Featuring: Avengers
Release: May 11, 1965
Cover: July 1965
12 cents
Slyly written by: Stan Lee
Smoothly drawn by: Don Heck
Suavely inked by: Dick Ayers
Superbly lettered by: Artie Simek
Stoically read by: You (if you’ll ever turn the page…!)
20 pages
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|---|---|---|
| Sgt. Fury #20 | Reading order | Fantastic Four #41 |
| Avengers #17 | Avengers | Avengers #19 |
I thought our purpose was to battle crime! Why need we concern ourselves with international affairs?
Of all the stories in the early Marvel Universe, these Cold War stories are the worst across the board. The very worst are the Cold War stories set in Asia, as they tend to mix in racism with the blatant US government pro-war propaganda.
It’s awful because they are aimed at children, with the seeming intent to indoctrinate them into supporting the war in Vietnam or whatever else.
If you remove all the ways they are plainly awful jingoistic racist propaganda, they still tend to be pretty awful narratively. The closest thing to an exception is the recent Thor story, which did have an actual narrative about a conflict between brothers and a family divided because one brother joined the Viet Cong.
But maybe this story where the Avengers invade an Asian nation at random to battle their Communist leader and overthrow the government will be the exception.
Spoiler. It won’t be.
This story is interesting because it’s both forgettable and forgotten… at least mostly forgotten for about 55 years… until 2019 when someone decided it should be one of the foundational cornerstones of the entire history of the Marvel Universe.
Let’s dive in, and then we’ll reflect at length on what happened in 2019 that brought this awful comic out of obscurity.
We begin with a bit of character work. Captain America is reflecting that unlike most superheroes, he has no secret identity, no life outside of being Captain America. Captain America’s solo adventures of late have all been set in World War II, leaving his character growth to his appearances in this title.
Because I can sometimes be a bit hard on Don Heck and his work on Avengers in particular, I will pause to note that’s a very well laid out page. It’s not always easy to frame a character just standing around thinking, but Heck gets in a good variety of shots that create a sensible flow.
Cap thought he could get a job as Steve Rogers with Army espionage and wrote Nick Fury about it. We’ll soon learn Fury never received the letter because he was suddenly detailed to SHIELD.
Captain America notes Thor has left their ranks. I’m going to claim that’s not precisely true. Or perhaps it’s a clue as to where this story better fits in with Thor’s story. This is the May issue of Avengers and we’ve read up through the June Thor story. Up to that point, Thor has not only not quit the Avengers; he doesn’t even know the other original team members all quit. He helped the Avengers against the Masters of Evil during a brief reprieve Odin had given him before the Trial of the Gods. Since then, he’s been on a quest to recover the lost Norn Stones, a quest that has taken him to Vietnam and into conflict with the Destroyer, during which his hammer was broken. He needs to repair his hammer and get the Norn Stones to Odin and just hasn’t had time to check in with the Avengers. So when Captain America claims Thor resigned, he means Thor missed the last meeting.
We then learn some facts about Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, both so far lacking in much personality. Now Stan wants to add depth to their characters by revealing Wanda wants to be an actress and Pietro wants to be a circus acrobat.
Probably the most worthwhile scene in the comic is here. Quicksilver will for most of his history be portrayed as very dour and self-serious. So enjoy this rare look of pure joy on his face as he watches the circus.
We then see Hawkeye working in the lab. We didn’t really know he had much engineering talent before this, though perhaps it was implied as he must have made all the trick arrows. Lots of smart people amongst these superheroes. This goes beyond normal smarts though, as he basically invents anti-gravity through controlling vibrational frequencies. Unfortunately for him, Wizard has already patented anti-gravity.
We then travel to Communist-controlled Sin-Cong, a fictional country in Southeast Asia.
The people claim the capitalists were good to them; the Commissar claims only he can protect them.
Not quite sure the implication by the people claiming the capitalists were good to them; I think the comic misunderstands the role of colonial powers in Southeast Asia. This is a fictional country, but it has echoes of Vietnam, and when people refer to “the capitalists”, they presumably refer to a colonial European power, like France was to Vietnam. And France was not good to Vietnam. Nor was any colonial power to the nations they conquered and exploited.
While this is propaganda, propaganda isn’t the worst thing if there’s truth in it.
And there is some truth here. When the Commissar claims only he can protect them, his language mimics the language of dictators and would-be dictators past and present. “I alone can fix it.”
Anyways, Captain America learns of a group of rebels in Sin-Cong, and decides the Avengers should help the rebels overthrow the government. While this heavy-handed and unilateral interference in the affairs of a sovereign nation seems like exactly what the Avengers should NOT be doing, at least Captain America has good reasons… he thinks it will look good on his resume.
