Mighty/Fanastic, Part 1: The Baxter Job

A Few Years Ago…[1]

Yellowjacket (Hank Pym) is visited by Giant-Man (Bill Foster) who shows off his dimensional wave inducer. Bill based it on the principal that if one shrinks enough they enter the Microverse. This device alters the frequency of such a transition, thus creating a cheap and easy way of accessing any dimension in time and space. Hank is impressed and thinks this is Bill’s greatest achievement. That’s when they are interrupted by the Wasp (Janet Van Dyne) who reminds Hank that they have something important to discuss. Pym tells her that he’ll be up in a minute just to get her to leave him and Bill alone so they can open up the device and take a look at how it works.

Now

Hank Pym (now calling himself the Wasp) has utilized this technology to make his lab have access to anywhere on Earth. However, in order to avoid a HAMMER raid, Jocasta had to shut down one of the doors, causing the whole network to destabilize. Now they have 48 hours to try and fix this problem before all the doors are closed off forever.[2] When the rest of the Mighty Avengers — Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff), Hercules, US Agent (John Walker), Stature (Cassie Lang), Vision (Jonas), and Amadeus Cho — arrive they discover how messed up the system is when they doors they enter open out of not just the walls, but the ceiling and floor as well.

This problem is going to have to go on the back burner since the team has become officially sanctioned by the international agency known as GRAMPA. They already have a mission and need Quicksilver and US Agent to travel to Tibet. Unfortunately, the door to Tibet has already shut down, forcing them to rout through Xining, China instead. While Pietro is cordial when Jocasta leads them to the proper door, he is growing impatient because he only joined up with the Avengers in the hopes of finding his long lost sister.[3]

That’s when Cassie and Vision ask if they can use the door to go back to Avengers Mansion, as they left their comrades in the Young Avengers hanging during their last mission. Hank tells them that the door there is long gone and is thrown into a fit of rage over what Jocasta has done because she ruined something that was the start of something bigger. Edwin Jarvis, the Avengers butler, comforts Jocasta telling her that Hank is just upset about Norman Osborn and HAMMER going after the team.[4] Hercules then speaks up and asks what they need to do to make things right again. Pym knows that there is a solution but he first has to make a phone call.

This call is to Reed Richards (aka Mister Fantastic of the Fantastic Four) at the Baxter Building. Luckily, Reed is at home with the rest of the Fantastic Four — the Invisible Woman (his wife Sue), the Human Torch (Johnny Storm), and the Thing (Ben Grimm) — as well as Reed and Sue’s children Franklin and Valeria. Hank tells Reed of the situation with his lab and asks for Bill Foster’s dimensional wave inducer to fix the problem. However, Reed refuses to give it to Hank saying that Foster’s will stipulated that it goes to Ben. This annoys Hank, who points out that it originally went to him and was only passed on to Grimm because Hank was replaced by a Skrull impostor, something that was Reed’s fault.[5] Reed counters this by saying he doesn’t want such a big scientific device in his hands out of fear of Pym being unstable given the recent deaths of Bill, Janet, and Captain America (Steve Rogers).[6] He also points to past instances where Hank was mentally unstable, referring to the creation of Ultron and Salvation-One.[7] Hank counters that by reminding Reed was responsible for the invasion, the death of Bill, and how it was Hank who saved the world during Chthon’s recent attack while Reed was trapped in a television.[8]

Hank insists that he knows what he is doing since the device works on Pym Particles, his invention. Reed retorts this by telling Hank that he knows more about his own discovery than he does. Hank sees this as a challenge and terminates the call. Sue then tells Reed to call Hank back and apologize before things get out of hand. Her husband, however, stubbornly doesn’t think he has anything to apologize about.

The Wasp, meanwhile, is already starting to plot an invasion of the Baxter Building. He goes over the security obstacles in their way: namely the specially DNA coded keys that the FF use to get into their headquarters, the robotic security provided by HERBIE drones and recycled Doombots, and a possible weakness in these defenses: namely the launching pad for the team’s Pogo Plane. Hank intends to use this against them and part of this plan involves Jarvis masquerading as a Skrull via an image inducer.[9] He intends to exploit a vulnerability in the Baxter Building’s security based on the idea that Reed designed it thinking nobody would intentionally want to be identified as a Skrull. However, in order to pull this off, he will need a few hours to create enough image inducers for the army he intends to use.

