AVENGERS (volume 3) # 4 
May, 1998  
"Too Many Avengers!" 
By Kurt Busiek & George Perez 
with Al Vey & Bob Wiaceck (inkers), Tom Smith (colors), Richard
Starkings/Comicraft/? (letters), Tom Brevoort (editor) and Bob Harras
(editor-in-chief).  
 

Avengers Assembled: Thor, Iron Man, Giant-Man, Wasp, 
Captain America, Hawkeye, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Hercules, 
Black Panther, Vision (II), Black Knight (III), Beast, Moondragon, 
Binary (becomes Warbird in this story), Falcon (II), Tigra, She-Hulk,
 Starfox, Sub-Mariner, Demolition Man, Quasar (III), Sersi, Stingray,
 Rage, Sandman, Machine Man, Spider-Woman (II), Crystal, 
Darkhawk, Swordsman (II), Magdalene, Firestar and Justice
appear as Avengers members.  

Rick Jones, Black Widow (II), Photon, Firebird, USAgent and Living
Lightning may be present behind the scenes during the initial pages of this
story, before Captain America reports the recent departures of some of 
them on page six. Supporting that possibility is the fact that Stingray,
Sandman, Darkhawk and Spider-Woman (II) are all present in the first few
pages, even though Captain America refers to them having departed on page
six as well. Wonder Man appears briefly in this story as disembodied
energy, the state to which he reverted last issue. The Hulk appears in an
image on the screen of a laptop computer, and a statue of the Thing is seen
in Avengers Mansion this issue as well.  


EXTERIOR COVER 
The faces of prospective Avengers members, as drawn by George Perez, with
coloring by Tom Smith. Visible characters include Spider-Woman (II),
Binary, Starfox, Black Knight (III), Iron Man, Living Lightning, Thor,
Giant-Man, Black Widow (II), Spider-Man, Falcon (II), Quasar (III), Vision
(II), Sub-Mariner, Sersi, Scarlet Witch, USAgent, Tigra, Moondragon,
Captain America, Magdalene, Hercules, Hulk (II), Black Panther, Crystal,
Sandman, Machine Man, Wasp, Hawkeye, Photon, Rick Jones, Quicksilver,
Stingray, Beast, Swordsman (II), She-Hulk and Rage. Firebird's head is also
visible in the original drawing, but it's cut off from view here.  


INTERIOR COVER 
The events of the previous three issues are recapped here--how the Avengers
reunited after their disbanding to thwart Morgan Le Fay's attempt to remake
the universe in her image. Since the Avengers membership is to be
determined in this issue, no Avengers are singled out for individual
introduction here; instead, their faces are all bunched together inside a
giant question mark (though the inclusion of Firestar and Justice in said
question mark hints at both being membership contenders). The only
character individually introduced here this month is the Avengers' old foe
Whirlwind.  


PAGE 1 
 
Panel 2: 
TV newswoman Megan McLaren last appeared covering the Avengers' reunion in
the first issue of this series.  

Panels 4-8: 
WHIRLWIND (David Cannon) is a mutant criminal born with the power to move
at superhuman speed and spin at fantastic velocities, enabling him to
create tornado-like winds that he can manipulate for effects such as flight
and concussive force; in recent years, he has worn bladed costumes that
enable him to slice through virtually anything when he is moving at high
speeds.    

After using his superhuman talents for profit in pursuits ranging from
professional sport to petty theft, Cannon decided to seek greater thrills
and challenges by becoming a costumed super-criminal. Adopting the guise of
the Human Top, Cannon was repeatedly defeated by Giant-Man (Hank Pym) and
the Wasp. Donning a new armored costume as the Whirlwind (Avengers [v1] #
46), Cannon continued to attack Pym, Wasp and their Avengers teammates over
the years, both alone and as a recurring member of the Masters of Evil. At
first, he always escaped capture and continued to plot against the Avengers
under their noses in his guise as the Wasp's chauffeur, Charles Matthews.
Eventually, though, Pym deduced ėCharles''s true identity and captured him
with the aid of the Beast, finally sending Cannon to prison in Avengers
(v1) # 139.  

Despite that defeat, Whirlwind has returned repeatedly to seek revenge on
the Avengers, sometimes as a member of super-criminal groups like the
Lethal Legion and the Masters of Evil. He is particularly obsessed with Pym
and Wasp, and he has a delusion of a mutual romantic attraction between
himself and the Wasp. He last encountered the Avengers while on a mission
for Baron Helmut Zemo's Masters of Evil, during which he was defeated and
captured by Pym, Hellcat and Tigra (WCA # 16). Later, Avengers member Iron
Man foiled Whirlwind's attempt to escape from the Vault prison for
superhumans (Avengers Spotlight # 26), but Cannon has obviously made a
successful escape attempt since then.    

Whirlwind is wearing an elaborate new costume here--one first seen in the
ėFranklinverse' alternate reality of the Heroes Reborn comics, where that
reality's Whirlwind wore this outfit. How the ėreal' Whirlwind came to
adopt this outfit is a mystery as yet unsolved, though it may be just a
case of parallel development or simple coincidence. Regardless, it's a
curious development, prompting Hawkeye's query as to where Whirlwind got
the costume design since Hawkeye would have seen the ėFranklinverse'
Whirlwind in this costume.   

NOTE: There is no known connection between Whirlwind and the similarly
super-powered original Human Top, a 1940s crimefighter whose current
whereabouts and activities are unknown; however, it's likely that the 1940s
hero was the unwitting inspiration for Cannon's first costumed alias.  


PAGE 2
Justice, Darkhawk, Sub-Mariner, Stingray, Falcon (II), Binary, Firestar,
Machine Man, Starfox, Spider-Woman (II), Sandman, Rage, Black Panther,
Hawkeye, Swordsman (II), Quicksilver, Hercules, Magdalene and Crystal
charge into action.    


