Avengers #312 — Nick Peron

Aug 3

Aug 3 Avengers #312

Has the Whole World Gone Mad?

The Avengers involvement in Acts of Vengeance continues from Avengers Spotlight #27…

Superheroes are being attack all over Earth by villains they have never faced before.[1] Following the sinking of Hydrobase a team of Avengers consisting of the Wasp, Hank Pym, Falcon, Vision and Scarlet Witch have all gathered in the underground complex below Avengers Park.[2] As the Avengers try to figure out their next course of action there is a lot of concern over the Scarlet Witch’s mental state given everything that has happened recently.[3][4]

The Avengers are unaware that they are being secretly observed by the mastermind of this conspiracy.[5] Pleased with how things are going, he goes into the meeting room where the other conspiracists in this act of vengeance have gathered. They include the Kingpin, the Wizard, the Mandarin, Doctor Doom, Magneto, and the Red Skull. They are all bickering among one another and many of them take issue with the inclusion of the Red Skull due to his Nazi past.[6] The man who brought them all together convinces them to stop bickering among one another and assures them that the end game is coming and if they stick together their enemies will be destroyed. Maintaining the illusion that he is merely the conspirator’s servant, the mastermind behind this plan leaves to prepare the final attacks. Once out of earshot of his unwitting minions, he is amused how easy it has been to manipulate them.

At that moment, Pyro, the Blob, and Avalanche arrive outside Avengers Park. With Mystique in mourning, the three members of the Freedom Force have decided to go independent and have been hired to attack the Avengers.[7] Their approach is observed by the Avengers in the sub-basement below the park. Since Freedom Force are a government sponsored superhero team, they aren’t sure what has brought them into the area. The Vision is sent up in order to find out what they want. The Blob explains that they have been hired to trash the Avengers and attacks the Vision. The other members of the team see this and rush to the surface to lend the Vision a hand.

While Hank, Wanda, and Falcon deal with Avalanche and Pyro, the Vision tries to use his phasing powers against the Blob. Unfortunately, the Blob’s own density based powers trap the Vision’s hand in his massive bulk.

As the battle rages, Professor Harker returns home to his new apartment. There he finds Nebula waiting for him.[8] She explains that she has come to Earth because she is interested in his new compressor unit.

Back at Avengers Park, the battle between the Avengers and Freedom Force rages on. When the Vision finally gets free from the Blob, Hank Pym uses his Pym Particles to shrink the obese mutant down to size. This causes the Blob’s density to be constrained to the point where he begins falling through the very concrete ground. When Avalanche uses his powers on the Vision, the Scarlet Witch is horrified by its effects on her husband’s synthetic body. As the battle rages on, the conspirators observe and are unimpressed with the Freedom Force’s lack of teamwork. That’s when Captain America arrives on the scene and tries to break up the fight.

When the the authenticity of Freedom Force’s unsanctioned attack is raised, the crowd that gathered to watch the fight begin to argue over which team is in the right. This leads to a brawl between the two conflicting sides. While the Avengers are distracted, Pyro and Avalanche make their escape. In the aftermath of the battle, Wanda is pleased to see the Vision was able to repair himself and asks him to hold her. Meanwhile, Captain America and the others wonder what the purpose of the attack was all about. Observing from his vantage point, the mastermind behind this scheme laughs. He is confident that by the time the Avengers figure out what’s going on it will be too late and they will be doomed.

… The Avengers involvement in Acts of Vengeance continues in Avengers Spotlight #28.

Recurring Characters

Avengers (Captain America, Wasp, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Falcon), Hank Pym, Freedom Force (Blob, Pyro, Avalanche), Loki, Mandarin, Kingpin, Magneto, Red Skull, Doctor Doom, Wizard, Paul Harker, Nebula

Continuity Notes

Scenes of various battles are seen on the monitors on the opening splash page. They include a scene of Thor battling the Juggernaut from Thor #411 and Iron Man’s battle with the Wrecker from Iron Man #251.
Hydrobase was sunk by Doctor Doom last issue. After Avengers Mansion was totaled by the Masters of Evil back in Avengers #273-277. Instead of being rebuilt it was replaced with a park, as seen in X-Factor #23.
Pym is particularly concerned about Wanda’s mental well being because she just witnessed the death of her twin children, which were revealed to be soul shards of the demon Mephisto, as seen in Avengers West Coast #51-53. Hank’s concerns won’t come to fruition until many years later as the repressed memories of her lost children causes Wanda to become unhinged to the point where she destroys the Avengers, as seen in Avengers #501-503.
Wanda sees the Vision in his original form rather than his then-current all white appearance. The Vision has been taken apart and re-assembled by the government in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #42-45.
Guys, it’s Loki. We’ll learn this in Avengers West Coast #55.
Magneto is particularly upset that the Red Skull is part of their scheme. This is because Magneto survived the Nazi concentration camps of World War II. Magneto’s time in Auschwitz was first detailed in Uncanny X-Men #161 and expanded upon in New Mutants #49, Excalibur (vol. 3) #7, Classic X-Men #12, X-Factor Annual #4, and X-Men: Magneto Testament #1-5.
Mystique is mourning the loss of her closest friend and lover, Destiny, who had just recently been murdered by the Reavers in Uncanny X-Men #255.
Harker’s full name is not given here. The Nebula profile in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #8 reveals his first name to be Paul.