Meanwhile, US Agent and Quicksilver have arrived in Xining which still puts a day of travel between them and Tibet. This annoys John because they are in the middle of communist China while he is dressed like Captain America, which will make their mission that much harder. That’s when they are ambushed by a woman who tosses razor sharp metal hearts at them. Pietro quickly subdues the woman and she is impressed by his speed.[10] She introduces herself as Ban-Luck, a member of GRAMPA and their local contact. She is going to get them to their destination. That’s when they ask what their mission is. Ban-Luck tells them that GRAMPA has reason to believe that the Inhumans are planning an alliance with China, hence the reason they asked for Quicksilver’s aide in the matter due to his long relationship with this offshoot of humanity.[11]

Back at Pym’s lab, both Stature and the Vision are questioning if they should participate in this attack on the Baxter Building. This is overheard by Jocasta who takes the Vision to show him one of the Wasp’s latest inventions. It is an incredibly complex machine that could only be created in Pym Space called Salvation Two. It is in risk of being destroyed along with the lab, and its sight convinces the Vision that the job ahead is an important one.[12] Cassie is still on the fence however, and this is noticed by Amadeus, who figures she is thinking of using the mission to New York to reunite with the Young Avengers. Cassie admits that she is at odds about this raid since her late father, Scott Lang, used to be a member of the Fantastic Four.[13] This leads to Cho asking if she is ok with him using the Ant-Man helmet in battle given how protective she is of her father’s memory. Stature tells him that it is fine because, unlike the current Ant-Man, she actually likes Amadeus.[14]

With five hours left on the clock, Amadeus checks in with Hank who is stressing over going up against the smartest man in the world. Cho reminds Hank that the two of them will be working together and Richards doesn’t exactly have a think tank over in the Fantastic Four. Pym thanks Cho for his reassurance and orders Hercules to get ready for the first phase of his plan.

Later, at the Grimm Youth Center on Yancy Street, the Thing is spending time doing sparring practice with some local youths.[15] That’s when one of the kids tells Ben that something is going on outside. Rushing out to his sky-cycle, Grimm sees that the Fantastic Four signal flare has been set off and the team’s Pogo Plane has just taken off. However, before he can get back to base he is ambushed by what appears to be the Red Hulk. Ben is spoiling for a fight19 with him, unaware of the fact that the “Hulk” is actually Hercules in disguise thanks to an image inducer.[16]

Recurring Characters

Mighty Avengers (Wasp, Quicksilver, Hercules, Jocasta, US Agent, Stature, Vision, Amadeus Cho), Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing), Edwin Jarvis, Franklin Richards, Valeria Richards, HERBIE, Ban-Luck, Doombots, Yancy Street Gang, (in flashack) Giant-Man, Wasp

Continuity Notes

1. According to the Marvel Chronology Project, this flashback takes place between Alias #28 and Marvel Holiday Special 2004 #1 for Yellowjacket and the Wasp, Avengers (vol. 3) #66 and Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #2 for Giant-Man. This places this flashback as happening around the 2004 publication year. When measuring this flashback and the present day of this issue (published 2009) to the Sliding Timescale, these events are roughly 2 years apart.

2. The attempted HAMMER raid happened last issue.

3. The Scarlet Witch has been MIA following the events of House of M #1-8. We last saw her in New Avengers #26 which revealed that she is living in Transia with no memory of her past. At the time of this story, the Mighty Avengers were gathered by a Loki posing as the Scarlet Witch, but they don’t know that yet, as we saw in Mighty Avengers #21-23. Wanda will eventually be found in Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #1-9.

4. Norman Osborn became America’s top cop after he killed the leader of a Skrull invasion of Earth in Secret Invasion #8. He has been trying to shut down Hank’s Avengers team since last issue.

5. There is a lot of long standing and more recent drama at play here. Let’s break this all down:

   • First of all, Hank Pym’s friendship will Bill Foster dates back to Avengers #32, before he became a superhero himself. Years later, he became good friends with Ben Grimm during his time working at Project PEGASUS between Marvel Two-in-One #54 and 96.

   • At the time of this story, Bill Foster had recently died in Civil War #4. As of this writing (July, 2024) he is still considered among the deceased. Bill was killed by a clone of Thor that was created by Reed.

   • Hank Pym was one of the many heroes replaced by Skrull impostors during their recent invasion of Earth, as seen in Mighty Avengers #15. Hank was freed after the Skrulls were defeated in Secret Invasion #8.

   • Hank blames Reed for the Skrull invasion and with good reason. Years earlier, following the Kree/Skrull War (circa Avengers #89-97), Reed and the Illuminati confronted the Skrull emperor and warned him against attacking the Earth again. They soon found themselves captured and while they escaped, the Skrulls were able to study them long enough to learn how to create a new race of virtually undetectable Super-Skrulls that were instrumental for the later Skrull invasion. See New Avengers: Illuminati (vol. 2) #1.

6. Although the original Wasp and Captain America are believed to have died around the time of this story, it is later revealed to not be the case with either of them. Allow me to explain:

   • Steve Rogers was gunned down by an assassin’s bullet in Captain America (vol. 5) #25, seemingly killing him. What people don’t know is that he was hit with a chronal bullet and is currently living his entire life in a constant time loop. He will remain in this purgatory until he is rescued in Captain America: Reborn #1-6.

   • The Wasp, was used as a trojan horse for a scorched earth plan by the Skrulls that was set in motion in Mighty Avengers #6. This device would utilize Janet’s size changing powers to kill everyone in the final battle. She then sacrificed herself to save everyone, as seen in Secret Invasion #8. However, she didn’t actually die and was instead shunted into the Microverse. She will eventually be found and rescued in Avengers (vol. 4) #31-34.