PAGE 3 

Panel 1:
It's only natural that Quicksilver would try to tackle Whirlwind since they
have roughly the same powers and have fought each other on previous
occasions (Avengers [v1] # 46 and 83); there's a sort of unsettled grudge
match or rivalry between them, and Quicksilver's impetuous nature makes him
one of the most likely Avengers to race into battle like this regardless of
the foe.  

Unfortunately, Quicksilver is hindered by a power blast from Magdalene's
staff and a net of adhesive ėpsi-webs' mentally generated by Spider-Woman.   

Panel 3: 
Hawkeye taking charge of this squad of Avengers makes sense since he's the
most senior Avenger on the scene, and also the one with the most leadership
experience; however, his trademark overconfidence comes through here, too,
as he tries to intimidate Whirlwind into surrendering despite the Avengers'
obvious teamwork problems.  

Panel 4:
Sub-Mariner and Sandman collide in pursuit of Whirlwind.  

Panel 5: 
Hercules tosses a piece of debris over Crystal's head as Swordsman looks on
and Firestar flies forward.   

Panel 6:
Hercules's thrown debris hits Rage as Falcon, Justice and Stingray go
flying. The flames at the bottom of the panel presumably come from
Firestar's flame aura.  


PAGE 4 

Panel 1:
Whirlwind escapes while Starfox ducks Binary's power blast, which severs
Machine Man's hand. 

Panel 2:
As Machine Man says, he has replacement parts for most of his appendages.  

Panel 3:
The Maria Stark Foundation is the charitable organization that provides the
bulk of the Avengers' funding.  

Panel 6:
As McLaren notes, the Avengers teamed with the Thunderbolts and the
Fantastic Four to thwart Baron Helmut Zemo's nearly successful attempt at
world conquest in Thunderbolts # 11-12, which evidently takes place between
Avengers (v3) # 3 and Avengers (v3) # 4.  

Panel 7:
We can make out Avengers Mansion's address in this panel: 890 Fifth Avenue.  

Panels 6-7:
As McLaren reports, the reactivated Avengers team is meeting to establish a
smaller, more manageable active roster. The Avengers have reshuffled their
roster many times before, beginning with the major overhaul in Avengers
(v1) # 16 that saw Hawkeye, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch replace the
departing founding members. Other media-hyped membership overhauls occurred
in stories such as Avengers (v1) # 150-151 and 329, and this issue's story
follows in that tradition; however, this issue's membership reshuffling is
somewhat unique in that it's only the second time the Avengers have been
forced to modify their roster due to an overabundance of active members.
The last such occasion was Avengers (v1) # 181, in which the team's federal
security liaison Henry Peter Gyrich insisted that the Avengers discharge
all but seven of their active members so that the team would be more
manageable from an administrative standpoint. Similarly, the Avengers
settle on an active membership of seven in this issue's story, too.   


PAGE 5 

Panel 1:
Avengers founders Thor, Iron Man, Giant-Man, Wasp and Captain America
convene to decide upon the structure of the new Avengers roster. They are
joined by their new federal government security liaison, Duane Jerome
Freeman, who makes his first appearance in this story. Past US government
security liaisons to the Avengers include Henry Peter Gyrich (a paranoid
anti-superhuman bigot who related to the Avengers on very adversarial
terms) and Raymond Sikorsky (a more moderate and friendly liaison who
ultimately proved untrustworthy when he was party to a government plot
against the Vision).   

To my knowledge, this is the first time the founders have unilaterally
determined the team's roster without input from the general
membership--unless you count Avengers (v1) # 16, in which the remaining
founders (Iron Man, Giant-Man and Wasp) appointed Hawkeye, Quicksilver and
Scarlet Witch as their replacements without consulting Cap; but back then,
the three remaining founders made up a majority of the membership, so it
wasn't quite as undemocratic as this story's top-down reorganization of the
team by the founders.     

As Giant-Man notes, Wasp is wearing yet another brand-new costume (a Perez
original).  

As a footnote indicates, Captain America lost his circular shield at sea in
the second issue of his current series. The shield he carries now is a
facsimile of his original badge-shaped shield created by the
Smithsonian--extremely tough (bulletproof at the very least), but not as
durable, aerodynamic or versatile as his circular shield, which was
composed of a unique adamantium-vibranium alloy that remains unduplicated
to date. Cap stopped using his original badge-shaped shield in Captain
America Comics # 2 when he replaced it with the circular shield, though he
held onto the original badge-shaped shield as a keepsake until Mister Hyde
destroyed it in Avengers (v1) # 275.      

Thor has returned to his conventional clean-shaven look (a change
presumably dictated by the fact that Thor will be depicted as clean-shaven
in the forthcoming revival of his ongoing series).   

For the first time in this series, Iron Man's new armor is colored
properly: his energy induction grids are flat red with glowing gold frames.  

Freeman's laptop is displaying an image of the Hulk (Robert Bruce Banner),
a long-estranged founding member of the Avengers. Hulk has almost always
been mentally unstable, and he quit the team following their second case
after the Space Phantom sparked a fight between Hulk and the other Avengers
(in Avengers [v1] # 2). The Hulk has met the Avengers as an ally or an
enemy many times since then over the years, but he never rejoined the
active membership ranks.   

Wasp's real name, used in conversation here, is Janet Van Dyne. Her
identity has been public knowledge for years.  

Panels 2-3:
Wasp flirting with Thor is a bit odd since she's been more serious and
mature in recent years--but as she herself suggests, this reunion of the
original Avengers roster seems to have put her in a giddy mood akin to the
frivolous personality she had back in the days of the original Avengers.
Chalk it up to nostalgia on her part, or Busiek's part, or both.
 
Panels 4-5:
This conversation reveals for the first time that the Avengers formally
declared Captain America a founding member of their group and enshrined
this declaration in the team's charter; it makes a certain degree of sense,
since Cap joined so soon after the group's founding and essentially filled
the membership slot vacated by the group's estranged founding member, the
Hulk; in addition, Cap has always been considered one of the most integral
Avengers members, their foremost leadership figure. He has long been
regarded as a de facto founding member of the group and comports himself as
such, but this is the first explicit revelation of that status being
official.       

