Under Siege: Avengers 274

Avengers #274 (December 1986)

"Divided... We Fall!"

Roger Stern-John Buscema/Tom Palmer

Doug:  We've been promising you a review of this story arc for several months now, and it's finally here!  Again, we really appreciate the participation you all showed during our January time off.  That was much needed for us to recharge and to also get ahead.  We're hoping you'll see a return to the quality we left off with late in 2012.  But before we get rolling on this 4-issue slugfest that will take us through the month of Cupid (how's that for irony?), we need to recap the wholly-necessary Avengers #273, which was a prequel of sorts to the carnage to come.  

Doug:  The issue begins with Hercules in a NYC tavern impressing the locals with his might.  He's been bet by another patron that he cannot hold a table (with a dozen or so patrons on top) aloft for five minutes.  As the clock's about to expire the table breaks and everyone comes tumbling down.  Herc heads over to the bar and chats with his benefactor, who asks some probing questions about the Avengers.  Herc, filling himself with ale, is all-too-forthcoming with information.  The guy begins to goad the Olympian on what it's like taking orders from the Wasp; this ticks Herc off to the point that he tosses the guy clean through the bar's plate glass window out into the path of an approaching semi.  Leaping to his rescue, Herc is then forced to tell the bar's owner that he'll have the Avengers pay for the window, the table, and even the driver's truck.  We then find that the patron was actually the Wrecker, who goes into a truck outside the bar to confer with Yellowjacket (the female villain version).  Switching scenes to an undisclosed location, we find Baron Helmut Zemo conversing with Moonstone (again, the female version).  They are discussing a pending plan of Zemo's, and it's apparent that they are getting all of their ducks in a row.  There's some obvious mistrust between the two, and we later find that Moonstone's project is to control the villain Blackout.  Zemo is very concerned with neutralizing the powers of Captain Marvel (the female version -- sheesh!  I thought this was a double-aughts trend; forgot it was rolling 15 years earlier!), and Blackout's creation of dark fields that dampen energy would seem to be the trick.  Along the way we meet other conspirators:  Mr. Hyde, the rest of the Wrecking Crew, Goliath (formerly Power Man -- the Caucasian version!), Tiger Shark, the Fixer, the Absorbing Man, and Titania.  After an attempt by Moonstone to elicit a coup, Zemo shows that he is indeed in charge and has Blackout envelope Moonstone in the dark stuff.  Once she's in her place, the team commences their plan -- the invasion of Avengers Mansion.  They wage a full-frontal assault on the building and take it in less than seven minutes.  Zemo gloats over his control as he convenes his new Masters of Evil in the Assembly Room, a trussed-up Jarvis at the center of the group.

Doug:  So all of that brings us to today's fare. We lead off with Zemo and the Fixer inside the Mansion, watching the Black Knight march right up the front walk.  Dane's not all together, as he's smarting from a bout with jealousy in the previous issue.  He and Jan had attended a social function together, only to have the hunky mercenary Paladin show up and flirt with the Wasp.  Of course Janet flirted back and Dane fell into all sorts of depression.  So as he approached the Mansion on this day, he wasn't exactly expecting any surprises.  Rather than make any sort of scene in public, the all-new Masters of Evil allow the hero to enter the building; it doesn't take long for him to figure that something is amiss.  Yellowjacket buzzes him, and he gives chase -- right into an ambush by Mr. Hyde.  Hyde is portrayed as brutally merciless in this arc, and he has to be talked down from killing the Knight.  Beaten into submission, Hyde hoists the Avenger over his shoulder and plods off to find Zemo.

Karen: I recall that when the Wasp was initially made leader I was not at all happy about it. I felt she was too flighty, too superficial. But over time, they did a good job having her grow into the role. The Black Knight also got a fair amount of face time and became a much more fully developed character during this time period. Mr. Hyde's sheer brutality is really quite disturbing -even his fellow villain, Yellowjacket, seems uncomfortable with him.