“If I overthrow the government of a sovereign nation, then Nick Fury will have to give me a job!”
We could dwell on this for a while, but let’s move on.
“Avengers Assemble!” It’s come to be the Avengers’ battle cry, something they shout in press releases, a phrase the Avengers associate fondly with the team. This is the first time it’s used as a summoning call, but it will be far from the last. Each of the Avengers carries a communicator in the form of a watch, ring, or brooch respectively.
Back to the insanity of Cap’s idea, Pietro and Wanda ask the sensible question. Shouldn’t they be battling crime, not meddling in international affairs? A worthy question I hope they all reflect on.
Nope, Hawkeye gets too indignant the question is even asked. “Let me spell it out for you! We’re supposed to avenge injustice, right? Well, when liberty’s threatened, justice goes down the drain!”
Pretty self-righteous talk from someone who has spent several months as a Soviet spy and sabotuer.
“I don’t like guns pointed at me! ‘Specially Commie guns!”
You were in love with a Communist spy, Hawkeye. It was like last week.
Finally, we get a worthwhile political point from Wanda. “Such splendor–in the midst of starving millions! It staggers the senses!”
I’m inclined to agree. Any nation where some don’t have enough to eat while others live in luxury is fundamentally corrupt and in need of systemic reform.
The action begins as Sin-Cong soldiers attack the invaders, but they are no match for the mighty Avengers.
Wanda jammed their guns with a hex, but seemed confident she could do that before doing so. How much control does she have? It’s clear she can aim, as something bad happens to what she points at. This is the first hint she has any control over what that something is.
We get some weird sequential art. Either a mistake by Heck that Lee inserted narration to correct, or editing that changed whatever Heck had intended. As it is, the art fails to tell a story in sequence. One panel of characters collapsing, then the next panel zoomed in on their faces, perfectly fine. Hence the narration there doesn’t seem to be space for.
We see another of Heck’s limitations in his depiction of Wanda. In general, he’s actually quite good at figure work and making faces for the characters. But he is struggling with what facial expressions to use for females. So Wanda always seems to be smiling, no matter the context.
In what I take to be a metaphor, the Commissar turns out to literally be a puppet. A robot controlled by Major Hoy, who is in the service of China.
On Sin-Cong and Marvel continuity
This story isn’t very good, but something surprisingly significant came out of it, significant to the modern understanding of Marvel canon/continuity. I have my own ideas about how the canon should work, and this project is helping me flesh out my own ideas. But Marvel has an official opinion.
If I understand the current official canon of the Marvel Universe, it goes something like this. All Marvel comics published this month are canonical. Previously published Marvel comics are canonical unless they contain details that contradict this month’s comics. Then those details are non-canonical.
Current Marvel stories take place in 2022, and the origins of the superheroes, the era we are reading, took place some 10-15 years in the past. So any details in these comics suggesting they took place prior to 2007 is non-canonical.
How can that be? How can Reed and Ben have fought in World War II then taken an experimental space flight in 2007 or so? Well, they didn’t fight in World War II. Any comic which says they did is either non-canonical or at least partially non-canonical.
Why were they so eager to beat the Soviets into space in 2007? Probably any mention of the Soviet Union is non-canonical. Then why, canonically, were they going into space? I don’t know. I’m sure somebody does.
But… Tony Stark sustained injuries in Vietnam. He was a prisoner of the Viet Cong during the war in Vietnam. Well, no he wasn’t. Those details are also non-canonical.
Well, then… what is his origin? Well, per a 2004 Iron Man series, the origin was pretty similar to what we know except it happened in the 1990s in the Middle East. Except since that updated origin was so long ago, it’s probably no longer canon either.
Per a more recent take, Mark Waid’s History of the Marvel Universe… generally a lovely read… he was neither in Vietnam nor the Middle East. It’s strongly implied he was in the fictional country of Sin-Cong, introduced in this issue. And they had a civil war that America got involved in. The war lasted a long time, but with uncertain dates, but it was definitely still going on some 10-15 years ago, and always will have been.
Honestly, I liked the 2004 take better. Set the story in the Middle East. It still works. That’s what the 2008 movie did as well. I’m all for both those stories with one big caveat… they are both separate continuities from the story we are reading now. These early Marvel stories are their own thing, one big interconnected universe. That Iron Man movie is the beginning of a big interconnected movie universe… but is not part of the continuity of the comics we are reading. Similarly, the 2004 Iron Man series is part of a big interconnected universe of stories… but not connected to our current stories.
