EARTH'S MIGHTIEST ANNOTATIONS
By Sean McQuaid

AVENGERS FOREVER # 1
December, 1998
"Destiny Made Manifest"
By Kurt Busiek & Carlos Pacheco
with Jesus Merino (inker), Steve Oliff (colors),
Richard Starkings/Comicraft/Albert Deschesne (letters),
Greg Schigiel (Assistant Editor), Tom Brevoort (editor) &
Bob Harras (editor-in-chief).

Avengers Assembled:
Iron Man, Giant-Man, Captain America, Scarlet Witch, Firestar & Justice
appear as Avengers in the present, along with honorary member Rick Jones.
Thor, Hulk [II], Wasp, Beast and Wonder Man appear in flashbacks (the
flashback featuring Beast is new material). Black Panther, Two-Gun Kid
and Human Torch (possibly the non-member second incarnation of the
Torch) all appear on Immortus's monitor screens. So do 3-D Man (a member
of the 1950s Avengers) and Thundra, who may or may not be a future Avenger
(series writer Busiek has said that Avengers Forever will feature characters
who become Avengers in the future). In addition, this story features what
appears to be a group of Avengers culled from various past, present and
future timelines (though who comes from when remains to be seen): a figure
who seems to be the present-day Giant-Man circa Avengers (v3) # 10; a figure
who seems to be a future incarnation of the Wasp; a figure who seems to be a
future incarnation of or future successor to the original Captain Marvel; a
figure who seems to combine elements of Hawkeye & Goliath [II], both
identities used by longtime Avengers member Clint Barton (who last used them
in combination in AWC # 97); a figure who seems to be the original
Yellowjacket (Giant-Man in one of his past identities); a figure who seems
to be a future incarnation of Songbird (currently a member of the
Thunderbolts) as an Avenger; and a figure who appears to be a past or future
incarnation of Captain America.

Other Characters:
The people of 26th-century Centauri-IV (including Farthi, Lendu Garinta,
Carva Tessara & Finu Birana), The 26th century Galactic Avengers (including
Hammer-Troopers, Repulsor-Troopers, Shieldsmen, Micro-Swarm & Jonz Rickard),
The Time-Keepers (including Vort & Ast), SHIELD (including Agent Beaulieu),
Starcore, The Supreme Intelligence, Immortus, Tempus, Kang and an
unidentified robed figure. The Executioner, the Lava Men, Space Phantom,
Melter, Black Knight [II], Radioactive Man, Baron Zemo, the Kree and the
Skrulls also appear in various flashbacks. Rawhide Kid appears on one of
Immortus's monitor screens. So does Thundra, who may or may not be a future
Avenger (series writer Busiek has said that Avengers Forever will feature
characters who become Avengers in the future). Angel, Blazing Skull, Fin,
Patriot and Vision appear in a flashback to Avengers (v1) # 97, when Rick
Jones mentally conjured up facsimiles of these heroes.

Chronological Note:
The present-day Avengers roster seen here and the costuming they wear places
this story somewhere between Avengers (v3) # 9 & Avengers (v3) # 10.


FRONT COVER
The cover illustration by Carlos Pacheco, George Perez, Steve Oliff & Tony
Kelly depicts Rick Jones seated in front of a montage of faces, faces that
seem to represent people associated with the Avengers. Some of the faces
represent characters who have never been Avengers, but series writer
Kurt Busiek has said that Avengers Forever will feature Avengers from other
time periods, including characters fated to become Avengers in the future.
Non-Avengers (who may be future Avengers) on this cover include Jack of
Hearts, Red Wolf, Valkyrie, Mister Immortal (a member of the unofficial
Great Lakes Avengers), Thundra, a new Captain Marvel, Songbird, a helmeted
man who may be a future incarnation of MACH-1, Deathlok, and several
partially obscured figures (including one below and to the left of
Deathlok). Identifiable faces in general include Jack of Hearts, Crystal,
Red Wolf, Valkyrie, Iron Man (original armor), Black Panther, Magdalene,
Wonder Man, Sandman, Stingray, Deathcry, Goliath [II], Hawkeye (in his
"Heroes Reborn" incarnation from the "Franklinverse"), Mister Immortal,
Moondragon, Hulk [II], Vision [II], Hellcat, Thor, Ant-Man, Masque [II],
Thundra, Captain America, Black Knight [III], Giant-Man, Human Torch,
Mantis, Thor, Scarlet Witch, Yellowjacket, Sub-Mariner, Iron Man (current
armor), Songbird, Rage, Wonder Man, a future Captain Marvel, Hawkeye, a
future MACH-1 (unconfirmed), Beast, Wasp, Spider-Woman [II], Jocasta,
Thing, Mockingbird, Warbird, Quasar [III], Falcon [II], Quicksilver,
Swordsman [II], Hercules, Machine Man, Justice & Deathlok. Busiek has said
he has Avengers plans for Jack of Hearts in 1999.


