Celebrating Artist Rick Leonardi

Celebrating the birthday of artist Rick Leonardi (August 9, 1957) with his covers to the first Vision and Scarlet Witch mini-series...

...which resulted in a big revelation about Wanda's dad!

Vision and the Scarlet Witch #1 and #2 (November and December, 1982)

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Vision and the Scarlet Witch #3 and #4 (January and February, 1983)

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A Scarlet Witch Solo

Though Wanda had been around the Marvel Universe since the earliest days of the X-Men and the Avengers, her time was spent mostly as a team member.  

It took until 1994 and the end of the Avengers West Coast for the Scarlet Witch to get her first four issue mini-series, where she faced the Demons of Dark Design, Master Pandemonium and Lore (all under writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning and artists John Higgins and Mark McKenna).

Scarlet Witch #1 and #2 (January and February, 1994)

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Scarlet Witch #3 and #4 (March and April, 1994)

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Happy Mother's Day To Scarlet Witch

A throwback to a happier time in comics, when Vision and Scarlet Witch took a (12 issue mini-series) break from being Avengers and concentrated on their family....here, covers to Vision And Scarlet Witch #4 and #12 (January and September, 1986) with art by Richard Howell...

...all to wish you a Happy Mother's Day. 

Oh, and Wanda had twins here (but later, things got SO much more complicated...)

Spider-Man Teams With Vision And The Scarlet Witch

He's a density-altering synthezoid (synthetic android) created by Ultron, she's a reality-altering mutant who worked for Magneto in the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants...but, the Vision and the Scarlet Witch put aside their criminal pasts, and both went to work for the Avengers...

....and even fell in love!

Better still, each of them teamed up with the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man!

A Vision Of Trouble

Marvel Team-Up #5 (November, 1972) gave us a whole new Vision....well, not really, but it was a chance for the character to shine away from the Avengers, facing off against the Monstroid code-named Ballox (a Skrull robot, left over from the Kree-Skrull War) in the tale "A Passion Of The Mind" by writer Gerry Conway, penciller Gil Kane and inker Mike Esposito.

Vision was passing out on the street, and thankfully, Spidey was there to lend a hand....and found it was the Puppet Master (foe of the Fantastic Four and father of Alicia Masters) who was controlling the Monstroid (which was causing the problems the Vision was having).  Vision went and phased through the Puppet Master, ending his control of Ballox, and Vision left Spider-Man to deal with Puppet Master in the next issue (with some Thing helping him, and the Monstroid ending up in the hands of S.H.I.E.L.D.), as the Vision went to rejoin the Avengers.

Time Enough At Last

Spidey met up with Scarlet Witch in Marvel Team-Up #41 (January, 1976), but she wasn't quite herself then in the tale of "A Witch In Time!" by writer Bill Mantlo, penciller Sal Buscema and inkers Mike Esposito and Dave Hunt.

Cotton Mather took control of Scarlet Witch and had her come to Dr. Doom's castle in upstate New York (injuring Vision as she took a Quinjet from the Avengers to get there).  Wanda had enough of her own mind left to summon help, in the form of Spider-Man, but Spidey was no match for the Salem witch-hunter and his thrall...who used Dr. Doom's time machine to go back to his home in the 17th Century, with Spider-Man soon following to go rescue the Scarlet Witch from the time of the Salem witch trials (though not having much luck)....and soon a Vision appears (who also used the time machine)....leading into the next issue.....

With Marvel Team-Up #42 (February, 1976), readers get "A Vision Of Hate" as writer Bill Mantlo, penciller Sal Buscema and inkers Mike Esposito and Dave Hunt continue their story, with Vision working with Spider-Man to free the Scarlet Witch from the Salem witch trials, and facing off against Cotton Mather.

The heroes get separated, and Spidey ends up in prison, where he finds out more of the trials, and how Cotton Mather stirred up the controversy to use witches for his own ends.  Vision soon joins, and the two heroes go looking for Cotton Mather, finding out he is working for a sorcerous being calling itself the Dark Rider, who was powering Cotton to lure beings so that he may get more power...and while relating his plans, Vision attacks.