In addition to Captain America's founding member status, this conversation
also reveals another official Avengers policy hinted at in previous
stories: the fact that the founding members have final authority over the
team's operations on the basis of seniority, which Giant-Man describes as
the founders being formally ėresponsible for the team's good name.' This
senior authority of the founders has been depicted or hinted at in various
stories over the years, perhaps most blatantly in Avengers (v1) # 92: in
that story, Skrulls impersonating Thor, Iron Man and Captain America were
allowed to disband the Avengers over the objections of the active
membership roster. 


PAGE 6 

Panels 1-3:
Iron Man and the others are amazed at how cooperative, friendly and
informal Freeman is since they're used to government liaisons who are
by-the-book or outright antagonistic. The team's first federal government
liaison, Henry Peter Gyrich, had a bitter adversarial relationship with the
team, whom he regarded as security risks at best and outright menaces at
worst; Gyrich even formally accused the team of criminal activity on
several occasions. He was eventually reassigned and replaced with the more
moderate Raymond Sikorsky, who had reasonably cordial and productive
relations with the Avengers for some time; however, Sikorsky's rapport with
the team was soured by his unapologetic complicity in a government plot
against an Avengers member, the Vision. Not long after that, the federal
security liaison position became much less relevant to the Avengers when
they began arranging their security clearance through the United Nations
rather than the US government; however, the Avengers have apparently
returned to their original organizational structure by arranging their
security clearance through the US government again, this time with Agent
Freeman as their liaison.    

Panels 4-12:
As Captain America explains, eight of the Avengers have already left the
team to return to their individual pursuits: Stingray goes back to his
research as oceanographer Walter Newell; Sandman goes back to his job as a
member of the high-priced mercenary team led by Silver Sable; Photon goes
back to the new business referred to in issue 1, a business she recently
started with her father in her civilian guise as Monica Rambeau; Firebird
goes back to her missionary work as Bonita Juarez in New Mexico; Darkhawk
goes back to solo super-heroics in Queens; Spider-Woman goes back to her
hometown Denver, where she's apparently found unspecified employment as
Julia Carpenter since the disbanding of Force Works; Miguel Santos, alias
Living Lightning, returns to his classes at UCLA; and Black Widow leaves
without explanation. 
 
One wonders why Busiek chose these eight characters for early departure,
some of them without so much as making an on-panel appearance in this
issue. Presumably, these aren't characters he's very interested in (apart
from known Busiek favorite Black Widow, who has good reason to beat a hasty
retreat since she's feeling rather contrite about her role in the team's
recent disbanding). In most cases, though, their departures make sense
given their current situations: Firebird, Spider-Woman and Living Lightning
currently all live and work too far away to serve in the Avengers on a
regular basis without giving up their outside lives, and Living Lightning
had long since decided to be strictly a reservist as long as he's still
attending school. Stingray and Sandman have other jobs, and Stingray's
never really been interested in full-time super-heroics anyway, while
Sandman left the Avengers on bad terms after his initial membership and
probably isn't eager to sign up again. Darkhawk's decision to decline
active membership makes sense since he's never been more than a reservist
in the super-teams he's affiliated with, and it's not surprising since
Busiek isn't overly fond of the character.     

The most noteworthy early departure is Photon, one of the team's most
dedicated and powerful members. Busiek has created a valid reason for her
departure with the behind-the-scenes introduction of her new family
business, but it still seems odd to see her leave the group without so much
as making an appearance in this story, despite the fact that previous
issues of this series correctly identified her as one of the heroes with
the strongest sense of Avengers spirit. Given her importance to the team,
she probably merits more than an off-panel exit alongside the likes of
Darkhawk and Stingray. Busiek has never seemed to be a big Photon fan, so
Monica's early departure isn't a surprise, but the minimal observance of
her departure seems a bit odd given Busiek's acknowledgment of her
importance to the team in the initial storyline of this series.    
    
On a personal note, Firebird's departure makes sense in the context of
current continuity but still disappoints me: this character is THE most
intriguing underused gem of the Avengers cast by my reckoning, and it's a
shame to see her shunted back into obscurity after such a fleeting return.  


PAGE 7 

Panel 1:
As revealed in the first issue of this series, Iron Man is vexed and
perplexed by the fact that the Avengers disbanded under Black Widow's
leadership while he and most of the other core Avengers members were
missing in action and presumed dead. He wanted to talk to the Widow about
this and demand some explanations, but she left before he had a chance to
talk to her. He'll soon get a chance to confront her in his own series,
though, since the Widow will be appearing there.   

Panel 2:
Captain America's intention of keeping the team's organizational structure
as simple as possible probably reflects the intentions of Busiek himself,
since he's the guy writing this stuff; Busiek has admitted relative
indifference to the group's past relationship with the United Nations, so
it may be a while before we see the group resume ties with the UN, if they
do so at all; whether Busiek is similarly indifferent to the concept of an
organized reserve membership remains to be seen, though Cap's decision to
determine the group's reserves ėlater' does indicate it's not a high
priority for Cap and/or Busiek. I, for one, will be curious to see what
sort of reservist structure develops in the team, especially since they
have so many people to draw upon as reserves--easily enough for two or
three back-up rosters, though any such reservists would have to appear
infrequently lest they cut into the time needed to cover the active
members.    

Panels 1-9: 
Captain America, Iron Man and Thor all decide to stay on as active members
of the team; together, they are sometimes referred to as the Big Three, the
group's three most prominent members, and three of the most formidable. It
makes sense that the team could rebuild more effectively with their
considerable contributions to the group's morale, public profile and
fighting strength. From a storytelling perspective, though, it seems a bit
odd for Thor and Iron Man to be among the keepers. Both have been rather
detached from the Avengers in recent years, both largely preoccupied with
their individual pursuits; and both already have their own solo comics in
which to develop. It almost seems a waste to fill nearly half the new
roster with characters who already have their own solo books when there are
so many fine underused Avengers--but on the other hand, the Avengers have
almost always had one or more members starring in their own comics, so this
isn't really anything new; and as noted, it'll probably be good for the
team (and the comic) to have the Big Three around during the group's
rebuilding period. It might be wise to phase one or two of them out in
favour of other characters later on, though.  

