The issue of Marvel Comics’ Avengers that we’re discussing today is the first ever of the title to have had not only its interiors, but also its cover, pencilled by artist George Pérez (though we should note for the record that John Romita is alleged to have done some touch-ups on the piece, and that the inks were provided by Frank Giacoia). That seems quite appropriate, given that Avengers #149 also brings to a close the storyline that kicked off with Pérez’s first outing on the title, in issue #141; besides that, it’s a really attractive piece of work (especially if you’re as big a fan of the Mighty Thor as is your humble blogger)… and, of course, the first of many fine George Pérez Avengers cover to follow.
Moving on to the book’s opening splash page, and the resumption of our continuing narrative following the events of last issue, we find longtime regular scripter Steve Englehart still at the helm, while Pérez’s pencils are here finished by Sam Grainger:
Yeah, I’m with Thor, here; I don’t care how many times Moondragon says she’s a god, I ain’t buyin’ it. (For what it’s worth, I felt the same way in 1976, and that was before the inhabitants of Titan [where she grew up] were retconned from being kin to the Greek Gods to being “mere” Eternals.)
After Jarvis explains to Thor and Moondragon that there’s been no word from the other Avengers since they headed out to Long Island, Thor assures him that he’ll investigate. “And of course, you won’t mind a bit of help, now will you, Thor?” inquires Moondragon.
Still in only the second full year of his professional comics career (at least in the sense of having credits under his own name), George Pérez was already a master at depicting crowded fight scenes, providing all the detail you could ask for without skimping on either dynamism or clarity; and Sam Grainger’s clean, crisp inking ensures that none of the penciller’s painstaking effort goes to waste.
As Hellcat notes. the Avengers ventured to Long Island in the first place to investigate the Roxxon Oil and Brand Corporations, an investigation which had allowed writer Steve Englehart to follow up on two originally unrelated plotlines from books he wasn’t writing any more — namely, the Beast’s short-lived series in Amazing Adventures, where Brand had first appeared, and Captain America, where Roxxon Oil and its CEO Hugh Jones had been introduced. That said, the specific mysteries that had aroused the Avengers’ suspicions — Jones’ tipping off Cap about the whereabouts of the Red Skull in CA #185, followed by the subsequent assault on the Skull’s base by Roxxon troops in the following issue of that book, and finally topped off by the ambush of former Brand employee Hank “Beast” McCoy by more Roxxon goons at the beginning of Avengers #141 — never do get any real resolution, as we never learn just why Roxxon/Brand was doing all those things.
One possible reason for this seeming lapse is that the story’s resolution may well have been rushed, following the unplanned use of unrelated fill-in content in both #145 and #146, and the subsequent need to wrap things up quickly in time for the special milestone issue due just a month after this one, i.e., Avengers #150. In the end, maybe the unanswered questions concerning Roxxon and Brand aren’t really that important; after all, if we’ve learned anything about these shady corporations and their ruthless leaders over the last nine months, it’s that they’re Really Bad Guys, and that it’s high time for the Avengers to take them down.
Back at the battle, the Avengers are holding their own against overwhelming odds — but then, a double-barreled tank comes crashing through a wall. “You’ve seen our advanced weaponry before, Captain America!” shouts a Roxxon trooper (presumably in reference to Captain America #186). “Now, surrender, or die!”
Jones orders his men to toss the unconscious Avengers onto a transport vehicle called a “tracto-mek“, which they’ll use to carry the heroes deeper into the complex — where, as he remarks to Captain Robert “Buzz” Baxter, “We’ve a hundred ways to kill these Avengers here — and we both know which of them’s the most painful!”
My younger self hadn’t caught Orka’s debut back in Sub-Mariner #23 and #24, though I had been around for his later outing in S-M #66-67. Given that he’d gotten his start working for the Atlantean renegade known as Warlord Krang — who, like Hugh Jones, has worn and served the Serpent Crown — his appearance here, while unexpected, makes a kind of sense.
“I say let’s zap ’em right now!” exclaims Baxter. When Jones questions his bloodthirstiness, given that he’s talking about killing his own ex-wife, Baxter remains adamant. “She turned against me — divorced me, didn’t she? She didn’t like how I took to Brand’s ways so quickly — but I like it, and I’m going to like it best when I show her I was right!” Still, his boss is determined to remain cautious. “We’ll wait till we see how this fight comes out!”
