Avengers (1963) 270

Avengers (1963) 270
Aug 1986

Wild in the Streets!
by Roger Stern, John Buscema, Tom Palmer

The Avengers (Captain America, Wasp, Hercules, Black Knight, Captain Marvel, Sub-Mariner) return from a mission only to discover that Avengers Mansion is surrounded by protestors and counter-protesters. People are up in arms about the addition of Sub-Mariner to the team. Veterans of World War 2 support him because he fought on the side of the allies. Others point out his invasion of the surface world to explain why they are opposed to him and why feel he has no place on the team.

Moonstone shows up among the protesters, in disguise. She is there to rile up the anti-Namor protesters. She recently escaped from prison and is not in her uniform. She claims to be a woman whose husband was killed by the Sub-Mariner. She is spotted and chased by the Avengers. Wasp follows her into the sewers. She is captured by Wasp with some help from the Black Knight. They hand her over to the police but the police officers turn out to be the super villains: the Absorbing Man and Titania.

The Avengers are unaware of the phony police. Their efforts are focused elsewhere. Namor gets sued for $2 billion dollars for damages to personal property. The next day he discovers that Attuma has taken over Atlantis in his absence. Black Knight tries to suggest that the Avengers could help him but Namor insists on taking care of Attuma himself. Hercules backs up Namor’s assertion and seems to think that he’s making the right call.

Great issue? No, but I see potential in this one. I like the character moments. I like the little spotlights that each of the Avengers get in this issue. Wasp is the leader of the team but Hercules is less than inspired by her brand of leadership. His posturing on the matter seems more grounded in sexist attitudes than anything else. Black Knight doesn’t side with Hercules and accepts the Wasp as their leader.

I don’t love the artwork but I like it and it gets the job done. The art isn’t as crisp and clear as it would be if it was drawn by say Perez or Byrne but you don’t have to read the words to understand much of what is going on. The panel layouts aren’t all that dynamic but they don’t have to be considering the good job John Buscema and Tom Palmer do with the visual storytelling.