Avengers #304
… Yearning to Breath Free!
Steve Rogers has been invited to a sneak-peak of the museum on Ellis Island which has been closed to the public while it undergoes renovation. Joining him are Thor and Gilgamesh who are interested in learning more about America’s history of immigration.[1] While they are looking around their sense of awe is mocked by Charles Little Sky, a Native American who has no love for America’s migrant ancestors who he accuses of stealing the land of his people (he’s not wrong, but this story doesn’t go too deep into that, but I digress.) When the irony of his employment is pointed out to Charles, the young man explains that good paying jobs are in short demand and he took whatever was available. That’s when Charles spots someone in the crowd and flees in a panic.
This person is Thomas Fireheart, who has come looking for Charles because they are members of the same tribe. Spotting the boy, Thomas transforms into the Puma so he can use his enhanced tracking skills. Captain America and Thor change into costume and try to slow up the Puma in order to find out why he is after Little Sky. The Puma explains that he must bring Charles back to his tribe because the young man has great power and must undergo training in order to learn how to control them. Charles denies having such powers and asks the Avengers for help. Captain America finds himself uncertain over who to trust due to conflicting reports about Puma. On the one hand, the warrior assisted in trying to stop the Beyonder during the second Secret Wars, but on the other Cap has heard that Puma is a mercenary-for-hire who has worked for shady characters in the past.[2]
Ultimately, the Avengers decide to defend Charles Little Sky. However, in the ensuing conflict Charles begins to radiate with a strange energy while in distress. This suddenly opens a portal to another dimension allowing the U-Foes to emerge from their prison in the Crossroads Dimension.[3] When Vector, the team leader, learns that Charles was responsible for their freedom he orders the other U-Foes to kill the boy so he can’t send them back to where they came from.
The Puma and the Avengers are forced to work together to protect Charles from the U-Foes. Ultimately, they manage to defeat the villains through teamwork. In the aftermath of the battle, Captain America tries to convince Charles to seek help in controlling his powers. Theorizing that Little Sky is a mutant, he says that there are other options available to him. Unfortunately, Charles has no interest in getting help from anybody and — having mastered some control over his powers — flees through one of his portals hoping to find a place to live in peace.[4] With Charles gone, the Avengers have no choice but to allow Puma to leave since he has broken no laws. After Fireheart has departed, Captain America can’t help but notice that Charles — staunchly anti-immigrant — ironically chose to become an immigrant himself in order to be free.
Recurring Characters
Avengers (Captain America, Thor, Gilgamesh), Puma, U-Foes (Vector, Vapor, X-Ray, Ironclad), Charles Little Sky,
Continuity Notes
Mention is made of the Avengers recent battle with Super-Nova which took place in Avengers #301-303.
As explained in Amazing Spider-Man #273 and Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #111, the Puma was trained to protect his tribe by an entity said to have come “from beyond”. At first, he believed this to be the Beyonder. However, Spider-Man Unlimited #15 suggests that the actual threat was from an alien being called Raptar the Renegade.
The U-Foes found themselves trapped in the Crossroads Dimension back in Incredible Hulk #304-305. Vector recounts his origins as they were originally told in Incredible Hulk #254.
This is not the last we see of Charles Little Sky, who will return again in Darkhawk #5.
Topical References
This story uses the term “Indian” to describe Native Americans. This should be considered a topical reference because that term is an inaccurate hold-over from America’s colonial past (where idiot explorers mistook the Native Americans for the people of India) and is considered by many to be racist by the standards of today. As such, the summary above uses the proper nomenclature.
The original twin towers of the World Trade Center are depicted as part of the New York City skyline here. This should be considered topical as the towers were destroyed in a terrorist attack on September 11, 2001 and have since been replaced with the Freedom Tower.
This story states that Ellis Island is undergoing renovations as it is to be opened as a museum on immigration. Indeed, Ellis Island was converted to a museum that was opened to the public on September 10, 1990. All references to Ellis Island being converted into a brand new museum should be considered topical. Modern readers could assume that the museum is undergoing a massive renovation project for a new exhibit or some similar circumstances that would require the facility to be closed to the public.