The notion of Thor needing to strike Mjolnir’s handle against the ground twice to summon a thunderstorm goes all the way back to his debut in Journey into Mystery #83 (Aug., 1962) — though I’m pretty sure it had been a long time since we’d seen the bit actually used in a story, whether in Avengers or in the Thunder God’s own title. (I could be wrong, though.)
We discussed earlier how this issue served to wrap up plotlines Steve Englehart had initiated years earlier in Amazing Adventures and Captain America — but the relationship drama of Patsy and Buzz goes back way farther than that — back not just to the “Patsy Walker” romance comics of the 1960s (which is where Englehart appears to have discovered the characters), but all the way back to the 1940s teen-humor comics where they both first debuted. Not that you have to know all that history to enjoy Hellcat’s thorough takedown of her rotten ex — but if you do, it adds a little extra weight to the proceedings.
In keeping with tradition, while two taps from the hammer’s handle summoned the storm, three taps send it packing.
Unresolved mysteries or no, “The Gods and the Gang!” still stands for your humble blogger as an eminently satisfying conclusion to what, half a century later, is still probably my favorite multi-issue Avengers story arc. If I had any quibbles about this one fifty years ago, it was probably due to my impression (a correct one, as it happened) that Steve Englehart was setting up my favorite Avenger, Thor, to leave the group — something I wasn’t in favor of at all. Ironically, Thor’s exit (which of course proved to be in no way permanent) would, in the long run, cause my younger self considerably less distress than another major change which was rapidly approaching… but that’s a discussion we’ll leave for next month, when we’ll be looking not only at the title’s milestone 150th issue (a bit of a dud, frankly), but its immediate follow up, as well. I hope to see you then.
Gotta agree with you, Alan, I’d rate this as my favorite multi-issue Avengers epic too and this was a pretty satisfying conclusion. I’d missed Orka’s previous appearances, although I’d at least read references to him somewhere before. Kind of apt given the Serpent Crown’s connection to Atlantean baddies as well as to provide an actual evil giant for Thor, a giant-killer in the myths, to put down. Patsy’s confrontation with Buzz, however, was the emotional highlight of the mag. I hadn’t read any of those old comics Patsy & Buzz had appeared in, but even at 13 in 1976, I could understand Patsy’s heartbreak at love gone wrong and appreciate her strength in taking him on. Actually, it resonates with me more now as I have one good friend, a few years older than me, but whose high school romance and subsequent marriage fell apart due to her husband’s drug abuse and general moral decline (never met him but she’s told me about him). And, of course, in recent times we’ve seen plenty of real people – men and women – whose lust for power and prestige led them down dark paths of corruption and murder.
Moondragon does come off as insufferable and full of herself, maybe less so than in her introduction In Iron Man as Madame McEvil (which I actually did get new off the racks), but she seems to have entirely forgotten that she’s not a “goddess” but a mortal Earthling who happened to be adopted by people from Titan who gave her specialized training through which she gained her powers. She’s no more a deity than, say, Dr. Strange, who for all his own considerable powers, was never shown to forget that he’s still a human being. Still, Englehart used her as a means to bring up points about Thor’s considerable powers and status as an actual god. It just occurred to me while writing this that at this point, Englehart had written many more issues of the Avengers featuring Thor as a member than either Lee or Thomas. Thomas still held on to the title of having written the most issues of the Avengers, which as far as I now held for at least the first 300 issues of the title, but Thor wasn’t a regular member for most of that run, mainly due to Lee’s orders, at least up through 1972, when the Avengers’ Big Three rejoined the fold in Avengers #93, during the gang’s first big epic multi-issue storyline. Despite his comings and goings over the next several years, Thor would retain his status as part of the Big Three of the group an at least while I kept collecting the mag, wouldn’t stay away for any considerable stretch of time, at least not as long as from issues 17 through 50 in the Silver Age.
