Before I start, I should talk a little about where Roy Thomas was at this point in his career. During his first tenure on Captain Marvel in 1968, he was still quite a rookie. A lot changed in two years; as Stan Lee gave up his scripting duties on more and more titles, Roy assumed scripts (for a while) on each of them. The Avengers had started off reasonably strong thanks to Jack Kirby, but when Roy Thomas became scripter with John Buscema as artist the duo became what was considered (for many years) the best creative run on the Avengers, with exciting new characters like the Vision, Ultron and the Grim Reaper. As the scripter of the Avengers and Captain Marvel, it made sense for Thomas to pen a crossover and all the more so with Rick Jones as Mar-Vell's new supporting cast member; even if Thomas hadn't been the scripter at the time, it would have come up eventually.
We open on Rick Jones running across a rooftop towards Avengers Mansion when he's surprised to meet Captain America. Rick assumes Cap is going to start another fight, but Cap quickly explains that the man who hit him before (Captain Marvel #17) was the Red Skull in disguise. Cap is the one who summoned Rick to a meeting with the Avengers to investigate the disappearances of top Manhattan officials. The two enter the Avengers meeting hall and find waiting there the Wasp, Yellowjacket, Vision and Goliath (this being Hawkeye during his size-changing days). Yellowjacket greets Rick and invites him to grab a chair; Rick grabs the first chair he can find but it was designed for Goliath to sit in at his enhanced height, so Rick finds himself far too tiny for the seat.
Cap calls the meeting to order, noting that the Black Panther, Thor and Iron Man are absent (I mean, so are Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch and Hercules, but they had each retired from the team at the time). Cap explains they'll be briefed on their mission by agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Goliath expects Nick Fury to be the one conducting the briefing, but when S.H.I.E.L.D. appears on their video screen they're greeted by Timothy 'Dum Dum' Dugan, Jimmy Woo and Gabe Jones. Dugan reveals that at the scene of the kidnappings, an icon bearing the mark of Scorpio was found. Further, he informs them that Nick Fury is dead, recounting the details of the assassination which killed him (in Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #15, just 2 months earlier). As the briefing ends, Rick reveals he's got some additional details: an hour earlier he went to Nick Fury's penthouse to see if Nick Fury could use a sidekick, having met Fury while he was acting as Cap's sidekick (this is a pretty weird rationale - Rick is already working with Mar-Vell, why would he want to work for Fury?). Within the penthouse, Rick discovers Scorpio rifling through Fury's belongings. Seeing Rick, Scorpio draws his weapon the Zodiac Key and stuns Rick while he flees.
Rick omits the rest of the details from the Avengers because he doesn't want them to know he's now bonded to Captain Marvel. Rick switched places with Mar-Vell (unfortunately the colorist forgot Marv wears gloves) and he flew after Scorpio as the villain fled on his motorcycle. Mar-Vell fought with Scorpio, but another blast from the Zodiac Key stunned Mar-Vell. Scorpio escaped, but he dropped a list of the missing officials on the scene (Scorpio is Riddler-esque in his love of dropping clues!).
Just as the Avengers are musing over these details, they receive an incoming message on their video screen. First they see an image of the three kidnapped men, then the screen shifts to display Scorpio himself. Scorpio then fires a blast from the Zodiac Key at the screen which somehow causes the Avengers' monitor to explode, stunning all of them. When the six Avengers awaken, they're being held in energy-based restraints by Scorpio. How the heck did Scorpio know the explosion would stun all of the Avengers, especially considering the Vision's powers? How did he get past the defenses of Avengers Mansion? How'd he spirit them to his own hidden base before they could wake up? Ah, whatever, the plot must be served. Scorpio boasts to the Avengers that he's going to kill them and that their deaths will be witnessed by his 11 allies - the Zodiac! Yep, this is the first appearance of the Zodiac, who would go on to many other appearances as Avengers foes (and frequently getting massacred in order to build up a different villain). There's a different Zodiac member for each of the 12 Zodiac signs, with Aries as their leader. Aries boasts that Scorpio's 'ruse' brought the Avengers together into their trap.
