March 27, 1998

Gut Reactions on AVENGERS #4
by Van Plexico


Preliminary thoughts and gut reactions after reading it all the way 
through, once:

WONDERFUL issue.  I haven't enjoyed ANY Avengers issue as much as 
this one in a very long time.  When was the last time that so many 
Avengers had their true characters and personalities and individualities 
shine through so clearly, all in the same comic book?  To paraphrase 
Mike McClelland from another context, 
It's as if Kurt's striking a tuning fork and nailing each note perfectly.

And the art was, as ever with George, simply beautiful and more than
 could have been expected (though I do have a couple of gripes, such as 
including the old shield in the poster).

I was quite surprised that all of the Big Three made the lineup, but 
I'm sure (and they've pretty much confirmed) that this lineup will only 
last for a very few months.  Almost certainly, either Thor or Iron Man 
will be leaving soon, along with Carol.  More on that in a moment.  It was 
quite shocking to see an Avengers without Jan and Pym, but now that it's 
happened, I'm not really that upset at all.  We've had them around probably 
more than any other characters, and it will be nice to have a little 
Wasp-break.  Having Iron Man AND Ms. Marvel in the lineup at the same 
time is a dream come true, for me, anyway.  I had no idea so much of 
this issue would feature Carol.  But that gets me to my next little 
section here, the Carol-gripes.  Where to begin?  Hmm.  Okay:

A)  she apparently has a drinking problem.  Is this a brand new thing?  
Where did it come from?  I'm confused on this point.  It was indeed 
appropriate to have Tony discover it, but it just seemed to come out 
of left field.  Now, there's nothing at all wrong with introducing a 
new subplot like that, but I don't know how well it fits in with what 
we already know about her...

B) She pretty much won't have the Binary name or powers anymore.  
For that I'm very grateful-- but there was no explanation.  Fine-- 
space was limited.  I'll assume some sort of reasoning will be 
forthcoming by this summer, and hopefully it will be consistent 
with all the stuff Claremont introduced in X-MEN back in #164-165 
or thereabouts.  But it seemed an extremely anticlimactic way to get 
rid of the Binary situation.  "Huh-- it's just gone away for some reason.  
Oh well!"  My thinking had it that the source of her Binary powers would 
have to be physically separated from its bonding with her.  Go back 
and read the X-issues if you don't know what I'm referring to, (or I 
humbly suggest folks read my Ms. Marvel one-shot on the fanfic page 
for a variation on how it could have happened.)

C)  "Warbird."  Hmmm.  It's not as bad as, say, "Nemesis," but on the 
other hand, it's not very feminine, sort of clunky, and hardly Kree-- 
in fact, it's downright Shi'ar, with evocations of the Aerie and Deathbird.  
(I still advocate "Ms. Marvel," followed by my own modest suggestion, 
"Flare," which I saw at least got a mention in the comic-- I like it because, 
IMO, it's relatively "tough" sounding, yet still feminine, and matches her 
costume with the flare of light on the front and the red sash.)  But if that's 
the price we have to pay to have her around, in the black suit, without fire 
spouting out of her scalp, I can live with it.

D)  There was a sick, sinking feeling in my stomach the entire time I 
was following the Carol subplot.  We know things are coming up that 
will involve her fairly heavily this summer.  If one of the current 
members will indeed be removed "against their will" soon, odds heavily 
favor Carol for this role.  And Kurt himself said on the letters page that 
he altered the lineup to accomodate a later story.  All signs seem to point 
to Carol being a surprise late addition to the team, around for a couple of 
issues, and then ripped apart and off the team again this summer.  On the 
one hand, I'm extremely excited to see her looking good again, in the black 
costume, wearing the mask, and all that.  On the other hand, I want to reach 
into the comic, grab her by the arm, and say, "GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE, 
CAROL!  KURT'S GONNA DO MEAN THINGS TO YOU!!! RUNNNN!!!!!!!!!"

Final thoughts for now:
Justice and Firestar I can live with.  New blood, and they have potential.  
But Kurt, did you guys REALLY think hardly anyone would remember Firestar 
debuting on that bad Spidey cartoon show?  Don't you know all us guys grew 
up with that show?  Of course we remember it!  Hell, I've never even read her 
in a comic book at all-- the only place I'd ever SEEN her before AVENGERS #1 
was on that show.

Wondy might not be so "gone" after all.  He even made the poster!
And Wanda's really torn.  Hmmm.... It's all too clear what Kurt meant, 
months ago, when he remarked about the great story potential inherent 
in having a love triangle in the mansion.  Who knew one third of it would 
be a scattering of dots just outside the window?!

Vizh back in the old costume-- unexpected and cool!  Hank and Jan-- 
acting like newlyweds again!  Cap-- a founder, with Hulk stricken 
from the record books like Moses from the monuments of Egypt!  
(Kurt, that pounding at your door will be one Jon Graby, Esquire.)   
Man, Kurt's "fixing" stuff left and right, kids!  Hang on tight!

The last scene-- epic.  Hawkeye seems destined during the Busiek 
reign to get all the best lines.    And now we have a more benign, less 
confrontational Iron Man/Cap relationship.  Good to see them acting like 
pals again, and not like rivals and enemies.

When Cap said he wouldn't worry about UN membership and gov't 
clearances and all that at first, that they had more important business 
to tend to first, I could almost hear Kurt in the background whispering, 
"like telling good stories!"  Ha!  A Busiek "repair" on almost every page.  
And you said you didn't want to spend time "fixing" old problems, Kurt-- 
that's practically been the main thing you've done so far!  And I for 
one say, Hooray for it!

So, to recap, I'm thrilled with everything except the direction 
Ms. Marvel seems headed in.  I may yet be fooled on this score, 
and indeed would love to be.  I'll keep my fingers crossed.  But 
all in all, AVENGERS #4 was an epic comicbook event and should 
rightly go down as one of the most important and dramatic 
points in Marvel's history.  

--Van Plexico