EMA-14 part 3 by Sean McQuaid PAGE 12 Hank Pym (reserve Avengers member Giant-Man) has been employed as a scientific researcher since Avengers [v3] # 4. The mysterious, metallic-handed individual overseeing Hank's work is Ultron, Pym's renegade robotic creation and mortal enemy, as revealed next issue. PAGE 13 Panel 1: Vance has felt intimidated and unworthy since joining the Avengers, whom he regards as heroes far greater than himself. Panel 2: This may be the first appearance of Congresswoman Fairfield. Panel 3: Onlookers wonder if Thor would consider running for governor of Minnesota, a joking reference to the fact that pro wrestler Jesse "The Body" Ventura became governor of Minnesota shortly before this story. Panel 4: Cap says he's had experience with manipulation of the public recently, referring to the "Capmania" storyline from Captain America [v3] # 4-7, when a Skrull subversive orchestrated a massive upswing in Cap's popularity and then exploited it by posing as Cap and using Captain America's authority to provoke nationwide unrest. Cap has also had numerous other experiences with the manipulation of the public, notably the Secret Empire's largely successful campaign to tarnish his public image, which ended when he defeated the Empire in Captain America [v1] # 175. Panels 5-6: Vance confesses what readers learned last issue: that he's thinking of returning to the New Warriors since he feels so uncomfortable as an Avenger. PAGE 14 Panel 1: As Firestar says (and as Vance himself has said on numerous occasions), Vance has dreamed of Avengers membership all his life. He idolizes the team in general and Captain America in particular (in Giant-Size Defenders # 5, Vance's first appearance, young Vance's room was shown to be filled with Captain America keepsakes). Still, Vance isn't sure he's ready to fulfill his dream. In reply, Firestar asks what Vance would do if a mind-altering villain like Psycho-Man or Mesmero were sapping his confidence. This comment indicates that Vance's penchant for superheroic trivia may be starting to rub off on his fiancee Firestar since she mentions two villains who are largely unknown to the general public. MESMERO is a mutant criminal with the superhuman ability to hypnotize anyone into doing, thinking or believing whatever Mesmero commands. He can even hypnotically induce amnesia, modify memories and alter personalities, though his hypnotic powers depend largely on making eye contact with his victims. Most people fall completely under his mental control after looking into his eyes; even without eye contact, he can cast multisensory illusions and cause people to experience sensations such as pain. Few individuals can resist his powers to any extent, and his powers can affect multiple victims simultaneously. He has repeatedly battled the X-Men and related groups, such as Excalibur. He has also fought Spider-Man and Alpha Flight. He first appeared in X-Men [v1] # 49. He hasn't made any real Avengers appearance, but he was featured in a flashback in Avengers [v1] # 103 and was pictured on a Project Pegasus monitor screen in Avengers [v3] # 10. PSYCHO MAN is the Chief Scientist of the planet Traan, ruler of Traan and the four other planets governed by a technocracy in the Sub-Atomica system of the Microverse, an otherdimensional realm that can be accessed only by shrinking matter until it is displaced through a subatomic nexus (previously, "microverses" such as this were mistakenly believed to actually exist within atoms). When Sub-Atomica's worlds became overpopulated, Traan's Chief Scientist targeted Earth for potential colonization since he believed its inhabitants would be defenseless against his emotion-manipulating weaponry. The Chief Scientist emerged in Earth's dimension at subatomic size, but housed in a gigantic suit of humanoid armor that, in Earth's dimension, was roughly the size of a normal man. Thus outfitted, the chief scientist was known on Earth as the Psycho Man and used his emotion-controlling inventions to attempt the conquest of the planet; however, he has been repeatedly defeated by adventurers such as the Fantastic Four, the Black Panther, the Inhumans, the Micronauts, Spider-Man, the Silver Surfer and the X-Men. Psycho Man is a multidisciplinary scientific genius who specializes in the invention and manufacture of emotion-manipulating technology. His favorite weapon is his portable emotion stimulator device, which can instill fear, doubt or hate in his victims, some of whom react so extremely that they hallucinate or even die. He also uses other mind-altering and emotion-controlling devices, and sometimes travels in a vast "world-ship" while he is in the Microverse (it is too large to pass through the dimensional portal