Dark Avengers #16
Credits[1]
Siege Continues from Avengers: The Initiative #35…
Now
A helicopter arrives at the Raft, the supervillain prison off of Ryker’s Island in New York. It is carrying a single prisoner, Norman Osborn, who is being escorted by armed guards as well as Iron Man (Tony Stark) and Thor. They are greeted by Commander Steve Rogers, formerly Captain America. Rogers says that he has come on behalf of the President of the United States to escort Osborn to his new home, the seventh sub-basement of the Raft, where Norman is to be the only occupant.
Yesterday
Norman Osborn’s siege of Asgard has failed and he and his Dark Avengers, HAMMER agents, and assorted villains have surrendered to the heroic Avengers.[2] Nick Fury tells them that they are going to prison for war crimes. Captain America (Rogers) tosses Osborn aside with all the other prisoners and tells Osborn that he will be tried and court and will go to jail for his crimes. When Victoria Hand looks over at her former boss she is horrified to see that he has painted his face green.[3]
This is when Karla Sofen decides to make a break for it, this prompts Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers) to chase after the woman who had usurped her heroic identity for months. The other Captain America (James Barnes) tries to help by tossing his shield at her, but Sofen deflects it with an energy blast. This sends it into the hands of “Hawkeye” (actually the assassin known as Bullseye). However, both villains are taken down hard by Iron Man and Luke Cage respectively. The other prisoners are then challenged to try something stupid as well. That’s when Victoria Hand demands to speak with a lawyer. She is confronted by Rogers, who knows exactly who she is.
Meanwhile, in nearby Broxton, Oklahoma, the United States military has been called in to take command of the situation. They have instituted martial law on the town while the round up the remaining HAMMER agents in town. Hiding in the rubble is Daken, who had been working for Osborn as Wolverine. He silently keeps to the shadows, following the soldiers while they sweep the area for more of Osborn’s confederates. He waits until one soldier breaks off from the squad to search the inside of a barbershop. There he ambushes and kills the soldier and steals his uniform. This allows him to sneak past the search party until he finds another unit standing around a jeep. He tells them that they have been ordered to sweep a nearby movie theater. Falling for Daken’s disguise, they do as they are told. Once they are inside, Daken tosses a bandolier of live grenades into the theater so the explosion covers his escape in the jeep. The ruthless killer smiles as he makes it out of town free and clear.
Now
Nick Fury has brought Phobos (Alex Aaron) to Avengers Tower, where they are greeted by Thor. He has come to present the boy the helmet and battle axe of his father, Ares the Olympian god of war, who sacrificed his life to try and stop Osborn.[4] Thor tries to tell the boy that his father died with honor, but Alex thinks his father was a son of a bitch. When asked if he’d like to go to New Olympus and be reunited with his kin, Phobos declines the offer. Thor knows what it is like to lose one’s father, and imparts some advice to young Alex: When Odin died he had decided to live his life as his own father did to honor his life. He suggests that Alex does the same, and flies off into the sky.[5] Nick Fury says that his father’s death is exactly the reason why he didn’t allow Alex to join everyone in the battle for Asgard. This is because Ares was destined to die and there was nothing his son could have done to have prevented it. However, he promises Alex that everyone responsible is getting what is coming to them.
Meanwhile, Commander Rogers enters an interrogation room with Victoria Hand to question her. He is well versed on her work as Norman Osborn’s second-in-command.[6] The reason why Steve wants to speak with her is because while he understands why Norman the Dark Avengers, he is having a hard time understanding what made her so special. It was a simple matter of being called on to serve her country. She saw that the American people had taken to Osborn’s charism and knew that he was an out of control freight train. She made it her duty to try and get Osborn help, but in the end she failed at it.[6][7] Hearing all of this causes Steve Rogers to ponder her for a moment. He decides that Victoria was merely serving her country, even though she went about it wrong. He tells her to take a long weekend before reporting for her next assignment. Steve then salutes her before leaving the room. Victoria can hardly believe what just happened.[9]
Elsewhere, Norman Osborn is delivered to his cell at the Raft. There, Osborn insists that what he did was the right thing, that he is the only one who can keep order in a chaotic world. He promises that eventually human/mutant relations will explode in violence, that the Hulk will one day decide to destroy them all, that the Punisher will kill the wrong person and trigger a nuclear war, and on top of all that, Doctor Doom will sow yet more chaos and destroy the entire planet. However, Osborn wasn’t addressing Iron Man or Thor, but the Green Goblin persona, who takes little sympathy for Norman’s situation. When Norman tells the Goblin to leave him alone, it tells him that it can’t because it is locked in with him. The Goblin then cackles with mad laughter.