BACK COVER
The back cover illustration by Comicraft's John Roshell & Randee Z features
a moon surrounded by warped images reprinted from past Avengers comics,
including Avengers (v1) # 10 & 97 and Giant-Size Avengers # 2. Avengers
(v1) # 10 is the first appearance of Immortus, seen here meeting the
original Masters of Evil. Avengers (v1) # 97 contains the first meeting
of the Supreme Intelligence and Rick Jones, during which the Intelligence
activated a vast mental power within Rick (a feat the Intelligence repeats
in this story). Giant-Size Avengers # 2 features a major battle between
Kang and his past self, Rama-Tut (Kang's first known meeting with such an
alternate counterpart) during the quest for the Celestial Madonna, a battle
that resulted in Kang killing Avengers member the Swordsman, the team's
first casualty.


PAGE 1
A member of the Centaurian race was first seen in Marvel Super-Heroes (v1)
# 18, which featured the debut of alternate future Centaurian adventurer
Yondu Udonta. Yondu was a founding member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, a
group formed to liberate Earth and its allied worlds from the invading
Badoon in the 31st century. Yondu and his fellow Guardians became
honorary members of the Avengers during an extended visit to the 20th
century some time ago, but they have since returned to their own time.
Yondu's principal weapons are his arrows, which are made of sound-sensitive
yaka metal (when Yondu fires arrows from his bow, he controls the speed
and direction of their flight by whistling). This story marks the first
time we have seen a 26th century Centaurian society. In fact, this is
the first time we have seen this particular timeline and its inhabitants.


PAGE 4
The invaders' abilities and outfits are obviously patterned after the
20th century Avengers members Thor (the Hammer-Troopers), Iron Man (the
Repulsor-Troopers), Captain America (the Shieldsmen) and Ant-Man (the
Micro-Swarm).


PAGE 5
The invaders, identified as the Galactic Avengers (apparently an alternate
future imperialist interstellar army patterned after the 20th century
Avengers) are led by a JONZ RICKARD, whose name and appearance suggests he
is a descendant of 20th century honorary Avengers member Rick Jones. The
Emperor Rickard that Jonz mentions is also presumably a descendant of
Rick Jones.


PAGE 6
The figures in Panels 3-4 are The TIME KEEPERS, enigmatic cosmic beings
dedicated to ensuring the orderly maintenance of the timestream with an eye
towards preserving their own existence. A key part of their agenda is the
prevention or negation of unwanted alternate timelines, and they may regard
this particular reality as just such an unwanted timeline. Their only
known agent to date is Immortus, who oversees and protects seventy centuries
of time on their behalf. The Time Keepers first appeared in AWC # 62 when
they were revealed as the guiding force behind Immortus, who failed to
enslave the Scarlet Witch as a time-regulating nexus being on their behalf
and was then forced by them to serve as an immobilized nexus being himself.
Later, the Time Keepers appeared to observe the changing fortunes of Kang's
cross-time empire Chronopolis in Avengers: Terminatrix Objective # 3.


PAGE 7

Panels 1-2:
The Kree Lunatic Legion recently used the Blue Area as a base from which to
assault Earth, planning to mutate humanity in their own image. They were
thwarted by the Avengers with the aid of the Kree's erstwhile leader, the
Supreme Intelligence. For more information on the Kree, the Blue Area,
the Lunatic Legion and the Supreme Intelligence, see the EMA annotations for
Avngers (v3) # 7 and the Live Kree or Die crossover. SHIELD and Starcore
have been mentioned and/or featured in previous issues of the current
Avengers series and annotated accordingly.

Panel 3:
The present-day Avengers roster seen here and the costuming they wear places
this story somewhere between Avengers (v3) # 9 & Avengers (v3) # 10 (Thor
was absent circa Avengers [v3] # 9; Hawkeye left the group in Avengers [v3]
# 9; Firestar, Justice and Scarlet Witch are wearing costumes they adopted
in Avengers [v3] # 8; Captain America wields the energy shield he was using
as of Avengers [v3] # 8; and Giant-Man is wearing an outfit he'd abandoned
as of Avengers [v3] # 10). Avengers seen here include IRON MAN, CAPTAIN
AMERICA, GIANT-MAN, FIRESTAR, JUSTICE & SCARLET WITCH. Their "cargo",
RICK JONES, appears in Panel 4.

Agent Beaulieu is named after Mark Beaulieu (a.k.a. "Baloo"), a longtime
member of the Avengers Mailing List.

Panel 5:
As the captions indicate, it was a summons from Rick that first brought the
Avengers together when he was seeking aid to clear the Hulk's name. Pictured
here are Thor, Ant-Man, Wasp, Rick Jones and Iron Man (in the second version
of his original armor) as they looked in Avengers (v1) # 1.


PAGE 8

Panel 1:
Rick and the early Avengers members (Giant-Man, Wasp, Thor, Captain America
& Iron Man [in the fourth, "classic" incarnation of his armor]) pose against
a montage of early Avengers foes, including The Executioner, the Lava Men,
Baron Heinrich Zemo, Wonder Man, Immortus, Kang, Space Phantom, Black
Knight [II], Melter & Radioactive Man. For more information on these foes,
see the annotations for Page 11 of Avengers (v3) # 10.