Doug:  I'd been back into the Avengers (and comics in general) for a couple of years at this point.  Roger Stern's Avengers had a different feel to them than the team of Jim Shooter I'd left when I entered high school.  I guess for me, with a sense of newness still about my return, the Wasp's ascension was OK.  Stern seemed to handle it well.

Doug:  In the Assembly room, the Knight, his helmet, and his enchanted sword are presented to Zemo.  A cadre of muscle encircles the meeting table -- Hyde, Goliath, the Wrecking Crew, and Tiger Shark.  Blackout and Moonstone are also in the room.  It's interesting, in light of previous appearances of the various incarnations of the Masters (and other grouped-up do-badders, as in King-Size Avengers #1), to see the raw power of this group.  I'd be hard-pressed to come up with a roster of past Avengers (from this era backward) to match these goons.  Having been worried most about Captain Marvel, Zemo next attacks her.  Using the Wasp's voice, a false summons is sent to Monica.  She of course answers in the speed of a thought, only to be immediately confronted by Blackout.  As Moonstone and Zemo had surmised, the black extra-dimensional power that Blackout wields indeed incapacitates the Captain.  The Avengers are beginning to fall.  Zemo gloats to the tied-up Jarvis, gleefully explaining how they used a voice modulator to mimic the Wasp's voice.  He wonders aloud how easy it will be to lure Captain America and Hercules to their doom.

Karen: I know some people disliked this Captain Marvel, some because of the name, others because they felt she was Stern's pet character being foisted on the readers (shades of Englehart and Mantis), but I always liked her and thought she had a cool powerset that could have made her one of the most powerful Avengers of all. She had a nice run on the book that ended prematurely.  I was never too keen on her costume though. Speaking of costumes, Blackout has to have one of the worst ever. It looks like something Electro would have rejected, and that's saying something.

Doug:  I warmed to Captain Marvel well enough.  It's hard for me to recall if I'd read her first appearance in the Spider-Man annual; I'm thinking that I encountered her in the Avengers first.  Like many ultra-powerful characters, her abilities seemed a bit nebulous to me at first.  But her potential was certainly off the charts. Blackout's threads come courtesy of Carmine Infantino, who was the penciller in Blackout's debut appearance in Nova #19.  Fully agreed on your assessment!

Doug:  We see more tension between our nasties, as the Fixer starts talking trash to Yellowjacket about his design prowess.  She pretty much ends it with a hard wrenching of the Fixer's thumb.  Zemo enters to check on the plans; the Fixer assures him that the Fantastic Four are out of the country, and that the West Coast Avengers have been sent on a false mission.  Zemo gloats (he does a lot of that), but as he does we cut to the domicile of the Winsome Wasp, sunning herself poolside.  Suddenly a shadow comes over her and we see Captain America leap from a military helicopter, only to land on the diving board and execute a dismount only he could pull off.  Cap tells of a recent mission where he battled the Trapster and Whirlwind.  Whirlwind had long been a thorn in the Pyms' sides, so Cap had called the Mansion to report that those two were in custody.  Knowing Jan would especially want to know, Cap was surprised to hear that she... wasn't interested at all.  Feeling that something had gone terribly wrong, Cap hightailed to Jan's private residence to get to the bottom of it.

Karen: I love that multi-figure depiction of Cap doing one of his acrobatic jumps. I recall reading a review of the Avengers film and someone complaining that Cap was a  super-acrobat, like that was something terrible. I for one have always been impressed with heroes making incredible athletic moves. Anyway, it was well-done. 