Ironically, the ėBig Three' sticking around to rebuild the team echoes
long-ago comments by Avengers Mailing List notable and frequent Busiek
sparring partner Steve Sahl, who insisted (contrary to the assertions of
myself and others) that the Avengers couldn't possibly rebuild without
Thor, Iron Man and Cap. Sahl and Busiek thinking alike? Maybe they have the
same brain patterns... 

Panels 10-15:
Wasp and Giant-Man decide to leave the active roster, a somewhat surprising
twist since Busiek and Perez had gone to the trouble of redesigning them
and reviving their romance, not to mention pegging Wasp as one of the
characters with the strongest sense of Avengers spirit. One wonders why
Busiek and Perez would tinker with Hank and Jan them so much only to
discard them almost immediately. On the other hand, the size-changing duo
have a long history of taking leaves of absence from the Avengers--usually
as a couple--dating all the way back to their first leave of absence in
Avengers (v1) # 16. Hank in particular has taken many leaves of absence
from the team to concentrate on his scientific research, which he's doing
yet again in this story. Wasp, meanwhile, has a financial empire to rebuild
after much of her fortune was embezzled during The Crossing.  

The current characterization of Hank and Jan, hinted at in earlier issues
and made more explicit here, is somewhat implausibly retro, almost
uncomfortably so. Somehow, during the interval between Onslaught and this
series, they seem to have reverted to their old roles as a stuffily shy
scientist and the frivolous girl who dotes on him. Even after all this
time, it's still somewhat hard to believe Jan going back to Hank--heck,
girlishly fawning over him--after their bitter breakup. It's almost as if
their divorce and their subsequent personal growth never happened. 

Wasp and Pym were already romantically involved by the time they helped
found the Avengers, and they continued to date for years, but Pym felt
inadequate, unworthy of the wealthy and beautiful Wasp, so he couldn't
bring himself to commit to her. Eventually, though, he finally got up the
nerve to marry her while he was in the midst of a chemically induced mental
breakdown (Avengers [v1] # 59-60), and they decided to let the marriage
stand after he regained his mental stability. Hank's feelings of romantic
and professional inadequacy continued to fester over the years, though,
leading to his third nervous breakdown (Avengers [v1] # 161-162) and a
fourth nervous breakdown (Avengers [v1] # 212-213), during which he became
verbally and physically abusive toward Wasp, who divorced him.  
        Since then, Wasp has become much more serious-minded and independent,
serving effectively as Avengers leader for some time, while Pym gradually
regained his emotional stability and regained his standing in the Avengers,
humbler but wiser. The ex-couple later served together in the AWC and
considered renewing their romance, but decided to remain just friends.
Still later, they both rejoined the eastern Avengers roster and Hank
underwent a largely unexplained personality overhaul--which, among other
things, resulted in a brief renewal of his romance with Wasp. The renewed
romance ended badly, though, when Hank mutated Wasp into a freakish new
form to heal fatal injuries she received in battle, after which Hank
implanted a tracking device on her to monitor her condition. When she
discovered that Hank was monitoring her without her knowledge or consent,
Wasp angrily severed their renewed relationship. Despite all the bad blood
between them, though, they seem to have somehow recaptured their original
romance in the current series--and, perhaps as an outgrowth of this renewed
romance, Wasp is acting rather girlish again. Nostalgia conquers all.       

Giant-Man's real name, Hank Pym, is used in conversation here. His true
identity has been public knowledge for years.  


PAGE 8 

As seen last issue, Vision had the lower half of his body blown away during
the Avengers' battle with Morgan Le Fay. Scarlet Witch keeps a vigil over
his gradually healing body--partly because she was married to him for years
and cares deeply for him, and partly because she feels responsible for his
current condition, since Morgan wouldn't have been able to blast Vision if
Scarlet Witch hadn't hesitated before blasting Morgan. Adding to the guilt
is the reason why Scarlet Witch hesitated: she couldn't blast Morgan
without exploding Wonder Man, Vision's rival for the Scarlet Witch's
affections. In the end, Wanda did blast Morgan, blowing up Wonder Man in
the process, but not before Morgan blew away half the Vision's body.  

This is the second time that Vision has been physically incapacitated for
an extended period (the last time being injuries suffered in battle with
Annihilus in Avengers [v1] # 233); the first time this happened, the
physically immobile Vision developed a method of interacting with the
Avengers through a holographic projection of himself generated by the
Avengers Mansion computers (Avengers [v1] # 238). Vision has apparently
recreated that technology for use in his current situation, since he
projects an image of himself to greet the Scarlet Witch here; in fact,
Vision is probably using the same projection program as before, since he
appears here in his original uniform, the same one he was wearing when he
first created the holographic projection system. Either that, or Vision was
feeling nostalgic and decided to manifest a facsimile of his old duds for
this reunion with Wanda.   

Vision refers to Scarlet Witch by her true name, Wanda Maximoff. While her
true identity is not widely recognized, she has never really concealed it
from her fellow Avengers or the general public. 
  

PAGE 9  

Panels 2-4: 
Vision and Scarlet Witch were happily married for years until an
international coalition of intelligence agencies abducted Vision and
dismantled him, seemingly erasing his mind in the process. Vision was
physically reconstructed, but they couldn't restore his mind, so his
personality became that of an emotionless robot (see West Coast Avengers #
42-45). This effectively ended his marriage to the Scarlet Witch since he
could no longer relate to her on a personal level, and they separated as of
AWC # 53, contributing to a nervous breakdown on the Witch's part. 
        Later, Vision regained a semblance of his original personality and sought
to reconcile with the Scarlet Witch (in Avengers: The Crossing # 1 and
Avengers [v1] # 398), but by that time she had finally accepted his ėdeath'
(a conclusion she reached in AWC # 91) and was leery of attempting
reconciliation. 
        More recently, Vision's near-death experience seems to have shocked Wanda
into remembering how much she loved him, making her more receptive to the
idea of renewing their marriage; however, Vision discourages her
attentions, perhaps because he doesn't want her to pity him, or because he
doesn't want to trap her into remarrying him out of guilt; whatever his
reasons, it's obvious that he still loves her since her departure touches
him so profoundly in this scene.   