Panels 2-4:
These panels are a flashback to the events of the Kree-Skrull war from
Avengers (v1) # 89-97. Panel 2 depicts a Skrull on the left and a Kree
on the right. Panels 3-4 depict events from Avengers (v1) # 97. Panel 3
depicts Rick mentally conjuring facsimiles of several Golden Age heroes:
the original Vision (Aarkus), Angel (Thomas Halloway), Patriot (Jeff Mace),
Fin (Peter Noble) and Blazing Skull (Mark Todd).

Panel 5:
As noted, Rick recently suffered crippling injuries from a beating
administered by his friend the Hulk, and has since been plagued by an
unknown ailment.


PAGE 9

Panel 1:
Inactive Avengers members Giant-Man and BEAST, two of the team's foremost
scientists, are expert biochemists. As such, it's logical that they would
be called in to help diagnose Rick's condition. Beast last worked with the
group in Avengers (v3) # 1-4 when he aided the team against Morgan Le Fay
and helped Warbird diagnose the current state of her superhuman powers.
Giant-Man has appeared most recently in Avengers (v3) # 10, when he was
among the Avengers attending the Avengers Day Parade. He adopted a new
costume in that story but has apparently not adopted it yet in this story,
so Avengers Forever # 1 is chronologically earlier than Avengers (v3) # 10
even though the latter was published first. Giant-Man also upgraded from
inactive to reserve status in Avengers (v3) # 10, and the fact that he is
still an inactive member here is another indication that this story takes
place before Avengers (v3) # 10.

The Legacy Virus (source of many subplots in the X-Men family of comic
books) is a virus deadly to mutants. The Beast has devoted a great deal
of time to the study of the Legacy Virus epidemic.

PAGE 10
A computerized amalgamation of the greatest minds in the history of the
alien Kree race, The SUPREME INTELLIGENCE has ruled the vast interstellar
Kree Empire for most of the past million years. In recent years, the
Intelligence became obsessed with the genetic stagnation of the Kree,
engineering various plots to artificially accelerate Kree evolution. In
fact, as the Avengers discovered to their horror, the Supreme Intelligence
secretly orchestrated the Galactic Storm war between the Kree and the Shi'ar
empires, a war that climaxed in the detonation of a nega-bomb whose
radiation killed most of the hundreds of billions of citizens of the Kree
Empire. The Supreme Intelligence wanted the Kree almost totally wiped out so
that the survivors, genetically altered by the nega-bomb radiation, would
evolve into a new, stronger Kree race. The Avengers were so outraged by this
revelation that several of them tried to execute the Supreme Intelligence
for its crimes, but it secretly survived their assault and went into hiding.
The surviving Kree, meanwhile, unaware of the Supreme Intlligence's role in
Galactic Storm, blamed the death of their empire on the Shi'ar and the
Avengers, whom the Kree believed to be Shi'ar accomplices. As a result,
surviving Kree soldiers such as Galen Kor's Lunatic Legion swore to destroy
Earth and its Avengers. The Supreme Intelligence has plans for humanity,
though, and has no interest in seeing the old Kree empire rise again, so it
actually helped the Avengers defeat Kor's Legion. The true nature of the
Supreme Intelligence's longterm goals remains largely unknown for now, but
this will reportedly be explored in Avengers Forever. The Supreme
Intelligence first appeared in Fantastic Four (v1) # 64. Its Avengers
appearances include Avengers (v1) # 89-90, 92-93, 95-97, 124, 134 & 346-347;
and Avengers (v3) # 7.


PAGES 12-13
The identity of the robed figure is not revealed in this story, but his
ankle garments resemble those of former Avengers member Mantis, a woman
with considerable connections to both the Kree and the timelords who
figure prominently in this story, Immortus and Kang. This figure could
be Mantis's reincarnated father Gustav Brandt (also known as Libra or
Moonraker) or her own long-lost child (name unknown). The figure's
references to "balance" suggest that it may be Libra.


PAGE 14
IMMORTUS is an alternate future incarnation of the time-travelling warlord
Kang, who has conquered a variety of eras but has never managed to defeat
the present-day Avengers of Earth. In his future incarnation as Immortus,
Kang retires from conquest to rule the timeless realm of Limbo, where
(according to one account) he regulates the timestream on behalf of the
cosmic beings known as the Time Keepers. The true origins and motivations
of Immortus remain mysterious, however, since his words and actions often
contradict what he says and does in earlier encounters (one possible
explanation for this being the potential existence of various alternate
timeline versions of Immortus, just as time travel has spawned multiple
incarnations of Kang).
Depending on the situation, Immortus has been both an ally and an
adversary to the Avengers in the past. His most infamous scheme (supposedly
underlying his entire association with the Avengers) was an elaborate,
long-term plot to drive the Scarlet Witch insane as a means of subjugating
her will so that she could serve as a "nexus being" to facilitate the
regulation of the timestream. This plot ultimately failed, and the
displeased Time Keepers transformed Immortus himself into the immobile
nexus being he'd hoped the Scarlet Witch would be, but Immortus (or this
incarnation of him) has evidently since escaped that fate. If the Time
Keepers are determined to prevent the timeline seen in the opening sequence
of this story, Immortus may be trying to prevent that timeline on their
behalf by taking action against the present-day Rick Jones, who obviously
played a key role in bringing about the timeline in question. Immortus first
appeared in Avengers (v1) # 10. His subsequent Avengers appearances include
Avengers (v1) # 16 & 131-132; Giant-Size Avengers # 3; Avengers (v1) #
134-135; Giant-Size Avengers # 4; Avengers (v1) # 141-143 & 269; AWC # 48,
50-51, 53, 55-56 & 59-62; and Avengers: Terminatrix Objective # 2-3.