that leads to Earth); this world-ship is filled with the technological resources that the Psycho Man needs for his various experiments, inventions and projects. The Psycho-Man's personal armor is cybernetically controlled, responding to his mental commands; some versions of the armor are capable of superhuman physical strength. The Psycho Man first appeared in Fantastic Four Annual # 5. He has made no Avengers appearances to date. Panel 2: Firestar assures Vance that he does have what it takes to be an Avenger (which some readers have presumed all along given Vance's impressive history with the New Warriors), that she's "never known anyone more suited to be an Avenger than [Vance]." She's speaking out of love to some extent, but it's also a fairly accurate statement: Vance's idealism, intelligence, courage, power and experience make him a perfect candidate for Avengers membership--and in Avengers [v3] # 2, Scarlet Witch's summoning spell revealed that Justice was one of a handful of heroes with the strongest sense of Avengers spirit, and he hadn't even joined the Avengers at that point. Vance truly does seem to be meant for Avengers membership; he just has to calm down and trust in himself a bit more before he can really settle in. As part of her attempts to bolster Vance's confidence, Firestar reminds him that he's fought Juggernaut and Terrax, two of the most powerful super-criminals in existence. Terrax was the first foe the Warriors (including Firestar & Justice) ever fought, as shown in New Warriors # 1. The Juggernaut was the team's second opponent, as shown in Thor [v1] # 411-412. JUGGERNAUT (Cain Marko) is the son of scientist Kurt Marko. Cain's mother, Marjory, separated from Kurt while Cain was still quite young, and she later died. When Kurt's colleague Brian Xavier died in an accident, Kurt married the widowed Sharon Xavier to access the Xavier family fortune. Depressed by her loveless marriage to Kurt Marko, Sharon soon died as well, leaving her son Charles Xavier in Kurt Marko's care. A resentful Cain bullied his stepbrother Charles, who was secretly beginning to manifest mutant telepathic powers. When Charles accidentally read Cain's mind and learned that Kurt was physically abusing his son, Cain somehow sensed Xavier's telepathic presence and was furious about this invasion of his mind, becoming more abusive toward Charles as a result. Kurt's abuse of Cain and Cain's abuse of Charles continued into the boys' young adulthood, when Cain accidentally caused an explosion during an argument with his father. In a last act of uncharacteristic nobility, Kurt dragged both boys to safety before dying of smoke inhalation. Cain and Charles continued to live together thereafter, and Cain grew increasingly jealous of his stepbrother's athletic feats, scholastic achievements and mutant powers. Cain eventually left home, became a mercenary (during which time he befriended the mutant criminal Black Tom Cassidy), and later ended up serving with Charles in a US military unit stationed in Asia. During their tour of duty, Cain deserted under fire. Pursued by Xavier, Marko sought refuge in the lost temple of the mystical entity Cytorrak. Inside, Cain found and touched the Ruby of Cytorrak, which transformed him into the superhuman Juggernaut. At that moment, enemy bombardment collapsed the temple, burying Marko alive. Xavier escaped the cave-in, returned to his unit, and later returned to America, where he founded the team of mutant adventurers known as the X-Men. Marko eventually dug himself out of the temple's rubble and became an infamous mercenary super-criminal as the Juggernaut. He usually works alone or in partnership with his only close friend, Black Tom Cassidy. His most frequent recurring enemies are Xavier and the X-Men, but he has also fought heroes such as the original Spider-Woman, Spider-Man, the Thing, Excalibur, Thor, the New Warriors, X-Force, Wolverine, Hulk & the Avengers. Juggernaut has nearly limitless superhuman strength and durability, and he can enhance the latter trait by surrounding himself with a force field. Once in motion, the Juggernaut is an unstoppable force; he can be constrained or slowed, but virtually no force on Earth can completely halt his forward motion once he begins to move in a given direction. His body is sustained by mystical energy, so he does not require food, water or air. He formerly possessed superhuman mental and mystical abilities, but he has since lost those powers. The Juggernaut can be affected by mystical powers of sufficient force. Without his helmet and skullcap (both fashioned from an alien metal native to the dimension of Cytorrak), the Juggernaut is vulnerable to psionic attack; however, he is immune to mental