It’s like the Sherlock series with Benedict Cumberbotch. Set in modern times. Great. Sherlock stories set in modern times. There’s also a whole bunch of Conan Doyle stories set in the 19th century. Both can exist. They can even contradict each other. They are two disconnected meta-narratives. No consistency is required.
If Marvel wants to publish stories about superheroes who gained their powers in the 21st century, great. It’s just like Sherlock, a modern take on classic characters, set in its own continuity.
Perhaps rather than one official canon, we can talk about a grouping of stories that interconnect as part of a larger meta-narrative, and there may be more than one way to sensibly group stories.
That’s my take. That’s not most people’s take.
The take seen in History of the Marvel Universe is more that all these old stories are part of the modern canon, just with a lot of cross-outs and changes. Change the word “Vietnam” to “Sin-Cong” everywhere. Delete any reference to the Soviet Union. (There are a lot of them to delete.)
This is referred to as a “sliding timescale”.
Sin-Cong is so fundamental to this modern Marvel history, because they tied it into lots of characters. Flash Thompson, Punisher, and War Machine had been shaped by the Vietnam War, but their modern incarnations by the Sin-Cong War instead. Reed and Ben had fought in World War II, but now… guess what… Sin-Cong.
Our friends at the Atomic Junk Shop recently put out a couple articles on the Sing-Cong War. They question why Reed and Been need to have served in the military at all.
I really don’t see the point in retconning Reed and Ben into Siancong. Sure, it’s unworkable for them to be WW II vets, but why make them veterans at all? Their military history has never defined them the way it does Frank Castle, Carol Danvers or the post-Crisis Captain Atom. Stan and Jack had to write them into WW II because they were old enough to have served, and what sort of heroes would they be if they hadn’t? There hasn’t been a war since where that’s been true, so why not make them civilians?
Fraser Sherman
I’m inclined to agree to a point. In this new modern Marvel continuity, there’s no need for them to have been World War II vets or even war vets (Ben does need to be a pilot though, and preferably a fighter pilot). In upcoming movies, there’s no need for them to be war vets.
But we must keep in mind in the original story of the Marvel Universe, they are war vets. World War II veterans. Remakes and reboots are great, but there is one original story of the Fantastic Four and the Marvel Universe. And in that story, Tony Stark was captured in Vietnam and Reed and Ben served in World War II. It’s this original narrative I’m interested in exploring with this blog, not the modern update.
A few technical notes.
In case it’s confusing above, Siancong and Sin-Cong both seem to be accepted spellings or transliterations of the country’s names. It was Sin-Cong in this original story, but History of the Marvel Universe uses both spellings interchangeably.
As best as I can tell, after this issue, Sin-Cong was not even mentioned again for 24 years until Avengers Spotlight #22, 1989, (also drawn by Don Heck!) when it was tied into the origin for the Swordsman (who we’ll meet next issue!).
While I’m mostly mentioning Waid, as I know about this story from his comic, I understand that Kurt Busiek was also involved in the idea of expanding the role of Sin-Cong. Blame where due. I guess it’s an idea they’d been talking about for 20 years before actually getting it into print. Busiek has worked the country heavily into his look at this new Marvel history through his recent series, The Marvels.
Rating: ★½, 21/100
Significance: ★★★☆☆
Characters:
- The Commissar
- Hawkeye
- Scarlet Witch
- Quicksilver
- Captain America
- Jarvis
- Major Hoy
Story notes:
- Captain America claims Thor has left their ranks.
- Scarlet Witch wants to see Twelfth Night with her brother; he wants them to go to the circus; they compromise and each go alone, each letting a ticket go to waste.
- Scarlet Witch dreams of being an actress; Quicksilver a trapeze artist.
- Quicksilver saves trapeze artist so fast, nobody sees him.
- Hawkeye has spent weeks in lab working on arrow; this suggests engineering talent.
- Hawkeye has basically invented anti-gravity by honing the ulta-sonic vibration to the perfect pitch; his arrow is able to lift a one-ton safe.
- Captain America finds broadcast of Radio Free Sin-Cong.
- Avengers Assemble now used as summoning, instead of battle cry or press event, through communicator brooch/ring/watch.
- Captain America’s leadership skills mentioned repeatedly.
- Wanda can’t use her “hex power” with a blindfold.
- Commissar insist on fighting Avengers one by one in front of people.
- Major Hoy works for Peking.
| Previous | #371 | Next |
|---|---|---|
| Sgt. Fury #20 | Reading order | Fantastic Four #41 |
| Avengers #17 | Avengers | Avengers #19 |