Immortus oversees various time periods through his monitors, four of which
display readily identifiable figures: one screen shows the Rawhide Kid and
the Two-Gun Kid; another screen shows the Human Torch in battle; another
shows Thundra and Black Panther rushing into action; and a fourth screen
shows the 3-D Man in battle with a Skrull. Assuming the Torch in question
is the original Human Torch (the later Human Torch is not an Avengers
member), these are all people with Avengers connections.

The RAWHIDE KID (Johnny Bart, born with the surname Clay) is a legendary
hero of the 19th century American West. When the Clays were massacred by
Indians, their infant son was found and rescued by Texas Ranger Ben Bart,
who raised the boy as his own child and called him Johnny Bart. Ben was one
of the best marksmen in the Texas Rangers, and he trained Johnny until the
younger Bart was even better with guns than his adoptive father. When two
drifters murdered Ben in hopes of making a reputation for themselves, Johnny
outshot the men and brought them to justice. After that, Johnny became an
altruistic wandering gunfighter known as the Rawhide Kid (Johnny having
grown up on Ben's ranch just outside Rawhide, Texas). The Rawhide Kid was
one of the most celebrated heroes of his era, and occasionally teamed up
with other heroic gunfighters such as Kid Colt, the Phantom Rider, the
Ringo Kid and the Two-Gun Kid. Rawhide even teamed with the 20th century
Avengers during their visits to his time period, aiding them against Kang,
Iron Mask, the renegade Phantom Rider and other foes (in Avengers [v1] #
142-143 & WCA # 18-23). He first appeared in Rawhide Kid (v1) # 1 and
starred in his own ongoing series for years before its cancellation.

The TWO-GUN KID (Matthew J. Hawk, born Matthew Liebowicz) was a legendary
gunfighter of the late 19th century who led a double life as lawyer Matt
Hawk and a masked lawman known as the Two-Gun Kid. A clever thinker, a
skilled fighter and a phenomenally accurate sharpshooter, the Kid became one
of the most celebrated of the old western heroes. When the Avengers battled
Kang in the 1870s, Two-Gun was intrigued by the team, struck up a fast
friendship with longtime Avengers member Hawkeye (Avengers [v1] # 142) and
allied himself with the Avengers against Kang (Avengers [v1] # 142-143),
accompanying them back to the 20th century once their battle was won
(Avengers [v1] # 144, 147). Two-Gun offered his services to the Avengers and
was awarded membership in absentia (sometime during or after Avengers [v1]
# 151) while he explored 20th century America with Hawkeye as his guide.
Two-Gun became increasingly homesick, though, and returned to his own era in
Avengers (v1) # 174-175.
Since then, the Avengers made a second visit to Two-Gun’s time
period (WCA # 18-23), during which he helped rescue Mockingbird from the
Phantom Rider but declined returning to the 20th century and the Avengers,
though he didn’t rule it out as a future possibility. The Two Gun Kid:
Sunset Riders limited series has since told a story in which Two-Gun, later
in life, faked his death in both his identities and embarked on a new life
as the anonymous leader of a band of adventurers called the Sunset Riders.
Whether that is Two-Gun’s true future remains to be seen. Two-Gun appears
here in his conventional costuming, as opposed to the less distinctive look
he sported come the conclusion of the Sunset Riders story. He first appeared
in Two-Gun Kid (v1) # 60 and starred in his own series for years prior to
its cancellation.

The original HUMAN TORCH (alias James Hammond) was an android crimefighter
created in 1939 and active throughout the 1940s, disappearing in the 1950s.
For years it was believed that he had been reconstructed into the artificial
being currently known as the Vision (a longtime Avengers member), but more
recently this was revealed as a hoax perpetrated by Immortus as part of
his long-term plot against the Scarlet Witch (the revelation of Vision's
supposed Human Torch heritage helped give him the confidence to propose
marriage to the Scarlet Witch, a marriage that Immortus ultimately ruined
as part of his plan to drive the Scarlet Witch insane). After learning that
the Vision was not the reconstructed Torch, the Avengers found and revived
the real Human Torch, who had been rendered inert by the Mad Thinker years
earlier. The revived Torch joined the Avengers in AWC # 50 but left the
group on personal business as of AWC # 65 and downgraded to reserve status
after seemingly losing his superhuman power to generate and control heat
and flame. Since then he has worked with the Avengers only once (in AWC #
83) and now considers himself retired from adventuring. He currently serves
as manager of the corporate-sponsored super-team Heroes For Hire. During
his time with the Heroes For Hire, two interesting facts regarding Hammond
have come to light: he retains a portion of his flame powers (though he
cannot safely set himself aflame as he once did), and his interior
physiology almost exactly resembles that of the Vision, a mystery that
may be explored in this series.

