We’ve arrived at the second full-length installment in the epic Marvel Comics crossover known as “The Avengers/Defenders War”, and if you missed our post about the previous episode in Avengers #116, you might want to check that one out first, since we’re going to jump right back into the continuing narrative without worrying about a recap… pausing only long enough to make note of the fact that while the first installment’s cover by John Romita and Mike Esposito managed to convey the scope of the conflict while only depicting three heroes, this issue’s follow-up by Sal Buscema ups that number to five. On the other hand, Hawkeye the Avenging Archer has been Hawkeye the Defending Archer for all of a minute, so it’s not hard to understand how Marvel might have thought that fans coming in even a little bit late would be confused to see an issue of Defenders that only cover-featured Hawkeye and Iron Man.
And now, with that observation made, it’s on with the show:
Sal Buscema also fulfills his accustomed role as Defenders interior penciller in this issue, joined by frequent collaborator Frank McLaughlin on inks — as well as by regular Defenders and Avengers writer Steve Englehart on script, of course.
After the Silver Surfer tells Doctor Strange about his fight with the Vision (the Scarlet Witch was around, too, but she got knocked out at the beginning of hostilities and the Surfer never actually encountered her), the mage consults his Orb of Agamotto, turning its scrying powers towards Avengers Mansion. The Orb offers visions indicating the current or recent presence there both of Loki, the Norse God of Evil, and of the Swordsman, “an internationally known criminal” (as Strange correctly notes)… and that’s all it offers, which seems a little arbitrary on its part. But, whatever.
But even as Doc Strange flies off to Indiana, placing mystical alert calls to his allies as he goes, the Vision is reporting in to his colleagues… which means that the Avengers, having already been misled by Loki to believe that the Defenders are up to mischief, are likely to be even more on their guard going forward.
No sooner have Valkyrie and Hawkeve made landfall than the visage of Dr. Strange appears in the sky above, bearing its dire warning:
Hawkeye’s reference to the Enchantress reflects the fact that at this time, the Valkyrie’s surface personality was supposed to be a pure magical construct, created essentially out of whole cloth by that Asgardian witch. If there was any “real” person in there at all, it was Barbara Norris — the original owner of Val’s “host body”, whom, whenever she did surface (as she had briefly in Defenders #8) was shown to be stark raving mad. We were still a long, long way from even a hint of the idea that Valkyrie was in truth The Valkyrie, i.e., Brunnhilde.
I’m not sure what’s more aggravating to me, fifty years on — that Clint Barton can be so reliably depended on to act like a pig (hey, if the cliche fits…), or that he’s consistently allowed to get away with it by other characters (and by writers like Englehart), which means that he never learns a thing.
As Englehart notes in his 2010 introduction to Marvel Masterworks — The Defenders, Vol. 2, there were individual Avenger(s) vs, Defender(s) match-ups that required some thought… and others that were no-brainers. Considering that Hawkeye had actually started out as an Iron Man villain before reforming and joining the Avengers, pitting him and ol’ Shellhead against each other clearly fell into the latter camp.
Unsure of where exactly to look for “his” piece of the Evil Eye, Iron Man surmises that if it’s surfaced in the vicinity of Monterey, Mexico, it may have been taken to the local university for study. That turns out to be a really good guess, as that is in fact exactly what’s happened… and so, the Golden Avenger is soon standing in the office of Professor Martin Figueras, holding the mysterious artifact in his very own hands (though not for long, as we’re about to see)…
Remember back when Iron Man’s armor was actually vulnerable to something as mundane as acid? You’d think that Tony Stark might have figured out some sort of protective coating against Hawkeye’s acidic arrows by now, seeing as how he’s had all the time since the then-outlaw archer used them against him in Tales of Suspense #64 (Apr., 1965) to work on the problem… but apparently not.
Iron Man proceeds to turn his repulsor rays on Hawkeye, pressing him against the wall of one of the university buildings until he can “lightly” knock his former teammate out…
So, Hawkeye hasn’t exactly covered himself in glory here with the tactic he’s used to win. But, all’s fair, right? OK, maybe not, but since he does see himself as fighting to save the Black Knight, I think we can give him a pass for being a little underhanded.
Utilizing existing hero logos to add visual interest to these chapter-opening splashes is a good idea, as is crafting new ones where necessary (the Justice League-Justice Society team-ups over at DC Comics had been doing something similar for a couple of summers now). But reducing the intriguing new character of Mantis to her racial identity by utilizing a supposedly “Asian” font for her logo? Not so much.