… Siege continues in Thunderbolts #134.
Recurring Characters
Dark Avengers (Norman Osborn, Ms. Marvel (Sofen), Hawkeye, Spider-Man, Wolverine), Victoria Hand, Captain America (Rogers), Thor, Iron Man, New Avengers (Ronin, Luke Cage, Ms. Marvel (Danvers), Spider-Woman, Captain America (Barnes)), Nick Fury, Phobos, U-Foes (Vector, X-Ray, Ironclad), Chemistro, HAMMER
Continuity Notes
The cover to this issue pays homage to the promo art for the Fall of the Mutants storyline that took place in Uncanny X-Men #225-227, X-Factor #24-26, and New Mutants #59-61.
This story follows the events of Siege #1-4 and the various tie-in issues listed below.
Osborn was slowly driven mad by Loki, as seen in Siege: Prologue #1, causing his Green Goblin persona to rise to prominence during the Siege event.
Ares turned against Osborn when he realized that Norman orchestrated the events leading to the siege on Asgard. He was then killed by the Sentry in Siege #2. Ares will later be resurrected by the Collector in Contest of Champions #2.
At the time of this story, Odin had sacrificed his life to stop Surtur from destroying everything, as seen in Thor (vol. 2) #40. His death will also prove to be short lived as he will be resurrected in Thor #618.
Victoria mentions here that when Steve was “last alive” she was a mere accountant for SHIELD. She is referring to how Steve was recently believed to have died in Captain America (vol. 5) #25. In reality, he was trapped in a time-loop until he was rescued in Captain America: Reborn #1-6. For more on Victoria’s time as a SHIELD accountant, see Dark Avengers #11. She was assigned her position as Norman’s right hand in Dark Avengers #1.
Norman Osborn had a long history of being batshit insane. As told in Amazing Spider-Man #40, he was driven mad when his original Goblin Formula blew up in his face. He had been getting treatment since Thunderbolts #110, but he was made mad again by Loki, as I mentioned above. Osborn rose to power when he won the support of the public and government after he eliminated the leader of a Skrull invasion of Earth, as seen in Secret Invasion #8.
The Sentry is mentioned in passing here. The Sentry had his own demons in the form of the Void, the product of childhood abuse and drug addiction, as explained in Sentry/The Void #1, New Avengers #7-10, and Sentry (vol. 2) #1-8. The Void took control and was driven even madder than before after the death of his wife Lindy Lee, as seen in Dark Avengers #13-15. This ultimately led to the Void raging out of control, forcing Thor to kill him in Siege #4. He will be resurrected in Uncanny Avengers #9.
Victoria will later be assigned as a liaison to the New Avengers, as seen in New Avengers (vol. 2) #1.
Siege Reading Order
Siege: The Cabal #1 , Avengers: The Initiative #31, New Avengers #61-62, Dark Avengers #13, 14, 15, Origins of Siege #1, Siege: Storming Asgard: Heroes & Villains #1, Siege #1 , Avengers: The Initiative #32, Dark Wolverine #82, 83, 84, Siege: Embedded #1-2, Siege #2, Avengers: The Initiative #33, Thor #607, Mighty Avengers #35-36, Thunderbolts #141, Siege #3, Siege: Embedded #3, Thor #608, Thunderbolts #142, Avengers: The Initiative #34, New Avengers #63, Siege: Captain America #1, Siege: Spider-Man #1, Siege: Loki #1, Siege: Young Avengers #1, Siege: Secret Warriors #1 , New Mutants (vol. 3) #11, Siege #4, Thor #609, Siege: Embedded #4, New Avengers #64, New Avengers Finale #1, Avengers: The Initiative #35, Dark Avengers #16, Thunderbolts #143, Thor #610, Sentry: Fallen Sun #1
