Avengers #219
… By Divine Right!
Janet Van Dyne is getting her hair done at the hairdresser when she suddenly feels the urge to leave. Racing outside, she shrinks to Wasp size and takes off. Unfortunately, none of her clothes — including her expensive mink coat — were treated with unstable molecules, leaving Janet to scrambling to find something in her purse to fashion into a make-shift outfit or she’ll freeze to death in the winter weather. She finds a handkerchief to wrap around herself to protect her modesty if not the cold.
While at a casino in Atlantic City, Tony Stark also is struck with a sudden desire to leave. He leaves his date at a gambling table while he rushes off to change into Iron Man and follow his compulsions. It takes all of his will power to not change in front of everyone.
Back in Manhattan, Captain America is busting some crooks when he too feels the sudden urge to leave as well. Luckily, the police arrive to arrest the crooks just as Captain America races off on his motorcycle.
Lastly, at Avengers Mansion, Thor arrives as Jarvis struggles to shovel the walkway. Offering his aid, Thor uses Mjolnir to summon a whirlwind to blow all the snow away. That’s when he too is compelled to leave by the same mysterious force summoning the other Avengers.
The Avengers have been drawn out to a Brooklyn scrapyard where they find Moondragon’s ship waiting for them. Wondering what the telepath wants with the team, they decide to board the space ship. The inside of the ship is deserted by they are greeted by a holographic projection of Moondragon’s father, Drax the Destroyer. Drax has sought out the Avengers to help him on a matter of grave importance. He explains that he sought new meaning for his life after others ended the threat of Thanos, the entity Drax was created to fight.[1] This led to a reunion with his daughter who opened his mind to the wonder of space exploration. Soon they found the alien world of Ba-Bani, a planet that was locked in constant war. They came to that world and Moondragon used her telepathic abilities to force peace on the planet. Although the war ended, Drax now believes that there is an even greater danger but his transmission is cut off before he can explain what that is.
Suddenly, the ship takes off and takes the Avengers to Bi-Bani, where they are welcomed by its people. They are taken to the temple where Moondragon resides and discover that she is being worshiped as a goddess by the Bi-Bani. The Avengers find it hard to think and readily accept that her conquest of the world was the right thing to do. Moondragon then tells the Avengers that her mental powers have been stretched to their limit and she has one last pocket of resistance fighters that she says are jeopardizing peace on the planet. The Avengers agree to squash the rebellion, particularly since Drax is no longer driven by violence. With the leaders of the rebellion captured, they are turned over to Moondragon for punishment.
The next day, the Avengers decide to explore Bi-Bani a bit before returning home to Earth. Thor, who has had plenty of experience exploring alien worlds decides to stay behind until it is time to leave, while Iron Man goes off with Drax to look into the technological wonders on this world. This leaves Captain America and the Wasp to explore, and the pair have started to become suspicious of Moondragon’s motivations on this world as things are not adding up, and they are finding it hard to think critically. When they go back to the scene of the battle, they are shocked to see the rebels they stopped are now part of the clean-up crew, their minds having been altered to make them complaint. Cap and the Wasp begin to suspect that Moondragon had been manipulating them from afar.
Elsewhere, Iron Man and Drax look over video recordings of the battle. Iron Man notices that Drax watched from the sidelines and begins questioning why he didn’t lend a hand. It becomes clear to Iron Man that Moondragon has been messing with Drax’s mind. When he calls Drax out on this, he resists these rebellious thoughts, but ultimately Iron Man gets through to him.
Meanwhile, Thor — unaware of these discoveries — pays a visit to Moondragon. Having convinced herself that she is a goddess on par with the thunder god, she uses her mental powers to seduce Thor and convinces him to pledge his undying allegiance to her and her reign on Bi-Bani.
Recurring Characters
Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Wasp), Moondragon, Drax the Destroyer, Ba-Bani, Edwin Jarvis
Continuity Notes
The history of Moondragon and Drax the Destroyer is explained in some detail here. The facts:
Previously known as Arthur and Heather Douglas, the father and daughter were on a family trip when they witnessed the arrival of Thanos on Earth as part of an early scouting mission. To keep his arrival a secret, Thanos blew up the Douglas car, seemingly killing everyone on board. While Arthur was resurrected by Chronos into Drax, Mentor found that Heather survived the accident and brought her back to Titan where she was raised as a potential candidate to become the Celestial Madonna. See Iron Man #55, Captain Marvel #32, and Avengers #135.
Drax’s mission was to destroy Thanos, but he was turned into stone thanks to the efforts of the Avengers, Adam Warlock, Spider-Man and the Thing, as seen in Avengers Annual #7 and Marvel Two-In-One Annual #2.
This is not the end of Thanos as he will be restored to life in Silver Surfer (vol. 3) #34.
Topical References
One of the crooks states that Captain America saved his father’s platoon from Nazi soldiers during World War II. This should be considered a topical reference as this is a character that exists in the Modern Age who has a normal life span. Modern readers could assume that this man had a relative that fought in World War II instead of his father.
Iron Man quips that Moondragon could be awarded the “Chutzpah Poster Child” of 1982. The year given should be considered topical as it denotes the year this story was published.