assaults so long as he is wearing either the helmet or the skullcap. The Juggernaut first appeared in X-Men [v1] # 12. He has made no real Avengers appearances to date, though his cameo appearances include flashbacks to the events of the "Acts of Vengeance" conspiracy in Avengers Annual # 19 and Avengers Spotlight # 27, when Juggernaut fought Thor and the New Warriors (a story told in detail in Thor [v1] # 411-412). In addition, a boy wielding the Ruby of Cytorrak menaced Captain America and the Human Torch in Avengers West Coast # 64. TERRAX THE TAMER was originally Tyros, brutal dictator of the city-state Laniak on the world of Brij, a moon orbiting the gas giant Marman thousands of light years distant from Earth. Tyros enforced his rule through his mutant power to manipulate earth & stone, and he led a violent, immoral life. Tyros's power and cruelty eventually brought him to the attention of the cosmic planet-eating entity known as Galactus. Galactus had empowered various beings to act as his herald in the past, sending them forth to find worlds suitable for his consumption, but each of them in turn was either destroyed or turned against him. Deciding that he needed an immoral herald who would not sympathize with the worlds Galactus targeted, Galactus recruited Tyros and transformed him into his cosmic-powered herald, Terrax. As Terrax, Tyros was Galactus's most ruthlessly efficient herald ever, locating more planets for Galactus than any other herald. Terrax regarded these finds as personal conquests, and sometimes decimated a planet's populace himself before Galactus began feeding. Unfortunately, Terrax was also Galactus's most ambitious and disloyal herald. He fled Galactus to conqer and rule a world of his own, but was retrieved by Galactus with the aid of the Earth adventurer Dazler. Later, Terrax fled to Earth and used his rock-manipulating powers to hold Manhattan hostage in an attempt to make the Fantastic Four attack Galactus on his behalf. Galactus retaliated by stripping Terrax of his cosmic power and abandoning him on Earth. Infused with limited artifical cosmic power by Doctor Doom, Terrax attacked the Fantastic Four and seemingly died in combat with the Silver Surfer, another former herald of Galactus. Reduced to ashes and dust, Terrax survived as sentient energy, energy that was accidentally restored to physical form by the research firm Genetech when they collected the soil irradiated by Terrax's remains for analysis. This earthen version of Terrax was defeated and destroyed by a group of young adventurers who founded the New Warriors as a result of that victory. Later, Terrax returned to life again in a more stable, more powerful form by possessing Genetech founder Harom Furmintz as a host body. Terrax regained his full cosmic power in the process, though he did not regain his capacity for interstellar travel. The New Warriors, the Fantastic Four, Mathemanic, Impulse [II] and the Silver Surfer joined forces to defeat Terrax, and the Surfer stranded him on an uninhabited alien planet; however, Terrax eventually escaped to menace the universe anew. Terrax has superhuman strength (sufficient to press about 75 tons) and a rocklike body that is sustained by cosmic energy and impervious to conventional injury. His earth-manipulating powers (magnified many times over by Galactus) enable him to levitate and manipulate rock and earth, up to and including masses the size of Manhattan. He can survive unaided in the vacuum of space and is capable of flying at near-light speed on his rock constructs; by opening space warps, he could cover distances at super-light speeds. He wields a cosmic axe which can radiate waves of destructive force and project extremely durable force shields. An undead facsimile of Terrax fought the Avengers as part of the Grandmaster's Legion of the Unliving in Avengers Annual # 16, and was defeated by Iron Man. An alternate reality version of Terrax appeared in the "Franklinverse" in Avengers [v2] # 12. PAGE 16 Panels 3-4: Wonder Man says he's "the next best thing" to Thor, a reference to the fact that Simon's considerable superhuman strength nearly equals Thor's physical might (Simon may actually be somewhat more durable than Thor, but that's another matter altogether). The statement is another indication that Simon's egomania of recent years has declined, since at one time he believed himself to be at least Thor's equal (notably when he challenged Thor to a duel--and lost--in West Coast Avengers Annual # 2). Thor has long been regarded as one of the most physically powerful Avengers, and as such he is a standard his teammates measure themselves against. Simon in particular has long compared himself to Thor; during his initial Avengers stint, he