The Collective, Part 4

The New Avengers have been dispatched to deal with Michael Pointer, an Alaskan mailman who has suddenly been given and extensive array of super powers and has threatened lives. Spider-Man (Peter Parker) and the Young Avengers’ Vision were both sent to the SHIELD helicarrier to help figure out a way to stop Pointer. While cross-referencing the multiple energy signatures with records there, the web-slinger makes a startling discovery. The power sources all match with many of the mutants who lost their powers after the House of M.[1]

Since they all agreed to keep this a secret, even from SHIELD, Iron Man (Tony Stark) tells Peter to flee before their esper unit can get the info from his mind. That’s when SHIELD Director Maria Hill begins asking Spider-Man what the House of M is.[2] When Parker tries to flee, a SHIELD telepath uses her abilities to knock him out.[3] They then use a device to shut down the Vision so they can strip his hard drives and see what he knows. Hill is then given a sit-rep and is informed that while the Sentry (Bob Reynolds) knocked Pointer into space, he is now making his way back to Earth.

Meanwhile, Iron Man radios Captain America (Steve Rogers) and updates him on the situation. Captain America is annoyed with the news that Spider-Man and the Vision were taken into custody and promises to speak with her directly. When Luke Cage asks where Pointer is now, Iron Man says that he is on an intercept with him just above the Earth’s atmosphere. Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers) pleads with Tony to get out of the way since his last encounter with Michael caused his armor to come apart. Stark assures them that this time he is ready for Pointer. Putting up a zero point energy field, Iron Man is able to knock Pointed back out into space upon impact, but he warns his fellow Avengers that he doesn’t know how long this trick will work. That’s when the Sentry returns and strikes Pointer again.

As Iron Man enters the fray, the rest of the team boards the Quinjet and heads for the SHIELD helicarrier. As Iron Man fights Michael, he gives them the hypothesis he has regarding this entity he is calling the Collective. Many of the mutants utilized different forms of energy and since energy cannot be destroyed, Tony figures that it had to go somewhere when the Scarlet Witch depowered most of the world’s mutants. Although there is no known science to quantify it yet, he suggests that this energy could quite possibly be sentient.[4] Seconds later, Iron Man’s radio signal cuts out. While Luke and Spider-Woman want to go help, Cap insists they need to deal with SHIELD first.[5]

Aboard the Helicarrier, Spider-Man is jolted away with a telepathic image that he is being attacked by the Sinister Six. Maria Hill apologizes for the rude awakening, but she doesn’t have time for pleasantries. She then demands that Parker reveal what he knows about the House of M. Peter tires to stall for time while, above deck, Captain America argues with Dum Dum Dugan to let his teammates go. Ultimately, the delaying tactics only work to help SHIELD out while their esper unit pulls the information out of Spider-Man’s mind telepathically.[6] Peter is furious at this invasion of privacy. That’s when Luke rips the door off his cell. Captain America is equally as angry and threatens to have Maria’s job once he speaks to the President about this. Unshaken by this, Hill hands him her headset and tells him to go ahead, perhaps it’ll speed along the passage of the Super Human Registration Act. When learning that Pointer hasn’t returned to Earth, Maria muses that at least some of the Avengers know where their priorities are.

By this point, Iron Man has crashed landed on the moon. Relatively unharmed and able to re-establish radio contact. After getting an update of the situation on the ground, he asks Maria Hill and SHIELD to give them what they were able to pull from the data. One of the SHIELD agents tells Iron Man to stop resisting the Collective and just let it go where it wants to. He points out that by fighting Michael, all they are doing is allowing him to better master the multiple powers he has gained. Iron Man is worried that the Collective might be going to blow up the White House. However, he agrees to disengage when its pointed out that the Collective could be leading them to the Scarlet Witch.[7] With that, Iron Man pulls the Sentry away from the fight to see what the Collective does.

With no more resistance, Michael Pointer begins planet fall and, to everyone’s horror, lands in what remains of the island nation of Genosha![8]

Recurring Characters

New Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Luke Cage, “Spider-Woman”, Wolverine, Sentry), Ms. Marvel, the Collective, the Vision, SHIELD (Maria Hill, Dum Dum Dugan, Olivia Hook)

Continuity Notes

1. During the events of House of M #1-8 and Decimation: House of M - The Day After #1, the Scarlet Witch altered reality so that mutants were the dominant species. After being convinced this was wrong, she believed that mutants were the problem. Upon restoring reality, she also got rid of the mutant gene and depowered nearly ever mutant on the planet. I went over who is who in my index entry of last issue and if their mutant status has changed at the time of its writing (April, 2024). I don’t feel like copy/pasting such a massive list on another page, so just go back and look at it there you lazy bum.

2. Hill learned about the House of M last issue, but not what it was all about.

3. This SHIELD agent is unidentified here, her name is revealed to be Olivia Hook in Secret Warriors #1. The SHIELD entry in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #10 makes the connection between these appearances.

4. Tony’s theory isn’t off the mark. As we’ll learn next issue, the Collective is being controlled by Kuan-Yin Xorn.

5. The woman who appears to be Spider-Woman here is actually a Skrull spy named Veranke, as will be revealed in Secret Invasion #3. Per New Avengers #42, she has taken the place of the real Jessica Drew ahead of a planned Skrull invasion of Earth. She swapped places circa Giant-Size Spider-Woman #1.

6. Here, Maria Hill states that when the Super Human Registration Act is passed Spider-Man will be working for her anyway. At the time of this story, the SHRA was in discussion as seen in Amazing Spider-Man #529-531. It will be passed into law shortly after this in Civil War #1. Ultimately, the law will get repealed following the events of Siege #1-4.

7. Nobody knows what happened to the Scarlet Witch after the House of M. We’ll learn in New Avengers #26 that she is living a new life in her native Transia with no memory of her past life, as seen in New Avengers #26. She will remain in this state until Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #4.

8. First depicted in Uncanny X-Men #235, Genosha was a former apartheid state where mutants were treated as slaves. It’s former rulers were eventually ousted and it became a mutant nation ruled by Magneto starting in X-Men (vol. 2) #87. More recently the island nation was turned into a charnel house after it was wiped out by Sentinels in New X-Men #115.