Avengers Ladies by Paulo Siqueira

1981: The Jocasta's On You part III: Membership Drive Away

By Jef Willemsen (clarmindcontrol.blogspot.com)

In the third part of our Jocasta retrospective, everyone's overlooked mechanoid finally has her day. After they treated her like a prop for what seemed like forever, the Avengers finally asked Jocasta to join them as a full fledged member. There's no I in team... but apparently, there's no J, O, C, S, T or A either... Which is odd, cos those last two are on full display.

"Lady, we've had a tendency to overlook you in the past (...) But that's about to change"

In the closing pages of Avengers I#196, after she beat the Taskmaster all by herself, Captain America and the others finally realize Jocasta is quite the assett and offer her membership. Which, of course, is all the metallic maven longed for. For a while, everything seemed to be moving in that direction... Case in point, this scene from Avengers I#197 which hinted that her induction process was little more than a formality...

"I think it's an excellent idea, in fact... I'll bring it up at the next regular business meeting"

Now, other than the rather curious fact that Jocasta had seemingly forgotten she was already promised membership an issue earlier... Keep in mind that the Avengers hold regular meetings every week to discuss team business like new members. So, it shouldn't take more than seven days for her to be elected the latest member of Earth's mightiest. Overjoyed, she ran off to tell the others, like her reluctant confidant Vision who was right in the middle of using his superpowers for the betterment of all mankind...

"I appreciate you heating the percolator, master Vision...
Iron Man does so like his Colombian Excelso"

In his classic passive agressive approach to her, Vision gave Jocasta the coldest of shoulders. But hey, within a week they'd be teammates, right? Well... After this issue they fought Red Ronin for the better part of a day (#198 & #199). Then, they came back home to deal with Ms. Marvel's freak pregnancy and subsequent fall out in Avengers I#200 which took 48 hours give or take. The team spent at least a day or so cleaning up the mess left behind by Carol's baby (daddy) Markus Immortus in #201, which saw Jocasta doing little more than making a sammich... Then, in #202, a mind controlled Iron Man rebuilt Ultron and took care of Jocasta too.

"... 'Casta's here in the lab, lookin' like her brain's been scrambled, poached an' pan-fried"

She turned out to be fine in #203, thanks to Jarvis' first aid. Then, another 2 days passed until the Avengers finally had a weekly meeting in the opening pages of #204. However, before Captain America could start the meeting, he spotted an urgent request for aid that led the Avengers to rush out and stop the Yellow Claw from sterilizing mankind as part of his latest master plan. 

Moving right along to #206 which was clearly meant as a fill-in and had the Avengers facing the threat of Pyron the Thermal Man... By now, over a week had passed, no one had even bothered to make sure Jocasta got inducted. But that still didn't stop her from once again risking her life and, indirectly, proving herself the most valuable member of the team.

"Our mechanical maiden is melting!"

Even though the heat was melting her alive, Jocasta refused to retreat. Despite her protests, Wonder Man carried Jocasta out of the combat zone. In the end, the threat of Pyron was dealt with and even though Jocasta sustained serious injuries in the line of fire (literally) that would have gotten her a purple heart, no one ever brought up her impending membership. Jocasta also appeared in two more fill-in issues, #207 and #208, that featured the equally forgettable threats of Shadow Lord and Berserker. The Jocasta less #209, written by J.M. DeMatteis who pretty much turned it into a Defenders story featuring Beast, Wonder Man and the Scarlet Witch.

Next up was Avengers Annual I#10, the infamous issue in which Carol Danvers returned to chew the Avengers out for just letting her go off to Limbo with Markus, the man she gave birth to back in #200... The same man who cheerfully admitted to mentally manipulating her to fall for him. But before Carol had her say, the Avengers were attacked by Mystique and her Brotherhood of Mutants. The attack actually prevented one of the Avengers' weekly meetings...

If only Rogue hadn't attacked and taken out Captain America and Iron Man before the meeting. Who knows, maybe Jocasta would have been inducted then. Still, it is interesting to note that even Michael Golden, by no means the regular artist on Avengers, seemed to instinctly sense Jocasta's place on the team. While outspoken, flamboyant members like Wonder Man and Beast were featured in the foreground and established, old friends Hawkeye, Vision and Wanda were comfortably in the middle shooting the breeze, Jocasta was placed way in the back... Almost as if she was part of the decor. Even Jarvis has more of a stage presence... and he's the one serving tea and cakes.

