Earth's Mightiest Annotations
by Sean McQuaid

AVENGERS (volume 3) # 17
June, 1999
"Cage of Freedom"
By Jerry Ordway
with Al Gordon (inker), Tom Smith (colors), Richard Starkings & Comicraft's
Wes Abbott (letters), Tom Brevoort (editor) & Bob Harras (editor-in-chief).

Avengers Assembled:
Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, Scarlet Witch, Vision [II], Firestar &
Justice (as active members); Giant-Man & Wasp (as reserve members); Black
Knight [III] & Photon (as inactive members); and Wonder Man & Carol Danvers
(as former members).

Other Characters:
Doctor Jane Foster, Edwin Jarvis, Doomsday Man [II], Thundra, citizens of
Polemachus, emergency medical technicians and The Wrecking Crew (Bulldozer
[II], Piledriver [II], Thunderball & Wrecker). In addition, the original
Doomsday Man, Arkon, MODOK and various AIM agents appear in assorted
flashbacks.


EXTERIOR COVER
This Jerry Ordway cover depicts the Avengers (Justice, Wasp, Warbird
[costumed as Ms. Marvel], Giant-Man and Iron Man) fighting the new Doomsday
Man.


PAGE ONE
ARKON is the warrior monarch of the otherdimensional world Polemachus, and
has encountered the Avengers as both an adversary and an ally on several
occasions. His few appearances on Earth were enough to inspire a series of
popular sword-and-sorcery action movies, one of which starred Simon
Williams (the actor better known as Wonder Man, who got his first big break
as the villain in Arkon IV). Arkon first appeared in Avengers [v1] # 75-76,
when he
threatened to destroy Earth as a means of rejuvenating his own world's
life-giving energy ring; however, the Avengers managed to thwart his
efforts until they restored the energy ring of Polemachus for him. With his
world safe, Arkon ceased to endanger Earth and also released the Scarlet
Witch, whom he had previously abducted in hopes of making her his mate. His
subsequent Avengers appearances include Avengers [v1] # 84 (battled Avengers
as unwitting pawn of the Enchantress), West Coast Avengers [v2] # 31
(battled Wonder Man and demanded that Earth stop producing Arkon movies),
Avengers West Coast # 75 (employed Avengers and Fantastic Four as pawns in
his war with rival otherworldly monarch Thundra until he made peace with
Thundra after realizing they shared a strong mutual attraction) and Avengers
[v1] # 358-359 (with consort Thundra, sought Avengers' aid in repairing
Polemachus's energy ring and protecting the maiden Astra from becoming a
human sacrifice to Polemachus religious zealots led by the high priest
Anskar). Of the Avengers on this latest mission to Polemachus, all but
Firestar have encountered Arkon before. Vision and Black Knight were part
of the Avengers roster that made the most recent expedition to Polemachus
in Avengers [v1] # 358-359.


PAGES TWO & THREE (double-page spread)
It sounds somewhat odd (and uncharacteristic) to hear Vance's fiancee
Firestar refer to him as Justice while Wanda refers to him as
Vance--perhaps a slight mix-up on Ordway's part.


PAGE FOUR
Doctor JANE FOSTER is a friend and confidant of the Avengers who has most
recently treated Iron Man for his latest health problems (as seen in his
ongoing series). Only recently accredited as a doctor after years as a
nurse, Foster was recommended to Iron Man and the Avengers by Thor, who
employed Foster as his nurse in his former civilian identity as Doctor
Donald Blake, and had a romance with Foster for years before she left him
for Doctor Keith Kincaid (who has also served the Avengers in a medical
capacity). She first appeared in Journey Into Mystery # 84.
Doctor Foster's comments about the irony of Iron Man telling Justice to
follow doctor's orders are a reference to her recent appearances in Iron
Man's ongoing series, where he repeatedly went into action against her
orders while still recovering from serious injuries.