PAGE 10 

Panel 4: 
Notice how glum the Black Knight looks as Quicksilver and Crystal speak of
leaving together to spend time with their family; the Knight had a brief,
abortive romance with Crystal (circa Avengers [v1] # 361-375) and remains
infatuated with her despite the fact that she has reconciled with her
husband Quicksilver. This storyline will be explored further in future
issues of Quicksilver and Heroes for Hire, both ongoing series written by
John Ostrander.   

Panel 6: 
Here we see Moondragon, Falcon, Hawkeye and Hercules; visible in the
distant background at the far right are Firestar, Rage, Tigra and Starfox.
Hawkeye is pacing impatiently as he waits for the founders to decide on the
roster; Starfox and Tigra seem to be chatting chummily on the couch--a
likely pairing, since both are nymphomaniacal hedonists.  

Behind Hawkeye we can see a small statue of the Thing, perhaps sculpted by
Alicia Masters--Thing's longtime girlfriend, and an artist famous for her
sculptures of super-heroes; to the left of Hercules's hand, we can see a
picture of Scarlet Witch in her original costume; behind Hercules is a
portrait of Hercules himself in his traditional Olympian costuming and
beard (a much better look than his current ensemble). 
 
Hawkeye's impatience with the selection process is understandable: the
process is somewhat elitist and undemocratic, and Hawkeye has little
patience with authority in general anyway. As hinted in issue 1, he fancies
himself a peer of the founders--and rightly so, since he's contributed as
much to the group as any of the founders apart from Captain America. As
such, having no say in the team's membership rankles Hawkeye.  

As Hawkeye boasts, he was the first Avengers member Cap recruited during
their time in the ėMorganverse', a recruitment recognizing Hawkeye as the
Avengers member with the strongest team spirit and dedication to the group.
That being the case, Hawkeye can't understand why he isn't automatically on
the active roster.       

Panel 8:
Falcon says he never wanted to be a full-time Avenger, which is true, since
he concentrates on his social work and battling street crime. Falcon is
correct in recalling that Hawkeye was against Falcon joining in the first
place--though that was years ago, as Hawkeye points out. At the time,
Falcon had never served as an Avengers member before and was being
appointed to the team by US government order to fill an equal opportunity
quota based on race (Avengers [v1] # 181). Hawkeye fiercely objected to
Falcon's recruitment at the time since Falcon was an outsider who hadn't
proven himself with the team, and not exactly a powerful new addition to
the group, either (Hawkeye dismissed him harshly but accurately as a guy
who flies and talks to birds). Of course, the fact that Hawkeye was among
the active members bounced to make room for Falcon at the time didn't help
either. Falcon also felt uncomfortable about the circumstances of his
joining, though, so he resigned after a short membership stint in Avengers
(v1) # 194, and any bad blood between him and Hawkeye is water under the
bridge by now.    

Panel 9: 
Moondragon perceptively observes that Hawkeye is merely upset about not
being on the selection committee himself--understandable given his standing
within the team and his longtime leadership ambitions. Hawkeye has wanted
to lead the Avengers since the day he joined, and did lead them
successfully for some time as founding chairman of the team's west coast
division, so he can't stand not having a say in the team's operations now.   


PAGE 11 

Panel 1:
This is pretty much a reverse view of the scene from panel 6 on the
previous page, with Rage and Firestar in the foreground and Hawkeye and
Moondragon in the background; a portrait of Carol Danvers as Ms. Marvel (in
her second and current costume) is visible between Hawkeye and Moondragon.
This portrait is also seen at closer range in panels 6 and 7 of this page.   

Panels 2-3: 
Rage and Firestar discuss returning to the New Warriors, the youth-oriented
super-team of which they and Justice are active members--but Justice has
dreamed of being an Avenger all his life, so Firestar, his fiancee, is
sticking around on the off chance that Justice actually does have a shot at
membership, in which case she'd try to join the Avengers alongside him. The
Avengers have a long history of female heroes who got their start as
Avengers by tagging along with their male partners: Wasp was little more
than a sidekick to Hank Pym in the early days of their career; Scarlet
Witch joined at the insistence of her brother, Quicksilver; Black Widow
first became involved with the team through her romance with Hawkeye,
though she didn't make her membership official until after they'd broken
up; Mantis moved into Avengers Mansion as the Swordsman's lover and was
later made an official team member; Mockingbird joined the group after
marrying Hawkeye; and Marrina became an honorary member after her husband
Namor rejoined the Avengers.   

As Rage notes, the fact that he's still a minor means he can't be
considered for the active roster; he was a reservist with the Avengers
until the team discovered how young he was (Avengers [v1] # 341-342),
prompting them to kick him out since members that young aren't allowed
under the team's charter. Firestar, on the other hand, is old enough to be
an active Avengers member since she recently turned eighteen.  

Note the use of the Warriors' real names in this sequence: Elvin (Rage's
real name is Elvin Halliday), Vance (Justice's real name is Vance Astrovik)
and Angel (Firestar's real name is Angelica Jones). Vance's double identity
is public knowledge due to his prosecution on murder charges after he
accidentally killed his abusive father. Elvin no longer seriously protects
his double identity since he has no loved ones to safeguard outside of the
Warriors, and he has also been through the court system on murder charges.
Angelica has maintained her dual identity, but does not guard it
religiously, and it is already known to various friendly and unfriendly
parties.   

