Marvel Read-Through: Nights of Wundagore
After a quick trip into the past, I’m back in present-set Marvel comics. It’s the late 70s and Jim Shooter has ended his Avengers run with a big shakeup. The team lost their security clearance because of some asshole government agent named Henry Peter Gyrich who hates superheroes. They’ve saved the world from Korvac despite Gyrich’s new rules and all is well (check out my Korvac Saga post for all this). Until it isn’t, of course.
First things first, let’s make sure we’re up to date with all the players so that’s why I had to read Ms. Marvel #18, otherwise known as the first full appearance of Mystique. Ms. Marvel and the Avengers team up to take down Centurion who has been sent to kill Carol by Mystique. The shape-shifting villain’s got a quick appearance in disguise as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reasearch and Development at the Pentagon. She speaks to some mysterious leader of hers who tells her to stop her attack on Ms. Marvel. Mystique vows to defeat Ms. Marvel and prove herself. Pretty subdued debut for one of the X-Men’s greatest villains. And this plot will be followed up in… *checks notes*… nearly 3 years?? What?? Ok, sure, whatever. Moving on.
Things with Gyrich come to a head in Avengers #181. Written by one of my favorites, David Michelinie, it is a pivotal issue. It starts with Beast and Wonder Man coming home from the movies, and they get into the psychology behind superheroes and escapism. I did not see this coming but I love when comics explore the human psyche. Superheroes punching each other is fun, but when these larger-than-life characters are used for commentary, metaphors, or just anything with a deeper meaning, it is when these books truly shine.
It’s a strong opening that is an excellent character moment for Beast. Ignoring plot to delve into something deeper is necessary for a comic book to be more than just an action punch-out and opening the issue with a couple of pages to do so set the stage perfectly for what came next.
The pair returns to the mansion to find a new security system being installed (by none other than Scott Lang, electrician) and basically every Avenger ever in attendance for a meeting led by Gyrich.
The meeting is another instance of Gyrich imposing his rules on the Avengers. With so many rotating members and the Guardians 3000 hanging around, he’s decided only seven permanent members can be on the team with security clearance. Anyone else will need to go through him to get permission to aid the team on a case-by-case basis. The chosen lineup is as follows:
I hate this Gyrich guy. He sucks. Plain and simple. His hatred of superheroes and his government position are the perfect storm to cause drama for the Avengers. It’s brilliant. I hate him, but I love his character. Shooter was really onto something here and Michelinie has continued it expertly. It’s not all about supervillains and criminals; it’s about the lives of these characters. Giving them problems that can’t be solved with a battle is what makes us love them. They are people with their own lives and problems. They are also superheroes, but they are people at their core and that’s what makes them endearing.
The rest of the issue sees the Guardians return to their era, most of the extra members leave, and Wanda and Pietro mysteriously fainting. Hawkeye, Wonder Man, and Yellowjacket have 24 hours to vacate the premises. It’s gonna be weird to see the team without Hawkeye again. Even though he annoyingly quits and rejoins on a consistent basis, being forced off the team feels wrong. Not to mention that Wasp got a spot but Yellowjacket didn’t. Hank has to leave the mansion and not associate with the team but his wife stays. This could lead to an interesting dynamic with one of Marvel’s longest-running couples. I also love the cleverness of Jocasta, questioning whether she, as a machine, needs to be an assigned Avengers member for security clearance, confusing Gyrich and allowing her to remain with the team. Exploiting the flaws in Gyrich’s war against superheroes is fun. Eventually his whole plan will fall apart so I like seeing the early cracks.
Through issue #182, Wanda and Pietro’s life forces (or souls?) are revealed to be trapped in marionettes carved by and in possession of a man who claims to be their father. Up until now, they believed WWII-era heroes Whizzer and Miss America to be their biological parents before they were raised by another family in Transia, Eastern Europe (their adoptive Transian parents were cruelly killed and/or beaten by the townspeople and the twins fled, eventually meeting Magneto), but this guy, Django Maximoff, is convinced they are his biological children. The team saves the twins, who decided to return to Transia with Django to explore their heritage. One issue in, and we already have one of Gyrich’s members taking a leave of absence and forcing him to name Ms. Marvel as her replacement. With the amount of struggles the heroes face, the rotating door of Avengers members made sense to keep the team strong in numbers. Again, we have a flaw showing in Gyrich’s plan when he is immediately forced to change the roster. I really enjoyed these two issues and the new team dynamic with limited slots. I’m very interested to see how it goes.