PAGE SIX
As discussed in the annotations for previous issues, Carol Danvers began
her costumed adventuring career as Ms. Marvel but later assumed the alias
Binary, followed by her current costumed identity as Warbird. Following her
abduction last issue, she has awakened to find herself clad in the original
Ms. Marvel costume, which she has not worn since Ms. Marvel # 20. As Carol
says, her memories were permanently removed when the mutant Rogue absorbed
them in Avengers Annual # 10. Despite various therapies and treatments, she
is missing most of her memories to this day--and, more importantly, most of
her emotional connection to her memories and her past life. This problem
has been a major contributing factor in Carol's recent struggle with
alcoholism.


PAGE SEVEN
The original Doomsday Man was a robot Carol battled in Ms. Marvel # 4.
Criminal inventor Kerwin Korman was one of AIM's best weaponsmiths, and he
first appeared in Ms. Marvel # 1. Hungry for more power than he could have
as a mere machinesmith, Korman adopted became a costumed super-criminal
called the Destructor in Ms. Marvel # 2, but was seemingly killed in Ms.
Marvel # 4.
Formerly a branch of the subversive terrorist organization HYDRA, AIM
(Advanced Idea Mechanics) is a group dedicated to the manufacture, sale and
overall proliferation of high technology, especially high-tech weaponry.
AIM originally plotted the overthrow of the world's governments with the
intention of establishing a global technocracy (rule by the scientifically
and technologically skilled elite), but in recent years they have shifted
their efforts to weapons sales, their principal clients being criminals and
super-criminals. The group still retains some subversive and criminal
ambitions of its own, though, due largely to the influence of MODOK, a
super-intelligent, super-powerful and somewhat insane telepath who has
repeatedly seized control of AIM since their experiments created him years
ago. AIM first appeared in Strange Tales [v1] # 146, while MODOK first
appeared in Tales of Suspense [v1] # 93-94. AIM's Avengers appearances
include...

Avengers [v1] # 87
(AIM agents attempted theft of Wakanda's vibranium, thwarted by Black
Panther)

Solo Avengers # 14-16
(AIM base invaded and exposed by Black Widow, Hawkeye, Mockingbird and
Doctor Pym; AIM Attackoid destroyed by Hawkeye & Black Widow; AIM agents
defeated; supposedly resurrected Maria Pym revealed to be an AIM creation,
SODAM, who posed as Maria Pym to trick Doctor Pym into helping her; AIM
base destroyed)

Avengers [v1] # 387-388
(AIM attempted to re-create the Cosmic Cube; MODOK appears as part of this
effort)

Avengers [v2] # 8
(appearance by MODOK & AIM agents of the alternate Earth known as the
"Franklinverse")

Avengers [v3] # 13
(AIM warehouse located and shut down by Avengers and New Warriors;
warehouse destroyed during battle between the heroes and Lord Templar)

As Iron Man remarks on Page Eight, Carol has had her share of encounters
with AIM, dating all the way back to the early issues of her Ms. Marvel
ongoing series.


PAGE TEN
Warbird quit the team in Avengers [v3] # 7 when it seemed the team was
about to vote her off the active roster due to her drinking problem.


PAGE ELEVEN
Firestar's unspoken comment about not wanting to "pair off" with the Black
Knight "again" makes no sense since she hasn't paired up with him yet to my
knowledge. It also seems a bit odd for the usually level-headed Firestar to
be so leery of Dane for accidentally injuring a teammate, even if the
injured party is her fiancee.