Unlike the previous chapter’s virtually inevitable bout between two old frenemies, “Dr. Strange vs. Black Panther and Mantis” was one of those match-ups that required some ruminating on Steve Englehart’s part. As he relates in his Marvel Masterworks intro, as far as he was concerned, none of the Avengers were especially appropriate as a foe for a powerful magician like Strange. But setting a martial artist (Mantis) and “costumed athlete” (the Panther) against the Master of the Mystic Arts allowed him to demonstrate something about those particular two Avengers’ characters: “Let’s see two people out of their class step up and show why they were Avengers.” (Technically, Mantis wasn’t officially an Avenger yet, and wouldn’t be for quite some time; but, as the previous quote suggests, Englehart essentially treated her as though she was one, pretty much from the get-go.)
The Panther’s talent for tracking quickly reveals — by way of some recently pushed-aside cornstalks — that while no Defender may be present now, one has been in the immediate vicinity very recently indeed, and their trail leads towards the road…
The “cat person” whom one of the locals has heard operates “over to Chicago” is of course Greer Nelson, whose short-lived series The Cat had been cancelled with its fourth issue just four months earlier.
And is the other gent’s stuttered “B-Black Panther?” meant to indicate that he’s concerned that T’Challa might be one of those Black Panthers? Yeah, I’m pretty sure it is.
In addition to giving the Black Panther and Mantis the chance to show what they were made of, the decision to pair them off also affected Steve Englehart’s evolving long-range plans for the latter, seemingly inadvertently. As discussed in our Avengers #114 post a couple of months ago, Englehart’s original conception for the new addition to that book’s cast centered on her being an exotic Asian temptress — a “Dragon Lady” type. But as he would later tell writer Karen Walker for an Avengers/Defenders War retrospective (published in Back Issue #82 [Aug., 2015]), the need to make her work as a team member in the crossover event he launched almost immediately following her introduction all but required him to add a further dimension to her character:
…I had said she was going to be a temptress but the first thing she had to do was go out and be an effective teammate as an Avenger. And that changed her completely. That’s where she stopped being this kind of disruptive force and became somebody who obviously had a lot more heroism in her than I had planned for her to have. And that started the whole Celestial Madonna thing. It’s the seed leading to an oak tree over time.
As he levitates over the farmstead, Dr. Strange reflects that since the Avengers have no one on their roster “who can truly battle magic“, he’s never been in any real danger. Still, he hopes that the Panther and Mantis will simply let him go his way, rather than try to chase him in their jet…
These days, when the Black Panther is generally written as being the Marvel Universe equivalent of DC’s Batman — i.e., a preternaturally brilliant strategist whom no one should ever count out, regardless of how much more “powerful” they may be on paper — the idea of him doing this well against the Sorcerer Supreme wouldn’t likely even raise an eyebrow. But in 1973, it was pretty darn impressive.
Mantis quickly proceeds to disarm the startled farmer, then turns back to her primary foe…
In Avengers #116, Mantis had taken out Doc’s manservant (and fellow martial artist) Wong quite handily. But while it would be interesting to see if she’d have more trouble overcoming Strange himself in a purely physical battle, such is not to be…
“…For the first time in the Marvel Age! Captain America vs. the Sub-Mariner!” Hmmm… that’s probably true, assuming you don’t count the couple of panels the two WWII veterans went at it back in Avengers #4 (Mar., 1964). Though, actually, if we’re only talking about a full-scale one-on-one slugfest, I think that the fight coming up in Avengers #117 is likely the first such ever between the two. To the best of my knowledge, Cap and Subby only had a few published meetings prior to 1964 (in the pages of All Winners Comics #19 and #21 and Young Men #26), and they got along fine each time, as far as I know. (UPDATE 7/21/23, 12:30 p.m.: The original version of this post left out the two heroes’ Young Men encounter; my thanks to reader John Minehan for the catch.)
But, hey, who cares? My sixteen-year-old self didn’t, back in the summer of ’73, and I don’t see any good reason why my sixty-six-year-old self should now. Nor should you, faithful reader — at least, not enough to keep you from checking back here in a couple of weeks for the next installment of our look back at the Avengers/Defenders War. I hope to see you then.
And the fun continues! Before reading this issue, I hadn’t realized that Hawkeye had originally been an Iron Man baddie, so I learned a little bit more about the early Marvel Universe. That bit with Hawkeye coming on strong with Valkyrie was amusing — now that I think about it, sort of like what that other Hawkeye of tv might have done as well in 1973 although not something the actor Alan Alda would have his character do in later years of the very long-running M.A.S.H. And also something that would be seriously frowned upon in the modern era. But in 1973, it was just Clint being Clint, and Val nearly taking his head off in response, but not being entirely displeased.