But even though she continued to be denied something she was promised, Jocasta remained a stalwart and dependable ally when the Avengers and the visiting Spider-Woman took the battle to the Brotherhood. 

"That pit won't hold him long."

Moving right along to #210... It's now been 14 months since #196 announced Jocasta's imminent induction. The lady's been patiently waiting, living at the mansion and helping out whenever she could, often risking life and limb in the process. So, you'd think that by now she'd be considered an essential part of the team, whether or not she'd been officially admitted. Heck, the likes of Mantis and Captain Marvel never signed on as members, but were called on at every other turn. However, when the Avengers assembled in the opening pages of #210 to deal with a number of systematic, freak weather incidents she wasn't even notified or missed. Through sheer coincidence she learned of the current crisis and decided to go down to the meeting room.

"I was not summoned, and only now learned that a meeting had taken place from Jarvis, our butler"

Even though Thor attempted to assuage the robot's concerns about feeling different from the others, he did very little to actually include her in the current mission. In essence, all he does is tell her to don't feel too bad about being left out... before leaving her out altogether. Still, Jocasta is smart and capable enough to determine that the threat the Avengers are facing, the self styled Weathermen, are actually a bunch of meteorologists, mind controlled by the sentient weather satellite Samarobryn orbiting Earth. Jocasta flies a Quinjet there to confront the malovelent space station.

"The fact that I am a machine does not make me less than human!"

Jocasta keeps Samarobryn distracted, allowing the Avengers the opportunity to confront and defeat the Weathermen. Discovering their link to an orbital platform, Thor fires bolts of lightning to deal with the menace, which causes Samarobyrn to go dark. Figuring the threat has passed, Jocasta returns to the mansion where she eventually encounters her neglectful comrades in arms.

"Again, Jocasta, we are sorry that you were overlooked when Cap sent out that emergency alert"

... Yeah, especially since it was her one-robot stand that immobilized the Weathermen long enough for Thor to strike at Samarobryn. But hey, the Avengers were finally ready to officially make her a member... And it almost would have happened, if not for the fact Jim Shooter (Jocasta's creator!) was returning as regular Avengers scribe in #211, forcing fill in writer Bill Mantlo to have Cap and Iron Man announce that next issue "the old order changeth!"

The 1980s Shooter era Avengers is much maligned, a fact covered extensively on this blog in years past. In a nutshell, Captain America out of nowhere decided that there was only room for six Avengers, allowing the active membership until the end of the day to decide whether they wanted to stay or not. Oddly enough, it led to a lot of soul searching on Jocasta's part, even though she wasn't even a full member. Though she probably should know better by now, she turned to the Vision for advice...

"I feel like an outsider here... And yet, I have nowhere else to go! You've learned to fit in, even though you're a robot, as I am. Please... help me to..."

Vision's response to Jocasta's obvious distress is enough to turn not just a synthezoid's face red: "I am a synthezoid, not a robot! As such, I am a perfect meld of computer micro-circuitry and living, synthetic flesh! In all ways, I am a fully functional man! I have a wife... Who needs me now! I cannot help you with your dilemma." It's hard not to feel disgusted while reading this. Yes, there *is* a noteworthy difference between synthezoids and robots. In spite of Vision's continued, self superior denial, the fact remains they share more similarities than differences. Which is something Jocasta finally caught wise to as well when she was left alone in a corridor.

"Why then, am I less than you? Is it because you are loved... And I am alone?
Ultron... loved me..."

Jocasta's morose musings were interrupted by a veritable mob of superheroes who besieged Avengers Mansion, eager to apply for membership. After the likes of Moon Knight, Angel, Iceman, Tigra and Dazzler had barged in for impromptu auditions no one quite felt at ease with, it was Jocasta (who else?) to find out the true culprit behind these cattle calls.

"Avengers! Look! My cybernetic senses detect a sudden presence there!"

Yes, it turned out the self-important Moondragon had decided she'd be best suited to help the Avengers determine their latest line up. When the heroes chased her off, most of the involuntary applicants left as well. Only Tigra decided she wanted to stay, while long time members Beast, Vision, Scarlet Witch and Wonder Man decided to quit.

You'd think that would leave plenty of room for someone, anyone, to invite Jocasta to move on up...  Heck, you'd assume that a heuristically inclined cybernetic lifeform would have figured out by now that she had to speak up for herself. Alas, no... she kept quiet when the new team was decided on before her very eyes: Cap, Thor and Iron Man remained on to welcome back their co-founders Wasp and Yellowjacket along with Tigra to fulfill the newly authorized six member mandate. And this is how Jocasta responded...