Then,  Fantastic Four foe, Dr. Doom appears!

This leads into the next issue, Marvel Team-Up #43 (March, 1976) with "A Past Gone Mad" by writer Bill Mantlo, penciller Sal Buscema and inkers Mike Esposito and Dave Hunt, and it was Dr. Doom who was mad (because all these people kept breaking into his castle and using his time machine!).

Sadly, this worked in the Dark Rider's favor, as he battled Dr. Doom, the Dark Rider also drew power from Doom, and the heroes (taking Dr. Doom along) had to continue the battle...

...with the Dark Rider eventually winning, or so it would seem....

At least until Marvel Team-Up #44 (April, 1976), with Moondragon (an Avenger with mental powers) who was having visions of the last three issues, walks away from Iron Man and gets pulled into 1692 by the Scarlet Witch to help in "Death In The Year Before Yesterday" by writer Bill Mantlo, penciller Sal Buscema and inkers Mike Esposito and Dave Hunt.

With the help of Moondragon, Vision, Scarlet Witch and Dr. Doom, Dark Rider is defeated and Cotton Mather has his mind broken.  Dr. Doom is nice enough to let the heroes use his time machine to get home, but Spidey lingers (sadly, not being able to save those accused of being witches from hanging....).

Spidey shouldn't have stayed behind by himself, as using Dr. Doom's time machine throws him into the alternate futures of Killraven and Deathlok in Marvel Team-Up #45 and #46  (1976), and returning for a team-up with the Thing in Marvel Two-In-One #17 and Marvel Team-Up #47 (both July, 1976), then into a lengthy team-up with Iron Man starting in Marvel Team-Up #48 (August, 1976)....but more on these in a later article.

I Found The Snake

All that time travel makes you want a simple story...but Marvel Team-Up Annual #5 (1982) isn't quite as simple as it seems, with Spider-Man not only working with the Scarlet Witch, but also the Thing, Dr. Strange and even former agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., Quasar...all dealing with the Serpent Crown in "Serpent Rising" by writer Mark Gruenwald, who also provided the pencils...and inked by Jim Mooney and Al Milgrom.

This was a chance to review the long history of the Serpent Crown as it passed through the ancient hands of Conan and Kull as they fought the Serpent Men, to more modern times with Namor the Sub-Mariner, his foe Krang, the Serpent Squad and even as Hellcat got her powers and faced the Squadron Supreme, as the Elder God Set tried to use the crown's power to take over the world by first taking control of Quasar at Project: PEGASUS (where it had been kept for safekeeping).  Thankfully, this awakening stirred Spider-Man, Dr. Strange, the Thing and the Scarlet Witch (who had all faced the Serpent Crown before) to prevent Set's plans of making everyone his serpent slaves!

All Together Now

Time for a tale that focused on only Vision and Spider-Man, and that is in Marvel Team-Up #129 (May, 1983), with Vision going to New Hampshire on his own, "And Much To Ponder Before The Dawn" by writer J. M. DeMatteis, penciller Kerry Gammill and inker Mike Esposito.

In New Hampshire, Vision encounters androids in the small town of Rain, but these androids seem familiar, as they look like famous authors like Mark Twain, Albert Einstein, William Shakespeare and Fiodor Dostoyevsky (all left behind by Fantastic Four foe, the Mad Thinker after a battle with Captain America and Team America in Captain America #269).  Peter Parker ends up in Rain as well, taking photos for the Daily Bugle with reporter Andrew Pauncholito, following up on a murder case where the murder looked like Fiodor Dostoyevsky.  Soon, the police arrive, and begin shooting the androids, until they are protected by their new enforcer and protector...the android, Alpha, who was bested by Vision and Spider-Man.

With Vision occupied, the Defenders' magical foe, Necrodamus, takes advantage, capturing the Scarlet Witch while disguised as Vision in Marvel Team-Up #130 (June, 1983) in "Till Death Do Us Part" by writer J. M. DeMatteis, penciller Sal Buscema and inker Mike Esposito.