The whole “world of cardboard” aspect (as Superman would later describe it) bugged me at the time. Marvel had repeatedly emphasized that Subby in the water was as strong as Thor or Hulk out of it. Orca was stronger than Subby. Yet Orca tripled in strength was nothing compared to Thor. Not that I was particularly a Namor fan, outside Avengers, but I felt like a rule was being bent.
That aside yes, this was a fantastic finish to a great arc, even if the shade cast on my favorite team, the JLA, annoyed me a little. The Roxxon questions didn’t trouble me at all — I didn’t even remember them by this point.
At the time I hadn’t read any of the Beast’s solo series. Now that I have, it strikes me Buzz went downhill fast. In Amazing Adventures he’s an antagonist simply because he’s providing security for a military contractor, not an outright villain. I don’t have a problem with it but it’s worth noting.
Moondragon, for me, is an epic fail on Englehart’s part, an insufferable character regardless of whether she’s a god or not.
If you found Moondragon insufferable, then I would say Englehart nailed it. I’m pretty sure he intended that she be a pain. (Not every hero has to be a paragon.)
I am not even sure what an anti-hero actually is anymore, but Moondragon is an interesting variation on the standard superhero recipe.
She fights for the good causes most of the time and has hardly any secrets (with a couple of very significant exceptions). But she is insufferable and arguably self-defeating while at that.
Besides, I have come to enjoy her bouts of moonsplaining. No one else tries to explain to Thor how a god is supposed to behave, and I find that hilarious. Even if the future occurrence is a bit ethically questionable (this one was just hilarious).
I don’t have a problem with Thor realizing that he has become too used to operating in world of cardboard mode. It makes sense for the character; he _has_ a world in each of two worlds with very different expectations of default power level from the start.
Besides, I like a good old moment of the “I Am Not Left-Handed” trope as much as anyone. And it really works with Thor here, making him appear properly regal while also providing a clear yet surmountable reason for him to step down once in a while. It just feels right that the Avengers would at once welcome the raw power of their mightiest founding member while also aiming not to depend on him all the time. They do not need that vulnerability.
As a big fan of Moondragon’s, I always enjoy when she’s a little insufferable and arrogant (without tipping all the way into delusional and evil). I also enjoy when people call Thor on his godhood — most notably Moondragon, of course, but also, and in a much more respectful manner, Firebird. Before turning her into a bonafide villain, I always found Moondragon refreshing — her personality was unique and she wasn’t wrong. Even her claim to godhood, she admits, is despite her origins. I actually think her “hero’s quest” through the New Defenders is one of the more tragic ones around. She actually tries to hard to be heroic, but she can’t get out of her own way.
Anyway, it’s been fun going on this journey with you. This was certainly one of the great multi-issue sagas for the Avengers. And so great to see Perez is his early days really developing his style.
Yeah, Moondragon was no god but at least she acted like a devil pretty often.
This one didn’t connect as well with me at the time and now for the following reasons:
*How about a little respect for Iron Man! A punch from a “human killer whale” (more on him coming up) knocks out everyone – including a guy in a suit of high-tech armor? If that blubberous blow was that devasting, I’m thinking Hellcat should’ve been reduced to kitty litter.
*Speaking of Patsy’s alter-ego, while I appreciated her having it out with Buzz, I also wondered how it was that she was the first one of several Avengers – including my guy, Iron Man – to awaken?
*That the Serpent Crown’s final weapon – something Roxxon “prayed” they’d never need to use is a “human killer whale” left me more than a tad underwhelmed. Sure, he made a good foil for Thor to trounce. But after the likes of Kang and the Squadron Supreme, Orka was quite a letdown for me.
While I found the book disappointing upon first read as a kid, it took on more of a somber tone with it becoming the final “complete” book of Steve Englehart’s run. Much as this one didn’t quite connect with me, it still stood above every upcoming issue until Jim Shooter’s arrival.
And thanks, Alan! Definitely a great treat for a busy Wednesday!
I thought that Patsy’s incipient mental abilities accounted for her early recovery in this issue, sort of like Bella Swan’s love shield in Stephenie Meyer’s *Twilight Saga*; however, as far as I can tell, those came later, in her training on Titan with Moondragon. (Heather giveth and Heather taketh away.)
