Stature

Now

For some reason, Cassie Lang (aka Stature) has been shrinking smaller and smaller. In the ruins of Avengers Mansion, the Young Avengers — Patriot (Eli Bradley), Wiccan (Billy Kaplan), and Hawkeye (Kate Bishop) — are worried and don’t know why this is happening because she refuses to speak. The situation is getting worse as Kate was forced to buy a microscope so they could continue seeing her and they fear that she will soon shrink too small to be even seen through that. When Patriot suggests they go to Hank Pym, Kate reminds him that they are outlaws and could be arrested for harming an Initiative recruit.[1][2]

Billy thinks he can cast a spell to shrink one of them down to Cassie’s current size and it is decided that Eli be the one since he is team leader. Eli tries to protest this idea, but Kate and Billy convince him that he is the only one who can relate the most to Cassie’s situation. Eventually he resigns to this plan and the spell thankfully works. Almost too well, actually, as the Patriot is shrunk down smaller than Cassie, but luckily Wiccan is able to stop the process from going further. He tries to small talk until Cassie finally speaks, saying she may have killed someone today….

Today was the day of the wedding anniversary of her father Scott Lang and his mother, Peggy, had the two stayed together. While Cassie has nothing but fond memories of her dad, her mother was uncharacteristically quiet that morning. This is because she was thinking about her late ex-husband as well and not all of them are rosy, given that Scott was a petty crook until he got his life together.[3] When her step-father, Blake came down for breakfast and suggested they go on a family trip, Cassie expressed her disinterest in the idea very sarcastically. This angered Blake who insulted her father and grabbed Cassie by the arm. This angered her so much she shot up in size. However, as much as she wanted to beat the shit out of Blake, she stopped herself from crossing that line.

Patriot can understand how she feels since he descended from Isaiah Bradley, the Black Captain America of World War II. He has struggled with the world’s view of Isaiah in much the same way as Cassie does with her father’s checkered past.[4] He tells her that it is their job turn to do their own thing. Cassie wonders if their “thing” is to fail and shrinks once more before continuing her story.

After the outburst that morning, Cassie went out for a walk to calm her mind. She tried to focus on happier times she had with her father before his death.[5] Thankfully, thoughts of her father’s death were interrupted by an attack by the Growing Man. Having faced this menace before, Cassie figured growing to giant size and fighting him would be easy.[6] She was wrong as when she hit the stimuloid it grew larger than her max height. During the fight, she knocked the Growing Man down on top of her own step-father who was busy evacuating the area when the fight broke out. When Cassie went to the hospital and met with her mother, she learned that Blake was in a dire situation and doctors didn’t know if he’d be able to walk again. Although her mother didn’t say anything, Cassie could see in her eyes that she blamed her for what happened. Two of Blake’s fellow officers, however, weren’t inclined to keep their mouths shut when they came to see how their colleague was doing. They chastised Cassie for causing Blake harm until a nurse told them to stop arguing in the hospital. When Peggy finally spoke, she sobbed about how everything was being taken away from her all over again. Deeply hurt by this, Cassie ran out of the hospital in tears.

Cassie starts shrinking again and Kate and Billy start thinking they should go to Hank Pym after all. Eli, however, tries a different tract by berating Cassie. He says that she is not a hero if this is how she reacts to failure. He talks about how Isaiah Bradley ended up in jail for nothing more than serving his country. Eli used to be furious over this until he had a chance to talk to Bucky (James Barnes, Captain America’s old partner from World War II) and learned about Jeff Mace, the original Patriot.[5] He then realized that life is not easy and it is those who push past their mistakes that make it in this life and if she can’t do that, Cassie should just throw the towel in. This tough talk actually works, as Cassie realizes that she did the best she could. She then shoots back up to her normal size.