The dispossessed spirit that is now Necrodamus wants the Vision's android body for his own, and promises to free Vision's wife if Vision lets the spirit in.  Meanwhile, Andrew Pauncholito has figured out Peter Parker is Spider-Man....and threatens to expose him to further his own career.  Vision gives up his body to save his wife, and Spidey and Scarlet Witch team up to exorcise Necrodamus, and eventually do...teaching Andrew a thing about humanity (inspiring him not to reveal Spidey's secret identity to the world...knowing what trouble that would cause the hero).

Sadly, Spidey's identity was later outed during Marvel's  Civil War (for a time), thanks to Iron Man.

As alluded to, Iron Man had many team-ups with Spider-Man, and they follow soon! 

Avengers Ultron Unleashed

Back in August of 1999, Marvel Comics put out a collection of important Ultron stories under this beautiful cover by John Buscema and George Perez...

...who happened to do the art on the stories reprinted within....


...and here's a little on those stories all about the robotic foe of the Avengers!

The Early Days of Ultron

Ultron premiered in Avengers #54 (July, 1968), but wasn't seen as Ultron until Avengers #55 (August, 1968), working with the Masters of Evil, but this issue collects Avengers #57 (October, 1968) and Avengers #58 (November, 1968; all issues by Roy Thomas and John Buscema).  Within these pages,  the Vision is introduced, tries to join the Avengers, and kill them as well.  Vision revolts against Ultron's control, and along the way, we learn the origin of Ultron, how he was created by Hank Pym (Ant-Man/Giant-Man/Goliath...and more?).

Ultron Returns Again

Ultron did return multiple times, most notably in Avengers #162 (August, 1977), where he created Jocasta, who was meant to be his bride, and the second selection of stories in this collection are Avengers #170 (April, 1978) and Avengers #171 (May, 1978; all these stories by Jim Shooter and George Perez).  Ultron, like Frankenstein's Monster, just wanted someone to share his lonely existence with, and tried to create his own mate, Jocasta.  This didn't work out so well for Ultron, as he was stopped by the Scarlet Witch and her unpredictable mutant hex power.

Even More Than Ultron?

If you are unable to find the Avengers: Ultron Unleashed, and don't quite want to spend money on getting the actual issues, you can also find the earlier issues in Marvel Masterworks: The Avengers #6 (reprinting Avengers #51-58, Avengers Annual #2 and X-Men #45...a whole wonder of great stories, including Ultron's first appearance, the second Masters of Evil and a case of the Avengers vs. the X-Men!).

The second batch of issues are included in Avengers: The Korvac Saga, which includes Avengers #167, #168, and #170-177, which include folks like the original futuristic Guardians of the Galaxy, the Collector, the Kree Captain Marvel and more Avengers than you can shake a stick at as the team fights for universe against Korvac.

Avengers Assemble!
 

Avengers History 203

We start here with more on Roy Thomas' original run on the Avengers, and his most epic tale to date!


A galactic tale, spanning the history of Marvel Comics....and involving the two major interstellar races that have had contact with Earth....


It's all been leading up to this!

Kree-Skrull War

Now, the Kree were an intergalactic empire that are the home race of the original Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell, that is), and the Skrulls are shape-changing foes of the Fantastic Four.


Both races have been on Earth before (the Kree, involved in creating the Inhumans, and the Skrulls facing off against the 3D-Man), and battling each other through the cosmos, but things were beginning to heat up.


From Avengers #89-97, the heroes got between the warring races, trying to prevent the factions from destroying the Earth in their battles.


This fight ranged over the Earth, and involved not only the Avengers, but the Fantastic Four, Annihilus, the Inhumans, Maximus, Carol Danvers (she who would be Ms. Marvel/Binary/Warbird), the Super-Skrull, Sentry #459, Ronan the Accuser, as well as Hank Pym briefly returning to his Ant-Man identity...

...and would only end with the Kree Supreme Intelligence working with Rick Jones on unleashing Earth’s heroic myths.