"Maybe I'll find someplace where I am wanted! Maybe I'l find someone who... loves me!"

And with that, Jocasta lept out of the Avengers' lives... Finally figuring that enough is too much, she struck out on her own. But, in a twist of fate befalling her Greek tragedy inspired codename... If only she'd stuck around for five minutes more...

"I hope she comes back!"

The Avengers had planned to grant her "special substitute Avenger status", allowing her to reside at the mansion so she could be constantly available to pinch hit for members who were unavailable. So... Essentially, after not keeping their promise of full membership for heaven knows how many weeks, the Avengers are dumbstruck when Jocasta left, especially when they were ready to grant her the gift of... well, being allowed to do exactly what she was doing the minute she first associated with the team back in late 1978! 

However, life without the Avengers proved shortlived for our robotic heroine as we'll see in part IV: "Jocasta of Arc"

1980: Marvel's Two Writing One Part III: Kowtowing Counter Earth

By Jef Willemsen (clarmindcontrol.blogspot.com)

When we last left Benjamin J. Grimm, he was chasing after his girlfriend Alicia Masters who had joined Moondragon and 1980's sensational character find Her in a search for the grave of Adam Warlock. The deceased hero's final resting place was on Counter Earth... but the planet had disappeared... and its creator the High Evolutionary was dead. Now what?

After an extended fight scene between the Thing, Starhawk, Her and Moondragon Alicia finally managed to calm everyone down. With a little help from Moondragon, Her proved she really was able to revive the dead when she reunited the High Evolutionary's mind with his body.

One fancy lightshow later and the human once known as Herbert Edgar Wyndham was a-okay... But pretty peeved when he discovered someone had stolen his planet...

It doesn't take long for Wyndham to discover a faint energy trail that would undoubtedly lead him to whoever nabbed his world. And, with no time to drop Alicia, Ben or the others off, the Evolutionary fired up the engines of his mobile moonbase and gave chase... which leads to the final chapter of this space od(d)-essy: Marvel Two In One # 63 in which we discover who made off with Counter-Earth in an impressive recap/splash page....

Take a minute to read up, go on... I'll wait.

With Counter Earth found, the question remained who took the world in the first place. Sensing the smaller orbs were actually manned tow ships, the Evolutionary teleported the heroes to the command ship, where Moondragon soon got another not so gentle reminder she wasn't all that...

"Once again, my power looks second-rate next to hers!"

Ow, don't worry about it Moonie... to those giant aliens, you  and Her both look insignificantly small. Still, sometimes you really are your own worst enemy, as Moondragon continued to berate herself.

Speaking of the control room, that's where the High Evolutionary, Ben and Alicia got teleported to by the ship's commander, Sphinxor... Who didn't need any universal translator to pick up an alien language. Heck no, he learned English by watching American sitcoms. And hilarity ensues...

Looks like the gang's all here... Time for Mark Gruenwald to go into exposition overdrive...

"My ringshippers and I were contracted to move your planet by a race of beings called the Beyonders."

Wait, there's more than one of those guys?

No, no worries... it isn't thát Beyonder. Heck, he wouldn't show up for another four years and the first Secret Wars. No, the Beyonders are a mysterious race from, well, beyond, whose curiosity was piqued when they watched the Evolutionary built his own world.

They just had to have it... And Sphinxor was happy to oblige, manipulating Warlock and his soul gem to make sure he wouldn't oppose their plans. Turning mad in the process, Warlock seemingly slew the High Evolutionary before leaving Counter Earth forever so Spinxor could work in peace.

"Okay, story time's over! Now can we clobber these stilt-leggers, take yer planet and go home?"

Well, no, not exactly. The Evolutionary, always interested in discovering new lifeforms, was intrigued by these Beyonders and struck a deal. He'd allow Sphinxor to deliver Counter Earth to the Beyonders, if he was allowed to meet them... and, of course, before delivery Her would be allowed to revive Warlock so she could start that whole perfect race this entire enterprise started out with.

Beaming down to his gravesite on Counter Earth, Her worked her magic and Adam Warlock lived again! Well, sort of...

"Return to your dank grave, o love that can never be mine! I am undone!"

Ain't that a kick in the head? What no one could have known was that moments before Warlock died in Warlock I#11, he was visited by his younger self. And, in a truly cynical and cyclical scene, Warlock the younger absorbed his older self into the soul gem.

'My life has been a failure! I welcome its end!"