More somberly, Iron Man unintentionally nearly killing others during the battle when Hawkeye’s magnetized arrow causes his armored hand to move reminded me of the shocking incident during the acclaimed run of Michelinie, Layton & Romita, Jr., in his own title in which a baddie took full control of his armor from afar and caused him to kill an ambassador. Of course, we know neither Hawkeye nor Iron Man intended any harm, but still yet another example of how just duking it out with their powers could have potentially fatal consequences. Funny, even in the fabled-first issue of the Fantastic Four, Lee & Kirby hinted at the dangers even of the Human Torch just flying around aflame or the Thing getting around on the ground, both incidentally causing all sorts of damage. In the Silver Age, we were assured that no one ever got seriously hurt, but in later eras that wasn’t always the case although Englehart is still keeping things within the (barely) safe-zone.
T’Challa’s & Mantis’ tussle with Dr. Strange was also interesting, mainly for indicating more of Mantis’ abilities and showcasing some of the Black Panther’s enhanced strength and athletic prowess. That later writers amped him up to BatMan like levels of preparedness actually was taking back to his roots as that’s how Kirby portrayed him in Fantastic Four #52, which I’d read in a recent MGC reprint prior to getting Defenders #9. Sure, in this case, Dr. Strange beat them without working up too much of a sweat once he went into full Sorcerer Supreme mode, but at least they ensured he didn’t get away too easy.
Looking forward to your later installments on this reverie of some of our favorite funnybooks (as my dad called them) we read half a century ago, Alan! Back then, we could hardly imagine the future we’d eventually be part of or that we’d be discussing these comics with a community connected via a means that would have seemed like far-out science fiction in 1973. But, well, here we are.
Cap and Subby (and the Human Torch) shared a panel in a 1954 Cap story by Johnny Romita, that at least established they worked together.
After it was (briefly) established that The Vision was the original Human Torch, I always thought there was a good story in Cap, Subby and The Vision going to a reatauranty or bar (maybe with The Whizzer and a few of the other surviving WWII superheroes) and just doing a superhero version of “hanging out at the VFW.” When he was writting Thynderbolts in the 1990s, John Ostrander did something like this effectively with Namor and Jim (Human Torch) Hammond.
The Irom Man/Hawkeye and Thor/Hulk showdowns were effective shout outs to “early Marvel nostalgia,” just as the whole thing was a shout out to “JLA/JSA nostalgia” (or trying to find a Marvel equivilant).
Oops, I forgot about the Young Men #26 meeting, so thanks, John! I’ve amended the post.
I hunted this down after summer camp and it was great fun! Englehart almost made the heroes fight over a misunderstanding work here. Mantis however never clicked with me, mostly because of her speaking of herself in third person and later for disrespecting her man and going after someone already in a relationship.
An excellent post about an excellent comic, Alan. I continue to be impressed with Englehart’s work on the Avengers/Defenders conflict and can’t believe I passed it by fifty years ago. Sal’s artwork is typical of his body of work at the time, which means it was capable and got the job done, but it wasn’t special. As for the story, like Fred, I wasn’t aware that Hawkeye used to be an Iron Man villain, but what really sticks out today are several items that I wouldn’t even have batted an eye at fifty years ago.
First, there’s Clint’s egregious and unforgivable assault of Valkyrie, when he kissed her without warning or invitation. He deserved to get his ass kicked by her for that. Also, did anyone ever examine how Valkyrie’s actions or the things that happened to her affected Barbara Norris’ madness? Or was her madness simply hand-waved away as a convenient excuse for Valkyrie taking over her body in the first place? I assume the latter, but I wonder.
The second thing was the way people kept remarking that the Avengers didn’t have anyone who could stand up to Strange in the magic department. Didn’t we just waste the Scarlet Witch in a sidelined team-up with the Vision in the previous issue? I realize Wanda’s powers/origin/skill set has changed and evolved mightily over the years, but did it never occur to Englehart to use Wanda’s mutant magic against Strange? I know her mutant powers were never considered to be in Strange’s league, but it was at least, magic vs magic and it seems like someone should have thought of it. Unless, of course, Englehart figured no one wanted to see Strange fight a girl…SIGH. Oh well, at least we all know that these days, Wanda could wipe up the floor with Stephen Strange and not break a sweat, right? Or have her powers changed again?
The final issue I have is all of the Asian stereotypes that come together and culminate in this portrayal of Mantis. How in the world did this version of the character ever morph into the one in the Guardians movies? They are the same character, right?
Anyway, I’m really enjoying the Avengers/Defenders War, Alan, even if I’m fifty years late coming into it. Thanks for the introduction!
