Avengers #379
The Legends and the Lost
The ancient Shi’ar war criminal known only as the Mephistoid has been unleashed on Earth. With her Avengers teammates — the Vision, Swordsman, and Magdalene — captured, Deathcry and the legendary war hero T’kyll Alabar are trying to find out who freed the criminal and why.
Spying on the Mephistoid, Deathcry observes as he rendezvous with an arriving alien vessel. From it come Galen Kor and his team of former members of the Kree military. As it turns out, the Kree have unleashed the Mephistoid in the hopes of using him against the Shi’ar, as revenge for their conquest of the Kree empire.[1] Deathcry reports this back to T’kyll and insists that they rescue the captured Avengers as this crisis has gotten far bigger than they first suspected.
Meanwhile, the other Avengers — Black Widow, Thunderstrike, Crystal, and Hercules — are heading to Scotland to find out why Vision and the others have not reported back from their mission.[2] En route, the Black Widow uses the Quinjet’s scanners to track the Vision’s ID card.[3] That’s when the scanners pick up a Kree energy signature. Hercules correctly suspects that this might be Galen Kor again and has to be calmed down before he wrecks the ship.[4]
Back in Scotland, Deathcry and Alabar witness as the Kree soldiers organizes a hunting party. When Deathcry explains how the Shi’ar recently annexed the Kree Empire, Alabar makes a cryptic comment about the barbarianism involved in war. Before Deathcry can get him to explain what he means, the pair are ambushed by the Kree soldier named Dylon Cir.
While in the nearby village of Ailsa, the Vision has been contained in a stasis chamber under guard by the Swordsman and Magdalene, who have fallen victim to the Mephistoid’s mind controlling pheromones. That’s when the Mephistoid and Galen Kor enter the room and Galen suggests that they make Magdalene and Swordsman to fight to the death. However, the Vision chimes in and begins attacking their alliance with logic, pointing out to the Mephistoid that Galen Kor doesn’t care about his need for revenge and is only using him as a means to an end, the ultimate capture of all the Avengers. Galen Kor dismisses these notions and leaves the Mephistoid to deal with their captives. Once alone, the Vision tries to get the feline creature to listen to reason, saying the Kree won’t help liberate his world.
Meanwhile, Deathcry manages to overpower Dylon Cir, however, when she tries to kill their opponent Alabar orders her to stop. He explains that they can use him for their own ends and surprises Deathcry when he uses a vial of Mephistoid pheromones to make Dylon Cir their slave. They then pose as prisoners and have Cir bring them to where the other Avengers are behind held. They succeeding in freeing the Vision and defeating the Kree. Surprisingly, instead of killing the Mephistoid, T’kill Alabar addresses him as an old friend. This comes as a shock to Deathcry who can’t understand why he would consider an enemy of the empire as a firend.
T’kill then reveals that the old legends that Deathcry grew up on were not the entire truth of the blood war Alabar was involved in. He recounts how he and his unit were injured in battle and were taken in by a group of female Mephistoids who nursed them back to health. This goes against the idea that the entire race was one of bloodthirsty killers. After Alabar and his men were fully healed, they turned against their saviors and murdered them in order to steal and distill the pheromones which they then used to turn the tide of battle. T’kill concludes his tale by saying that the legends were told by the victors of that ugly war and that the truth is that the Mephistoids were no more good or evil than the Shi’ar as they were capable of great kindness just as much as the Shi’ar were capable of committing gross atrocities.
With the truth finally out, T’kyll Alabar asks the Mephistoid for forgiveness. Tragically, the feline gives none and murders Alabar on the spot. Furious at seeing a legendary war hero being cut down, Deathcry returns the favor by grabbing Magdalene’s staff and using it to slay the Mephistoid. Watching this entire tableau is Galen Kor and his followers. Although Kor won’t be able to capture the Avengers this time, the information provided by T’kyll gives the Kree a potent weapon to use against the Shi’ar in the form of propaganda. They then teleport away just as the other Avengers arrive on the scene. As Black Widow and the others are brought up to speed on what just went down, Deathcry wanders off to mourn the loss of Alabar and make sense of the ugly truth she had just learned about her people.
