Mighty Avengers #34
Pre-Siege Mentality
Now
In Broxton, Oklahoma, Doctor Don Blake is treating a patient when he receives a telepathic distress call from Loki, who cries for help as someone is attacking him. Since he is done with his patients for the day, Blake goes up to the roof of his clinic and raps his walking stick on the ground, triggering his transformation into Thor, the god of thunder. Whirling enchanted Mjolnir, Thor opens a portal to the location of Loki’s distress call. On the other side, he discovers that his half-brother is on the Isle of Silence, notable for being the place where Loki hatched a scheme that ultimately led to the formation of the original Avengers.[1]
There, he finds an army of Trolls that have been defeated in battle recently. That’s when he hears another summons from Loki, who pleads for help. Racing to a nearby building, Thor is surprised to find the Mighty Avengers — the Wasp (Hank Pym), Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff), Hercules, Stature (Cassie Lang), and the Vision (Jonas) — have the trickster strung up on a wall.
Two Hours Ago
The Avengers were sitting down to a meal prepared by their butler, Jarvis, who used the dimensional doorways in the Infinite Mansion to locally source the food from regions all over the world. The team is catching up on their latest exploits — saving Luke Cage’s life and the return of the original Captain America — when Quicksilver interrupts the conversations.[2] He wants to know what they are doing to locate his sister the Scarlet Witch. Hank says that they are working on it, but keeps tight lipped about learning that the Witch they have been dealing with has been Loki in disguise.[3] Hercules is more interested in bolstering their ranks with the loss of US Agent, but Hank says everyone he has gone to for assistance is busy with other matters. Cassie takes this to mean that they are not worth their time, however, Jarvis interjects reminding them all that even the smallest or least powered Avengers roster has managed to accomplish much in spite of their limitations. He points to the time when the team was only three members strong as an example.[4]
Quicksilver interjects again, demanding to know what Pym has been keeping him from his sister. Hank and the others explain that the Scarlet Witch that has been manipulating the team recently has Loki in disguise this entire time. Pietro is furious to learn that someone had been posing as his sister and looks forward to getting revenge in the hopes it will bring him a step closer to finding his sister for real.
They use a dimensional doorway to reach Loki’s location on the Isle of Silence. The doorway opens through a door left behind during the Acts of Vengeance conspiracy, which Pym tells him was the inspiration for his own portals.[5] There, they are ambushed by Trolls which they quickl dispatch. They then head to Loki’s palace, where he is known to go to once every year. Quicksilver speeds ahead to build a containment pod to capture the trickster.
Back at base, Amadeus Cho reminds Pietro that it has to be build precisely for it to work. While Pietro grumbles about his lack of patience, Jarvis notices that Jocasta seems unwell and asks if anything is the matter. She tells him that there is a bug in her system and that she will be fine once she deals with it.[6]
The team quickly sets up the device and incapacitates Loki with it, much to the surprise of the villain. With Loki at their mercy, Pietro then demands the trickster to reveal the location of his sister. Loki tries to get Hercules on his side by warning him that this device might be used against him in the future. The Vision then reminds everyone to not listen to Loki as he is a master manipulator. When talking about the Scarlet Witch, Stature wonders if the Vision still has feelings for Wanda Maximoff.[7] When Loki insists he doesn’t know where Wanda really is, Pietro doesn’t believe him and uses the control device to torture the trickster. Seeing the containment device used in such a way unnerves the rest of the team.
It’s during this torture session that Loki sent his mystical distress call to Thor. When the god of thunder finally arrives he is disturbed by what he sees on display finding their conduct dishonorable. Loki tries to shroud the matter at hand, but the heroes insist that Loki had been manipulating them for months on end. When Thor asks what gives Pym the right to judge the gods, he responds by saying that Eternity recently made him Earth’s Scientist Supreme.[8] Loki tries to sow doubt by claiming that Hank’s encounter with Eternity was another one of his tricks. However, Hank isn’t biting and Quicksilver continues to jolt the trickster.
Thor has had enough and tries to stop Pietro from hurting his half-brother any further, but the speedster is able to evade each lightning strike. When Stature and Vision try to step in, Hercules holds them back. This angers the thunderer to the point that he slams Mjolnir on the ground, knocking Quicksilver off his feet.[9] When he moves to make a final blow with his hammer, the Wasp shoots up to giant size and tries to stay his hand. He tells Thor that he deactivated the device and that they will leave. Thor accepts this but warns Hank that — as the one who felled Janet Van Dyne, the original Wasp — that he will be keeping a close eye on Pym in the future and will deliver swift justice if he tarnishes her good name.[10] Thor then allows Hank to ask his brother the question he came to ask, putting Loki in a painful arm lock to make him answer truthfully.
The Wasp surprises everyone when, instead of asking for the location of the Scarlet Witch, he asks Loki if he wants to join the Avengers. This shocks everyone, Loki included, but Hank reminds everyone that the Avengers has always been a second chance for people and redeemed a lot of former villains. Loki calls him insane and leaves with Thor, and the rest of the team is deeply shaken by this. Amadeus Cho has decided that Hank has gone too far this time and leaves the Infinite Mansion to get Hercules and take off. Jarvis remains behind and seeing that Jocasta is still unwell assures her that she will be helped as soon as Hank returns. Ultron — taking control of her body — looks forward to when his creator returns home.[11]
Recurring Characters
Mighty Avengers (Wasp, Quicksilver, Hercules, Jocasta, Stature, Vision, Amadeus Cho), Thor, Loki, Ultron, Edwin Jarvis, Don Blake
Continuity Notes
Way back in Avengers #1, but I probably didn’t need to tell you that.