Issues #183–184 see the team face off against the Absorbing Man. It’s a fine story, very standard for superheroes. It’s not a standout but it does its job. The parts of these issues that stood out to me were when Falcon joins the team for the first time. He’s been chosen by Gyrich to fill a diversity quota. He’s never been an Avenger before and prefers to work solely with Cap. It takes a little convincing on Cap’s part but Falcon joins the team. I was wondering already during issue #181 if this was good inclusion or a patronizing fake diversity bit, but Sam’s protests to being the token black team member confirmed it for me. It’s his main reason for not wanting to join the Avengers, and all the power to him for calling Gyrich on his bullshit. I especially loved Sam talking in “pidgin English” (I think that’s the acceptable term) used to mock black people (as seen below). I’m a huge Venom fan and that’s where my love for Michelinie comes from, but in just a few issues here, he’s proven to me he can do more than just write a great Venom.
The real meat of the story comes in issues #185–187, focusing on Wanda and Pietro’s journey to Transia. Wanda is lured to Wundagore Mountain by Modred, who is working for some evil master. Quicksilver heads out to save her but is defeated. He is rescued by Bova, the High Evolutionary’s cow-maiden. Yep, the High Evolutionary from Spider-Woman’s origin was based on Wundagore Mountain before heading to space and creating Counter-Earth from Adam Warlock’s origin. It turns out that the twins are the birth children of the women Magda, who feared that her powerful and evil husband could never know about them. She came to Wundagore and had Bova birth them. She planned to give the twins to Whizzer and Ms. America after giving birth to their child, but Ms. America died in childbirth, Whizzer fled in grief, and the twins were instead given to Django and his wife, residents of the nearby village. Talk about convoluted. This is why Whizzer falsely believes they are his biological children. After the townspeople killed Django’s wife and the twins fled, he has delved into insanity, also falsely believing they are his biological children. It’s a whole bunch of comic book hooey and I don’t particularly care for the retcon of a retcon. It’s what comes next in this story that I enjoyed.
Modred reveals he serves Chthon, the evil elder God, and that Wanda was marked to be his vessel into the world on the night of her birth. Chthon was locked away in the Darkhold book and tied to Wundagore as imprisonment, but he now possesses Wanda’s body and has returned to conquer the world. Quicksilver contacts the Avengers who go to Transia to help him save his sister. Interestingly, there’s already another lineup change. Iron Man is apparently wanted for murder (which I will explore in my next post) so he has been replaced by Wonder Man, while Vision is forced by Gyrich to remain behind. Again, Gyrich’s permanent lineup just doesn’t work. Of course, the team saves the day, freeing Wanda from Chthon’s grasp and locking Chthon in Django’s Wanda marionette. She then uses her powers to collapse the mountain and bury the marionette. It all seems like a nice ending, but shouldn’t they know better by now? Chthon isn’t defeated, he’s just trapped. But any comic book villain will eventually find their way back from being trapped. It’s been years since most of them have started their superhero careers, I really don’t buy them actually believing they’ve defeated Chthon for good. Michelinie wrote this arc with
Mark Gruenwald and Steven Grant, and it’s the first miss of Michelinie’s Avengers run for me. I like the history with Wanda and Chthon, and how it kind of unlocks more of her magic potential. Scarlet Witch becomes insanely powerful and this seems like the writers finally bringing her in that direction. The convoluted backstory and the dumb ending ruin it for me though.
Remember electrician Scott Lang from before? Well over in Marvel Premiere, his story continues as he becomes the next Ant-Man. The ex-con doesn’t have enough money for the experimental surgery to save his daughter’s life, plus he discovers the only doctor capable of said surgery has been kidnapped by Cross Technical Enterprises (CTE). He returns to his thieving ways to make some money but ends up breaking into Hank Pym’s house and steals the old Ant-Man suit instead of valuables. He uses it to break into CTE, defeat the head of the company Darren Cross, and save the doctor. The surgery is successful and his daughter is saved. Hank also shows up as Yellowjacket to give Scott his blessing to carry on as the new Ant-Man. Scott Lang is a great character. I like how the lines of hero are slowly becoming more blurred as we enter the 80s. Heroes don’t have to be the boy-scout-goody-two-shoes type anymore. They can be flawed, they can do bad things (such as steal), and they can be darker. I’m also a huge sucker for any hero named Scott, so I’m already a fan of this Ant-Man. But, he sneaks into CTE ant-sized and quickly reveals himself to knock out some guards. He doesn’t explain himself to anyone, including the doctor, and completely blows his cover. It’s stupid. All he had to do was remain stealthy or tell the doctor he’s on her side and he could have avoided a lot of trouble. Maybe it’s bad writing from Michelinie but I hope it leads to some growth for the character learning to be a better superhero.
Next time: Demon in a Bottle!
Issues Read:
Ms. Marvel #18
Avengers #181–187
Marvel Premiere #47–48
Favorite issue: Avengers #181