Recurring Characters
Avengers (Vision, Hercules, Black Widow, Thunderstrike, Crystal), Deathcry, Swordsman, Magdalene, T’kyll Alabar, The Butcher, Lunatic Legion (Dylon Cir, Galen Kor, Kona Lor, Ept-Rass),
Continuity Notes
The Mephistoid was captured last issue. The Shi’ar won the Kree/Shi’ar war known as Operation: Galactic Storm as seen in Captain America #398-400, Avengers West Coast #80-82, Quasar #32-34, Wonder Man (vol. 2) #7-9, Avengers #345-347, Iron Man #278-279, Thor #445-446.
Vision’s team left to investigate why a satellite relay went offline back in Avengers #372.
Here, the Black Widow and Thunderstrike talk about the “new” mansion and how they have had troubles figuring out the equipment there. Avengers Headquarters was trashed during the Avengers battle with Proctor in issue #373. After Proctor’s death, his prisoner — Ute the Watcher — used his powers to replace the damaged headquarters with a replica of the original Avengers Mansion in Avengers #375.
Hercules recounts the time that Galen Kor almost annihilated the Earth with a Nega-Bomb. This was in Avengers #364-366.
It’s Them Again
Hank Pym — aka Giant-Man — has been working on a new experiment called Project B.I.G. However, he has to stop his work and investigate reports of giant ants running amok in the Arizona Desert. He finds the colony of giants terrorizing a woman and wonders if Project B.I.G. has anything to do with it. When he arrives on the scene, Hank attempts to use the cybernetic helmet he used as Ant-Man to try and control the creatures, only to discover that it isn’t working.[1] He recognizes one of the ants as Nash, the offspring of one of the first ants he used in his early career.[2] He tries to communicate with it, but all it can do is give him a cryptic message about “changing monsters inside”. Seeing this is getting him nowhere, Hank changes to giant size, he then has to fight the creatures hand-to-hand. Unable to get Nash to stop fighting, Giant-Man makes the tough decision to kill the ant. With Nash dead the other ants stop fighting as though they are mourning the death of their brother.
At that same moment, in Beverley Hills, Janet Van Dyne — aka the Wasp — is visiting her psychologist Vincent Rossen. She is talking to him about the most frequent subject during their sessions together, her ex-husband, Hank Pym.[4] This time, she is talking about how they grew close again while both serving on the west coast branch of the Avengers. This came to an abrupt end when they both decided to leave the group.[5] While Hank decided to take this opportunity to go back into a research role, Janet decided that she did not want to take a back seat to this and went about living the high life. She dated many men, attended parties, and eventually decided to restart her career in fashion design. She starts to feel dizzy as she tells about how her agent was throwing a huge costume party to celebrate her return to the world of fashion. It was during this gala event that Hank crashed the party dressed as King Kong — right down to the size — carrying balloons congratulating her and professing his love for her anew. This was a pleasant surprise to Janet at the time. It is as she is telling this story that Jan suddenly passes out and collapses to the ground.
By this time, Hank has returned to the lab at Project B.I.G. to examine what caused Nash and the other ants to increase in size. He is interrupted by his lab assistant, Bill Foster, who tells him more giant insects have been spotted in New Mexico. As Hank races to his scout the two recollect Bill’s brief career as a super-hero as well.[6] This gets Hank thinking about all the different identities he has adopted over the years and the mental breaks he suffered as a result.[7] He was so certain that he was on the right track with Project B.I.G. but now he finds his newfound confidence being challenged by the appearance of giant insects that may be related to his new project, and fears what this may do to his mental health.
The giant insects also gain the attention of the military who deploy fighter jets to destroy the creatures, by command of Colonel Manning. However, Giant-Man arrives on the scene and insists on taking control of this situation. When Manning ignores this and orders his men to fire on the insects. However, the missiles don’t kill the creatures, only makes them bigger. Deciding he is the only one who can stop the massive preying mantis, grasshopper, and spider, Giant-Man leaps to the ground to fight them. Colonel Manning tries to get Hank to pull back but when the Avenger refuses to listen he orders his men to prepare for another missile bombardment. Watching all this from the lab, Bill believes that Hank is in over his head and races off to get help, and just misses a call that is coming it. When it goes to voice mail, Vincent Rossen leaves a message for Hank telling him about Janet’s collapse and tells him to come as soon as possible as it is a matter of life or death.
