Continuing our coverage of the
Roy Thomas' years of Avengers chronicles, with Roy's biggest contributions to the team, the Vision and Ultron!
The
Vision, a synthozoid (synthetic android) who can control his own
density and fires a solar beam through a jewel on his forehead, meets
the team in his first appearance of
Avengers #57 (October
1968 art by John Buscema), and after a quick fight with the Avengers,
reveals that Ultron built him to destroy them, but instead he helps the
group to defeat Ultron.
Visions Of Things To Come
Vision joins the team in
Avengers #58, (November 1968, drawn by
John Buscema),
where it is revealed that the Vision possesses the brain patterns of
the supposedly dead Wonder Man (given to him by the evil Ultron), and
that Hank Pym is the creator of Ultron! (Not the least of the secrets
concerning the Vision, Wonder Man and Ultron, but the ones available to
the Avengers at this time…).
The team plans to confront Goliath, but has to deal with Yellowjacket in
Avengers #59, (December 1968, art by
John Buscema)
and Yellowjacket claims to have killed Goliath, and wants to be a
member of the Avengers. Strangely, the team accepts this, and the Wasp
even marries Yellowjacket in
Avengers #60 (all the while fighting the Ringmaster and his Circus of Crime in January 1969 drawn by
John Buscema)!
Janet does this because she knows Yellowjacket is Hank Pym (
aka Goliath)! Hank explains away his temporary insanity (and it is later
revealed that the team was playing along with Hank to help him…still,
when he returns to the team after a honeymoon with the Wasp, he keeps
the identity of the Yellowjacket, which foreshadows the many identity
problems that Hank Pym will have in the future. Some of the guests
at the wedding who would be Avengers in the future made their first
appearance in the Avengers title, including the Inhuman elemental
Crystal, man without fear Daredevil and sorcerer supreme Dr. Strange
(who also sticks around to help the newer Black Knight…but more on him
in a bit).
New Big Man In Town
Change is afoot, as Hawkeye deals with a broken bowstring by adopting
the identity of Goliath to save the Black Widow from the Puppet Master,
Mad Thinker and old Ant-Man/Giant-Man foe,
Egghead in
Avengers #63, (April 1969, art by
Gene Colan)
where Clint Barton also keeps this new look and power as the new giant
on the Avengers...
...but still has to deal with old problems (like the
Swordsman, Ultron and Kang) as well as new (like the alien gaming Grandmaster and his distinguished creations,
the Squadron Sinister – a team of villains composed of oddly familiar
looking people – a strong flying alien Hyperion, speedster Whizzer and
power-beam welding Dr. Spectrum and a dark knighted Nighthawk) who fight
the Avengers over the period of
Avengers #69-70, both drawn by
Sal Buscema.
Enter A Dark Knight
With
the problems of knights and swords, the Avengers take a new recruit as
well, making the new Black Knight (Dane Whitman) an Avenger in
Avengers #71.
But, a little history on the Black Knight…Nathan Garrett was the Black
Knight who was a Giant-Man foe in the Masters of Evil, and then, after a
confrontation with Iron Man, had been fatally wounded. Garrett let his
nephew know a little of the history of the Black Knight, and Dane tried
to help the Avengers against Magneto, first as himself in
Avengers #47, (December, 1967, art by
John Buscema) then taking on the identity of the Black Knight in
Avengers #48 (January 1968, art by
George Tuska).
Even if the Avengers knew Dane wasn’t a villain like his uncle, the
world didn’t, and the Crimson Cowl tried to recruit him to his new
Masters of Evil, which Dane helped to defeat as the Black Knight.
It
is later revealed that the Black Knight is
a long, noble tradition
dating back through a lineage to the 12th century, defending the land
against invaders, and after an encounter with the ghost of Sir Percy of
Scandia (the original Black Knight, in
Marvel Super-Heroes #17, November, 1968 by
Roy Thomas and
Howard Purcell),
he proved worthy to draw the Ebony Blade (his own version of Excalibur)
and gained that as a weapon, whose enchantments allowed him to help the
Avengers (and Dr. Strange) in
Avengers #61 (February 1969, art by
John Buscema)
against Asgardian villains Surtur and Ymir, and returned to aid the
team in the battle of Kang and the Grandmaster, and led to the team
taking him on in
Avengers #71 (December, 1969, art by
Sal Buscema,
and, is it ironic that the team ends up in World War II again, and
meets an early Captain America, the android Human Torch and Sub-Mariner,
right when they are forming the Invaders? Cap deals with the Black
Panther as they’ve met before though not yet, and Yellowjacket might be
angry with Sub-Mariner since Namor took his Giant-Man spot in
Tales To Astonish, but what is the relationship between Vision and the Human Torch?).
Still, the Avengers return home to more foes, facing the Zodiac (a
team of technology enhanced mobsters based on astrological signs)
finding out that Nick Fury hadn’t been killed by Scorpio, and meeting up
with the Kree Captain Marvel for the first time, as well as reencountering Rick Jones in
Avengers #72 (January 1970, art by
Sal Buscema). The team then meet an alternate world barbarian named of Arkon from Polemachus (premiering in
Avengers #75, drawn by
John Buscema
for April 1970) who was seduced by the Enchantress, and she also took
an interest in the Black Knight – whose Ebony Blade was cursed, making
him more violent and prone to rage). The eventual end of this encounter
with Arkon (in
Avengers #84, January, 1971, art by
John Buscema) left Black Knight without his blade for a time, so he left the team for a time.
A new group of villains came into being to face the Avengers but its members were old foes.
They were called the Lethal Legion, and they first attacked the Avengers with
Avengers #78 (July, 1970, with art by
Sal Buscema),
and their roster included the
Swordsman, Power Man, the Living Laser,
the Grim Reaper, and the Man-Ape (a foe of the Black Panther, who first
appeared in
Avengers #62, March, 1969, with art by
John Buscema).
The Avengers stopped them in
Avengers #79 (August 1970, drawn by
John Buscema).
Plenty of Guests
The past comes alive again, as there is yet another legacy hero introduced, the current version of the Red Wolf, in
Avengers #80. (September 1970, art by
John Buscema).
With the help of Daredevil, they face the Zodiac again in
Avengers #81-82.
The
women get into the team-building act as the Valkyrie is introduced, and
tries to form the Lady Liberators with the Wasp, the Scarlet Witch, the
former Frightful Four member Inhuman Medusa, and still not Avenger
Black Widow which all happens in
Avengers #83 (December 1970, art by
John Buscema). All this doesn’t happen as it’s a plot by the Enchantress, which leads to her fleeing to Arkon’s realm for a time.
With
Avengers #85-86,
we found out why the Squadron Sinister were so familiar…they were based
on the Squadron Supreme…heroes from an alternate Earth that included
the high-flying American Eagle, beam-welding Dr. Spectrum, their own
archer named Hawkeye, his girl friend with a sonic cry Lady Lark,
super-strong Hyperion, small scientist Tom Thumb, brooding dark
crime-fighter Nighthawk and speedster the Whizzer. The team had to stop
the evil Brain-Child from destroying their Earth. This sets the stage
for a whole future of crisis between the Marvel Earth and the world of
the Squadron Supreme, and also is where the Avengers will prepare for
one of their larger battles…after a brief meeting
with the Hulk in
Avengers #88 (that also featured future Avenger and partner to Captain America, the high-flying Falcon, in his first Avengers appearance).
All this leading up to the most important battle in the lives of the Avengers (as well as everyone on Earth....coming soon!).