The Wasp and Doctor Strange saved Luke Cage’s life after he suffered a heart attack. See New Avengers #57-60. Pym and the Vision later helped revive Captain America, who was believed to have been killed in Captain America (vol. 5) #25. In reality, he was hit with a chronal bullet that forced him to relive his life in a loop until he was rescued in Captain America: Reborn #1-6.
At the time of this story, the real Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) has been MIA since House of M #8. Readers last saw her in New Avengers #26 living in Transia with no memory of her past. Quicksilver joined the Avengers in Mighty Avengers #24 because the group seemed to have been guided by the Witch. As seen in Mighty Avengers #21-23, this was actually Loki in disguise. Most of the team discovered that “she” was an impostor in issue #29, but Hank only figured out it was Loki last issue.
Jarvis is referring to the time when the only active Avengers were Goliath (Hank Pym), the Wasp (Janet Van Dyne), and Hawkeye (Clint Barton). The three of them were able to defeat the cosmic level threat and Elder of the Universe known as the Collector in Avengers #51. Above a photo of that roster, we see one that includes Captain America (Steve Rogers), Thor, Iron Man (Tony Stark), Quicksilver, the Scarlet Witch, Justice (Vance Astrovik), Firestar (Angelica Jones), and Wonder Man (Simon Williams) as contrast. That roster was taken from Avengers (vol. 3) #25.
Acts of Vengeance was a massive storyline where a group of villains (manipulated by Loki) operated from the Isle of Silence and launched a coordinated attack on all of Earth’s heroes by sending unfamiliar villains against them. See Thor #410, Avengers Spotlight #26, Damage Control (vol. 2) #1, Amazing Spider-Man #326, Incredible Hulk #363, Spectacular Spider-Man #158, Web of Spider-Man #59, Avengers #311, Captain America #365, Fantastic Four #334, Quasar #5, Iron Man #251-252, Avengers West Coast #53, Thor #411-412, Captain America #366, Avengers Spotlight #27, X-Factor #50, New Mutants #84-85, Wolverine (vol. 2) #19-20, New Mutants #86, Power Pack #53, Doctor Strange Sorcerer Supreme #11, Amazing Spider-Man #327 , Marc Spector: Moon Knight #8-9, Uncanny X-Men #256-258, Doctor Strange Sorcerer Supreme #12, Spectacular Spider-Man #159, Daredevil #275-276, Web of Spider-Man #60, Avengers #312, Punisher (vol. 2) #28-29, Amazing Spider-Man #328 , Alpha Flight #79-80, Spectacular Spider-Man #160, Web of Spider-Man #61, Avengers Spotlight #28, Mutant Misadventures of Cloak and Dagger #9, Captain America #367, Quasar #6, Doctor Strange Sorcerer Supreme #13, Marc Spector: Moon Knight #10, Punisher: War Journal #12-13, Avengers West Coast #54, Avengers #313, Fantastic Four #335-336 , Avengers West Coast #55, Damage Control (vol. 2) #2-4, Amazing Spider-Man #329
A bug is putting it mildly, her systems have been infiltrated by Ultron, as we saw last issue.
The romantic dynamics of the Vision and how they pertain to the Scarlet Witch and Stature is complicated. Let me explain:
This is not the original Vision, who was destroyed in Avengers #500. His hard drives were copied into the Psycho-Kinetic armor of Iron Lad allowing for it to gain sentience. Its mind is based on the memories and personalities of both the Vision and Iron Lad as seen in Young Avengers #1-5.
Iron Lad developed romantic feelings for Cassie Lang when the Young Avengers first formed and these feelings have been mirrored in this new Vision. He shared his feelings with Cassie in Young Avengers Presents #4.
The original Vision and Scarlet Witch fell in love with one another in Avengers #91 and had a long and complicated relationship themselves. I’ll leave it at that. Just so you know, the OG Vision will be restored in Avengers (vol. 4) #19.
Eternity made Hank the Earth’s Scientist Supreme in Mighty Avengers #30.
Here, Thor refers to Quicksilver as a mutant, which is what everyone thought he was since X-Men #4. It will later be revealed that he was actually experimented upon as a baby by the High Evolutionary (Herbert Wyndham). To cover up his work, Wyndham made it so future genetic tests on Pietro would have him register as a mutant. See Uncanny Avengers (vol. 2) #4-5.
At the time of this story, the original Wasp was seemingly killed in order to save the Earth from a Skrull doomsday weapon implanted in her body in Secret Invasion #8. Hank, in honor of his ex-wife, started calling himself the Wasp in Secret Invasion: Requiem #1. In reality, Janet is still alive and was shunted into the Microverse. There she will remain until she is rescued in Avengers (vol. 4) #31-34.
Hank created Ultron and the robot has always viewed Pym as its father. See Avengers #58.
