Nick Peron

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Mighty Avengers #32

Nick Peron

Mighty/Dark, Part 1: The Real Deal

Credits

For his part in helping the Inhumans against Devos the Destroyer, Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff) is awarded a medal and welcomed back into the Inhuman royal family.[1] However, through the whole ceremony, Pietro feels like a fraud because he lied to the Inhumans about how a Skrull was responsible for his past actions that put the Inhumans in a Cold War with the United States.[2] This is made more apparent from the accusatory eyes from his daughter, Luna, who knows the truth and lost all respect for her father.[3] He is at a low point because his daughter has disowned him, his wife has re-married,[4] and he is only with the Mighty Avengers in the hopes of finding his missing sister.[5]

When the ceremony is over, Quicksilver and his fellow Avengers — Wasp (Hank Pym), Hercules, US Agent (John Walker), Stature (Cassie Lang) and Vision (Jonas) — use a dimensional doorway to return to the Avengers Infinity Mansion. Before leaving, Karnak tells Pym that he senses that he has less weaknesses than he has shown in the past, which Hank takes as a compliment.[6] When they arrive, they learn from Jocasta, Jarvis, and Amadeus Cho that there are more crisis that garner their attention all over the globe.

Over the next month, the team deals with threats posed by the energy being known as Zzzax in New Delhi, super-hypnotist Dansen Macabre in Paris, and prevent Terminus from destroying the leaning tower of Pisa in Italy. The growing press attention allows the team to insist that they are the real Avengers and not affiliated with the group formed by Norman Osborn.[7] Watching this coverage angers Osborn is furious. Little does he know that Loki is secretly watching him and that his current scheme is reaching its tipping point.

Loki then observes the energy research facility Project PEGASUS where the Absorbing Man (Carl Creel) is being held prisoner. HAMMER agents are attempting to use Creel’s ability to absorb the properties of everything he touches in order to make him a living battery to suit the country’s energy needs.[8] Loki casts a spell to cause a power failure which allows Creel to break free and take out the guards. However, before he can leave, Loki influences his mind and make him venture deeper into the facility instead.[9]

Meanwhile, Osborn summons a meeting with his Cabal. However, none answer his calls. When he attempts to contact the Hood, he says he doesn’t have time to meet.[10] The only one who does arrive is Loki, who apologizes for his tardiness. Norman orders Loki to do something about Hank Pym’s Avengers, but the trickster thinks that Osborn’s own group should be the ones to settle things and prove they are the superior team of Avengers. That’s when Osborn’s assistant Victoria Hand enters the room and informs him of the situation at Project PEGASUS. This turns out to be the moment Norman has been waiting for and orders his Avengers be assembled.

At the Avengers Infinite Mansion, the Wasp and his team are enjoying some rare downtime in between missions. All except for Quicksilver who is searching the endless building for sign of his sister. That’s when Jocasta informs him that the Scarlet Witch has reappeared in the meeting room. The team is on edge because they know that this Scarlet Witch is an impostor. “She” tells them that regardless of this, she brings warning of a great danger that will risk countless lives. While she is talking, Hank makes eye contact with Amadeus Cho and then over to his Ant-Man helmet. Cho gets what he means and puts it on, allowing the two to talk telepathically. Hank then explains that the helmet can analyze the magical energies used by the “Scarlet Witch” just like it can any other and get a signature profile so they can track “her” later. When Quicksilver finally arrives, the “Witch” decides to take her leave and teleports away. Luckily, Amadeus was able to get all the data he needed and heads to the lab to examine it.

Meanwhile, Norman Osborn’s Avengers — Iron Patrot (Osborn himself), “Hawkeye” (aka Bullseye), the Sentry (Bob Reynolds), “Wolverine” (actually his son Daken), “Spider-Man (aka Mac Gargan, aka Venom in disguise), and “Ms. Marvel” (really Karla Sofen, aka Moonstone) — are holding a press conference outside of Project PEGASUS. Osborn finds himself answering some tough questions as the press questions his team’s ability to do their job right and compares them to Hank Pym’s team.[11] This annoys Norman who tries to spin the questions to make his team look better.

That’s when the Wasp’s Avengers teleport onto the scene and, taking advantage of the media presence, Hank offers his aid to Norman Osborn’s team. This annoys Osborn who realizes that this might be the work of Loki.[12] Hercules soon has enough bickering between Osborn and Pym and suggest they deal with the crisis at hand. That’s when Amadeus Cho radios Hank from base. He tells Pym that he has hacked into HAMMER’s database and knows what’s going on. He tells them that the Absorbing Man is loose in Project PEGASUS. He warns them that he is heading down to the location where they have been storing fragments of the Cosmic Cube.[13] This comes too late as Creel finds them and uses them to grow to giant size and smashes his way out of PEGASUS. Filled with unlimited power, the Absorbing Man is pleased to see two Avengers teams waiting outside and is ready to fuck them up.