Panels 6-12:
Beast and Binary are brainstorming to come up with a new super-heroic alias
for Binary, echoing a ėrename Carol Danvers' exercise that Kurt Busiek
conducted on the Avengers Mailing List. While I can see why she'd want to
ditch the lame Binary name (especially since her Binary powers are gone),
I'm not sure why Carol doesn't just resume her old Ms. Marvel name since
she's wearing her old Ms. Marvel costume anyway. It may be that the name
holds too many bad memories for her since her Ms. Marvel career ended with
her abduction and violation by Marcus and a crippling assault by Rogue.   


PAGE 12 

Panel 1:
Beast tells Carol that her powers have decreased, and that she'll no longer
be able to assume her Binary form; she says she's been aware of a decline
in her powers for weeks, so she isn't surprised. The erosion of her Binary
powers may stem from her near-death experience during Galactic Storm, when
she pushed her Binary powers to their absolute limits in a successful
attempt to dispel destructive antimatter from Earth's sun. It's unclear
what powers Carol may retain in her present state--perhaps an approximation
of her old Ms. Marvel powers, primarily superhuman strength and flight.    

Panels 2-4: 
Carol's always been very strong-willed and independent, so it seems odd
that she'd be so insecure as to conceal her physical condition in hopes of
returning to the active Avengers roster. It's an indication that she may be
having some personal problems and suffering a crisis of confidence, a
possibility hinted at more explicitly later in this story. It's also
curious that she wants to return to the Avengers after declining
involvement with them for years, ever since they failed to protect her from
her abductor Marcus in Avengers Annual 10; while she's been on friendlier
terms with the Avengers in recent months (especially after they nursed her
back to health following Galactic Storm), she has turned down renewed
membership as recently as Avengers (v1) # 351. Obviously, her feelings have
changed for reasons as yet unrevealed.   

Panel 6: 
Near the center of the panel, we see the bottom of what's probably a
picture of Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, though the coloring's a
bit off. At the far right we see a picture of Wonder Man (Simon Williams)
in his second costume, a Perez original introduced in Avengers (v1) # 161.
Fitting that Simon's portrait should be here since... 

Panels 7-9:
Wanda's thoughts keep turning to Wonder Man--and as they do, his
disembodied energies begin to take shape outside the window until Wasp
breaks Wanda's concentration, causing Simon to dissipate again. This scene
indicates that Simon is still not truly dead, and that he could be
reconstructed again if Wanda concentrates her mental energies on him with
sufficient intensity as she did in Avengers (v3) # 2-3. Wonder Man's
presence in this issue's poster illustration of the new roster also
indicates that he's by no means gone for good, especially not since Busiek
seems to be cultivating a love triangle between the Vision, Wanda and Simon.   


PAGE 13 

Panels 1-8:
Scarlet Witch accepts active membership, while Quasar, Sersi, Magdalene,
Swordsman, Sub-Mariner, Machine Man and Black Panther decline, though some
of them say they'll be ready to serve if they're really needed.  

The most significant and least surprising departure is Quasar: while his
exit does mean that almost half of the key Avengers identified in Busiek's
Morganverse story are leaving the team, Quasar's overwhelmingly vast
Protector of the Universe duties give him the best imaginable reason for
declining full active membership. Still, one wonders why Busiek went to the
trouble of defining the team's key players if he was going to discard
several of them right off the bat; perhaps he simply wanted to give Wasp,
Photon and Quasar their due before sending ëem back to comic book limbo.   

Sersi says she'll be staying in Olympia (the hidden capital city of the
Eternals) until she gets bored, indicating that her old party girl
personality seems to be returning despite her various post-Proctor traumas.  

Magdalene and Swordsman say that the Avengers have been generous to them,
but they feel out of place since they come from a parallel Earth and may
not stick around. Presumably, they'll continue living on their own and
occasionally fighting crime.  

Sub-Mariner says he's far too busy to be an active member, presumably
referring to his activities in Marvel Team-Up and Heroes for Hire.  

Machine Man is, as he says, concerned chiefly with studying humanity and
interacting with them, as opposed to teaming with exotic superhumans like
the Avengers in search of adventure; however, his reluctance to serve as an
active member still seems a bit odd in light of the intense admiration and
loyalty he expressed regarding the group in AWC Annual 5. Back then, he
seemed thrilled to fight alongside the Avengers and desperate to be worthy
of their fellowship. Evidently, he's reevaluated his priorities since then,
perhaps because the team so seldom made use of him as a reservist. 

Black Panther, predictably, returns to Wakanda, the African nation of which
he is king.  

Panel 9:
Giant-Man removes his helmet, and Perez manages to convey the fact that
Hank is one of the older Avengers; note the lines in Hank's forehead, for
instance--it's a face clearly distinct from more idealized, youthful faces
such as Captain America's.  


PAGE 14 

Panel 1:
Demolition Man is heading back to Zerotown, the community of sewer-dwellers
in which he lives as Zerotown's protector.  

Panel 2:
Behind Jarvis, we see a portrait of Hank Pym (now Giant-Man) as the
original Yellowjacket. Pym adopted the YJ guise in Avengers (v1) # 59-60
and kept it for years, occasionally switching back to his Ant-Man guise. As
Yellowjacket, Pym worked with both the Avengers and the Defenders, as well
as the occasional adventure on his own or alongside the Wasp. He abandoned
the Yellowjacket guise--and costumed adventuring in general--when he
suffered a nervous breakdown that led to his expulsion from the Avengers
and his divorce from the Wasp, followed by a period during which his old
foe Egghead framed him for treason. Pym eventually recovered from his
breakdown and proved his innocence, but the YJ costume held too many bad
memories for him and he abandoned it. Rita DeMara later adapted it for her
own use as the new Yellowjacket, becoming an honorary Avenger, but she was
recently murdered in Avengers: The Crossing # 1.   

Panel 5:
Jarvis's comment about being in the presence of such nobility is ironic
given which Avengers he's observing in this scene--the self-indulgent
hedonists Starfox and Tigra, and the self-righteous, self-styled goddess
Moondragon. All impressive specimens in one way or another, but none of
them the team's best or brightest.  

Panels 6-7: 
Tigra and Starfox are apparently departing together for a holiday of carnal
pleasures on Deneb-7, presumably by means of Starfox's personal spacecraft.  