PAGES TWELVE & THIRTEEN
THUNDRA is one of the greatest warrior women of the United Sisterhood
Republic, a leading nation in the 23rd century Earth of an alternate future
timeline. In this timeline, biochemical warfare sterilized 95% of the
world's female populace, and the fertile 5% seized political power. The
emerging governments brutally oppressed the male populace since men were
blamed for their world's destructive wars. By the 23rd century, natural
childbirth had been almost totally replaced by the genetic engineering of
children in laboratories, and men were bred only as servants, entertainers
or breeding stock. Genetically engineered with superhuman physical prowess,
Thundra became a celebrated soldier in the United Sisterhood Republic by
battling foreign powers and renegade bands of free men.
When soldiers from the male-dominated alternate Earth known as Machus
invaded Thundra's Earth in hopes of liberating its male populace, Thundra
retaliated by stealing a Machus time machine in an effort to journey
back in time and prevent the world of Machus from coming about; however,
she ended up in the mainstream 20th century, which was not truly the past
of either Machus or her own Earth. Determined to ensure a female-dominated
future, Thundra decided to humble the world's strongest male in combat and
repeatedly battled the Thing with that goal in mind. Eventually realizing
that her actions in the present had no bearing on her alternate future
homeworld, Thundra actually became a friend and ally to the Thing, whom she
had come to admire more than any other man. Thundra eventually returned to
her own time, but left for the 20th century again when the prospect of her
people peacefully coexisting with the Machus men left her disillusioned.
Thundra did mercenary work for Roxxon Oil after they promised they could
send her to an alternate future whose matriarchy had not been compromised
by the men of Machus. Thundra became the ruler of this alternate
future Femizonia and eventually found herself at war with the
otherdimensional kingdom Polemachus and its chauvinistic warrior monarch,
Arkon. Despite their long, bitter conflict, Arkon and Thundra discovered
that they shared a strong mutual attraction, an attraction that ended their
conflict when they became lovers. Thundra has since joined Arkon in
Polemachus as his consort.
Thundra first appeared in Fantastic Four [v1] # 129. Her Avengers
appearances include Avengers Annual # 8 (skirmished with the Avengers when
they accosted her admirer Hyperion II), Avengers West Coast # 75 (employed
Avengers and Fantastic Four as pawns in her conflict with Arkon before
making peace with him); Avengers [v1] # 358-359 (alongside Arkon &
Avengers, failed to prevent murder of the maiden Astra by Anskar, high
priest of Polemachus, who said she had to die as a religious human
sacrifice); and Avengers Forever # 1 (cameo) & 4-6 (appeared in a 21st
century alternate future as a member of that era's Avengers battling to
liberate Earth from Martian invaders; alongside Captain America, Giant-Man
and 21st century Avengers, drove Martians off Earth and established
peaceful relations with the being Mourning Prey).

Vision was among the Avengers who encountered Thundra during their last
visit to Polemachus. Captain America's over-the-top reaction to Thundra's
eyepatch seems somewhat out of character since he doesn't know her all that
well and has seen many things far worse than this. Besides, if eyepatches
freak Cap out, he's been doing a good job of hiding it from his friend Nick
Fury all these years...


PAGE FOURTEEN
The Black Knight has been depicted as headstrong, rash or overbearing on
occasion in the past, and his aggressive posture here may seem odd to
someone like Firestar who is unfamiliar with him. As a veteran Avenger, he
is given more leeway than Firestar might expect from a stern commander like
Captain America.


PAGE FIFTEEN
Firestar told Justice to fight his feelings of unworthiness and anxiety in
Avengers [v3] # 14 after he confessed to her that he felt inadequate and
unhappy as a member of the Avengers.


PAGE SEVENTEEN
Hank's pager, which transforms into a miniature aircraft, was first seen in
Avengers [v3] # 4.


PAGE TWENTY-ONE
"Holey Moley!" is an exclamation associated with the original Captain
Marvel (Billy Batson), a character who was the bestselling superhero in
comics for much of the 1940s. Originally published by Fawcett and now
published by DC, Captain Marvel was revamped in the 1994 Power of Shazam!
one-shot by Jerry Ordway, who went on to write a 1995 Power of Shazam!
ongoing series for DC that ended only recently. Shazam, incidentally, is
the name of the wizard who gave Billy Batson the power of Captain Marvel.
Whenever he speaks Shazam's name, boy broadcaster Billy Batson is
transformed into the adult Captain Marvel, a sort of supernatural Superman.


PAGE TWENTY-TWO
Iron Man's scolding of Justice seems both callous (the kid's already
suffering quite a bit for his misconduct, a misconduct which happened to
save the team from the Doomsday Man) and monumentally hypocritical (Iron
Man is often prone to disobeying authority in general and doctor's orders
in particular).