Both the Wasp and Iron Patriot give the Avengers battle cry to rally their teams. When Stature calls jinx, “Hawkeye” vows to kill her first chance he gets.

Recurring Characters

Mighty Avengers (Wasp, Quicksilver, Hercules, US Agent, Jocasta, Stature, Vision, Amadeus Cho), Dark Avengers (Iron Patriot, “Spider-Man”, “Ms. Marvel”, “Hawkeye”, “Wolverine”, Ares, Sentry), Loki, Victoria Hand, Edwin Jarvis, Inhumans (Black Bolt, Medusa, Crystal, Gorgon, Karnak, Luna), Absorbing Man, Zzzax, Dansen Macabre, Terminus, HAMMER

Continuity Notes

  1. This happened in Realm of Kings: Inhumans #1-5.

  2. Following the events of House of M #1-6, Pietro stole some Terrigen Crystals in a misguided attempt to restore the lost powers to depowered mutants in Son of M #1-6. This resulted in the crystals being stolen by the government and a conflict between them and the Inhumans during Silent War #1-6.

  3. Pietro later went on to claim he was replaced by a Skrull in Mighty Avengers #24. He repeated this lie to the Inhumans last issue, which is when Luna disowned him because she knew he was lying.

  4. Crystal and Pietro had gotten married way back in Fantastic Four #150. Their rocky marriage was annulled in Son of M. Since then, Crystal went on to marry Ronan the Accuser as part of a pact between the Inhumans and the Kree, as seen in Secret Invasion: Inhumans #1-4.

  5. Quicksilver joined up with the Mighty Avengers because they were formed by Loki posing as the Scarlet Witch, as seen in Mighty Avengers #21-23. The real Wanda Maximoff has been MIA since House of M. She was last seen in New Avengers #26 living in Transia with no memory of her past life. She will have her memory restored and return in Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #1-9.

  6. Hank has been more together since the events of Mighty Avengers #27-30 after Eternity named him Earth’s Scientist Supreme.

  7. Osborn became America’s top cop after he killed the leader of a Skrull invasion of Earth in Secret Invasion #8. He then used his position to form his own team in Dark Avengers #1.

  8. One of the HAMMER agents worries that word will get out about this, much like an online video that surfaced showing that Osborn was previously experimenting on people. They are referring to the events of Amazing Spider-Man #568-573 where it was uncovered that Osborn was experimenting on undocumented immigrants from Asia. Osborn covered this up by deflecting blame onto his son Harry (actually a clone, long story, see Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 5) #73).

  9. Here, Loki recounts how he was the one who first gave Creel his powers. That happened way back in Journey into Mystery #114.

  10. Osborn formed the Cabal in Secret Invasion #8. It consisted of the Sub-Mariner, Emma Frost, the Hood, and Doctor Doom. There are a multitude of reasons why everyone is a no show. The details:

  11. The media has questions about Osborn’s team based on recent events:

  12. Hank and Norman both trade barbs over their past treatment of women. The details:

    • Norman makes reference to the time that Hank hit his then wife, Janet Van Dyne (the original Wasp) in Avengers #213.

    • Hank retorts by asking him if he’s thrown any off bridges lately. This is in reference to the infamous Amazing Spider-Man #121, in which Norman (as the Green Goblin) threw Spider-Man’s girlfriend Gwen Stacy off the Brooklyn Bridge sending her to her death.

  13. Cho specifically states that these fragments come from the Cosmic Cube that Captain America (Steve Rogers) destroyed in West Virginia. This is in reference to Captain America (vol. 5) #14.

Topical References

  • GNN reports the the Avengers activities in this story taking place in January of 2010. This date should be considered topical as it is relative to the date of publication.

  • When US Agent salutes Norman Osborn, Hercules calls him a tool. This is slang he clearly picked up from hanging out with Amadeus Cho. This is also some outdated slang. Calling someone a “tool” was an insult that usually meant that someone’s behavior (in this case showing someone respect to curry favor) was seen as performative to anyone other than the tool themselves, who is usually oblivious. It was commonly used around the time this story was published and has since fallen out of common use and as it should be considered topical.

  • When Cassie jinxes Osborn she tells him that he owes Hank a Coke, which is not the version of jinx I ever remember playing, but I digress. Anyway, the reference to Coke should be considered topical as this is a real world product.