The ineffectual brain-blast on Orka reminded me of Xemnu’s failure to subdue the Hulk in *Marvel Feature* #3. Greenskin didn’t think well of Dr. Strange’s hint that his limited grey matter protected him. (Hulk may be the strongest one there is, but Hulk isn’t the stupidest, Dumb Magician.)
Your excellent examination reminded me of Raymond Chandler’s comment on a Norbert Davis story called “Red Goose.” He said that it must have been very good because he’d never forgotten it; when he revisited it, he noted that it wasn’t as fine as he had recalled, but that it was still very good.
As with “Red Goose” for Chandler, so with “The Gods and the Gang” for me.
My memory of Thor’s moderating his power was almost verbatim, but what I particularly enjoyed was his “I am not slow-witted,” for it foreshadowed Thor’s remarks to the Midgard Serpent eleven years later:
You said it yourself, Jormungand! The trouble with godhood is that it robs you of your finer judgment! And that is why we will never be the same. You are a mighty fighter, but in the end, you are only a selfish creature while heroes…heroes have an infinite capacity for stupidity! Thus are legends born!
There is no better (or more entertaining) Thor than self-deprecating Thor.
Of course, it helps when he is being written by Walt Simonson. And drawn too. And fighting freaking Jormungand while under the full weight Hela’s curse and fully expecting to die for good while at it.
They say that people reveal their character when pushed to the wall, and Thor passed with flying colors there.
People who say characters with high power levels are difficult to write should study Walt Simonson’s Thor run and consider what is there to learn from that.
I’m an Ironman guy as well… and despite the book during this period frequently stating that Thor and Ironman were “the two strongest Avengers” I think it would have been fair for the readers to assume that the Vision was more of a powerhouse than old Shellhead… just based on the amount of action he got to display. In this particular case… Jones stating “he even koed Ironman inside his shell” is a testament to the power of Orka in overcoming Ironman’s presumed durability over the Vision’s. Sometimes I was just happy that Ironman was mentioned as a player.
It took George Perez a little while to find his footing, and he wasn’t served well by Vince Colletta and some his other inkers early on, but here we see him start to blossom into the great artist he would become. I always thought his anatomy would remain a little wonky, but the amount of detail he poured into every page was truly unbelievable.
You prefer those cartoon-like inks to Vince Colletta?
That third page you show has a few things that intrigue me – like, in the first panel, is that Mr Perez sneaking a selfie at far right?
Also, that second panel; now, presumably this was done Marvel-style, with Perez handing pencilled pages to Engelhart to script. Sturdy Steve looked at that second panel and thought “What can I have Thor saying? Forsooth, woman of Midgard, this parley pains me, but no matter!”…or “By Odin’s beard, there is truly no end to thy prattle!” But nope, he just goes for “Hmmmmm”..it’s quite a comic pause, and the sort of thing you’d never see in any other Marvel writer’s style.
And agreed about Perez’s handling crowded fight scenes; you’d think it’d be a snap, but I’ve always thought it something that escaped Starlin and Mike Grell over at DC.
And I wonder whether Moondragon isn’t getting the short end of the stick – Engelhart obviously wanted to make the point about Thor’s power equalling everybody else’s combined. Let’s see, he could have had Thor somehow realise it himself, but maybe better to be challenged on it by someone else? Hmm, who in the current scenario might spot it? Say, someone who hasn’t been around too long, maybe someone whose attitude could be misconstrued….? Oh alright, she could be a bit high-handed, but even Thor seemed taken aback when he realised he’d made the point for her.
Anyways, a top effort by you, Alan – I hope to be reading these for a long time to come.
Revisiting this issue is like watching the Beatles in the Get Back doc, getting along fine and creating mind-blowing work while a real breakup is just around the corner. Damn it. All things _must_ pass, but we could have used another year of Englehart/Perez Avengers. At least this one doesn’t end with a Ben Franklin loose thread to irk True Believers for decades…
Yes, this issue is basically the end of Steve Englehart’s lengthy run on Avengers… not that he intended for it to be!
Good issue, a fine wrap-up of the Serpent Crown storyline, with some great penciling by the still-developing George Perez.
