Featuring: Avengers
Release: November 10, 1966
Cover: January 1967
12 cents
Edited by: Stan (The Man) Lee
Scripted by: Roy (The Boy) Thomas
Drawn by: Don (The One) Heck
Lettered by: Sam (The Sham) Rosen
20 pages
| Previous | #651 | Next |
|---|---|---|
| Sgt. Fury #39 | Reading order | Avengers #37 |
| Avengers #35 | Avengers | Avengers #37 |
It was with a feeling of eagerness… almost of exhilaration… that I donned my crimson costume once again…
Stan the Man is by far Stan’s most common nickname at this point. I think this is our first time seeing Roy the Boy. I appreciate the rhyming scheme they have going on here, except… Don and One don’t rhyme. Maybe they do in the same way as eye and symmetry.
Who was the mystery figure who confronted Captain America at the end of last issue? It turns out to be the Scarlet Witch.
Or does it?
She’s come for help because Quicksilver is a captive of some aliens.
We learn a good amount about their backstory here. The Central European Balkan country they come from is called Transia.
Modern Balkan nations in our world include Serbia, Croatia, and Bulgaria. Presumably the nation of Transia is somewhere around there.
We already knew they had long ago been run out of their village for being mutants, and rescued by Magneto. The current Burgomeister of the village accepts responsibility and shows regret for his actions.
Or does he?
Hawkeye has nominated Black Widow for membership. Will she also have to fight the Hulk as a test?
Captain America notes they need a special meeting, and that they should focus on rescuing Quicksilver instead.
Goliath objects that she’d battled them alongside Swordsman and Power Man recently. He doesn’t want the Avengers to be “a rest home for reformed super-villains”.
But it already is. Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver. Plus Hulk. Heck, even Namor had been offered membership.
Quicksilver being captive of aliens seems urgent to me, but nothing is too urgent to prevent the Avengers from squabbling with each other.
They go to fight some aliens and rescue Quicksilver. It’s worth noting the team has three women. Scarlet With, Black Widow, Wasp. Now, Black Widow is not a member, just tagging along. And Scarlet Witch will turn out to be an Ultroid in disguise. But still… this is our first violation of the strict one-woman-per-team rule Marvel had held to. Scarlet Witch joined the Avengers after Wasp left, and Wasp returned after Scarlet Witch left.
The Fantastic Four have Invisible Girl. The X-Men have Marvel Girl. The Masters of Evil have Enchantress. The Frightful Four had Medusa. The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants had Scarlet Witch. Even going back to the 1940s, the All-Winners Squad had Miss America.
Perhaps it’s not a strict rule, if you count the Inhumans as a team, they include both Crystal and Medusa. The one early exception was the Circus of Crime, whose original incarnation included Teena and Princess Python. The next time they showed up, the women were absent. And in their third appearance, Princess Python was the only woman.
And now there seem to be three women with the Avengers. Which may be the new status quo for a minute. Perhaps the one-woman-per-team rule is officially over.
We see the best Hawkeye archery pose we’ve seen yet. Is his stance actually correct? My buddy Jim MacQuarrie would know.
The enemy is named Ixar, a living computer from the star Sirius. His plan is to have his android army called the Ultroids absorb the powers of the Avengers to use in a long-running intergalactic war against an enemy race.
It’s worth noting that Lucifer had conquered a race from the star Sirius. Is Lucifer the enemy of Ixar? We’ll learn more about Ixar’s origin next issue and consider the question in detail.
That wasn’t Wanda at all! An Ultroid was impersonating her to lure the Avengers into a trap! The real Scarlet Witch had been imprisoned along with her brother.
Did Hawkeye just call Cap Web-Head? Wrong hero.
The issue ends with the Avengers defeated by the Ultroids. We’ll read on.
Avengers Assemble!
Rating: ★★½, 48/100
Significance: ★★★☆☆
The most significant thing about this comic is probably learning the name of the country Transia.
Characters:
- “Wanda” Ultroid
- Captain America/Steve Rogers
- Quicksilver/Pietro
- Hawkeye
- Black Widow/Natasha
- Goliath/Henry Pym
- Wasp/Jan
- Ixar
- Scarlet Witch/Wanda
Story notes:
- Narrator notes Avengers have just returned from fight with Living Laser.
- Reference to Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver testing powers in X-Men #27.
- Pietro and Wanda had been staying in native village in the Balkans. The Burgomeister feels regret for the town denouncing them as demons and driving them from the valley.
- A flying saucer landed in the village; Pietro and Wanda investigated. Quicksilver entered the ship alone; before the door closed, he bid Wanda to get the Avengers. Wanda’s hex power had no effect on the craft. Scarlet Witch was unable to contact the Avengers on their special frequency; they had been in Latin America. At least, this is how “Wanda” related the story.
- Hawkeye nominates Black Widow for membership; that would need a special meeting, and they are too busy now.
- Hank notes it was weeks ago that Black Widow led Power Man and Swordsman against the Avengers.
- Goliath refers to his battle against Colossus from Tales to Astonish #58.
- Goliath and Hawkeye squabble.
- Avengers take two Aero-cars to Central Europe.
- “Wanda” senses invisible force field over village with newly developed radar sense.
- They can’t penetrate the force field, so “Wanda” leads them to a cave she played in as a child to go under it. They find an underground complex which controls the saucer.
- The Burgomeister is a prisoner, with the machine intelligence gathering information from him.
- Ixar is from the star Sirius and engaged in intergalactic warfare for centuries.
- Pietro and Wanda are prisoners of Ixar. The other Wanda was a fake. She does not have new radar powers. And perhaps never played in the cave as a child. This was an android made by Ixar, who now reveals her true form.
- More androids called Ultroids attack.
- While the Avengers battle the Ultroids, Wasp goes to the control panel to free Pietro and Wanda, but finds it booby-trapped.
- Black Widow watches from above as Hawkeye is taken prisoner. All the Avengers are now captives.
- Except Captain America escaped the trap.
- But ray-pistols take out Captain America and Black Widow. To be continued.
| Previous | #651 | Next |
|---|---|---|
| Sgt. Fury #39 | Reading order | Avengers #37 |
| Avengers #35 | Avengers | Avengers #37 |