Of course, if she'd known about the gem, Her would probably have tried to track down its then current owner, the elder of the universe called the Gardner. But for now, all the heartbroken super being could do, was cut her losses and leave, unsure what her goal in life was now that she's truly all alone...

"Well baby... it's over. We can go home now."

So, in the space of a mere three issues, let's review what Gruenwald had achieved, apart from telling an entertaining, bitter sweet lovestory.

• Solved the dangling 'Paragon-in-a-cocoon' plot thread by having him come out as Her.
• Set up Her as a mighty, new cosmic character for anyone to play with. Eventually he'd mostly use Her himself over in Quasar, but still.
• Explained Adam Warlock's odd behavior in his old solo book and also revealed why his infinity gem suddenly started lusting after souls. 
• Added a bit of depth and self doubt to Moondragon, even though that proved short lived once Jim Shooter used her a year later in Avengers. 
• Resurrected the High Evolutionary.
• Got rid of Counter Earth, a place no one had been using for several years anyway 
• Introduced the Beyonders, a race that years later would turn out to, according to their entry on Wikipedia, "study the Marvel Universe with amusement and curiosity."
• Having the Evolutionary meet the Beyonders set up his mental instability that would lead to 1988's Evolutionary War crossover. 

All in all, not a bad job... And that was just Gruenwald writing by himself!

Issue # 64 of Marvel Two In One marked the return of co-writer Ralph Macchio, artist extra ordinaire George Pérez and the first chapter of the Serpent Crown Affair, as we'll see in part three of

Marvel's Two Writing One: Heavy Is The Snake Head That Wears The Crown.

1980: Marvel's Two Writing One Part II: "Pow, Bang, Zoom... Straight to the Moon...Dragon"

By Jef Willemsen (clarmindcontrol.blogspot.com)

After collaborating with Mark Gruenwald on that quirky Impossible Man story in Marvel Two In One # 60, Ralph Macchio took a little break. This allowed Guenwald to pen a three part space opera that featured stolen planets, Thing spanking bald women and a transgender love story for the ages...

Let's dive in... Literally. Marvel Two In One # 61 opens with some New York harbor workers dredging up an oddly familiar looking cocoon that immediately bursts open, revealing a fiery figure that  quickly flies off...

"My metamorphosis is complete. My destination is near."

Those feet belong to one of this issue's guest stars: Her in, erm, her first appearance. However, for a fresh face, she already had quite a bit of the backstory. For one, she started out in life as man. But we'll get to that later. After taking off, she flew straight into the living room of Alicia Masters, who was just sitting down for a romantic dinner with her boyfriend, the Thing.

"It is for you I have come, Alicia Masters."

So, what does an orange skinned superwoman need with a blind sculptress? Well, here's where it gets a little complicated and continuity heavy, aka: exactly the type of story Gruenwald liked to indulge in.

Her's origin story started wayyyy back in Fantastic Four # 66 & 67, in which the FF fought thecriminal superscientists known as the Enclave. In their Citadel of Science, the evil eggheads had been working on 'Him', a genetically engineered, super powered being they deemed to be 'the perfect man'... And how does one create this ubermensch? Why, by growing him to adult size in a cocoon, of course...

"I am about to be... born!"

Incidentally, the Enclave had also kidnapped Alicia, so she happened to be present when Him emerged. He soon turned on his evil masters and left to discover the world on his own... Eventually venturing out into space and adopting the identity of Adam Warlock.

Not deterred by this colossal failure, the Enclave tried to create another perfect man in 1977's Hulk Annual # 6. But this time they were interrupted by the Hulk and Doctor Strange, causing the cocoon to open prematurely... And this guy popped out...

"Paragon? Yes, that is my name. For that is what I am... A paragon of mankind: the future and the destiny of all humanity."

Yes, of course, Paragon... in the future, we will all follow your example and dress like an ancient Egyptian with golden go go boots. Anyhoo, Paragon fought Strange and the Hulk for a bit, before pulling a Him and turning on his creators as well. He sunk their entire headquarters to the bottom of the sea and retreated into his cocoon to meditate on the question what his purpose in life ought to be. 

During that little restorative nap, Paragon still had access to the Enclave's computers through his cocoon. He used them to learn about the world and... the existence of Him. All of a sudden it hit him: he was the second perfect human. So not unlike Adam and Eve, he figured his goal in life would be to mate with Him and start the perfect race. In order to do so, Paragon underwent an extensive physical transformation and emerged from the cocoon as Her, the perfect female counterpart to the perfect man: Him. 

... Only in comics.