Reading this when the trade paperback came out in the early 2000s, I will admit that Orka the Killer Whale was not my idea of anyone’s ultimate weapon, but I had to then remind myself that this was back when he was still a relatively new character, so the novelty of seeing him fight Thor was probably much greater to readers at the time. And, yes, it is a good fight.
Yeah, I do wonder what Steve Englehart would have done with Thor and Moondragon if he had remained on the Avengers longer.
At my 10th-birthday party earlier in the month, I received two gifts of note. The brass Superman belt buckle I got to start wearing immediately. The second gift I would have to wait longer for, since the card from my oldest brother told me that he had bought me a subscription to THE AVENGERS. Following my earlier subscriptions to Secret Origins, Justice League of America, and the Brave & the Bold, I was just as excited to begin getting a year’s worth of consecutive issues of the Avengers, as they comprised my second largest title of my still-budding comic book collection after JLA. I was still collecting comics only sporadically based on my limited allowance, so over the previous year I had only picked up Avengers # 139, 141, and 146. Now I received Avengers # 149 in that brown wrapper from the mailbox, and I became immediately engrossed in it. There was a lot that I didn’t understand, having only read the first issue in the 7-issue arc, especially that new character dressed in the Cat’s costume, and I’m not sure that I knew that “Rockefeller” was a counterpart to our world’s vice-president, but it was definitely action-packed and filled with great dialogue. The art was definitely better than in the previous issues that I had gotten, and I was definitely unaware at the time how the inking of Sam Grainger made it so much better than that of Vinnie Colletta. The collection of Assemblers was terrific, except for Moondragon, and I’d have been very happy if Hellcat had become a new member; it was only decades later that I would come to read her entire Defenders run. Fifty years later, I still feel grateful to my brother for starting my subscription just in time for the membership two-parter, the spectacular George Perez issues and the Jim Shooter stories over the next two years (I would renew my subscription for an entire second year).
I have to add, with everyone an Omega level mutant, the Avengers all practically gods now, it seems that everyone has to be able to be so powerful that they can’t be taken down by anything. Elevating Thor to his god level abilities was a interesting way to set him apart. I like my heroes to be a little more vulnerable. Not every hero should be at that level. It makes the more interesting when they have to try harder.
Brian Cronin had a post a couple of decades back about the tendency to make characters the best at what they do, and that in most cases it’s okay if they’re not the best martial artist/detective/thief/inventor in the world.
Hey, Alan,
Was it deliberate on your part to post about Steve Englehart’s last full issue of AVENGERS on Steve’s 79th birthday????
Revisiting this story leaves me with a mix of pleasure and pain. All the wonderful character bits and witty scripting! Perez coming into his own! A satisfying resolution to a story that started months previously! (Like you, Alan, I also wonder what Englehart’s original plan was going to be if not for the fill-in two-parter. Would this issue have been #147? If so, would there have been some kind of two-part story in #148 and #149? I’ve read a lot about Englehart’s aborted plans for various Marvel books, but I don’t think I’ve come across that. Anyone else?
I always loved Thor’s last speech here. “I am not slow-witted, but my task in the All-Father’s plan doth concern itself more with action than reflection.” I doubt Chris Hemsworth read this book, but his portrayal of Thor has some of that attitude.
As for the “pain” part – yeah, I get hung up on “might have beens.” Had it been published as intended, AVENGERS #150 would have been a swell combination of retrospective and teaser for what was to come. At least it’s not the middle of an arc (cf DR. STRANGE), but still.
Fifty years later, I still champion Englehart’s run on this book (and so many others). Happy 79th, Steve!
“Was it deliberate on your part to post about Steve Englehart’s last full issue of AVENGERS on Steve’s 79th birthday????”
I wish I were that clever, Bill! But even though I’m not, I’m pleased to echo your happy birthday wishes for Mr. E. 🙂
Hellcat’s introduction to the Avengers is such an odd storyline that it even has a moment of Captain America doubting his own initial judgement – a very rare thing indeed.
I want to believe that Englehart wanted to surprise us by repeatedly going against expectations, but I think that is a bit doubtful. Who knows where he wanted to go with that blackmail plot with Beast in Amazing Adventures. And as Alan will no doubt show us soon, the unexpected twists and turns in her trajectory have not ended yet.
