Mighty Avengers #36
Salvation, Part 2: WWJVDD (What Would Janet Van Dyne Do?)
The Avengers Infinite Mansion has been taken over by Ultron. The Wasp (Hank Pym), Jocasta, and GRAMPA agents Ace and One-Eyed Jacquie, have fled to the void of Underspace to geta away from him. There, they discover that Hank built the Infinite Mansion as a means of maintaining the physical form and mind of the original Wasp (Janet Van Dyne) cohesive after she seemingly died during the Skrull invasion.[1]
Hearing all of this, Jocasta was nothing more than a cog in a machine to keep Hank’s ex-wife alive. She is furious at being used and strikes at him with her new organic hands.[2] Hank tries to explain himself, saying this isn’t what it looks like, but his explanation is interrupted when Ultron and his brides — all of the mansion’s Jocasta drones — breach the door to his lab allowing them to get out into Underspace. As everyone prepares for battle, Hank muses that this will make the current siege on Asgard seem like a cake-walk.[3]
In Broxton, Asgard is fully under attack and Hank’s team — US Agent (John Walker), Stature (Cassie Lang), Vision (Jonas), and Amadeus Cho — have reformed to help in the battle there.[4] They have learned that Norman Osborn is seeking to obtain the so-called Spear of Destiny and are trying to stop the Thunderbolts from getting it.[5] Unfortunately, Nuke (Frank Simpson) managed to recover the weapon and uses it to cut off US Agent’s left arm and leg.[6] Amadeus can only watch from the sidelines as the Ghost incapacitates the Vision. The Thunderbolt wonders why Cho hasn’t summoned the team’s most powerful members. Cho explains that his communicator doesn’t have enough power to reach Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff) who is on the other side of the world.[7] Seeking to foil Osborn’s plans for his own ends, the Ghost decides to help by giving it the energy boost the device needs. At that moment, Cho is interrupting Quicksilver’s search for his sister.[8] When he hears how dire things are in Asgard at that moment, Pietro realizes that his duty as an Avenger is more important right now and speeds off to lend a hand.
Meanwhile, the Wasp and the others have managed to get away from Ultron and his horde. He now hopes to use Salvation Two (which is being kept safe inside Jocasta’s body) to get help. However, as they run along the roof of the Infinite Mansion, their path is blocked when Ultron and his army come up from a skylight. The mad robot then reveals that not only has he reprogrammed all of Jocasta’s drones, but altered the memories of Janet. To show this off, he has the massive form of Van Dyne pronounce that Ultron lives. He also tries to convince Hank into thinking he deployed some of his drones to Earth before the dimensional doorways were shut down. Pym calls his creation’s bluff, noting that his brides have not left his side since he started his attack, and suggests that Ultron is afraid of facing him alone. This goats Ultron and his brides to attack the Wasp en masse. Growing to giant size to meet the threat, Hank tells Jocasta, Ace, and Jacquie to get back to the control room. He tells Jocasta that she’ll know what to do when she gets there and it is what Janet would have wanted. Realizing what Hank means, Jocasta leads the others back into the Infinite Mansion.
As they go, Jocasta explains that Hank wants her to activate the mansion’s kill switch. As they head to the control room, Ace finds one of Hank’s Ant-Man helmets and decides to take it along with them as it could be useful. When they reach the lab, the kill switch is able to shut down all of the Brides of Ultron, leaving him to fight his creator alone. That’s when Jocasta speaks to Ultron through the massive form of Janet Van Dyne. She offers Ultron something he has always wanted in exchange for him ceasing his hostilities. Intrigued, Ultron decides to stop fighting and see what she has to offer.
Hank and Ultron then return to the Infinite Mansion where Jocasta offers herself up as the bride of Ultron. While Hank protests this, Jocasta says that this is a sacrifice she wants to make for the greater good. Ultron agrees to the terms and soon, the two are wired together while Hank commiserates a bizarre marriage ceremony. The process gives Ultron full control of Jocasta’s body and firmware. Once the union is complete, Ultron then goes back on his word, having had no intention of honoring their deal. That’s when Hank — having expected a double cross — reveals that his Infinite Mansion can pull Avengers from anywhere in time and space. Not believing this, Hank gives out the “Avengers Assemble” battle cry. Suddenly, any army of past Avengers come out of various doors in the mansion. Deducing he couldn’t survive such a battle, Ultron surrenders and agrees to enter a doorway that will lead him to empty space where he cannot harm anyone. Ultron and Jocasta go through the door without further incident.
