New Avengers #38

March 22, 2024 Nick Peron

The Breakup

After the Hood’s gang attacked the New Avengers at their hideout, Luke Cage has gone looking for his wife Jessica Jones and their daughter Dani.[1] He decides to check the office she ran her detective agency, Alias Investigations, out of. Breaking the lock to get inside, he finds the place deserted. When he comes across an old photo of Jess during her days as the hero known as Jewel,[2] Luke goes outside and looks out at Avengers Tower in the distance. He can’t bring himself to believe that she went to Tony Stark for help.[3]

Unfortunately, Luke’s fears turn out to be true when he calls Avengers Tower and Jessica answer the phone. Luke is furious, especially when Jessica says that she signed up with the Super Human Registration Act. She tells him that it was the only way she could make sure their daughter remains safe. Luke still doesn’t believe she did it and won’t accept her reasoning, reminding her that the Act is what got Captain America killed.[4] When Jessica won’t budge, Luke angrily slams down the payphone with enough force to shatter it. This is overheard by Jarvis, who asks Jessica what Luke will do next.[5] She figures her husband will come and trash the lobby of Avengers Tower.

Jessica heads down to face her husband outside, wishing she could have a cigarette to calm her nerves.[6] Luke demands to see his child but Jessica will not do that until Luke registers. He tells him that they can all live safely together and he can be a lawful hero again. Cage refuses to do this, reminding her that they can’t trust Tony Stark’s team because they may have been compromised by Skrulls. He then accuses Jessica of ruining their marriage.[7] Jessica responds that they don’t know if the Skrulls are planning to invade the Earth. Having found one Skrull in hiding doesn’t prove there is one huge conspiracy. Regardless of the possible threat, Jessica believes that Avengers Tower is the safest place for their baby if there is.[8]

As the two continue arguing outside, Iron Man’s Avengers — Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers), the Black Widow (Natasha Romanov), Wonder Man (Simon Williams), Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew),[9] and Ares — return from a mission. Jarvis quickly gets them up to speed about Jessica’s asylum and how she and Luke are outside arguing about it. Carol sees the scene on the security monitors and tells every one to standby while she goes downstairs to deal with the tense situation.

When Danvers arrives, Luke and Jessica are at an impass. Deciding that there isn’t anything more she can say, Jones goes back upstairs. Carol tells Luke that he has a choice to either register to be arrested.[10] That’s when the other Avengers come out and try to arrest him. Cage then begins ranting about how there are Skrulls, something the rest of the team knows nothing about.[11] For her part, Carol allows Luke go. As the other Avengers ask Spider-Woman what he was talking about, she tells them that information is classified by SHIELD. When they press her further, she tells them to wait for Tony Stark to come back to tell them.

Later, the rest of the New Avengers — Spider-Man (Peter Parker),[12] Wolverine (Logan), Ronin (Clint Barton), Iron Fist (Danny Rand), and Echo (Maya Lopez) — are checking out their new headquarters. It is a penthouse property that Danny bought through his company. He tells them that it was once used by the Hulk’s old foe the Leader (Samuel Sterns). As Danny goes over the amenities, he reminds the team that they are going to be more covert than ever now that the can no longer rely on Doctor Strange’s magic to protect them from the law.[13]

When Luke finally returns, he goes to his room without saying a word, leaving Danny to explain what’s going on. While Cage considers what to do next, Jessica quietly looks over her child.

Recurring Characters

New Avengers (Luke Cage, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Iron Fist, Ronin, Echo), Mighty Avengers (Ms. Marvel, Black Widow, Wonder Man, “Spider-Woman”, Ares), Jessica Jones, Dani Cage, “Edwin Jarvis”

Continuity Notest

The Hoods gang attacked Doctor Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum in New Avengers Annual #2.
Alias Investigations was where Jessica worked as a private investigator for a few years as seen in Alias #1. Also in that issue we learned that she once tried to join up with the Avengers years earlier. For more on her failed stint as a superhero see Alias #22-23.
The reason why Luke can’t believe Jess went to Tony Stark is because he was responsible for making the New Avengers outlaws by helping the Super Human Registration Act become law in Civil War #3. Compounding his fears is the possibility that Skrulls might have infiltrated Stark’s Avengers after they found one posing as Elektra in New Avengers #31. This is of course a precursor to the events of Secret Invasion #1-8.
At the time of this story, Captain America was believed to have been assassinated in Captain America (vol. 5) #25. In reality, he was struck with a chronal bullet that has caused him to live his entire life in a constant loop. He will be freed from this purgatory in Captain America: Reborn #1-6.
The man who appears to be Jarvis here is actually a Skrull infiltrator as we’ll learn in Secret Invasion #1. He took the place of the real Jarvis prior to New Avengers #1.
Jessica was a bit of a chain smoker but quit the habit after discovering she was pregnant in Alias #28.
Honestly, Jess is being pretty reasonable here. Just in case you’re wondering the two recently got married in New Avengers Annual #1. No, this doesn’t ruin their marriage.
Here it is mentioned how, at the start of the Civil War event, Jessica briefly ran to hide out in Canada. This was seen in New Avengers #22. She came back to New York in New Avengers #28.
This is not the real Spider-Woman but another Skrull spy as we’ll learn in Secret Invasion #3. Per New Avengers #42, the real Jessica Drew was replaced in Giant-Size Spider-Woman #1.
Carol threatens to put Luke in a cell next to Marvel Boy. She is referring to Noh-Varr, a Kree soldier from Reality-200080 who has been stranded on this Earth for some time. He has been imprisoned at the Cube since Marvel Boy (vol. 2) #6.
Spider-Woman brought the Skrull found by the New Avengers to Tony Stark in Mighty Avengers #6. He has kept its discover a secret from his team up to this point.
This issue has Spider-Man back in his classic red and blue costume again. He started wearing his black costume in Amazing Spider-Man #539. He switched back to his regular costume in Amazing Spider-Man #544.
Doctor Strange went on a pilgrimage starting in New Avengers Annual #2.

Topical References

Iron Fist states that Doctor Strange is wandering the Earth like Caine, the main character in the Kung Fu TV series. Caine was played by the late David Carradine and the original series ran from 1972 to 1975. It spawned a movie and two sequel series and a reboot. This could be considered a topical reference as you could replace it with a more contemporary example.
Wolverine quips that Wendy’s has food. This is a topical reference as Wendy’s is a real world business.
Jessica compares the possibility of a Skrull invasion as being on par with Global Warming. This was a common term used to describe man-made climate change. However, since we live in a world of contrarian idiots who don’t understand climate, scientists have since shifted from using “Global Warming” to “Climate Change” because climate collapse is a multitude of things. As such, her use of a dated term should be considered topical.

Secret Invasion Reading Order