the others that he is going to have to quit the Avengers due to personal reasons and asks that they respect his wishes to handle things on his own. Respecting Ben’s need for privacy, Hawkeye and the others wish him the best of luck.
Recurring Characters
West Coast Avengers (Hawkeye, Mockingbird, Iron Man, Wonder Man, Tigra, Thing), Hank Pym, Firebird, Headlok, Griffin, She-Hulk, Ms. Marvel, Mister Fantastic, Wasp
Continuity Notes
Hawkeye recalls how he used to fly off the handle back when he first joined the Avengers and was under Captain America’s leadership. Hawkeye joined the team in Avengers #16 and frequently clashed with Cap’s leadership.
Firebird had a vision of the past and relived a moment in the life of one of her ancestors in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #10. This is foreshadowing how her family line helped the Avengers when they end up trapped in the past. See issues #17-24.
This was seen in Thing #36. The reason for the Thing’s departure is that he has suddenly started to mutate for some reason that has never fully been explained. The condition proves to be short lived as he is cured by the Mole Man in Fantastic Four #296.
Iron Man is referred to as a founder of the Avengers. He helped form the group in Avengers #1. He and the rest of the founding members took a leave of absence in issue #16. Iron Man later returned to the team in issue #70 and has been with the group on and off ever since.
Here, Wonder Man brags about destroying Ultron. This happened in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #7. However, the killer robot will rebuilt itself as seen in Daredevil #275-276.
At the time of this story, the Thing had a falling out with the Fantastic Four and quit the team. It is a very complicated story:
In Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars #1-12, Ben discovered that he could change between his human and Thing forms on Battleworld. He decided to remain on the alien world to enjoy this ability. He lived there from Thing #11-22. He had to sacrifice this power to return home.
It wasn’t a great homecoming as he discovered that the Human Torch was apparently dating Ben’s long time girlfriend Alicia Masters in Fantastic Four #277. He rage quit the FF in Thing #23 after he learned that Reed knew about Ben’s ability to change form and that it didn’t require him being on Battleworld. What nobody knows is that “Alicia” is actually a Skrull spy who took her place in Fantastic Four #265. The truth won’t be discovered until issue #358 this series. Ben will also be convinced to return to the Fantastic Four in issue #296.
Here, the Wasp goes into the various membership rules of the Avengers in recent history:
She makes a quip about how the east coast team just recently admitted the Sub-Mariner onto the roster. This was in Avengers #262.
She mentions how their government liaison, Henry Gyrich, capped the Avengers roster at seven member in Avengers #181, which Captain America later reduced to six in issue #211.
She then explains that the government suspended the group’s priority clearance. This happened in Avengers #258.
Tigra vows that after this she is going to kill Master Pandemonium and get her life back in order. She has been struggling with her two conflicting personalities since West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #1. She made a deal with the Cat People in issue #6 to kill Pandemonium in exchange for having her feline soul removed.
Mockingbird casually mentions that this beach looked nothing like anything she saw during her stay in the Savage Land. Bobbi gung around with Ka-Zar for a period of time from Astonishing Tales #8 through 20.
A footnote here reminds the Griffin was first seen in Amazing Adventures (vol. 2) #15. His encounter with Wonder Man and apparent demise was in Marvel Team-Up #78.
Topical References
The TVs in this story are depicted as CRT models. This should be considered topical as this technology is obsolete.