But now that Her was ready to go, she still had one tiny little problem: where in the world is Him? That's why she all but kidnapped Alicia. After all according to the Enclave's history of Him, she was one of the last people who saw him. Alicia had no idea where Him had gone.

Luckily our next guest star had all the answers (... as usual).

"Share your knowledge, telepath"

Of all people, Moondragon showed up to help Her find Him... She had a bit of bad news though: Him, or Adam Warlock rather, had died in battle against Thanos of Titan and was buried on Counter Earth. Her didn't seem too troubled her perfect mate was dead... She claimed to be able to raise the dead and insisted they left for Counter Earth immediately.

However, that's when Ben finally caught up with them. But despite getting back up from Starhawk of the Guardians of the Galaxy, he was yet again unable to stop Her and Moondragon from leaving Earth with Alicia. But at least he now knew where to look for them...

How Ben and Starhawk get to a planet on the outer side of the Sol system, you ask? Easy! That is, if you know how to bring in established continuity to your advantage...

"Nope. That's a Skrull saucer we snatched a long time ago."

I'll say... 

The last time the team boarded this particular craft was back in 1961's Fantastic Four # 2, when the FF defeated a Skrull infiltration team and turned them into cows... (No, really!). Before long, they were whizzing off to Counter Earth too.

Ahh, how to explain Counter Earth... Created by the High Evolutionary back in the early 70s, Counter Earth and its inhabitants were almost identical copies of our world. It was on this odd little ball of mud that Him transformed into Adam Warlock, became the Evolutionary's prized pupil and slowly took on a Christ like role... That alone was reason enough for him to be laid to rest there.

However, as Moondragon's space ship approached the location of Counter Earth, they passed its moon (actually the base of the High Evolutionary) only to make a startling discovery...

"Counter-Earth has vanished!"

They decide to board the Evolutionary's lunar headquarters to look for clues. But they are quickly overpowered by the base defenses, albeit it ever so momentarily.

"We are detained no longer."

In an interesting, added subplot, being in the presence of the extremely powerful Her made the usually smug and overbearing Moondragon feel a bit... inadequate. She even began to wonder if she really was a 'goddess', if she couldn't match Her's might. As she contemplated this, the group ran into the lifeless body of the High Evolutionary, just as you know who finally caught up...

As always, Ben rushed to judgement a bit too quickly, thinking Her and Moondragon were responsible for the Evolutionary's unfortunate fate. Once again, Alicia was unable to stop a fight from breaking out, this time because no one could hear her yelling with that classic fishbowl spacehelmet over her head. Starhawk focussed on Her, while Ben tangled with Moondragon who suffered a few blows to her ego... among other things...

"Accordin' to some 'a my pals in the Avengers, ya had this comin' to ya for some time now.

And bashful Benjy is just the guy to give it to ya!"

Well, Ben, between you and me, you're probably the first guy period to give 'it' to Heather Douglas. Ow, and the woman wrestling with Her in mid-air is Aleta, the wife of Starhawk who co-habits his body...

So, for those of you keeping score at home... We have a transgender woman fighting an essentially Siamese twin husband and wife couple, while in the corner a rock monster is spanking a bald lesbian on a fake Moon at the opposite side of our solar system.

God, aren't comics great?

Next, the search for Adam Warlock's grave site, not to mention the missing planet continues in part III of Marvel's Two Writing One: Kowtowing Counter Earth

Avengers Sorta Disassambled part III: Kick An Ant-Man When He’s Down

By Jef Willemsen (clarmindcontrol.blogspot.com)

After getting himself booted out of the Avengers for dishonorable conduct and being framed for crimes he didn’t commit by his archnemesis Egghead, Hank Pym found himself in jail. Can things get any worse? Ow, you’d better believe it…

He suffered the ultimate insult for the next 6 months or so: being completely ignored. Jim Shooter had the entire fall and rise of Hank Pym all planned out when his duties as editor in chief unfortunately proved too time consuming and he had to take breaks. This meant fill in issues and guest writers scripting over Shooter’s plots... as a result, poor ol’ jailbird Hank got lost in the shuffle.

The effects were jarring, to say the least. After the Yellowjacket centric # 217, which ended with him in jail, one would expect # 218 to pick up on or even mention the matter. Instead, we get a perfectly decent stock story by J.M. DeMatteis which sees the Avengers trying to deal with the plight of the Forever Man, a human being who cannot die and is tired of this unending cycle of reincarnation.

Shooter returns for issues #  219  and 220, but the matter of Yellowjacket’s upcoming legal issues aren’t addressed at all by the team. It takes Moondragon of all people to even remind the readers something is going down with Hank.

