Avengers #173
Threshhold of Oblivion!
With members of the Avengers vanishing one after another, Iron Man has called in all past Avengers for help. Meeting with the Whizzer, Captain Marvel, and the Black Panther to warn them that if this doesn’t stop there will be nobody left.
At that moment at JFK International Airport, the Black Widow and Hercules arrive from Los Angeles. However, when they attempt to use their Avengers status to acquire a helicopter to fly the rest of the way to Avengers Mansion they learn that the team’s security clearance has been revoked. When they finally arrive at the mansion, Iron Man attempts to use their SHIELD connections but are also denied due to their lack of clearance.
The team is unaware that they are being observed from afar by the cosmically powerful man known only as Michael. He sits at his home in Forest Hills with his wife, Carina Walters and keeps close watch of both the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy, who are in this era watching over the past-self of their leader, Vance Astro.[1] Needing full concentration for the next part of his plan, Michael asks Carina to leave him alone to meditate. She complies and goes up to their bedroom. There, she begins to cry over what she has to do and uses her own cosmic powers to reach out and contact someone. However, she stops herself as she is unable to bring herself to betray the man she loves.
Downstairs, Michael extends his consciousness out and checks on Uatu the Watcher on the moon, Odin in Asgard, Zeus in Olympus, and Mephisto in Hell. Lastly, he looks upon the personification of Eternity itself and is pleased to see that none of these omnipotent entities appear to be aware of his presence or what he plans on doing. That’s when he senses that Carina was trying to contact someone telepathically and confronts her. She tearfully apologizes, but Michael searches her mind and finds nothing but genuine love for him and not a hint of betrayal.
By this time, the meeting at Avengers Mansion is over. While Captain Marvel heads off to see what he can find, the Black Widow and Hercules head back to the airport to recover their luggage. Robert Frank thanks Iron Man for the invite, but following their battle with Count Nefaria he has retired from heroics but is willing to get back into the tights if they need his help.[2] While in another room, Hawkeye tries to cheer up the Scarlet Witch. However, with her husband the Vision, and brother Quicksilver among the missing, she has a lot of concern on her mind. Little does she know a strange old man is taking a cruise ship to America who has some strange connection to both her and her brother.[3] Back at the mansion, Wonder Man is having a sandwich in the kitchen and invites Thor to join him. The thunder god surprises him by saying that he hardly knows Simon, despite the fact that they have fought in a number of battles together.[4]
While at that moment, the continued search for the missing Avengers continues in vein as their equipment can’t find a single one. That’s when the Black Panther suggests they get in touch with the Guardians of the Galaxy and see if their space station, Drydock, has technology advanced enough to find their friends. That’s when both the Panther and Yellowjacket suddenly vanish just like the others. That’s when Hawkeye and Thor come running into the room to report that both the Scarlet Witch and Wonder Man have vanished as well. Quickly, Iron Man contacts Vance Astro on Drydock and asks him to scan for the missing Avengers. Vance is able to find them impossibly hidden in a cloaked ship in space that appears to be no larger than a phone booth. Iron Man then orders Vance to teleport them inside the ship.
Meanwhile, the man kidnapping the Avengers is almost finished gathering the entire team. He is pleased that his foe is otherwise occupied that his kidnappings have gone unnoticed. That’s when the remaining Avengers appear in aboard the ship. They then confront the man responsible for kidnapping their friends. As it turns out, the man responsible is none other than the Collector. He is pleased that the final Avengers have arrived since it saves him the trouble of capturing them himself.
Recurring Characters
Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Yellowjacket, the Wasp, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Black Panther, Hercules, Black Widow, Wonder Man), Whizzer, Captain Marvel, Guardians of the Galaxy (Vance Astro, Charlie-27 Nikki, Starhawk), Korvac, Collector, Edwin Jarvis, Henry Gyrich, Nick Fury, Carina Walters, Django Maximoff (unidentified), the Watcher, Odin, Zeus, Hera, Mephisto, Eternity
Continuity Notes
The Guardians came to the past to protect young Vance from Korvac, whom they assumed came back in time to assassinate him. See Avengers #167. At the time, the Guardian’s 30th Century future was the possible future of Earth-616. However, the two realities will diverge following the events of Marvel Two-In-One #69. Per Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes 2005 #1, the Guardian’s timeline is considered part of Reality-691.
The Whizzer has been fighting crime since the 1940s, as seen in USA Comics #1. He got back into it circa Giant-Size Avengers #1, but suffers from heart problems. He last helped the Avengers in issue #164-166 against Count Nefaria.
This mystery man is identified as Django Maximoff in Avengers #182. Issues #185-187 leave readers believing that Django adopted Pietro and Wanda as children after they were abandoned by the Whizzer, the man they believe to be their biological father at the time of this story. In reality, Django Maximoff is actually their uncle, and the twins are actually the parents of Natalia Maximoff and an unidentified father. See Uncanny Avengers (vol. 2) #4-5 and Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #4.
At this time, Thor only remembers battling Wonder Man way back in Avengers #9 and that he had recently been hanging out with the Avengers since he returned in issue #151. This is despite the fact that he fought alongside Wonder Man in the Avengers’ battles against Graviton (#158-159), the Lethal Legion and Count Nefaria (#164-166), Doctor Doom (Super-Villain Team-Up #14), Thanos (Avengers Annual #7 and Marvel Two-In-One Annual #2), and lastly Ultron (#170-171). It’s later explained in issue #175 that Thor was being plucked out of time by the Collector to protect the Avengers until he could add them all to his collection. Each time he put Thor back, he erased his memories of events. Thor was taken out of time during his search for Odin which took place in Thor #255-266.
Topical References
References to the Modern Age taking place during the 20th Century should be considered topical. Per the Sliding Timescale, this era has been pushed forward so it does not begin until the after the start of the 21st Century.
Dated pop-culture references: Steve Reeves, Agatha Christie