Recurring Characters
Giant-Man, Wasp, Bill Foster, Vincent Rossen, Spencer Beck, Glenn Manning
Continuity Notes
Hank Pym discovered his size changing formula back in Tales to Astonish #27 and later used it to become the crime fighter known as Ant-Man in issue #35. He later utilized his Pym Particles to grow in size, becoming Giant-Man in issue #49.
What Nash is trying to warn him of is that the Earth is about to be invaded by the creatures of Kosmos. Hank first fought one of these creatures along side his then-brand-new partner the Wasp in Tales to Astonish #44. Hank won’t learn this until Marvel Double Feature: Avengers/Giant-Man #381.
The first Nash was a part of a trio of ants named after the group Crosby, Stills & Nash. They were first seen in Avengers #93. In issue #380, it is revealed that the Nash in this story is the 12th in a line of ants with that same name. Does this work? See below!
Janet and Hank got married way back in Avengers #60. However, she divorced him a few years later when he struck her in Avengers #213. Since then, the two have had an on-again-off-again relationship.
Hank and Jan tried to give things a second go in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #42. This renewed romance lasted until their last appearance with the group in Avengers West Coast Annual #8.
Bill Foster started his super-hero career as Black Goliath in Power Man #24. He later changed his name to Giant-Man in Marvel Two-In-One #55. It is stated next issue that Bill was forced to retire by his girlfriend Claire Temple, making his last appearance as Golaith Marvel Comics Presents #113-118. Also mentioned is how side-effects involved in Bill’s size-changing abilities were cursed from a blood transfusions from Spider-Woman. That’s not entirely accurate. See, Bill Foster was exposed to radiation when clashing with a foe named Atom-Smasher in Black Goliath #2, causing him to contract cancer in Marvel Two-In-One #58. He got cured in issue #85 of that series by getting a blood transfusion from Spider-Woman.
Hank Pym recounts all his different identities. Other than Ant-Man and Giant-Man, he also took on the identities of Goliath (Avengers #28) and Yellowjacket (Avengers #59). He suffered two mental break downs in his life, the first was when he hit Janet mentioned above, the second was when he contemplated suicide in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #17.
Topical References
Giant-Man quips that the giant ants are like something out of a 1950s B-Movie. This is a reference to the 1954 science fiction film THEM! about giant ants created by nuclear radiation. This wouldn’t necessarily be considered a topical reference as he is referring to it as an old movie.
Publication Notes
This issue was printed in two formats. The standard edition that only included the story The Legends and the Lost. However at the time Marvel was also trying out two special Marvel Double Feature books for a dollar more. The first one featured that month’s Avengers title with a second story starring Giant-Man. The other book featured that month’s Thunderstrike story with a back-up story starring Code: Blue. These double feature books only lasted for four issues.
Am I Really Trying to Get an Ant’s Life Cycle to Fit with the Sliding Timescale?
You’re fucking right I am. The thing is, the lifespan of an ant is largely dependent on a number of factors: breed, environment, and function. The longest living ants are the queen, followed next by fertile males, then the more expendable drones. However, the life cycles of ants really varies greatly as well. Given the design of these ants, it appears as though Hank has been using garden ants, female ants can live up to 4 years in lab conditions. This is important when measuring it up to the Sliding Timescale.
Assuming that the Nash appearing in Avengers #93 (published November, 1971) was the first generation, then about six years have passed between it and Avengers #379 (published November, 1994) per the Sliding Timescale. A queen ant can live up to 15 to 30 years.
The presumption I am making is that one queen gives birth to an entire generation, including another potential queen that will spawn the second generation and so on and so on. That said, in the wild ants reproduce in such large numbers all of the time the sheer number of ants would be hard to track. So for Hank’s generational math to work, he would have to be in complete control of the ant population. So assuming that extreme lab conditions were maintained and only one viable virginal queen was produced each generation, then he would only have six subsequent generations.
The idea that this Nash is 12 generations in makes more sense if you go further back in time before Hank became a hero. Per Avengers #227, he started working on his size changing formula — and his fascination with ants in general — following the murder of his first wife Maria. Her death happened 4 years prior to the start of the Modern Age and 13 years prior to the story above. Assuming Hank had created his very controlled lab conditions to breed ants shortly after Maria died then it would be possible for him to have bred 12 generations of ants.