However, this was all a ruse as these “Avengers” were actually more ants with image inducers.[9] Then, Jarvis returns to the mansion, revealing that he only left to deliver Tony Stark his attaché case.[10] That’s when one of Jocasta’s drone bodies comes to life. As it turns out, Jocasta’s mind exists both in this body, and the one trapped with Ultron. With the threat of Ultron dealt with, Hank decides it is now time to join the real fight on Earth.
The Wasp appears in Broxton just as the Void slays Loki.[11] He quickly finds his Avengers and says that he owes them all a lot of apologies and explanations once the battle is over. Agreeing to fight side-by-side again, the Mighty Avengers charge into battle after Hank let’s out the battle cry “Avengers Assemble!”
… Siege continues in Thunderbolts #141.
Recurring Characters
Mighty Avengers (Wasp (Pym), Quicksilver, Jocasta, US Agent, Stature, Vision, Amadeus Cho), Ultron, Blackjack (Ace, Jaquie One-Eye), Thunderbolts (Nuke, Ghost, Ant-Man), Edwin Jarvis, Wasp (“Van Dyne”) Loki, Sentry/The Void, Spider-Man, Iron Man
Continuity Notes
Janet was seemingly killed in Secret Invasion #8, when a Skrull trojan horse in her body was set off, forcing Thor to end her life. While Hank believes the entity he is preserving is Janet, we’ll learn that this is actually the form of Carina Tivan in Avengers Academy #10-12. The real Janet was actually shunted to the Microverse where she will be rescued in Avengers (vol. 4) #31-34.
The dynamics between Hank, Janet, Ultron, and Jocasta are quite complicated indeed. Let me explain:
Janet is Hank’s ex-wife, the two got married in Avengers #60 but ultimately got divorced after he hit her in issue #213 of that series. The pair have had an on-again-off-again relationship until he seeming demise.
Hank created Ultron in Avengers #58.
Jocasta was created by Ultron and her personality was taken from Janet’s mind, as seen in Avengers #162.
More recently, Hank had reconnected with Jocasta in Mighty Avengers #21 and she actively helped him build the Infinite Mansion, which was completed in issue #25-26. During that same storyline, it was revealed that Hank was in a romantic relationship with Jocasta.
Ultron infiltrated the Infinite Mansion via Jocasta in Mighty Avengers #33. Jocasta got her fleshly limbs and Ultron launched his attack last issue, which was also when we found out that Hank built the mansion to keep “Janet” alive.
This story occurs during the Siege event, where Norman Osborn launches an invasion of Asgard, which has been floating over the town of Broxton, Oklahoma since Thor (vol. 3) #1. These events primarily take place in Siege #1-4 and various one-shots and limited series listed below.
The Mighty Avengers disbanded following the death of Hercules in Assault of New Olympus #1, Incredible Hercules #138-140 (Herc will be back in Chaos War #1). The re-banded together last issue. Their fight with the T-Bolts is expanded upon in Thunderbolts #141-143.
Cassie states here that she knows what happens when Osborn gets ahold of Asgardian weapons. She is referring to when he used Spellbreaker to de-power the Absorbing Man in Mighty Avengers #33.
This will put US Agent out of action until his limbs are restored after being temporarily bonded to the Venom symbiote in Thunderbolts #184-185.
The Ghost refers to Quicksilver as a mutant, which is what everyone has believed him to be since X-Men #4. In reality, he was actually secretly experimented upon by the High Evolutionary (Herbert Wyndham) when Pietro was still a child. In order to cover up his work, he made it future DNA analysis would have him register as a mutant. See Uncanny Avengers (vol. 2) #4-5.
The Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) has been MIA since House of M #1-8. Pietro has been unsuccessfully looking for her ever since. Readers last saw her in New Avengers #26 living in Transia with no memory of her past. She’ll be found and restored in Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #1-9.
Hank developed this fake out during a fight with the Fantastic Four in Mighty Avengers #25-26. He employed it again last issue. Ultron will remain trapped until Avengers: Rage of Ultron #1.
Jarvis seemingly abandoned Hank last issue. In reality he went to deliver a suit of Iron Man armor to Tony Stark, as seen in Siege #2.
Loki is slain in Siege #4, but his death won’t last long. He’ll be resurrected as a boy in Thor #617.
Topical References
Amadeus Cho is depicted as using a using a modified Game Boy as a smart device. This was a hand-held gaming system produced by Nintendo in 1989 until it was discontinued in 2003. The choice for having Cho use an OG Game Boy was because, at the time his early appearances were published, he would have been a child when the original Game Boy was around. Due to the Sliding Timescale, this could be considered a topical reference since a teenager like Amadeus could no longer have grown up with this discontinued gaming system. On the other hand, one could say that he wanted to use a vintage piece of tech. YMMV, I don’t think it really matters one way or the other TBH.
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