Doug:  Artists on Daredevil always seemed to employ similar strategies in depicting the Man Without Fear in motion.  At the mansion, the heavies have been told they can loot whatever they want.  Needless to say, they begin to dismantle the personal quarters.  Moonstone is surprised by Thunderball -- we don't know what she'd stumbled upon -- but we do know who was spying on her.  The Wasp had infiltrated the Mansion through its air system and was on patrol.  Flying into the Assembly Room, she found Jarvis.  Untying his mouth, she was told of Zemo and his plan to take out Hercules.  Not having time to rescue Jarvis, she assured him that Hercules would be kept out of the trap.  As if on cue, we switch scenes to the street, where a limousine has dropped off the Lion of Olympus.  Inside the car, as it pulls away, we see a very glamorous escort, talking to someone on the phone about getting paid her fee.  She assures Baron Zemo that Hercules has had enough drugged booze to fell an elephant.  As he staggers around the sidewalk, singing to himself and anyone else who will listen, the Wasp buzzes him to get his attention.  A man calling himself "Stevie" comes along and leads Herc across the street to a van.  Once inside, we find that it was Captain America.  The Avengers tell their fellow of the goings-on inside the Mansion.  Hercules is of course ready to brawl.  When the Wasp tells him that they need a plan, the very-drunk demigod blasts through the side of the van -- recall that last issue the Wrecker had goaded Hercules for taking orders from a female.

Karen: Moonstone, being brighter than most of the villains, seems to be actually searching through drawers and such, while the rest just seem to be smashing everything in sight. Zemo really does have a crew full of muscle-heads. If he'd had Crusher Creel  and Sandman, he would have had a full house. Jarvis is so Jarvis, telling the Wasp to save Hercules rather than himself. Of course Herc is both smashed and too egotistical to listen to Jan. Stern had done a nice job over many months showing Hercules' resentment at taking orders from the Wasp. It's probably harder to grasp now but put in the timeframe of 1986 it's an all-too familiar scenario, as more and more women were attaining positions of authority in the workforce, and many men were uncomfortable with that.

Doug:  Hercules heads straight into the Mansion, leaving Cap and the Wasp no choice but to follow.  Inside, Tiger Shark is the first Master to greet Herc.  Saying that he'd hoped to square off against the Sub-Mariner, Tiger Shark engages Herc nonetheless.  It's a foundation-shaking battle, as the walls give way and the two heavyweights crash even through the floor.  In the monitor room, the Fixer spies Cap and Jan, and alerts Zemo.  Having rigged new defense mechanisms, the Fixer is able to take out Cap and the Wasp before they even get close.  Once down, an mechanical arm comes out of the building and brings Cap inside; the Wasp, on the other hand, is placed out on the sidewalk.  Coming to, she's astonished to see the Mansion encased in a black cube -- the work of Blackout!  Inside the dark shield, Moonstone is astonished at Blackout's power.

Karen: I f Hercules is sober, I don't see Tiger Shark lasting more than a minute. I mean, really. Hercules would punch him into the ozone layer. The blackout power looked neat, but the mansion appeared a bit on the small side.

Doug:  I felt the same way about the battle -- Herc had to be a couple of steps slow.  Back inside the building, Hercules continues to show his mettle.  Fighting Tiger Shark to a standstill, he's piled on by Hyde and the Wrecking Crew.  Encased in a cocoon of machinery and metals, the Son of Zeus nevertheless bursts the bonds, triumphant in the face of his persecutors.  However, Goliath (nee Power Man) enters the fray, and picking Hercules up by one of his ankles proceeds to slam his head and shoulders from side-to-side into the walls.  It's a brutal assault, and Herc is finally dropped into the middle of the rest of the assembled Masters.  They pounce, and pummel.  And pummel.  And pummel.  Outside, Jan tries to breach the black barrier, to no avail.  Inside, Zemo confronts the now-bound Captain America.  In typical Cap fashion, the Star-Spangled Avengers says, "It... doesn't matter... what you do to me!  You haven't beaten the Avengers... not so long as one of us lives!"  Zemo disregards Cap's speech, telling him that he is the only Avenger of consequence left.  The Wasp is free, but was instrumental in capturing the Black Knight and in bringing Hercules into the clutches of his assailants.  And then Cap is told that the Olympian has... expired.  Outside, we see the black encasement bend, and then Hercules is spit out of it onto the sidewalk.  The Wasp rushes to his side and finds... no pulse.

Karen: This was an exciting issue; the stakes really felt high, and built anticipation for next issue. What Avengers would take up the call and come to the aid of their fallen comrades?