This battle had many ramifications, leading to the formation of the Illuminati and Marvel’s Civil War (and is covered all too briefly but will be referred back to as needed).   With all this, the war didn’t involve all the Avengers, but the god of war planned to rectify that.

Back to Earth

Olympian Ares ended up with the Black Knight’s Ebony Blade, and pursued his grudge against Hercules with help from the Enchantress in Avengers #98-100 (with art by Barry Windsor-Smith), where all members of the Avengers team reunited for the first time since their earliest days, including the usual hold-outs of the Hulk and the Swordsman, and Goliath/Clint Barton goes back to being Hawkeye in a costume he thankfully doesn’t keep for long!

Sadly, things did not end well for the Black Knight, as he kept the interest of the Enchantress.

This larger team didn’t stay together, and the usual team stuck around, and a few members checked up on the Hulk.

After that, the Ant-Man and Wasp worked on their own for a while in Marvel Feature, facing familiar foes, like Egghead and Whirlwind, as well as Para-Man and Doctor Nemesis!

Team Dynamics

Then, a new menace in Avengers #101, and a return of the Grim Reaper in Avengers #102, (August 1972, art by Rich Buckler) giving the Vision a choice involving his brother, Wonder Man, where he chose independence, and a battle with the Sentinels in Avengers #103-104, Roy Thomas ended his first run on the Avengers (with the Scarlet Witch facing the Sentinels in “This Is The Way The World Ends”), leaving behind quite a legacy of stories for future writers to pick up on.

That will end the current rundown of the Avengers roster and history, until we assemble again, where we can pick up with what Steve Englehart did to the Avengers…and beyond!

Avengers History 201

Welcome back to our continuing Avengers coverage!

Picking up where we left off, we start with Avengers #35 (December 1966, art by Don Heck) and, welcome aboard Roy Thomas, as the new writer of the team, taking over for Stan Lee. This is the beginning of a more advanced Avengers run, so we’ll be moving through a little more quickly, and taking advantage of the rich history of the team and how much more connected the Avengers universe becomes.

Carrying A Heavy Load

The team proceeded along as usual, finishing their battle against the Living Laser, and fighting the invading robots called the Ultroids (over the course of issues #36 and 37, until meeting up with a demi-god in Avengers #38 (March 1967) and this was a different demi-god than the mighty Thor, who had been a member!). Though, oddly enough, that’s where he got his start.

Yes, Hercules began his legendary journeys (for mighty Marvel) in Journey Into Mystery Annual #1 (1965, by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby), then the son of Zeus continued his battles with Thor in his own magazine for a time, as well as his own Olympian father, Zeus (himself no stranger to using lightning as a weapon, not unlike Thor), and the Olympian lord of the underworld, Pluto (as Hercules tried to take Hollywood and got into a bad contract that his friend Thor helped him out with…ironic, as Hercules wasn’t to be in the Thor movie, or the Avengers movie…), before becoming a guest of the Avengers after a battle with the Enchantress, who wasn’t above using strong men in attempts to defeat the team.

The Avengers kept this super-strong demi-god busy for a while (fighting the Hulk in Tales To Astonish #79, Fantastic Four foes like the Mad Thinker in #39, Sub-Mariner in #40, Diablo and the Dragon Man in #41 and 42, meeting Black Widow along the way, who was having commitment issues with Hawkeye and the Red Guardian – a Russian version of Captain America - and she didn’t join the Avengers at this time in #43 and 44.

The Avengers faced a team of Avengers villains including former Avenger, the Swordsman, and the Enchantress and her two other strong men, Power Man and the Executioner, in their first Annual) before finally letting him join the team in Avengers #45 (October 1967, drawn by Don Heck, while facing the Super-Adaptoid, who had previously only menaced Captain America in Tales of Suspense). The team deals with Magneto in Avengers #47 and 49, and a few other problems like the Black Knight in Avengers #48 as well.