Aries tells Scorpio his previous failures (in issues of Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.) have been redeemed by his triumph over the Avengers; Scorpio gives the Zodiac Key to Aries and Aries orders the Avengers' deaths. However, although the energy screen which the Avengers are in has immobilized them, Yellowjacket and the Wasp are still able to summon ants into the building and the insects crawl inside the Zodiac's machines. They have enough time to disable the devices because Scorpio goes on bragging about the Zodiac's plans to make power plays in a dozen different world capitals. Before Aries can proceed with the Avengers' deaths, the machine fails and the Avengers surge forward yelling 'Avengers Assemble!' You might well wonder what kind of powers the Zodiac have; well, uh, not much of anything - they're almost guys wearing tights. A few have weapons... the Zodiac Key is pretty much the only thing they've got which can stand up to the Avengers.
Out of nowhere, Scorpio joins the fight, punching Aries in the face. Removing his mask he reveals he's actually Nick Fury, back from the dead! With black hair, for some reason! (this is the first Nick Fury death fakeout in Marvel history, if you're keeping track) Rick faces the ignominy of being hit in the head by Cancer. Mar-Vell asks Rick to switch places with him, but Rick refuses - he wants to prove he can win a fight on his own. Actually, the Zodiac pretty much are in Rick's power level. Pretty much the only thing the Zodiac have going for them are their numbers and even then, the Avengers quickly start mopping the floor with them. Aries then remembers he still has the Zodiac Key and uses it to create a disorienting field of energy which affects the five costumed Avengers and Fury, but before Aries can destroy them Rick attacks him and throws off his aim. The Zodiac Key blasts a hole through the wall and Aries fumes that now it needs to recharge; the Zodiac flee through the hole in the wall, then somehow seal it up behind them using what Vision calls "a strange substance". No idea which of the Zodiac could have done this, it isn't an ability or weapon that comes up in any of their future appearances. Vision's not sure if he could phase through this substance so... he doesn't even try. Still figuring out the super hero gig, eh Vizh?
Goliath grumbles at Fury for turning them over to the Zodiac, but Fury promises he would have prevented their deaths if they hadn't saved themselves. Fury explains how when he last fought Scorpio (Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #5) he discovered Scorpio was really his younger brother Jake. Jake was then seemingly killed. The mystery of Scorpio's identity was a big deal in Jim Steranko's Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and this was a pretty lame solution - it didn't fit with what we knew about Jake Fury and it comes out during a story in which the real Scorpio doesn't even appear. Fury claims he was impersonating Scorpio ever since and that the person who was assassinated in his place was an LMD. He reveals Dugan knew about the switch all along, which makes Dugan's tear-strewn face earlier a little bit odd. I guess Dugan was really into the cover-up, but why even bring up Fury's death? Anyway, Cap thanks Rick for his help and calls him 'partner', which momentarily raises Rick's spirits - until he remembers he's already committed to working with Captain Mar-Vell. Instead of asking to be Cap's sidekick again, Rick wanders off on his own.
Thoughts: The way in which Rick is brought into this story is pretty lame, considering the story ends on Rick refusing a partnership with another hero. Roy Thomas' attempts to wrap-up all of the loose ends from Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. are not quite satisfying either. I don't blame him for bringing Fury back to life, but he made a huge mess out of Scorpio here. The only saving grace is that Dave Kraft would later delve into Jake Fury as Scorpio during his Defenders run and get something poignant out of the concept.
As to the Zodiac, I'm awfully fond of them, but also the first to admit they're pretty lame. Some of them would get a bit of play here and there (Aries, Taurus, Gemini and Libra, principally) but again, they're just guys in tights. I love Sal Buscema's designs, but the 2nd Zodiac (from Defenders) were much more interesting in a fight thanks to their powers.
There's ultimately not much call for Captain Marvel to appear in this book, but this is a landmark for Rick - he's finally at peace with Captain America and the Avengers, which leaves him as a character in Captain Marvel, first and foremost.
Next: Captain Marvel meets the Rat Pack in Captain Marvel #20! And I don't mean Frankie, Dean, or Sammy!
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