Later, after ordering some pizza, the Young Avengers talk about what happened. Cassie realizes that she needs to make peace with her mother and calls her at the hospital. The two both admit that they have a lot to apologize to each other for. Cassie agrees that they have to be a family, but Peggy has to accept that she is also a superhero and her father’s daughter. The two make peace and Cassie suggests that when Blake is out of the hospital they will go on that family trip. However, she insists that her “other family” (the Young Avengers) come along as well.[8]

Recurring Characters

Young Avengers (Stature, Patriot, Wiccan, Hawkeye), Growing Man, Peggy Burdick, Blake Burdick, (in flashback) Ant-Man

Continuity Notes

1. This story occurs after the events of Civil War #1-7, in which a new law requiring superhumans to register with the government or else face arrest. While all of the Young Avengers sided with Captain America’s anti-registration resistance, Cassie defected to the pro-registration side after being arrested in Civil War #4. After the war she signed up with the Initiative in Avengers: The Initiative #1.

2. The man the Young Avengers think is Hank Pym is actually a Skrull spy named Criti Noll, who took the place of the real Pym prior to House of M #1 ahead of a Skrull invasion of Earth. This will be revealed in Secret Invasion #3 and explained in Mighty Avengers #15.

3. The relationship between Scott Lang, his ex-wife Peggy, and daughter Cassie is complicated:

   • Scott was a thief until he got busted, which led to his divorce. When his daughter needed a life saving surgery, he pilfered Hank Pym’s old Ant-Man gear to save her life and after getting Pym’s blessings he turned his life around and became a hero. See Marvel Premiere #47.

   • The couple had shared custody of Cassie until Peggy was going to marry Blake Burdick. She feared that Cassie hanging out at Avengers Mansion would put her in grave harm and successfully sued for full custody. This all happened in Avengers (vol. 3) #62.

   • Not long after this, Scott was seemingly killed in Avengers #500 when the Scarlet Witch went on a rampage. What nobody knows is that Scott actually survived by being brought forward in time by the future Young Avengers, as we’ll find out in Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #6.

4. For more about Isaiah Bradley’s brief tenure as Captain America, see Truth: Red, White, and Black #1-7. Here, Eli refers to Isaiah as his grandfather, however this becomes difficult to reconcile with the Sliding Timescale. In lieu of an official explanation, I posited a plausible theory in my index for Young Avengers #3.

5. Here we see a pro-registration poster featuring Iron Man that has the initials “NW” spray painted on it. This is a reference to the then current roster of New Warriors. The team’s reputation was in the shitter because they were responsible for the Stamford Disaster an event that led to the registration act going into law. This new team has been operating outside of the law to redeem the team’s good name. Their trademark was tagging things with their initials. See New Warriors (vol. 4) #1-20.

6. Cassie previously fought the Growing Man alongside the Young Avengers in Young Avengers #3.

7. Jeff Mace was another costumed hero of World War II who began his career in Human Torch Comics #4 He died of cancer in Captain America #285. Eli learned about him in Young Avengers Presents #1.

8. Blake eventually recovers from his injuries as he is seen back on his feet again in Ant-Man #5.

Topical References

• Eli offers to marathon season six of the series 24 which Kate apparently got through Netflix. At the time of this story, Netflix was just starting as a streaming service and still offered a by-mail rental service where people could have rentals mailed to their door. They eventually stopped this service in 2023. 24 was was a popular action series that ran from 2001 to 2010 and had a brief revival in 2014. The series was at the height of its popularity at the time this comic was published in 2008. That said, all of these references should be considered topical as they can be replaced by more contemporary ones.

• Cassie is depicted as having an early model of the iPhone which was relatively new at the time this story was originally published. These phones no longer look like they are depicted here and as such, this depiction should be considered topical.

• When Blake suggests the family spend time together, Cassie sarcastically asks if they are suddenly the Huxtables. Cassie is referring to the fictional family featured in the sitcom The Cosby Show which ran from 1984-1992. The family was a wholesome middle American family and for the longest time people would evoke the family name when referring to the “ideal” family, particularly thanks to the lead role of Cliff Huxtable, played by comedian Bill Cosby. This should be considered topical because it is a dated reference and a more contemporary example could be used. Particularly since more recent rape allegations levied on Cosby have soured the legacy of the show.