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), AWC # 75 (employed Avengers and
Fantastic Four as pawns in her conflict with Arkon before making peace with
him) and 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).
Avengers writer Kurt Busiek has said that Avengers Forever will
feature characters who have not become Avengers yet, but who are destined
to become Avengers in the future. Thundra may be one such character since
she is featured among the Avengers faces on the cover of this issue.

The BLACK PANTHER is an inactive Avengers member who last worked with the
team in Avengers (v3) # 1-4, when he aided the group against Morgan Le Fay
and Whirlwind. He currently stars in his own ongoing series.

The 3-D MAN was a 1950s hero (published in the 1970s) who came about through
the unique merger of two brothers, Hal and Chuck Chandler. Chuck was a test
pilot who was abducted by alien Skrulls during an important test flight.
Earth is a strategic location in the ongoing conflict between the alien Kree
and Skrull empires, so the Skrulls were seeking information on Earth's space
program and had captured Chuck to interrogate him. Chuck resisted and
escaped, accidentally causing the explosion of the Skrull spacecraft in the
process. While his brother Hal watched, the radiation from the explosion
seemingly disintegrated Chuck, who disappeared in a burst of light. Hal
later discovered, however, that the light burst had imprinted an image of
Chuck on each lens of Hal's eyeglasses. Through concentration, Hal could
merge the images and cause Chuck to reappear as a three-dimensional man,
clad in an altered version of his experimental flight suit and endowed with
physical abilities roughly three times greater than those of an ordinary
human. Hal would fall into a trance-like state when Chuck appeared, and
Chuck could only exist in the three-dimensional world for three hours at a
time, after which Hal had to revive. Chuck used his limited time well,
though, becoming the costumed adventurer known as the 3-D Man and
single-handedly subverting the Skrulls' early attempts to undermine Earthly
civilization.
Hal would remain comatose whenever the 3-D Man was active, but was
aware of the 3-D Man's activities through a sort of mental link. Later, a
Skrull's ray weapon altered the transformation so that Hal was the 3-D Man's
dominant consciousness for some time. Both brothers' minds seemed to be
present in the 3-D Man at all times, but only one of them (usually Chuck)
would be in conscious control of the 3-D Man's form on any given occasion.
Few people are aware of it, but a team of adventurers known as the
Avengers briefly formed in the 1950s before disbanding at the request of
the President, who felt the public wasn't ready to learn of them and their
exploits. The 3-D Man was part of that short-lived Avengers team, and
their rescue of the President from the Yellow Claw helped dispel the 3-D
Man's reputation as a dangerous outlaw thanks to the President's influence
(current Avengers editor Tom Brevoort has said the 1950s Avengers may not
be part of the mainstream Marvel timeline since their existence in standard
Marvel time has not been confirmed).
The 3-D Man's career wasn't much lengthier than that of the 1950s
Avengers. Hal soon decided to retire the 3-D Man, partly because he was
thinking about starting a family, and partly because he was afraid his
brother's consciousness might somehow be lost during periods when Hal was
the 3-D Man's dominant consciousness. Hal settled down into a career as a
research scientist, got married and raised two sons. He has only activated
the 3-D Man twice in recent years, and Chuck seemed to be its dominant
consciousness again. The 3-D Man first appeared in Marvel Premiere # 35-37.
His Avengers exploits were recounted in What If? (v1) # 9. The scene visible
on Immortus's monitor seems to come from Marvel Premiere # 36.
What ultimately became of 3-D Man is unknown, but he is apparently
somehow connected to Triathlon, a new adventurer who recently encountered
the Avengers in Avengers (v3) # 8-9. Triathlon and 3-D Man have the same
super-powers, they use the same triple motif, and Triathlon's costume is
similar to the 3-D Man's outfit.


PAGE 15
TEMPUS is a gigantic artificial humanoid who functions as warrior servant
to his master, Immortus. He first appeared in Giant-Size Fantastic Four # 2.
He battled the Avengers on behalf of Immortus in AWC # 62 when Immortus
was trying to prevent the Avengers from interfering with his plans for the
Scarlet Witch. In addition to his size and sheer strength, Tempus has proven
capable of altering people's physical age and making people relive events
from their past. In Avengers: Terminatrix Objective # 3-4, an incarnation of
Kang (Immortus's past self) used Tempus to absorb the chronal energies of
the dying Cross-Time Council of Kangs and pit them against the primal time
being Alioth in a seemingly eternal battle to prevent Alioth from absorbing
all of time into itself. If this is the same incarnation of Tempus, he was
either somehow freed from that state or appears here prior to being locked
in eternal combat with Alioth.