 
Yes, Moondragon makes her triumphant return to the book. The last time she crossed paths with  the Avengers, the self important high priestess of the mind decided to help them pick their new line up. But now, she was pursuing higher goals, travelling the galaxy with her father Drax the Destroyer to bring peace wherever they went. In this case, the planet known as Ba-Bani.

Having succeeded in ending a planetary war by using most of her powers to ‘influence’ military leaders, Moondragon was left vulnerable to an imminent rebel attack on her stronghold. Because she had cured Drax of his rage issues, he couldn’t defend her so she decided to summon her former team to come to her aid. Sending her ship the Sensia to Earth, the remaining 4 Avengers feel oddly compelled to board the vessel and soon arrive on Ba Bani ready to defend Moondragon.

Lets face it, this two parter makes no sense. It takes the Avengers an entire issue to discover there’s no rebellion,  Moondragon actually controls the entire Ba-Bani population. Why did she go through this whole song and dance? Seemingly, all she wanted from the Avengers was to  mentally seduce Thor and take him as a lover.  If so, why did she need to bring the others?

Iron Man meanwhile manages to get through to the newly pacifist Drax, who breaks free from his  mental conditioning. Enraged, the Destroyer goes to confront his daughter, who feels she has no choice but to do this…

The effort of killing her father weakens Moondragon sufficiently for the Avengers to take her out. With the Ba-Bani free (and already back at war), the team agrees Moondragon has to pay for her crimes. Unfortunately, common Earth courts don’t exactly cover interplanetary mental domination and super powered patricide.

Shooter brilliantly solved this by having Thor teleport her to Asgard. If Moondragon insists on thinking she’s as a goddess, she ought to be judged by the gods, he reasons. Thor leaves Moondragon with Odin himself, who is ready to sit in judgement over her actions. This resolution would eventually turn out to be a neat set up for J.M. DeMatteis, when he drafted Moondragon for his New Defenders run.

Alas, the ill plotted Moondragon two parter were the last full issues of the title Shooter would write. David Michelinie scripted # 221 which saw the four remaining active Avengers finally dealing with their depleted ranks… all the while not mentioning Hank a single time.

At any rate, the team had two slots to fill and everyone had their own ideas on how to reach the quota of six members. Thor sought out Spider-Man who kindly refused, while Iron Man and Cap simply went to Hawkeye and asked the all too eager archer to rejoin. Wasp was the only one who took a little effort and held a recruitment drive of her own. Inviting the Invisible Girl, Black Widow, Dazzler, Spider-Woman and the She Hulk to an all girl tea party at her house,  Janet was about to make her pitch when an uninvited ‘friend’ dropped by.

Fabian Stankowicz was introduced in # 217 as a good hearted but slightly goofy inventor who had gained a small fortune after winning the lottery. Hungering for a taste of fame to go along with his fortune, he decided to pitting his mechanical genius against the Avengers would certainly get him some press.

He got beaten up mercilessly by the assembled heroines, who one after another took their leave until only the She-Hulk remained and happily accepted Janet’s offer for membership. The Avengers were back to fighting strength, right on time for # 222 which saw Steven Grant scripting Shooter’s plot and the return of Egghead and… the latest incarnation of the Masters of Evil.

Issue # 222 is significant for many reasons. It’s the first time we see the new Avengers in action against Egghead’s equally new Masters of Evil… but its also the first time in 5 months Hank Pym is mentioned ánd seen. Shooter even tries to explain away Hank’s absence from the book with an awkward exchange between Tony Stark and Scott Lang.

Scott Lang taking an interest in Hank’s case only makes sense, considering he owns his super hero identity to the man. It also shows a real sense of neglect on the part of Tony and the other Avengers. Sure, they can’t do an awful lot until Hank’s case comes to trial… but is a visit or a show of sympathy really too much to ask?

Meanwhile, the reason why Pym’s in the pokey is having troubles of his own. Egghead was initially rather pleased with causing the downfall of his nemesis, but that joy proved rather fleeting.

His plight actually helps inspire his latest nefarious scheme: come up with a cure for eternal life and get filthy rich selling it to the highest bidder. But to achieve all of this, he’ll need a few super powered henchmen to do the heavy lifting. That’s why not too long afterwards, a remote controlled torpedo destroys the Atlantean prison holding the fierce Tiger Shark. The aquatic baddie soon shows up at the Ryker’s Island prison to gather a few more recruits, like inmate David Cannon, better known as the Whirlwind. Right before his breakout, he was just having some lunch with fellow prisoner Hank Pym.