7. Hank Pym infamously created Ultron an ever present threat to humanity as seen in Avengers #58. Reed also mentions Salvation-One. This robot was created by Hank to try and convince the Avengers to keep him on the team after he struck his then-wife, the Wasp, in Avengers #213. This plan backfired spectacularly and he was kicked off the team. However, he still managed to redeem himself by Avengers #230.

8. Pym saving the Earth from Chthon is another reference to Mighty Avengers #21-23.

9. Everyone is shocked to see Jarvis as a Skrull since he was one of the others who were kidnapped and replaced during the invasion. That a Skrull was in his place was revealed in Secret Invasion #1. New Avengers #42 revealed that the Skrull had taken the real Jarvis’ place prior to New Avengers #1.

10. Here, Ban-Luck refers to Quicksilver as a mutant, which is what everyone has believed Pietro to be since X-Men #4. However, it will later be revealed in Uncanny Avengers (vol. 2) #4-5 that he is not. In reality, he was experimented on by the High Evolutionary while he was still a baby. In order to cover up his work, the Evolutionary made it so that future genetic testing on Pietro would have him register as a mutant.

11. Pietro has had a long standing relationship with he Inhumans that dates back to Avengers #104 and later married into the Inhuman royal family in Fantastic Four #150. At the time of this story, he has been on the outs with them after he stole some Terrigen Crystals (the source of the Inhumans powers) in a misguided attempt to restore lost mutant powers following the House of M. See Son of M #1-6.

12. Here, the Vision states that his sensors are mostly based on 40th century technology. This is because Jonas started off as a suit of Neuro-Kinetic Armor built by the time traveler known as Iron Lad (aka Nathaniel Richards). It gained sentience and remained in the present day after it downloaded the original Vision’s memories. See Young Avengers #1-5.

13. Ant-Man was a member of the Fantastic Four during a period where Reed Richards was believed to be dead (in Fantastic Four #381). His tenure was from Fantastic Four #384-408 when Reed was discovered alive and well.

14. At the time of this story, Cassie believes her father was killed by the Scarlet Witch in Avengers #500. In reality, he was brought forward in time by her future self as we will see in Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #5. There is a passing reference to Eric O’Grady, a perverted loser who took over the Ant-Man identity in Irredeemable Ant-Man #1. Cassie met O’Grady in Avengers: The Initiative #8.

15. This youth center was built in the memory of Ben’s brother Daniel in Thing (vol. 2) #8. Outside we see members of the Yancy Street Gang spray painting “Thing Sucks!” on his sky-cycle. This street gang is infamous for tormenting the Thing due to his past association with them, as told in Thing #1. These childish pranks all started in Fantastic Four #6.

16. Although the Thing states here that he was looking forward to a rematch, at the time of this story he hasn’t actually fought the Red Hulk. He won’t get the chance until Hulk (vol. 2) #19, which takes place and is published after this story. This is likely a mistake on the part of writer Dan Slott. I can let this one go because, holy shit, one mistake 5 issues of Mighty Avengers that have around 20 continuity footnotes? That’s impressive. One could assume that Ben actually means his ongoing animosity with the Hulk in general. The two have had a longstanding feud since Fantastic Four #12, it’s a stretch but what do you want from me?

Topical References

• Mister Fantastic states that he has an option with Disney to produce content based on an artificial canine intelligence created by his daughter Valeria. A reference like this would usually be considered topical. However, now that Marvel is owned by Disney, this would be a instance of brand synergy instead.

• When being challenged by Richards, Hank says “it’s on, bitch” to which Amadeus Cho responds “Oh snap!”. This is a bit of late 2000’s slang. “Oh snap!” was a slang term that was first coined by comedian Tracy Morgan during his tenure on Saturday Night Live (1996 to 2003). It was said in response to an unexpected and devastating insult. The term. That said, it has since fallen out of common use. As such, its usage here should be considered topical.

• When the Vision is convinced to join in the raid of the Baxter Building, Cassie refers to this as “drinking the Kool-Aid”. This is a reference to the Peoples Temple, a religious cult run by Jim Jones. Jones and his brainwashed congregates relocated to a compound (called Jonestown) in Guyana. Increasingly paranoid, Jones murdered a visiting US Senator in 1978. He then convinced his followers to kill themselves by drinking poisoned Flavor-Aid, this killed 909 of his followers. Over the years, the term “Drinking the Kool-Aid” became a turn of phrase referring to people being convinced to do something that could be potentially damaging. Kool-Aid rather than Flavor-Aid (the actual drink used in Jonestown) likely being the fact that Kool-Aid was something of a proprietary eponym for fruit drink mixes at the time. Anyway, since this phrase is referring to a real historical event its use here wouldn’t necessarily be considered topical, even the mention of a brand like Kool-Aid.