PAGE 16
The man later known as KANG was born on 30th century Earth in an alternate
future timeline but became bored with his world's stagnantly peaceful and
prosperous society. Seeking challenges and adventure, he reconstructed the
time machine created by his ancestor Nathaniel Richards and journeyed back
to ancient Egypt, where he used his advanced science to become absolute
ruler as Pharaoh Rama-Tut. Forced to flee that era by the Fantastic Four
(with an assist from Doctor Strange and the Avengers) in one timeline,
Rama-Tut fled forward into the future, rescuing the super-criminal Doctor
Doom from an encounter with the Fantastic Four on his way through the
20th century. Inspired by Doom's fearsome armored battlesuit, Rama-Tut
created similar armor for himself after arriving in the 40th century, an
era of barbaric warfare waged with remnants of the advanced science of
earlier eras. Thus clad, Rama rechristened himself Kang and quickly
conquered an empire for himself in the 40th century. Unsatisfied with this,
Kang visited other time periods in search of conquests and challenges,
eventually founding a cross-time kingdom of various Kang-led cities in
various eras, a kingdom known as Chronopolis. He has been repeatedly
defeated by his favorite foes, the present-day champions known as the
Avengers. Kang's current whereabouts and activities are unclear, though one
incarnation of Kang seems to be plotting against Captain America in the
present day.
Repeated time travel has spawned multiple incarnations of Kang in
various alternate timelines (some of them active in alternative guises such
as Rama-Tut, Scarlet Centurion and Immortus). Many of the alternate Kangs
have joined a variety of Kang imitators in founding a group known as the
Council of Cross-Time Kangs, most of whom were seemingly slaughtered by
Alioth in the Avengers: Terminatrix Objective limited series. That same
story established an alliance between Kang and his longtime rival and love
interest Ravonna, a.k.a. Terminatrix, with whom he would rule Chronopolis
jointly. Later, however, Kang was seen in the company of a different consort
who appeared to be the long-lost Avengers member Mantis, with whom he
plotted against the Avengers during The Crossing. Which Kang is the "real"
original one remains to be seen, as does the status of the original Kang.
Kang and Immortus have clashed repeatedly before, but the motivations
driving their current dispute are as yet unrevealed.
Kang first appeared in Avengers (v1) # 8. His subsequent Avengers
appearances include Avengers (v1) # 11, 16, 23-24, 69-71 & 128-129;
Giant-Size Avengers # 2; Avengers (v1) # 130-132; Giant-Size Avengers # 3-4;
Avengers 141-143, 267-269, 291-297 & 300; Avengers Annual # 21; Avengers:
Terminatrix Objective # 1 & 3-4; and Avengers (v1) # 393-395.


PAGE 22
As the robed figure says in Panels 5-7, Rick Jones summoned champions from
his memories in Avengers (v1) # 97 using the mental powers awakened in him
by the Supreme Intelligence. This time, says the mystery man, Jones must
use those powers to summon champions from the past and the future (this
fits with advance publicity statements about Avengers Forever featuring a
team of Avengers culled from various time periods, including future Avengers
who have yet to join the group).



PAGE 23
Jones has summoned seven champions, seemingly a group of Avengers culled
from various past, present and future timelines (though who comes from when
remains to be seen):

1) a figure who seems to be the present-day or near-future Giant-Man circa
Avengers (v3) # 10 (he is wearing the costume Giant-Man recently adopted in
that story)

2) a figure who seems to be a future incarnation of the Wasp (she doesn't
look quite like any past incarnation of the Wasp, especially given her
strangely dark skin)

3) a figure who seems to be a future incarnation of or future successor to
Mar-Vell, the original Captain Marvel (his costume is a variation on the
late original Captain's final uniform, and his hair is white like Mar-Vell's
used to be; Mar-Vell's son Genis, the most recent Captain Marvel, also has
white hair, but neither Genis nor Mar-Vell usually looked quite like this
starry-faced individual since they were rather conventional-looking
caucasians, though Mar-Vell did look somewhat like that during moments when
he was employing his cosmic awareness)

4) a figure who seems to combine elements of Hawkeye & Goliath [II], both
identities used by longtime Avengers member Clint Barton (who last used them
in combination in AWC # 97, though this figure is missing the mask and chest
harness common to Barton's Goliath outfit)

5) a figure who seems to be the original Yellowjacket (Giant-Man in one of
his past identities, an identity he abandoned for good as of Avengers [v1]
# 230 since he experienced his worst personal and professional failures
in that guise)

6) a figure who seems to be a future incarnation of Songbird (currently a
member of the Thunderbolts) as an Avenger (a status indicated by the fact
that an "A" emblem belt buckle has replaced her Thunderbolt emblem belt
buckle), in which case she would be a future Avenger since Songbird has
never been a member of the Avengers before

7) a figure who appears to be a past or future incarnation of Captain
America (it can't be the present-day incarnation of Captain America since
he is carrying his traditional shield, which is currently lost at sea)

GIANT-MAN (Hank Pym) and WASP, founding members of the Avengers, are
currently reserve member of the team and are appearing simultaneously in
Avengers (v3) # 10-11 (Wasp, however, does not look like this in her current
Avengers appearances).