PAGE 15 
Panels 1-5:
Iron Man is worried by the fact that Carol made an excuse about being at
the bar, indicating that she may be having problems with alcohol--something
to which Iron Man would be especially sensitive since he's a recovered
alcoholic himself. If Carol does have a drinking problem, it may be a
factor in her seemingly shaken self-confidence and her current desire for
acceptance. 
  
Panel 3:
As Carol says, she used to be a magazine editor. She edited Woman magazine
for J. Jonah Jameson, better known as the tyrannical, rabble-rousing
publisher of the Daily Bugle newspaper.  

Panel 6: 
Note the signs among the buildings with the names ėTHOMAS' and ėD. HECK' on
them--presumably a reference to Roy Thomas and Don Heck, the writer and
artist who replaced original Avengers creative team Stan Lee and Jack
Kirby. Heck took over as regular Avengers artist with Avengers (v1) # 9 and
provided artwork for Avengers (v1) # 10-15, 17-40, 45, 47, 108-112,
119-121, 123, 145-146, 157 and 301, plus Avengers Annuals 1 and 2 and
Giant-Size Avengers 4.  Thomas wrote most of Avengers (v1) # 35-104, and
later wrote or co-wrote most of Avengers West Coast # 60-101.  

Heck was the first to draw such Avengers characters as Wonder Man,
Immortus, Count Nefaria, the original Swordsman, the original Power Man,
the Sons of the Serpent and the Living Laser; Heck was also the first
regular artist on Iron Man's original Tales of Suspense series, in which
Heck and Stan Lee co-created future Avengers members Hawkeye and the Black
Widow. As Avengers writer, Roy Thomas introduced Avengers such as Hercules,
Black Panther, Captain Marvel and Whizzer, and Avengers villains such as
Ares, Whirlwind, Magneto, Klaw, Egghead, Maximus, the Kree and the Skrulls.
Thomas also co-created Avengers members Black Knight and Vision, and
co-created other Avengers characters such as the Red Guardian, Grim Reaper,
Ultron, Scarlet Centurion, Man-Ape, the Squadron Sinister, Zodiac, Arkon,
Cornelius Van Lunt, Lethal Legion, Red Wolf and the Squadron Supreme. As
AWC writer, Thomas introduced Avengers members Spider-Woman and Darkhawk
and co-created Avengers member Living Lightning, as well as co-creating
Avengers villains Hangman, Deathweb, Manipulator, Alkhema and the Pacific
Overlords.   


PAGE 16
Justice's familiarity with Whirlwind's abilities is not suprising since
Justice has long made a study of super-heroes and super-villains. The New
Warriors used to rely heavily on Justice's knowledge in their operations
until the similarly studious Hindsight took on that role in the group. 
  

PAGE 17 

Panel 1:
Note Duane's ėEarth's Mightiest Coffee' mug, a cute play on the Avengers'
reputation as Earth's Mightiest Heroes, a slogan often emblazoned across
the team's comic book logo. Interestingly, Cap refers to Carol as Ms.
Marvel even though she hasn't used that alias in years and doesn't plan on
using it in the future--probably just a slip of the tongue stemming from
the fact that Cap knew her best as Ms. Marvel, when they served together in
the Avengers. There were even hints of a potential romance between them way
back when.  

Panels 1-5:
Iron Man objects to Carol's membership since he suspects she has a drinking
problem, but the others persuade him to withdraw his objection. 
 
Panels 5-6:
Cap mentions USAgent (John Walker) as a prospective member, and the others
react with uncomfortable silence--not surprising given USAgent's less than
stellar service record and considerable character flaws.  

Originally a self-aggrandizing nationalist vigilante and demagogue known as
the Super-Patriot, Walker served as a replacement Captain America for a
time when the government temporarily stripped Steve Rogers of the Captain
America identity, but Walker proved to be violently unstable and soon
resigned in disgrace, giving the Captain America role back to Rogers.
Walker then adopted a new costumed guise as government operative and
freelance adventurer USAgent, in which role the US government forced the
Avengers to accept him as a member of their western roster so that he could
supervise their activities on the government's behalf (WCA # 44-46 and AWC
# 47-68). The Avengers fired the obnoxious and disruptive USAgent after
they reorganized under the auspices of the United Nations (AWC # 69), but
they allowed him to rejoin in AWC # 74 after he aided them against the
Pacific Overlords; however, he quit their ranks in AWC # 102 when the team
shut down its west coast roster. Given USAgent's arrogance, rude
personality and violent temper, few of the Avengers would be eager to work
with him again regardless of his power and experience.     

All that being said, though, it's curious that Iron Man wouldn't speak up
for USAgent since he personally recruited Agent for their post-AWC team
Force Works, and seemed to have considerable faith in USAgent at the time.  
  

PAGE 18 

Panel 2:
As Hawkeye notes, he has served as Avengers team leader in the past: he
became founding leader of the team's west coast roster in the WCA limited
series, and served in that capacity in WCA # 1-45 and AWC # 87-97.  

Hawkeye recruiting new talent is ironic on more than one level: he was once
a new recruit himself, and he also used to be one of the Avengers most
suspicious of and resistant to new recruits--perhaps because he felt his
own position wasn't secure, though Hank Pym once speculated that Hawkeye's
reluctance to accept new recruits also stemmed from the fact that the
Avengers were more important to Hawkeye than they are to almost anyone
else, so much so that he was wary of lesser recruits diluting the team. In
the years since then Hawkeye has obviously grown more confident, both in
himself and in the Avengers, to the extent that he actively seeks out new
recruits for the team. Recruiting new members is also a way for Hawkeye to
assert himself since he feels he isn't being given a strong enough voice in
Avengers affairs.   
 
Panel 5:
I *love* this shot of Hawkeye whispering tauntingly to the unconscious
Whirlwind--it's just too funny. 
 
Panel 6: 
Another great panel, showing off the patented Hawkeye smirk (his late wife
Mockingbird once described it as his least attractive trait).   