Personally I suspect that Englehart had the intention to make more of her interactions with Moondragon, but of course he was out of the book – and if I am not mistaken, of Marvel – before he had any chance to develop that plot.
Reading the Beast’s series for the first time a couple of years back, I notice Linda identifies herself as a foreign agent (“It isn’t your country I’m loyal too.”). I’m guessing she would not have turned out Secret Empire agent had the series kept running. So I imagine you’re right and Patsy/Hank would have turned out differently too.
I liked this one a lot. Didn’t read The Avengers fifty years ago, but my biases have fallen away and my mind is more open and I can better appreciate the book for what it is and the group for who they are now than I did as an 18-year old.
To me, the real problem is why the Avengers didn’t just roll right over the Roxxon/Brand guys the moment they got there. Wanda alone, now that she was exploring real magic and not just her mutant powers, was on her way to becoming one of Marvel’s mightiest characters. She wasn’t there yet, but it amazes me how little she was allowed to do and that she didn’t get to try herself against Orka at all. I assume this was early in her training with Agatha Harkness and she wasn’t nearly on-par power-wise with her current incarnation fifty years later, but I’m sure it also had to do with how Marvel’s bullpen treated most women back in those days. SIGH. It’s not just Thor who holds himself back. The entire group holds themselves back much of the time, and it’s a shame.
Art-wise, Perez is really coming along here and it’s obvious he will one day be an A-list artist. Englehart’s story was excellent and didn’t feel rushed at the end like many of his stories do. Great pacing and a nice ending to wrap up his unintended final issue on the book. Thanks, Alan!
I don’t think it was Marvel sexism at issue: Englehart was the one who upped her power (he’s said he disliked the whole idea of her becoming exhausted once she cast a couple of hex spheres) and right after she began training with Agatha she was able to drop a meteor on one of Kang’s macrobots. I presume the Avengers got clobbered so Hellcat can deal with Buzz and Thor can smash Orca, nothing more. Though you’re right that Roxxon’s goon squads hold out implausibly long.
In retrospect, it is strange that Patsy adjusted so quickly to so much.
Maybe that was what brought Moondragon’s attention to her?
I think JR Sr’s contribution to the cover was probably the figure of the Vision, it looks like his work. He might also have modified Iron Man’s face, at least, as he’s had his nose-job on the cover (to match his own mag), but still has the nose throughout the issue (which did get an editor’s note somewhere explaining that this adventure had started before the change).
I also think maybe Steve the Birthday Boy Englehart was too concerned with power imbalances. In Cap’s own mag, he gave him unnecessary ‘super-strength’, so Sam had a complex until he got his wings (I preferred him without), and I applauded Wanda getting ‘powered up’ in this title. Then he decides that Thor is too powerful? So? Isn’t that a benefit if you’re supposed to be your world’s mightiest super-team? Having just saved all his friends after Orka wiped them out (far too easily), he decides that hanging with them is a bad idea? I’d have liked Tony or Steve to step up here (or next issue), and tell Thor off for his arrogance. Imagine the MCU where Tony Stark tells Loki “We have a Hulk… well, we did have but we had to let him go because he was much stronger than the rest of us”. I was quite pleased when Jim Shooter snuck Thor back in and this whole idea was subsequently and quietly dropped.
Sharing the pain that after Englehart’s long and enjoyable run my favourite team are in for a very dismal period for the next little while.
I was pretty underwhelmed by the use of Orca when I first read this comic, probably 40 ( not 50) years ago, when my comic collecting was at its height. Reading it now, it’s clear Steve was working to various plans, one of which was to bring back Wonder Man. And if Woman Man was in, that means Thor was required to be out. Steve was also taking turns spotlighting various heroes in the title; #147 was the Vision and the Scarlet Witch, and this issue Thor ( #148 being Steve’s homage to Julie Schwartz’ JLA/JAS team-ups).
Patsy regaining consciousness first and being able to escape rather easily I consider a let down in plotting ( Roy did something similar during his run against the Grim Reaper’s Lethal Legion, although Roy at least then provided the unlikely explanation that the Avengers were just playing possum). I really like Anonymous Sparrow’s theory on this and then Luis’ take a couple of comments back though!
ps cover would have been better without the speech balloons, which cut Orca in half.