Hercules didn’t stick around long, leaving soon after a confrontation with the titan Typhon in Avengers #50 (March 1968, drawn by John Buscema, and Typhon first appeared in Avengers #49, also by John, though not on the cover) …and disappeared for a while after that as well. Over the years, Hercules would wander back to the team (usually to fight an Olympian menace like Ares, Herc’s half-brother and the god of war) and leave the Avengers for a time, meet up with Thor and help the son of Odin, co-founded the Champions (with Black Widow, Ghost Rider, Angel and Iceman) to combat Pluto, and just be the great Greek almost-god that he was living the life in Hollywood, and even recently became strong enough to carry his own title, the Incredible Hercules! True, Hercules has had difficulties over the years, but he’s always fought back!

African Royalty

But, with Hercules leaving, the team needed a new member, and were lucky enough to find one in the acrobatic Black Panther. T’Challa started out in Fantastic Four #52 (July 1966, by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby), and he was the chieftain of the land of Wakanda, a technologically advanced nation in Africa that controls the world’s supply of vibranium (a metal which absorbs vibrations). After testing himself against the FF, they aid him in his battle with Ulysses Klaw, the man who killed T’Chaka, the Panther’s father. T’Challa defeats Klaw, who returns as a being of sound thanks to his mechanical hand in Fantastic Four #56. (November 1966, by Lee and Kirby). After aiding the Fantastic Four and the Inhumans in a battle with the emotion-manipulating Psycho Man in Fantastic Four Annual #5, (November 1967, by Lee and Kirby) Black Panther goes to meet Captain America in Tales of Suspense #97-99 (1968) and Captain America #100 (April 1968, all by Lee and Kirby), as together, they battle the forces of Baron Zemo.

When the king and the super-soldier defeat the faux Zemo, Cap suggests that the Avengers take Black Panther as a member in Avengers #51 (April 1968, art by John Buscema) and T’Challa joins the team in Avengers #52 (May 1968, drawn by John Buscema) where the team needs the help against the Grim Reaper – a foe just introduced, but with ties to the Avengers’ past, he’s the brother of Simon Williams/Wonder Man (whom the Avengers haven’t dealt with since his “death” at the hands of the Masters of Evil), who holds the Avengers responsible for Wonder Man’s death. The Grim Reaper is the first of many villains that are introduced at this time that will come back to be a constant menace to the Avengers, no matter what their membership.

After a quick battle with the X-Men in X-Men #45 and Avengers #53, the new Avengers face a new Masters of Evil in Avengers #54-55, that includes some of the original members like the Melter and Radioactive Man, plus Black Panther foe Klaw and Whirlwind (formerly the Giant-Man & Wasp foe, the Human Top, who changed his name to Whirlwind when he returned in Avengers #46 to combat Goliath), a new Black Knight (Dane Whitman, the nephew of Nathan Garrett of the original Masters of Evil, who died after sustaining injuries fighting Iron Man…and as the Avengers found out in Avengers #48, was not villainous) and mystery villain, the Crimson Cowl, who is really the robotic Ultron (making his first appearance in Avengers #54, July, 1968 drawn by John Buscema). Ultron is like the Energizer Bunny, he just keeps going!

The coming of Ultron…leads into the induction of the next two Avengers, and their creation as well, which the team deals with after getting a little more information on Cap’s past and how he came to be frozen in Avengers #56, (September 1968, art by John Buscema) and dealing with the time-traveling Scarlet Centurion (yes, he’s an alternate Kang too and comes back as a menace to another alternate world) and alternate versions the early Avengers in Avengers Annual #2 (1968). This is an early example of the Avengers traveling to alternate dimensions and through time…something they will continue to do, even recruiting from those places…and time is something that will reveal more about the next Avenger as well....and we'll have more on them soon!

Though Black Panther didn't leave the Avengers for a while, it take a little time for him to get his own series, first in Jungle Action (from issues #5 to #24), then his first own series that lasted 15 issues from January, 1977 to May, 1979 (finally ending in Marvel Premiere #51 to #53), and back to working with the Fantastic Four, and having a few mini-series, and then a 62 issue series from November, 1998 to September, 2003 and another regular series lasting 41 issues from April, 2005 to November, 2008 that involves him with the X-Men and Fantastic Four as well as the Avengers and the Civil War! 