Just two points: First, Wanda had absolutely zero magic at this point. She only altered probability and that wasn’t even reliable. She mostly could make an unlikely plot point happen and grow faint from using her powers. Englehart would start her learning true magic but that was a ways down the road. Second, Mantis never really progressed to be what we see in the Guardians movies in the comics. They took her end point of empathy and greenness and gave her an unrelated backstory. Some writers now use the movie version in comics without bothering to explain teh change and some don’t.
Englehart did a better, more realized, Mantis with Willow in JLA #142, since he was contnuing an already existing character and avoiding the things he knew did not work.
Kirby did this about the same time, when he revisited some ideas from his 1940 Timely strip Hurricane in DC’s 1970’s New Gods took some of the concepts into The Eternals at Marvel in 1976 and then finished up at Pacific with CPT Victory in 1981-’83.
Barbara Norris being stark raving bonkers from encountering the Nameless Ones was more or less the justification for letting her stay Valkyrie, even if it wasn’t phrased that way. Norris would get to become a version of Valkyrie herself years later IIRC.
To my mind, the version of Mantis that Englehart introduced in 1973 and the movie version are so different they might as well be regarded as entirely different characters, despite the movie version being based on Englehart’s Mantis. I actually rather liked her because she was such a thorny character who was finally humbled and had to grow to become a better person.
What’s funny is that my dad has now been married to three Filipino woman and my brother Terry (10 months younger than me), had a Filipino girlfriend during high school, married another Filipino woman he also knew from high school, and is now married to the younger sister of his 1st girlfriend. Anyhow, a couple of guys I’ve worked with have gone on about how Oriental women are all sooooo loyal and submissive, etc., etc. I just had to grin and laugh inwardly for two reasons — one, I don’t particularly want to be romantically involved with a doormat; two, based on my personal observations, Oriental women are no more “loyal and submissive” than any other women or men, for that matter. They’re human beings like anyone else, capable of all the failings and genuinely positive traits of any other human being. And it doesn’t matter whether they’ve somehow been “ruined” by U.S. culture or are “properly genuine” Orientals. Englehart initially wrote Mantis (and I don’t recall that she was ever given an actual name) as a “bar girl” who just happened to hook up with the Swordsman and helped him through a very rough time and encouraged him to reform. Later, even as she learned that she wasn’t entirely who she thought she was and that were many aspects of her past that were blocked from her memory, she behaved rather wretchedly towards the Swordsman and in throwing herself at the Vision, all too human bad behavior, of which I’ve seen examples in my personal life as well as that of very famous people in various walks of life, entertainers and politicians, etc., of all races, ethnicities, economic backgrounds and ages, including much older people who you’d think would know better. Some people grow out of their bad behavior, some never do, even if they get up into their 90s.
Mantis is arguably my favorite Avenger. I liked her from the moment she first appeared (well, the third issue that she appeared and she saved Wanda from a thug) despite the reprehensible Asian stereotyping (I was, after all, about 11). And I loved how mysterious and tough she was. Yes, I loved the controversial take down of Thor and the other Avengers, and I loved Englehart’s pivot to make her more heroic. It certainly served her character in the long run.
I was admittedly distressed by her initially dishonorable behavior, dumping Swordman to pursue the Vision, but it made her all too human, and gave her something to redeem herself from. Some people complained that as Englehart’s pet character he made her too competent, so this flaw in her moral character was a nice take down of her seeming perfection.
I remember thinking that no one ever was really to use her well after the Celestial Madonna saga, not even her creator, Mr. Englehart (with the exception of her short stint in Silver Surfer_, but I was pleasantly surprised at her turn in the Star-Lord miniseries, and the subsequent Guardians of the Galaxy. I was at first concerned with the way Abnett and Lanning portrayed her as a bit of a joke, but as she also grew into the role and proved still to be a competent fighter, as well as an adept psychic, I actually kind of fell in love with this new, more light-hearted Mantis. I was, like many others hugely disappointed by the character that appeared in the film, who bears little resemblance to the complex character from the comics.
Anyway, I’m thoroughly enjoying your summary of the Avengers/Defenders Conflict and particularly loved the Dr. Strange/Black Panther/Mantis rumble. Thanks!
I enjoyed Clint planting one on Valkyrie at the time but yeah the criticism here is sound. I’m more bothered by his tactic for thwarting Iron Man — seriously dude, collapsing a building and putting people at risk? It’s no different than if he’d fired an explosive arrow, though that wouldn’t have been such a clever tactic.
Dr. Strange’s combat abilities have varied depending who’s writing him but the Lee/Ditko era did establish that yes, he’s got serious martial arts skills.
All that said, I really enjoyed this installment. And while you have a point about the orb’s scrying, Alan, it does help to set up both sides as misguided.