Featuring: Avengers
Release: April 12, 1966
Cover: June 1966
12 cents
Savage script by: Stan Lee!
Powerful pencilling by: Don Heck!
Explosive embellishment by: Frank Giacoia!
Lethargic lettering by: Sam Rosen!
20 pages
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|---|---|---|
| Avengers #28 | Reading order | Thor #127 |
| Avengers #28 | Avengers | Avengers #30 |
No matter what else… he’ll always be an Avenger! Just as he’ll always be… the man I love!
Frank Giacoia going by his real name for perhaps the first time. He’s usually been under the pen name Frankie Ray or similar.
Dr. Henry Pym. Ant-Man. Giant-Man. Goliath. He who can’t choose a name.
Or a status quo. His latest shtick is that he can only turn exactly 25 feet tall and only for a period of exactly 15 minutes. What happens if he exceeds 15 minutes? We’re about to find out. He did so last issue, then collapsed while shrinking, having gotten down to about 10 feet.
I think it’s cute how quickly all the Avengers have taken to calling him Goliath. There’s probably a lesson for people today to take from this.
Captain America calls him Goliath, but then later refers to him as Giant-Man to Doc Carlson. Carlson of course would know the famous Giant-Man, but would never have heard of Goliath, the name he adopted a few hours earlier. And Quicksilver is quick to correct Cap that it’s Goliath now.
Thor had left Wasp instructions to call Dr. Blake in case of such an emergency. But his answering machine says Blake is out of town, and we get pointed to Thor #129 to learn why. We’d last read #126, and will be reading #127-130 next. So we’ll see why Dr. Blake wasn’t on hand to help. Fortunately Cap knew Doc Carlson.
Hawkeye reflects on how he lost Natasaha. I would maybe say he abandoned her when she was wounded to go join the Avengers.
We get another new status quo for Goliath: it’s too dangerous to attempt to shrink or grow every again. He must remain 10 feet tall forever. Truly a tragic hero, in the mold of the Thing.
At first I thought Hank was a jerk for never letting Jan grow giant-size, but now that we see how dangerous it was. Maybe he was looking after her. On the other hand, she was his guinea pig for the wings, something he still hasn’t wanted to try on himself.
The next scene is a weird mix of Russia and China, to the point I can’t tell where we are. We are in the “Far East”; there is a Dr. Yen; characters with Asian features… I guess the architecture could be Chinese, but looks more Russian. The main confusing thing is that he refers to Black Widow as working for them. And she was plainly Russian. Perhaps “them” is the whole Communist world.
Black Widow is brainwashed to be a loyal Communist again and to go destroy the Avengers.
When Hawkeye learns Black Widow is back in America, he goes after her, despite Cap’s warnings she may be brainwashed. He finds her with Swordsman and Power Man, and she is hoping to also recruit him for her plans.
Wasp is sent to follow Hawkeye, but runs afoul of a bird. Which she recognizes as a white-throater sparrow. It’s nice to see she has good bird watcher instincts, even as she’s about to be eaten.
Here’s a good panel of Captain America tossing his shield at Power Man.
According to Wasp, a cardinal rule of the Avengers is that somebody must always be on monitor duty. I struggle to believe that as there are four of them, who all go on missions together.
Black Widow had recently developed new Spider-Man-esque tricks of walking on walls and firing a webline to swing from. But she demonstrates none of those gadgets this issue.
After a heated battle, Hawkeye lets Black Widow escape. Because he’s in love.
We come to a quiet moment between Captain America and Hawkeye. Hawkeye has been annoyingly insubordinate since day 1, challenging Cap’s leadership at every turn. But now he knows he’s screwed up and let a bad guy get away. He steels himself for a lecture from Cap, but Cap understands a man must listen to his heart. Hawkeye has his first realization that he’s been a jerk to Cap. Let’s see if he takes this lesson to heart in the issues to come.
Goliath, in full Eeyore mode: “I wouldn’t fit.. in the car… anyway!”
Cap notes Goliath is the most powerful and most tragic Avenger. If that isn’t the Marvel formula, what is?
Quicksilver compares Goliath to Gulliver among the Lilliputians. But he’s only 10 feet tall. Per Guinness, the tallest man was just under 9 feet. I mean, this is tall enough to find our society inconvenient. Doorways, plane seats… but not so tall as to be unable to live in this world. Not so tall that he and Jan can’t have a future together. She can handle a 10-foot man.
Are Goliath and Wasp both back with the Avengers now? Are there 6 Avengers?
The letters page includes a letter from Mike Friedrich, just a year away from becoming a comics writer himself.
Rating: ★★★☆☆, 52/100
Significance: ★★★☆☆
I read this story in The Avengers Epic Collection vol. 2: Once an Avenger.
Characters:
- Wasp/Jan Van Dyne
- Quicksilver/Pietro
- Hawkeye
- Scarlet Witch
- Captain America
- Goliath/Henry “Hank” Pym
- Major Carlson/Doc Carlson
- Madame Natasha/Black Widow
- Dr. Yen
- Swordsman
- Power Man
Story notes:
- Narration reminds us Giant-Man’s new name is Goliath.
- Quicksilver maniplates his thermo-reviver discs to try to restore consciousness to Goliath.
- Ben Casey reference.
- Cap calls a Major from the Army Medical Corp he’s seen work under combat conditions.
- Carlson’s diagnosis is that Goliath will recover, but that he can’t take the strain of changing size again. He must remain 10 feet tall forever.
- A sad Goliath runs away.
- Black Widow brainwashed to destroy Avengers.
- Captain America offers to modify room in the mansion for Goliath to live there.
- Swordsman performing knife tricks in circus when Black Widow recruits him to destroy the Avengers.
- Hawkeye refer to Cap as “Winghead”.
- Cap notes to Hawkeye SHIELD reports that Black Widow is alive and heading for America; warns the Commies had a reason for releasing her, that she may be brainwashed.
- Hawkeye goes after Black Widow; Cap sends Wasp to follow him.
- Hawkeye finds Black Widow at her old mansion headquarters. Swordsman and Power Man also present.
- Swordsman reminds us he taught Hawkeye all he knows.
- Hawkeye thinks Black Widow is the prisoner, but she recruited them.
- Black Widow hoped to recruit Hawkeye.
- Power Man reminds us his power comes from Dr. Zemo’s ray.
- Encounters leaves Wasp unconscious.
- Swordsman notes shield is like ultimate weapon in Cap’s hands.
- Cap captured by Swordsman and Power-Man.
- Cap’s wrist communicator able to send out call: Avengers assemble!
- Tony Stark outfited car with tracker to find Cap.
- Wasp returns to mansion to find nobody on duty; Avengers cardinal rules is that an Avenger must always be on monitor duty.
- Swordsman recalls Mandarin added weaponry to his sword.
- Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch also defeated.
- Black Widow unable to explain why she seeks to destroy the Avengers.
- Goliath and Wasp to the rescue.
| Previous | #496 | Next |
|---|---|---|
| Avengers #28 | Reading order | Thor #127 |
| Avengers #28 | Avengers | Avengers #30 |