Avengers History 102

We’re back with more Avengers history! The charter members were covered before, and this time, we look at the first Avenger addition…Captain America, and the rest of his kooky quartet (Hawkeye, the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver…and a little more as well)!


You’ve seen comics advertise themselves as being the story after which you’ve read it, nothing will be the same….but, with Avengers #4 (March 1964), this was most definitely the case. The founding Avengers were looking for the Hulk and the Sub-Mariner (due to events in Avengers #3, covered last time), and Namor himself, while fleeing the team…stumbled across a frozen man worshiped by Eskimos, and freed the ice statue to land in warmer waters…to be found by the Avengers! That man was the hero of World War II…Steve Rogers, a.k.a Captain America!

A Hero Returns

After a little confusion, as he had been in the ice flow since April of 1945, Cap was welcomed by the team (who he saved from an alien menace, with some help from Rick Jones), and became a team member in this story by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. This issue (along with Fantastic Four #4, which reintroduced the Sub-Mariner, added the Timely Comics/Atlas Comics history to the young Marvel Comics…though this would not be explored until later…but, we’ll touch on it a little as it affects the Avengers).

Captain America (along with his partner Bucky, and seemingly eternal foe, the Red Skull), all premiered in Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941) by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, where Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes began their fight against the evil Axis of World War II. Steve Rogers had been a young man not quite fit enough to serve in the armed forces, but volunteered for an experimental Super-Soldier Serum with Dr. Erskine that would allow him to be the epitome of the fighting soldier. Cap, along with young Bucky, became an elite force fighting the enemy (Cap getting his round Vibranium-Adamantium shield soon after this first appearance, then meeting up with the original android Human Torch and his young partner, Toro and the aquatic Sub-Mariner and others to fight the Nazi menace; and these Invaders were successful).

But, because you ask…why didn’t the Sub-Mariner recognize Cap? And, wasn’t there a Captain America around after World War II? Well, that’s a little advanced, but the Invaders didn’t really come into existence until the 1970s with stories set in World War II, facing foes like the vampiric Baron Blood and the Super-Axis, and the lack of memories was later explained by Sub-Mariner’s massive memory loss that had him homeless for a time until found by the Fantastic Four’s Human Torch and the trauma of Steve Rogers awakening, and those later Timely Comics were explained away as being different people being Captain America and Bucky (who also worked with the Human Torch, Toro and the Sub-Mariner, as well as the Whizzer and Miss America in the All-Winners Squad)…even though Steve Rogers and James Barnes disappeared, the President decided the USA still needed a Captain America and Bucky, and so recruited replacements, a theme that would be explored many times as well).

Avengers #4 also introduced one of Captain America’s most vile villains, Baron Zemo, but we didn’t see him until Avengers #6 (Zemo was the man responsible for the rocket launch that ended up getting Cap caught in the ice…and, to all the world, the death of Bucky; and he had an earlier WWII appearance in Sgt. Fury #8, both dated July 1964). Cap had to deal with others from the World War II era as well…both friends and foes, over the years, including the various members of the homefront heroes – the Liberty Legion (older Timely characters whose 1940s adventures together were started in the 1970s), Nick Fury and the rest of his Howling Commandos (WWII characters whose combat classics started in 1963, and Nick Fury took control of the counter-terrorist group S.H.I.E.L.D. in Strange Tales) , and villains like Baron Von Strucker, the Hate-Monger and Arnim Zola, as well as Third Reich inspired menaces such as Hydra and A.I.M., proving that, even though Captain America had cooled his heels for a time, evil was still active!

