… By Force of Mind!

After narrowly defeating the Weathermen, Captain America has decided that it is time to reorganize the Avengers so they can be more effective in the field. Cap has decided the team is too big to coordinate and wants to slim things down so they are more effective in the field. He orders the team to get some rest and that they will reconvene for a meeting to decide the new membership that afternoon.

While the members of the team depart, Jocasta tries to talk to the Vision about her concerns about not feeling like she is part of the team. She hopes the Vision, an artificial lifeform like herself, can relate to her situation. Unfortunately, the Vision is too preoccupied with spending time with his wife, the Scarlet Witch. Feeling utterly alone with nobody who loves her, Jocasta begins to wonder what to do with herself.[1]

Meanwhile, Wonder Man and the Beast have a heart-to-heart talk about their future roles in the Avengers. Simon has come to wonder if risking his life all the time is worth it when all he really wants to be is an actor. He gives Hank a lot to thing about. With the meeting rapidly approaching, Tony Stark finishes up some business so he can appear as Iron Man. While Captain America finishes an exercise session, determined to make the Avengers as effective as possible, his own way. Soon, Don Blake arrives by cab and quickly changes into Thor once out of sight of prying eyes.

His cab driver wonders what a normal looking guy like Blake is doing at Avengers Mansion when he suddenly feels compelled to pull into a nearby alley. This cabbie is actually Marc Spector, operating in his Jake Lockley persona. The same urge to pull into the alley also compels him to change into Moon Knight and head back to Avengers Mansion.

Moments later, the Avengers are about to start their meeting when Jarvis interrupts to tell him that other super-heroes have suddenly showed up to petition for membership on the team. They include past Avengers Hercules, Hawkeye, the Black Widow, the Black Panther, and Yellowjacket. They are also joined by Hank’s former X-Men teammates the Angel and Iceman, as well as Tigra and Dazzler. However, when these new comers arrive a lot of them realize they don’t actually want to join the Avengers since they are busy with other things.[2] When Moon Knight and Iceman try to leave the meeting the two are suddenly compelled to fight one another.

As more of the unwilling recruits suddenly find themselves fighting each other, the person responsible makes her presence known. This was all orchestrated by Moondragon, who — with delusions of godhood — had come to try and influence the formation of the latest team of Avengers.[3] Learning that they were being mentally manipulated, Hawkeye, the Black Widow, and Black Panther abruptly depart.[4] When the active Avengers protest Moondragon’s interference, she uses her mental powers to immobilize them so she can continue testing the abilities of the recruits she has gathered.

The first reject is Dazzler whose light generating mutant powers and roller skating skills are unimpressive. By this point, Iron Man is able to use his armor’s mental commands to activate his rocket boots so he can fly out of range of Moondragon’s mental control. This creates enough of a distraction for the Avengers to break free and fight back. Fending off their attacks, Moondragon is offended by their hostility and finally departs. With everyone free from Moondragon’s manipulation there are more departures: Yellowjacket leaves uninterested in abandoning his research. Moon Knight and Iceman were never interested to begin with and leave. Angel departs, but he wonders if being an Avenger will fill the void. After a brief brawl with Wonder Man, Hercules learns that Simon wants to act and offers to go with him to Hollywood and introduce him to the producers he has met.

This leaves Tigra, an unknown quality among the others, but Captain America decides to invite her onto the team on a provisional basis when the Beast, Scarlet Witch, and Vision also announce that they are leaving the team as well. Cap also decides to make Jocasta an official member of the team, however the robot is nowhere to be found. This is because Jocasta has been routinely ignored during her stay with the Avengers and had decided to leave without telling anyone to find her place in the world. With all the leaving members departed, Captain America holds a news conference to announce the new team line-up. As usual, the press conference is ended with the battle cry, “Avengers Assemble!”

Recurring Characters

Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Yellowjacket, Wasp, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Wonder Man, Beast), Moondragon, Jacosta, Hercules, Black Panther, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Moon Knight, Dazzler, Iceman, Angel, Edwin Jarvis

Continuity Notes

1. Here, Jocasta states here that she was created by Ultron. The evil robot built her to be his bride, but she rejected this to find her own fate. See Avengers #162.

2. Lets get into some details about these potential recruits:

   • Hercules first joined the team in Avengers #38 and given official membership status in issue #45. He left in issue #50. He briefly rejoined the team in issues #98-100 and #173-177.

   • The Black Widow had been associated with the Avengers dating back to Avengers #30. She was offered full membership in Avengers #111 but left the group in the following issue. She also rejoined the team briefly in issue #173-177.

   • Hawkeye has been a long standing member on the Avengers since issue #16. He quit in issue #109, returned in Giant-Size Avengers #2, leaving again in issue #162 but was back again in issue #168. He was forced out of the team by Henry Gyrich when he re-organized the group in issue #181. He since got a job as head of security at Cross Technological Enterprises in issue #189. More recently he returned to the team on a short stint from issue #198 until Avengers Annual #10.

   • Yellowjacket was a founding member as Ant-Man back in Avengers #1. He left the group in issue #16, rejoining as Goliath in issue #28. He retired from the group in issue #74. He came back for short stints in issues #137-141, 146, 148, 150-166, 170-177, 181-182, 189, 192-201.

   • The Black Panther had been a long standing member as well, joining the team in Avengers #51-126 and again in issue #159-177.

   • Iceman complains that he’s retired and had enough heroics on both the X-Men and the Champions. Iceman and Angel were a founding member of the X-Men from X-Men #1 until they left the group in X-Men #94 to make room for the new team. He later founded the Champions with the Angel in Champions #1 until the group dissolved 17 issues later. Iceman states her that he became an accountant, something we learned in Uncanny X-Men #145. Meanwhile, the Angel had just recently rejoined the X-Men in X-Men #132 until Uncanny X-Men #148 as he objected over Wolverine being a continued member of the team due to Logan’s violent nature.

   • Lastly, Moondragon joined the team on a provisional basis in Avengers #137. She went into reserve status back in issue #151. She rejoined the team temporarily from issue #172-177.

3. It’s mentioned here that Moondragon was last seen leaving for space with the High Evolutionary. This was in Marvel Two-in-One #63. Moondragon also rehashes her origins here, they were originally told in Avengers #135.

4. Here, we learn that Hawkeye and Black Widow still have feelings for one another. Clint and Natasha have had an on-again-off-again relationship since they first met back in Tales of Suspense #57. They were last together in Avengers #76, when Natasha ended their relationship so she could pursue a career with SHIELD.

Topical References

• A family watching the announcement of the new Avengers line up does so on an old CRT television. This should be considered a topical reference because that shit’s old.