CAPTAIN MARVEL (Mar-Vell), a legendary spacefaring alien hero who served
as the Protector of the Universe, was a recurring ally to the Avengers. He
aided the team against menaces such as Zodiac (Avengers [v1] # 72), the
Kree-Skrull War (Avengers [v1] # 89-97), Space Phantom & Grim Reaper
(Avengers [v1] # 106-108), Thanos (Avengers [v1] # 125 and Avengers Annual
# 7) and Korvac (Avengers [v1] # 173-177). When Mar-Vell died of cancer (in
Marvel Graphic Novel # 1), the Avengers were among his many mourners and
posthumously declared him an honorary member of their team. The Avenger
currently known as Photon (Monica Rambeau) used the Captain Marvel title
for most of her Avengers career following Mar-Vell's death, but she
recently conceded the Captain Marvel name to Mar-Vell's son Genis out of
respect for the family. Though Genis has followed in his father's footsteps
as an adventurer, he has yet to rival the exploits of either Mar-Vell or
Rambeau and is regarded by some as an unworthy pretender to the title
apart from his biological relationship with Mar-Vell. This figure may be
some more experienced and accomplished future incarnation of Genis, or it
may be an altogether new Captain Marvel patterned after the original. Who
or what this person is remains to be seen. The original Captain Marvel first
appeared in Marvel Super-Heroes (v1) # 12.

HAWKEYE (Clint Barton), the costumed archer and longtime member of the
Avengers, recently took an indefinite leave of absence from the team in
Avengers (v3) # 9 to become the leader of the outlaw heroes known as the
Thunderbolts. Hawkeye has occasionally used Hank Pym's growth serum to
offer more raw power to the Avengers in his guise as the second GOLIATH
(Avengers [v1] # 63-97 & 345-347 and AWC # 90-97), but he has always
opted to resume his Hawkeye identity since he feels more comfortable and
useful to the team in that role. He reportedly lost his tolerance for
Pym's size-altering formulae permanently in the Giant-Man flipbook limited
series, so this incarnation of Hawkeye/Goliath (if it is Clint Barton) may
come from the past. Barton has wielded his Hawkeye weaponry (the bows and
arrows) in his Goliath costuming on a few occasions (notably at junctures
when he decided to resume his Hawkeye identity full-time), but he seems to
be missing some elements of his usual Goliath costuming here (specifically
his Goliath mask and chest harness).

Hank Pym assumed his YELLOWJACKET identity in Avengers (v1) # 59-60 during a
chemically induced nervous breakdown when he decided to create a persona
in which he would be more compatible with his longtime love interest the
Wasp, whom he married as Yellowjacket after a whirlwind courtship. Pym
returned to his senses and a full awareness of who he was shortly
thereafter, but decided to retain the Yellowjacket identity and let his
marriage to the Wasp stand since he was happy with the way things had turned
out. Pym remained emotionally unstable, though, due to mental problems he
had been suppressing for years, and he was chronically insecure about his
merits as a husband, a scientist and an Avenger. This eventually led to two
more nervous breakdowns, the second of which resulted in Pym being divorced
by the Wasp (whom he had begun to abuse), expelled from the Avengers for
disgraceful conduct and framed for treason by his old foe Egghead. Pym
eventually defeated Egghead and cleared his name with the aid of the
Avengers, but he decided to retire from costumed adventure and renounced his
Yellowjacket costume in Avengers (v1) # 230. He later rejoined the Avengers
as the plainclothes Doctor Pym in WCA # 21-24, and more recently resumed his
old Giant-Man identity (in Avengers [v1] # 366) for reasons as yet
unrevealed.
Over the course of his career as an adventurer, Pym has been known
as Ant-Man, Giant-Man, Goliath, Yellowjacket and Doctor Pym. He first
appeared as Hank Pym in Tales to Astonish # 27, became Ant-Man in Tales to
Astonish # 35, assumed a new identity as Giant-Man in Tales to Astonish
# 49, became Goliath in Avengers (v1) # 28, changed his identity to
Yellowjacket in Avengers (v1) # 59, switched back to his Ant-Man identity
in Avengers (v1) # 97, resumed his Yellowjacket identity in Giant-Size
Defenders # 4, retired from superheroics in Avengers (v1) # 230, rejoined
the Avengers as Doctor Pym in WCA # 21-24 and resumed his Giant-Man identity
in Avengers (v1) # 366. As Doctor Pym, Pym maintained an arsenal of tools
and weapons that he had used in his various costumed identities. As
Giant-Man, he has employed costuming elements and devices from all of his
costumed identities except for his Yellowjacket guise, which he recently
said he wants to keep dead and buried (a comment from Avengers [v3] # 10).
As Yellowjacket, Pym could reduce his bodily size at will and wore a
costume with antennae that allowed him to control insects, wings that
allowed him to fly and "stinger" gloves that allowed him to fire electrical
bolts. He also sometimes carried a cellular disruptor gun that could
incapacitate a target by momentarily disrupting his or her cellular
structure.
Interestingly, Pym seems to be wearing the earliest version of his
Yellowjacket outfit from Avengers (v1) # 59-60, the one without goggles.
If this Yellowjacket comes from that time period, then this is a
Yellowjacket who is still mentally confused to the extent that he doesn't
know he is really Hank Pym (when Pym first appeared as Yellowjacket,
he referred to himself as his own "replacement" and claimed to be a new
adventurer superior to Goliath, the identity Pym had been using previously).
If this is indeed the deluded (and arrogantly cocky) early Yellowjacket from
Avenger (v1) # 59-60, his interaction with the other Avengers promises to
be interesting, especially if one of them is indeed a future incarnation of
himself.
Criminal-turned-adventurer Rita DeMara used a stolen copy of Pym's
Yellowjacket outfit and equipment as a new Yellowjacket for a time, and even
became an honorary Avenger, but she seemingly died in Avengers: The Crossing
# 1. She first appeared in Avengers (v1) # 264.