Cap and the Avengers didn’t have much of a break, as the team headed over to help the Fantastic Four against the Hulk in Fantastic Four #25 & 26 (April & May 1964, by Lee & Kirby), then came back to their own title for Avengers #5 (May 1964) to fight the Lava Men, a race that lived under the Earth whom Thor had fought before. And, the individual team members still continued to face menaces on their own in their own titles, and other events continued to transpire across the Marvel Universe as well which would change the lives of the Avengers…

Then, Cap’s foe, Baron Heinrich Zemo returned in Avengers #6 (July 1964), and changed the course of Avengers history, bringing with him Iron Man foe-the Melter, Thor villain-the Radioactive Man and Giant-Man menace-the Black Knight, assembled as the Masters of Evil! This team would add on more members, starting with Avengers #7 (August 1964), when Asgardians Enchantress and the Executioner joined. This team continued to menace the Avengers, resulting in the creation of Wonder Man (a future Avenger, and the first member to be introduced in the Avengers) in Avengers #9 (October 1964), working with time-traveling villain Immortus in Avengers #10 (November 1964), and Captain America finally ending Baron Zemo’s life (though Zemo had brought about his own end in the jungles of South America, as Cap would have brought him to justice) in Avengers #15 (April 1965).

The Avengers also faced other foes, starting in September 1964, with the time-traveling Kang in Avengers #8 (another time traveller? And, this one was once Rama-Tut, who faced the Fantastic Four, who decided on an armored identity after meeting Dr. Doom…surely his history couldn’t get more complex…he couldn’t be related to Immortus or a member of the Fantastic Four, could he?), who returned for Avengers #11 (December 1964); Fantastic Four foes Red Ghost and the Mole Man in Avengers #12 (January 1965); head of the Maggia family of organized crime Count Nefaria in Avengers #13 (February 1965); and the alien Kallusians in Avengers #14 (March 1965). With the events of Avengers #15…the team was getting exhausted (as was the behind the scenes team, artist Jack Kirby had not been doing all the issue, Don Heck was sometimes the artist)…and ready for new members, as the members began to battle each other on occasion!

Cap's Kooky Quartet

More new members came with Avengers #16 (May 1965) in what was the biggest Avengers membership shake-up of the time. Thor, Iron Man, Giant-Man and the Wasp all wanted to get back to their own lives (and titles…though sadly, Giant-Man and the Wasp weren’t to have Tales To Astonish as a home for much longer…), and the team added new members…Quicksilver, the Scarlet Witch and Hawkeye?


But…weren’t they all villains?

And, how would this team do against the level of threats the Avengers usually face?
Well, the answers are coming….first, though a few answers about of this team’s past!

Amazing Archer

First up is the amazing archer, Hawkeye. Hawkeye first slung his bow in Tales of Suspense #57 (in September, 1964, and, with Black Widow making her first Avengers appearance in Avengers #16, but still not joining…mostly because she was injured, and taken away, leaving Hawkeye on his own). Clint Barton had learned his trade in the circus, and wanted to be a hero, but a misunderstanding helped him miss the mark…and branded him a villain for a time, battling Iron Man under the manipulations of the Black Widow, whom he fell in love with (herself caught in a web of intrigue that would take her years to escape…with some help from Nick Fury and the Avengers!).

Still, after crossing paths with the armored Avenger (and a certain wall-crawler as well) and a little help from the Avengers’ butler, Edwin Jarvis, Hawkeye became the second new member of the Avengers, having his crimes cleared! (How ironic, since later, Hawkeye, on a break from the Avengers, worked with the Defenders, who were composed of the Hulk, Silver Surfer and Sub-Mariner – who were thought of menaces; and later, as leader of the Thunderbolts, a team whose members also tried to get past troubled pasts!). Hawkeye would leave the team to strike out on his own over the years, change to other identities, but always returned, and even led their California team, the West Coast Avengers, for a time.

Merry Mutants

Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch started in X-Men #4 (March 1964, by Lee & Kirby…and, do you see four as an important number to this creative duo?) as members of Magneto’s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants (along with the bestial Toad and aloof Mastermind). The brother and sister were mutants on the run (easier for him, with his speed powers, but not as easier for her, with a vague “hex-power” that altered probability…and an affinity for magic).