often boasted that his fists hit like Thor's hammer (so often, in fact, that longtime Avengers fans jokingly regard this statement as a definitive Wonder Man saying). Thor is said to be in the "Class 100" strength range, enabling him to routinely lift (press) weights in excess of 100 tons. Wonder Man's strength, when last measured, was sufficient to lift (press) about 95 tons. Whether that strength level has persisted through his various recent mutations is unknown, but he apparently still has high-level superhuman strength. PAGE 17 Panel 1: COUNT LUCHINO NEFARIA was a European nobleman who was exposed as the head of a Maggia crime family after he came into conflict with the Avengers. Later, he founded the second Lethal Legion as part of a scheme that gave him vast superhuman powers by siphoning power from his super-powered confederates. The same process also made Nefaria age rapidly, though, and the feeble Nefaria was accidentally killed while his daughter, Madame Masque, was trying to help him escape Iron Man. Nefaria first appeared in Avengers [v1] # 13, when the Avengers exposed him as a Maggia crimelord. Later, in Avengers [v1] # 164-166, the superpowered Nefaria went on a rampage and single-handedly overpowered an entire team of Avengers (including Wonder Man) until Vision defeated him with the strategy Simon mentions here: soaring to a great height, descending, and increasing his own bodily mass in time to strike his target with tremendous force. Later, a reanimated zombie version of Nefaria fought the Avengers as a member of the Legion of the Unliving in Avengers [v1] # 353-354. Note Vision's rather terse reply to Simon here, another indication that Vision's patience with Wonder Man may be gradually wearing thin. Panel 4: Pagan's out-of-left-field mention of Lord Templar suggests a connection between the two, a connection made explicit next issue. Note that Pagan's skin (the exposed forearms) is black, the same as known Triune Understanding followers Duane Jerome Freeman and Triathlon (and there are hints of a connection between Lord Templar & Triune, hints played out in issue 15). Whether that is simply coincidence or an indication of Pagan being somehow related to Freeman or Triathlon remains to be seen. PAGE 19 Cap arrives and, in one of the most glaring examples of his declining leadership performance to date, launches an attack on Pagan without heeding Wanda's comments regarding the situation. Instead, he directs her to use her "hex power" to prevent explosions or draw the air away from Pagan--another indication of Cap expecting a longtime teammate to fall into an old role she's since outgrown, the same basic attitude problem that helped drive Hawkeye away from the group. Hawkeye was complaining about this and other things as early as issue 4, while Wanda began to see it herself as early as issue 8. Ironically, Hawkeye--the first of the recent members to question Cap's leadership, and the most ambitious would-be leader among them--left the team just before an opportunity for a greater leadership role opened up in Avengers [v3] # 13-15. Now Hawkeye has gone on to another team, and Scarlet Witch is assuming a larger leadership role of the sort Hawkeye might have liked for himself. PAGE 20 Panel 6: Simon, oddly, seems to be naked. Either he wasn't wearing his costume when he "powered up" this time, or he was wearing it and the battle destroyed it. PAGE 21 Panel 6: Avengers National Security liaison Duane Jerome Freeman last appeared in Avengers [v3] # 6. As noted elsewhere, there are indications that he may be a Triune Understanding follower (though the Avengers themselves do not seem to be aware of this yet). Panels 7-10: As Wanda says, the team is "a mess": Vision is withdrawn, Thor is often absent, Justice and Firestar are isolated; and as Wanda observes, it's "largely a failure of leadership," the fact that Cap's been preoccupied with personal concerns and expects the Avengers to function smoothly even without his full attention. Without the guidance of hands-on leadership, the current Avengers roster hasn't learned how to function as a unit, how to live and work with one another. PAGE 22 Panel 5: The X-Men's principal aircraft is a Lockheed Shield (RS-150) Blackbird jet, specially modified using alien Shi'ar technology. Panel 6: George says he really likes drawing "that funny little monkey man" and asks if Beast will return. "You never know," Kurt says; however, the "real life" Perez was recently quoted as saying that X-Men editorial still controls Beast (even though the character is not currently on the active X-Men roster), and that the Avengers creative team has no real say in what is done with Beast beyond what the X-offices choose to allow. Dang it.