Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Space-Born Super Hero Part 30: Avengers #92

'Space-Born Super Hero' continues as I look at Avengers #92 (1971), a continuation of the Kree-Skrull War with the story "All Things Must End" by Roy Thomas and Sal Buscema (inks by George Roussos). First, a word about the cover: it depicts Captain America, Iron Man and Thor standing in judgment over the present team of Avengers. It was around this time that Captain America, Iron Man and Thor began acquiring their reputation as the 'Big Three', as they were the Avengers with their own titles and they tended to show in the book when a big event went down. Fandom began to ascribe this 'Big Three' status to them as some kind of half-remembered hazy vision of the Avengers' golden age and in due time, fans would judge the 'worthiness' of an Avengers team on the basis of how many 'Big Three' were present. The truth is, the 'Big Three' never really had a dynamic in the 60s and didn't truly develop one until the late 70s.

We pick up at Avengers Mansion where the Avengers are enjoying some downtime, when Jarvis rushes in to show the team a newspaper headline: 'Alien Plot to Conquer Earth Disclosed!' It seems the research scientists whom the Avengers saved from the Kree (last issue) blabbed everything to the press. Turning on the television they see the President has appointed H. Warren Craddock as head of the new 'Alien Activities Commission', granting him emergency powers to deal with the supposed alien crisis. Craddock says he has a list of "153 'model citizens' who are actually alien spies." If any of this reminds you of the infamous House of Un-American Activities, then congratulations, you're paying attention. Captain Marvel and Rick Jones are still staying with the Avengers and Mar-Vell considers turning himself over to the authorities, lest he taint the Avengers by association. At first the Avengers leap to Mar-Vell's defense, but Goliath thinks the idea has some merit. "Then everybody'll calm down," Goliath assumes. Vision points out this could be start of a slippery slope: "If first a man of the Kree can be confined for no reason, then detainment of androids will follow--next of mutants--then giants..." It seems like a stretch to say it will follow, but Vizh has a point. Still, Mar-Vell worries about what's going on with his people as they fight the Skrulls.

Meanwhile, a helicopter vehicle brings Carol Danvers to New York. As the Avengers are looking at the mob which has formed outside the mansion demanding 'Give us Captain Marvel!' (well maybe you should have bought his comic when that was an option) Just then, Carol's helicopter draws near, when it suddenly plummets from the sky. Captain Marvel hears her send a radio distress call to the mansion and quickly flies to her rescue. Or, he tries to; Mar-Vell tries to catch the vehicle and slow its descent but he's not very good at it so Vision joins him and absorbs most of the impact (poor Vizh). The Avengers recognize Carol (they met her in issue #90) but Wanda is concerned for the Vision and the damage he took. The Vision tries to dissuade her, telling her not to concern herself about him. This upsets Wanda, but Vision dismisses her as being "too emotional". The romantic tension continues! Pietro takes offense to Vision's tone, thinking he's being insulting to Wanda. Poor Pietro -- eventually he'll figure out what's really going on and then he'll be unhappy.

Scanning the skies, the Avengers see a squad of SHIELD jet planes patrolling overhead, with Nick Fury & Dum Dum Dugan among the crew. The Avengers realize they've been placed under surveillance. Taking Carol inside the mansion, they ask her if she's part of the surveillance but she tells them she's taken a leave of absence from the Cape and wants to aid Mar-Vell in return for saving her life more than once; her suggestion: Mar-Vell could hide at her family farm upstate. Well, running and hiding isn't Mar-Vell's choice as he hasn't even had a chance to defend himself from accusations, but Vision agrees with the plan and encourages them to depart; Carol and Mar-Vell borrow a Quinjet and quickly outpace the SHIELD agents. And who's watching the watchers? It seems Fury is being observed by Craddock and he accuses Fury of letting Mar-Vell escape, but Fury notes Mar-Vell still hasn't been charged with a crime. Just after switching off his video link to Craddock, Fury confides to Dugan that, having memories of the Japanese concentration camps during World War II, he's not particularly avid about obeying these orders.

Goliath notes that by aiding Captain Marvel in his escape the Avengers have broken their record of cooperating with the law. Rick suddenly finds himself thinking about old comic books and sees images of various old super heroes from the 1940s (some of Roy Thomas' favourites), and several of them aren't even Marvel characters (like the Heap). It comes out of absolutely nowhere, but this is a pivotal detail in the finale. Goliath spies a man being bullied outside the mansion for standing up for the Avengers. Goliath storms out to save the man, but it's a trap: the man being bullied delivers a summons to the Avengers. Seeing no other course, the Avengers (and Rick!) head to the city courthouse, where they find the Fantastic Four have also been summoned due to their own experiences with the Kree. Under Craddock's directions, the research scientists testify about how Ronan transformed them into cavemen; Mister Fantastic explains what he knows about the Kree's history and of Sentry#459. The Thing is no help as he claims he doesn't recognize Goliath, Quicksilver, the Scarlet Witch and Vision as the real Avengers; Ben is the original revisionist Avengers fan! Ben also clucks his tongue at the team for letting Captain Marvel depart.

The Vision is the first Avenger to take the stand but after admitting he's an android, Craddock tells him to stand down, declaring that "a robot could only parrot what others tell it to say." Vision is outraged by this but quietly sits down, cautioning Craddock to end this "trial by accusation". Rick begins to recall a dream he had of Mar-Vell following Carol out to her farm house, but being attacked by something with tentacles. Perhaps he and Mar-Vell still have a psychic link? Rick tears out of the courthouse, determined to help Mar-Vell. The disruption caused by Rick's exit convinces Craddock to end the hearings for the day. Returning to the mansion, the Avengers find the place has been ransacked by the mob outside. To make matters worse, Iron Man, Captain America and Thor have popped up to wag their fingers. "We feel you acted irresponsibly in shielding Captain Marvel from investigation. Thus, by authority of our by-laws, we three hereby declare the Avengers disbanded--for all time." Iron Man concurs: "Better no Avengers than those who have disgraced the name." Disheartened, the Avengers depart, leaving Jarvis to clean up.

Thoughts: One of the most compelling elements of the Kree-Skrull War is that it depicts how the conflict is viewed from the outside by the men and women who live in the Marvel Universe. This becomes a sort of recurring element in various Marvel epics to come; not that there's anything sexy about super heroes talking about laws and regulations, but it does make for quality drama and can provoke the characters to put into words a rousing defense of why they do what they do. I mean, unless the writer wanted the bureaucrats to be proved right. Fat chance that would ever happen!

Captain Marvel's story diverges somewhat from the Avengers here, but it will continue as a subplot as the series continues.

Next: The Kree-Skrull War continues in Avengers #93!

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