Pietro and Wanda Maximoff were gypsy orphans, saved from an angry mob by Magneto, and forced to join his Brotherhood against their wishes. The mutant twins fought the X-Men and others (and their own teammates) while struggling to find a place in a world that feared them, lacking any parental support (and, oh, how complicated their past was!). After the alien Stranger took Magneto out of the picture and the Brotherhood disbanded for a time, they were looking for a home…one that they thought the Avengers, who had just inducted Hawkeye, could provide! (and, boy, did the twins future get complicated, finding out their real parentage, as well as a marriage to an android for Wanda, and one to an Inhuman for Pietro! It seems there is no escaping family…).

The other Avengers then left the team…Thor, to fight the Absorbing Man and be involved in a trial of the gods against his brother, Loki, in Journey Into Mystery #114-116, Iron Man to face Avengers’ foe, Count Nefaria, in Tales of Suspense #67, and Giant-Man and the Wasp to face the Hidden Man in Tales To Astonish #67 (though their schedule would free up soon!).

Avengers Get Busy

The new team tried to bring the Hulk back in Avengers #17 (in June 1965, with little success, he was busy in Tales To Astonish #69, fighting the Leader and reclaiming Rick Jones as his partner, and, ironically, this was the last issue of the Giant-Man and Wasp feature as well), and instead the team faced the Minotaur, then faced Major Hoy and the Commissar in Avengers #18 (July 1965), and tried for a new member…the Swordsman (after pretty much everyone mentioned above attended the wedding of Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Girl in Fantastic Four Annual #3).

Swinging Swords

Swordsman (Jacques DuQuesne) arrived to take a shot at the Avengers (inspired by Hawkeye to don a heroic persona, as it was revealed that Swordsman was responsible for trouble at the circus Clint Barton had worked at, and Jacques had helped trained the archer…though not in archery). The sword-welding rouge first appeared in in Avengers #19 (August 1965), and joined the team briefly in Avengers #20 (September 1965) as a plot of the Mandarin’s to kill the team. Ironically, Jacques decided not to go though with the plan, but like Hawkeye, had been accused of the wrong-doing…and thus had to escape the team in disgrace, coming back to face the team and its members as a villain again and again with his trick sword that the Mandarin had provided him (as his history with the Avengers isn’t over yet!).

The Enchantress returned to face the team, bringing a new strongman, Power Man (Erik Josten, a former henchman who had been created by the same process Zemo used to create Wonder Man…and has no relation to future Avenger Luke Cage…who eventually takes his name, but Erik returns the favor and takes an Avenger’s!). Power Man premiered with Avengers #21 (in October 1965, and, worked with the Hulk foes, the Circus of Crime, in Avengers #22, November 1965). Kang faces the group in Avengers #23-24 (December 1965-January 1966), and that leads into a battle with Dr. Doom in Avengers #25 (February 1966), tying into the events of the rest of the Marvel Universe and establishing the Avengers as a force to be reckoned with, proving the worth of the new group!

The Wasp returned to the title in Avengers #26 (in March 1966, with Namor foe, Attuma, and Human Torch foe, the Beetle), and her friend Hank Pym followed along (both from the Sub-Mariner stories from Tales To Astonish #77 and #78 of 1966), changing his name from Giant-Man to Goliath, as they both rejoined the team in Avengers #28 (for May, 1966, just in time to face the new menace of the Collector, while the former Avengers kept busy in their own titles). The Collector, as well as Attuma and the Beetle, would return, separately, to cause trouble for the team….

Power Man returns with the Swordsman and Black Widow in June of 1966 with Avengers #29, and the team faces the Keeper of the Flame in Avengers #30-31 (July-August 1966), and then the villainous group of the Sons of the Serpent (as well as Hank Pym’s old friend, Bill Foster) in Avengers #32-33 (September-October 1966), deals with Spider-Man trying to be a member by sending him to check on the Hulk (but not joining yet in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #3)...

...and with Avengers #34, cover-dated November 1966, faced the new villain of the Living Laser (who can manipulate light) and bids farewell to writer Stan Lee, as, starting with Avengers #35 (December, 1966), Roy Thomas takes on the writing duties.

With that, I’ll bid you farewell for a time, until we can pick up with more Avengers history!