In a nice nod to established continuity, Shooter reminds the readers that Whirlwind is actually obsessed with the Wasp. He even posed as her driver in the early issues in order to get close to her. With his parole hearing coming up soon, Cannon openly fantasized about paying Janet a little visit. Naturally, that didn’t sit well with her new ex-husband.

Only moments after Pym is dragged away to solitary, Tiger Shark bursts through a wall and starts a jail break. He takes Whirlwind, the Scorpion and Moonstone and leaves the other prisoners to fend for themselves. Egghead is pleased by his latest Masters of Evil and he plans for them to rob a New York medical research center that night.

Having a few hours to kill before the job, Whirlwind decides to make good on his earlier promise and looks up the Wasp. He knocks out her driver Carrothers and waits for her right outside Avengers Mansion. When she finally enters the car, she isn’t too pleased to see him.

Also: picking a fight with the Avengers’ chairman in front of their headquarters? Not the smartest thing to do. Hawkeye is the first to come rushing to Jan’s aid, but luckily for Whirlwind his fellow Masters are nearby as well.

Despite their best efforts, the outnumbered Masters are quickly routed and sent back to jail. But Egghead isn’t too depressed about it, figuring this defeat may help the Masters see the wisdom of obeying his orders… next time.

Speaking of next time, in the fourth part of this retrospective on a certain TPB called The Trial of Yellowjacket, we’ll skip over half a dozen inconsequential issues and finally get to the trial and redemption of the aforementioned Yellowjacket in Avengers Sorta Disassembled: Ant’s For The Memories, Man!

1985 - The New Defenders (Part Three)

The New Defenders: Teaming up the non-team part III
By: Jef Willemsen (clarmindcontrol.blogspot.com)

Wrapping up this three part look at The New Defenders, one conclusion already seems obvious. It should really have been titled ‘Moondragon… featuring the New Defenders’.

Both Peter B. Gillis and his predecessor J.M. DeMatteis were rather taken with Moondragon, featuring the arrogant telepath prominently during their runs. Gillis especially seemed determined to mine her backstory for all it was worth. Hinting at a deeper darkness growing underneath Moondragon’s exterior, Gillis revealed how young Heather Douglas grew from an innocent little girl to be the haughty high priestess of the mind.

As it turns out, Moondragon took her codename after beating an evil entity known as the Dragon of the Moon. This immensely powerful, immortal, and subversive creature tried to corrupt her, planting part of his evil inside her head. Refusing his offerings, Heather fought valiantly to remove his presence from her mind. Thinking she had succeeded in defeating the Dragon, her confidence quickly grew to borderline arrogance. In reality, the Dragon had left its permanent mark on her, an ever present and increasing temptation to give in and accept his power.

This approach allowed Gillis to show a new side to Moondragon. She had always been portrayed as a stuck up snob who was in love with her own power, which of course she was. But by having her resist the Dragon’s influence, rightly believing it would corrupt her, she became something of a lamentable anti-hero. At least, that’s what she considered herself to be.  She felt she was fighting hard and doing the right thing and grew increasingly frustrated over the fact she didn’t receive any credit for it. A tragic notion that added a new layer to an otherwise one note character and led to an unexpected breakdown.

This outburst was her first step on the path to humility. Remember how Odin had placed that headband on her to dampen her powers, forcing Moondragon to relearn the ways of man? It finally came off when the Defenders were forced to go up against a band of Asgardian trolls who were planning an invasion of Midgard. The team was captured and the trolls offered to remove Moondragon’s headband. Despite being tempted by both her own desire to be free ánd the Dragon of the Moon, she outright refused and redeemed herself in the eyes, well, eye of the All-Father.

Freed from the headband, Moondragon’s full powers returned with a vengeance. Luckily, recent experiences had indeed tempered her arrogant behavior and she actually became a valuable and willing member of the team. Alas, disaster soon struck when the gamma spore creature formerly known as Ephraim Soles returned to threaten the Defenders again. After their initial fight in Gillis’ first issue, the creature escaped as a handful of tiny spores that infected the grass of a local cattle farm. When a rather unlucky cow ate the spore grass, it became pregnant… the eventual birth resulted in a revolting scene that somehow made it past the Comics Code Authority.