SONGBIRD (Melissa Joan Gold) was still a young child when her mother, who
was planning to run away with another man, was jailed for theft. Melissa
was crushed and couldn't believe her mother was guilty, so when her
embittered father became abusive she ran away from home in hopes of
somehow reuniting with her mother, convinced that her mother couldn't really
be in prison. Growing up alone on the streets, Melissa called herself Mimi
after her mother and developed a Mimi persona to protect herself, a callous
and cruel personality that helped her endure life on her own. Eventually,
she found happiness in a romance with a small-time crook named Mike and
began to let her Melissa personality reassert itself, confident that Mike
would take care of her, but he framed her for possession of stolen goods
when the police found evidence in his apartment.
Imprisoned for theft, the traumatized Melissa resumed her harsh Mimi
persona and befriended Marian Pouncy, a fellow inmate who was also the
costumed wrestler known as Poundcakes. When Melissa and Pouncy were
released, Melissa joined Pouncy as a member of the Grapplers female
wrestling team under the costumed alias Screaming Mimi. Mimi and the other
Grapplers moonlighted as criminals and mercenaries when they weren't
wrestling, and a mercenary mission for Roxxon Oil led to the Grapplers
being technologically and cybernetically augmented by Roxxon's scientists.
Mimi in particular was given bionically augmented vocal cords that allowed
her to scream at superhuman volume levels, inducing effects such as anxiety,
panic attacks, dizziness, vertigo, nausea, headaches, fatigue, blindness,
euphoria, stupor, hallucinations or even unconsciousness in anyone who hears
her scream. At sufficiently high levels, her scream could even shatter solid
objects. Her physical strength was slightly augmented by the Power Broker,
but she did not achieve the levels of superhuman strength enjoyed
by the rest of the Grapplers and most other Power Broker clients.
As Screaming Mimi, Melissa fought heroes such as the Thing, Quasar,
Dazzler, the Avengers, Paladin, Captain America, Hawkeye & Mockingbird.
Originally operating as a member of the Grapplers, Mimi began to drift away
from the group after half the early members were killed and a large number
of newer, stronger members joined, but she soon found other partners to
work with: she briefly served as a member of Baron Helmut Zemo's Masters
of Evil, and later formed a romantic and criminal partnership with Angar
the Screamer, who had sonic powers similar to hers. When Angar was killed
by police, a grief-maddened Mimi went on a screaming rampage that demolished
a woodland area and almost completely ruined her voice. Rescued from the
authorities by Zemo, Mimi had her larynx rebuilt and modified by Zemo's
confederate the Fixer (a.k.a. Techno), who also outfitted Mimi with a
harness that would focus her scream into solidified sound constructs (using
sound technology stolen from another Master of Evil, Ulysses Klaw). With her
new powers, Melissa adopted the identity of Songbird and became a founding
member of Zemo's Thunderbolts, a team of Masters of Evil posing as
superheroes to win public trust while secretly plotting world conquest.
As Songbird, Melissa became romantically involved with fellow
Thunderbolt MACH-1 (Abe Jenkins, formerly the career super-criminal known
as The Beetle). Feeling happy and secure in her new roles as Abner's
girlfriend and an acclaimed superheroine, Songbird allowed her benign
Melissa personality to reassert itself; just as she was becoming comfortable
with her new life, though, it ended when Zemo himself revealed the team's
true identities to the public while launching his world conquest scheme.
Songbird, MACH-1 and most of the other Thunderbolts, unwilling to abandon
the heroic roles they'd come to enjoy so much, turned against Zemo and
thwarted his near-successful attempt at global domination, rescuing the
Avengers and the Fantastic Four in the process; however, the Thunderbolts
are still considered wanted outlaws due to their past crimes, and are
currently roaming America in search of opportunities to prove their heroism
to the world while evading the authorities. For a time, this stressful
situation prompted Songbird to revert to her mean-spirited Mimi persona,
but MACH-1's supportive devotion to her and the recent induction of veteran
Avengers member Hawkeye as the Thunderbolts' new leader have buoyed
Songbird's spirits enough to make her benign Melissa personality resurface
again.
Since Songbird is currently a fugitive as an active member of the
Thunderbolts and has never been a member of the Avengers, the Songbird
shown here must be a future incarnation of the character, a future Songbird
who will apparently join the Avengers.
Screaming Mimi first appeared in Marvel Two-In-One # 54 (cameo) & 56. Her
Avengers appearances include Avengers (v1) # 271, Avengers Spotlight #
28-29 & Avengers Unplugged # 4 (all as Screaming Mimi). She first appeared
as Songbird in Incredible Hulk # 449 and currently appears regularly in the
Thunderbolts ongoing series.