PAGE 19 

Panel 1:
As Hawkeye notes, Cap did say he should seek Hawkeye's input on Avengers
business more often (this was in Avengers [v3] # 2, when Hawkeye correctly
anticipated how various Avengers would react to Morgan's spell); however,
Cap never likes anyone undercutting his authority, so he's doubtless
irritated that Hawkeye tried to recruit new members without the founders'
approval.     

Panel 2:
Cap's declaration of the roster being firmly closed as of fifteen minutes
ago is an indication of one of his few unfortunate traits--an occasionally
arbitrary or inflexible leadership style (such as Avengers [v1] # 211, when
he unilaterally decreed an active roster of six members and demanded that
all other active members depart, or Avengers [v1] # 213, when his harsh
disciplinary action against Yellowjacket exacerbated Hank Pym's mental
breakdown).  

Panels 5-6: 
Firestar prepares to depart for pride's sake rather than haggle over
joining, a clear indication of her independent spirit and her relative
indifference to the prospect of Avengers membership. 


PAGE 20 

Panel 1:
Cap defines the offered reserve memberships as an opportunity to train with
the team, be on call as needed and have first crack at openings in the
active roster. Whether that's how all reserve memberships will be defined
in the reorganized Avengers team remains to be seen. 

Panel 2: 
Justice accepts reserve membership jubilantly (he's as giddy as a
schoolgirl), though Firestar seems unmoved. One gets the impression that
she's only joining for Justice's sake.   

Panel 3: 
Iron Man and Wasp joke about the miracle of Cap changing his mind--unusual,
but not unheard of.   

Panels 4-13:
Giant-Man and Wasp shrink to insect size and fly off in a pager that
transforms into a miniature plane, presumably one of Hank's inventions;
it's an indication that Hank may still be able to shrink and enlarge
objects, the power he used in his non-costumed heroic guise as Doctor Pym
(a power he has very seldom used as Giant-Man); it's also proof positive
that Hank has somehow regained his ability to reduce his own physical size,
an ability he supposedly lost in the Giant-Man flipbook limited series.
This is also the first demonstration of how his new Giant-Man helmet
converts into an approximation of his old Ant-Man helmet when it shrinks,
sprouting antennae (with which he can control insects) and a
voice-augmenting mouthpiece.   


PAGE 21  

Panel 1:
A cowled man is visible in an illustration from Jarvis's reading material,
but who is pictured in the illustration is unclear. It looks somewhat like
USAgent. 

Panel 5:
The new Avengers roster is announced: Thor, Iron Man (Anthony Edward ėTony'
Stark), Captain America (Steven Grant Rogers), Hawkeye (Clinton Francis
ėClint' Barton), Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff), Vision and Warbird (Carol
Danvers), plus reservists Firestar (Angelica Jones) and Justice (Vance
Astrovik). Apparently, Carol has chosen Warbird as her new costumed
alias--catchy, and appropriate for ėan ex-USAF cutie who flies,' as Beast
put it.     

Panels 6-11:
Since Avengers (v1) # 16, it has become a tradition for Cap or another
Avenger to yell the team's rallying cry--ėAvengers Assemble!'--at public
appearances such as these; however, since Firestar hasn't been an Avenger
before and hasn't followed the team's exploits the way Justice has, she has
no idea what everyone is waiting for.   


PAGE 22
 
Panel 3:
As Cap gives the team's rallying cry, Hawkeye displays a self-satisfied
smirk; Thor wears a contented smile; Scarlet Witch seems subdued; Warbird
sports a broad smile; Iron Man turns to look at Justice, who is literally
jumping for joy; Firestar seems indifferent; and Vision wears his
characteristically impassive facial expression.  


POSTER
This issue includes a bound-in poster drawn by George Perez and colored by
Tom Smith, depicting what will presumably be the Avengers cast in months to
come: Thor, Wonder Man (whose presence in this illustration seems to
portend his probable return), Vision, Iron Man, Firestar, Justice, Hawkeye,
Captain America, Scarlet Witch and Warbird. The placement of Vision and
Wonder Man together makes sense since they formerly shared the same mind,
and they still share other things in common, notably their love for Wanda
and their current disembodied states.  

Firestar and Justice are both wearing new Perez-designed costumes that
they'll presumably adopt in future issues of this series; as with many of
Perez's recent character redesigns, these are new costumes that echo the
characters' original costume designs. Firestar's new outfit is the same
basic design as her original costume, only with much darker-colored
flame-pattern boots and gloves (they used to be bright red) and the
addition of similar flame-pattern trim at the shoulders, framing a streak
of low-cut cleavage that was absent from the original uniform (somewhat out
of character for the usually modest, low-key Angelica). Firestar also seems
to be wearing makeup over her eyes rather than a mask in this version of
her costume. Justice's new outfit is much like his original Marvel Boy
uniform, the major difference being an open-faced, open-topped mask in the
current model (the original outfit had a full-headed cowl that only exposed
his mouth and chin) and a star emblem that wasn't present in the earlier
uniform (perhaps inspired by the star emblem of Justice's idol Captain
America or the star emblem of Vance's own alternate future self, Vance
Astro). It should be noted, too, that Vance's Marvel Boy uniform (retooled
into this new costume) is based on a costume first worn by Vance's
alternate future self, Vance Astro. 


NOTE:
In this issue's letter column, Busiek admits that Firestar is the "mystery
Avenger' he hinted at months ago, which many fans had already guessed (more
people remembered the fact that Firestar debuted outside of standard Marvel
Universe continuity than Busiek and editor Tom Brevoort had expected when
they leaked a clue about a brand-new Avenger who had debuted outside the MU
proper). Busiek also admits that current events in MU continuity prompted
him to revise his plans for the new Avengers roster--relegating Justice and
Firestar to reserve status, for instance, when they were originally slated
for full active membership as of this issue; however, Busiek promises that
they will be active members by the end of the summer, since two of the
active members will be leaving--one willingly, and one unwillingly. Still
more fodder for fan speculation...