Quickly mutating into a massive, uncontrollable form, the spore creature made its way to the New Defenders base where it infected and invaded all it could find. The team defeated it, thanks to an ingenious combination of Moondragon and Gargoyle’s powers. But Moondragon didn’t escape unscathed, as subsequent issues revealed. She had been infected by the sentient spores who were slowly mutating her body into a new host… a process she would not survive. Faced with certain death, Moondragon finally succumbed to the Dragon in a moody, foreboding tale told in issues #143 & 144.

“I am free again, young ones.”

Over the course of # 144, the vastly more powerful Moondragon cleaned the New Defenders’ collective clocks. Blinding Angel, turning Gargoyle’s demon body against him and casually teleporting Valkyrie away, the Dragon seemed assured of victory. That is, until Brunhilda dramatically returned with her fellow Valkyries in tow. Odin had been aware of the Dragon’s presence in Moondragon, that’s why he released her in Valkyrie’s care, in preparation for the creature’s reemergence. In final combat, it was Cloud who delivered the apparent deathblow to Moondragon, but her remains were never found.

In the months that followed, Gillis dealt with the impact of the Moondragon controversy. Angel’s blindness proved incurable, Cloud was revealed to be a sentient nebula that assumed the forms of two teens who were both left comatose following a car accident, the team got a visit from the former Ghostrider and also gained a new member in the Atlantean warrior woman Andromeda. They also finally got around to electing an official leader: Angel’s girlfriend Candy Southern who didn’t have any superpowers but proved quite adept at handling the non team’s official team business. And while all of this was going down… In Siberia a mysterious stranger decided to go for a walk.

All in all, the New Defenders finally seemed ready to have another go at being a proper superhero team. Alas, there were two threats about to end their existence altogether. Moondragon had survived, still possessed by the Dragon and ready for revenge… But there was a far more lethal threat on the horizon: imminent cancellation. The year was 1986, the 25th anniversary of Marvel Comics and then-editor in chief Jim Shooter decided to celebrate a quarter century of established and beloved characters by starting a completely New Universe.

To make room in the company’s publishing schedule, several struggling titles received the axe. Power Man and Iron Fist was cancelled and the New Defenders shared their fate. Under the gun, Peter B. Gillis rushed to wrap up the book… and what better way to end things than by having Moondragon return to kill the team once and for all?

The New Defenders’ swansong was told in issues # 151 and the double sized  152, which was jam packed with the biggest wrap up and deck clearing exercise of the 1980s. The mysterious stranger turned out to be the Interloper, an Eternal who was the Dragon of the Moon’s arch enemy. Interloper revealed he had trained the insane telepathic hitman Manslaughter, who popped up wanting to join the team and actually proved invaluable during the final confrontation with Moondragon...

Gillis gives an impressive final showing in his portrayal of Manslaughter’s madness. Trying to preserve her sanity, Moondragon flees the scene in an attempt to exorcise the demons that just got pumped into her mind. And who would show up during this struggle but… The Beyonder?

Heck, this was still 1986 after all, there had to be a Secret Wars II tie-in at some point, right? The Beyonder did what every other jerry curled deus ex machina does best: show up and mess things up. Not recognizing Moondragon’s deeper issues, the one from beyond falls for her line that she wants to be his disciple… He grants her a fragment of his vast powers and departs, leaving her to head straight back to Defenders headquarters for a final showdown.

It turned out to be a brutal battle, one that only ended after Valkyrie, Andromeda, Manslaughter and the Interloper gave up their very lives to stop Moondragon. Only Beast, Angel and Iceman were left standing when the…dust… settled.

Ashes and dust… all that’s left of the once noble and proud New Defenders… AngelBeast and Iceman were the only ones left alive. They would soon join Cyclops and Jean Grey to form the first incarnation of X-Factor. And what of their fallen comrades? Apart from the Interloper, most of them would eventually return from the dead in a series of tales Gillis wrote for Solo Avengers #16,18, and 20. But those are stories best left for another time.

On a closing note: despite the rush of impending cancellation, Gillis brought Moondragon’s story full circle on the book’s last page. In spite of her being juiced up by the Beyonder’s power, let alone the Dragon’s corruption, she used her final moments to do the right thing. She restored Angel’s sight, cured Cloud’s comatose templates and even healed Chris Larmouth, a largely forgotten victim of the gamma spore creature’s second attack.

More importantly, she performed these Samaritan acts not as Moondragon, mistress of the mind or high priestess of the soul… but as Heather Douglas of Earth. Finally, she had learned just what being human meant… No longer did she seek to impose her will on her fellow man, all she did was give them the chance to live their lives. Heather Douglas triumphed over all her flaws and inherent evil, proving herself at long last to be the most human of us all.