But...what if the Avengers' biggest threat hits them literally in their own home? Well, that's what happened to them in the mid-1980s. At this time, Roger Stern was penning the book. He had them face a variety of villains over his then-four years chronicling Earth's Mightiest, like Dr. Doom, Morgan Le Fey, and even an army of Hulks. At that point, he wanted to see the Avengers face a threat right on their own turf, a challenge worthy of them. But how was he going to pull this off?
Simple. Revive the Masters of Evil. At this point in Marvel's history, there had already been three incarnations of the villainous group. The first incarnation organized in Avengers #6 (July 1964). The second came about in Avengers #54 (July 1968), and the third was organized by Egghead in Avengers #222 (August 1982). The rosters changed, but they all brought headaches to the Avengers.
It's kind of understandable why the concept stuck around in various forms. What better challenge for a team of superheroes than a team of supervillains? And Stern was a fan of the idea himself for that exact reason. Thing is, he felt those previous versions failed to live up to the name. After all, they were the Masters of Evil. They should have been to villains what the Avengers were to heroes, the big guns. The villainous supergroup that every superhero prayed they would never cross paths with.
A group like this would need a strong leader. After all, it can be assumed that a group of supervillains would not all get along with each other. Enter Baron Helmut Zemo, 13th Baron Zemo. His father, Heinrich Zemo, founded the first Masters of Evil. Last appearing in Captain America #301 (January 1985), he was believed to have been killed in that issue. However, he was not the type to die easily.
Helmut despised Captain America, blaming him for his father's death and the ruin of his family. He wanted the Star-Spangled Man with a Plan to feel the pain he felt...but how was he to do that? Zemo decided on an 'eye-for-an-eye' approach. If Cap ruined his family, he'd do the same to his. However, Cap's biological family was long gone. But since he was freed from the ice, Cap managed to build a new family of sorts: his fellow Avengers. And with that, Helmut began work on a plan to not only recreate the Masters of Evil, but take the group to a new level. Stronger, better, and meaner than ever. They were going to live up to the name "Masters of Evil". And they were going to do it in a place where the Avengers would never expect...their own literal backyard. The Avengers would be...under siege.
Under Siege would be regarded as one of the Avengers' most popular stories, and it would even inspire Kurt Busiek to reunite some of the villains in the story for the Thunderbolts. Pretty cool, huh? Under Siege to me is a pretty underrated story (I think Stern's Avengers work in general is underrated), so I thought I'd give it a bit of a shout-out here.
And with all of that out of the way, let's take a look at the story that signaled the beginning of the siege of the Avengers: Avengers #270!
The cover is pretty nice. You got Namor front and center with protesters behind him. That's good, it's accurate to the story. We also get some of the classic floating heads of the other Avengers at the time. Monica Rambeau seems to be the only one concerned about Namor. Also, there's a little box promising a battle between Wasp and Moonstone. Good luck, Karla. You're going to need it.
"Wild in the Streets!"
Writer: Roger Stern
Penciler: John Buscema (Breakdowns), Tom Palmer (Finished Art)
Inker: Tom Palmer
Colorist: Christie Scheele
Letterer: Jim Novak
Editors: Mark Gruenwald, Howard Mackie
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter
The story begins with protests at Avengers Mansion.
Evidently, they somehow managed to mistake the Avengers Mansion for the Xavier Institute. I kid, the protests are over Namor. You see, the Sub-Mariner had recently joined the Avengers, and it has led to some controversy thanks to his rather...mercurial moods towards humanity. One minute, he'll defend them and the next, he'll wage war on them. Man needs lithium.
People have their reasons for support and disgust with Namor being officially part of Earth's Mightiest Heroes. One member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars is supporting Namor because of his aiding the Allies as part of the Invaders during WWII. A younger man screams that Namor has declared war on the human race in the past. So yeah, Jason Aaron's take on Namor is not completely without precedent.
Some say Namor should have been arrested because of his past attacks on humans. However, he was given blanket amnesty. You see, in a then-recent Sub-Mariner mini-series, he was given this as a part of a move for Atlantis to get admitted to the United Nations. A group of men watch the news reports on this.
They note that public opinion seems very divided on the Sub-Mariner. One of the men, a Mr. Farrington, sees it as an opportunity to finally bring down the King of Atlantis. One of the men points out that they'll have quite a battle on their hands if Namor has the Avengers backing him up. Despite this, they agree to move on the opportunity.
Edwin Jarvis, the Avengers' ever-faithful butler, also watches this on TV. The reporter points out that the Avengers have made no official statement on Namor's membership status. However, there's a reason for it. You see, in Avengers #267 (May 1986), half the team vanished thanks to Kang the Conqueror. And as for the other half? They left to find their teammates. Happily, the Avengers are returned home thanks to Immortus. Monica Rambeau, who was Captain Marvel at the time, wants to discuss something with the Dane Whitman Black Knight.
In the last issue, Kang blasted her with a device that generated Darkforce energy. It ended up stopping her cold, and it wasn't the first time something like that happened to her. In Avengers #264 (February 1986), the Knight helped the Wasp get a better handle on her powers, so Monica figures he could do the same for her. Whitman agrees to run some tests. Jarvis points out the protests, and Hercules expresses outrage at it, despite the fact that he and Namor don't get along very well. Cap reminds him that they have the right to protest, and their not agreeing with the protestors doesn't change that.
Namor just watches silently, pondering his situation. The interviewers then focus on one particular protestor, a weeping widow.
Her arrival does help defuse things a bit. The disguised Moonstone decides that now is a good time to make a tactical retreat. She is TOTALLY not scared of the Avengers, nope. Monica and Captain America are able to help calm down the crowd, and the Wasp alerts them that Moonstone is in town. She blasts a fire hydrant, and the explosion panics the crowd. Monica is able to generate some heat to melt the hydrant and close it down. Moonstone realizes she's going to need a bigger distraction to keep the Avengers away. And she finds in the FBI's helicopter.
KA-ZAP! She zaps the helicopter's tail rotor, causing it to head towards the ground. The landing will not be pretty. Namor flies out of the Mansion. He may have been told to stay out of sight, but he's not going to stand by while people die. He grabs the helicopter's damaged tail rotor, but is having trouble getting the leverage he needs to lift the vehicle out of the sky. Captain Marvel flies out to help, but she and Namor get caught in the helicopter's explosion. Moonstone hopes it killed them. Not likely, Karly. Namor is very durable, and Monica can turn into energy. The Wasp spots her, but Karla uses her intangibility to flee by going through the sidewalk to the sewers. The founding Avenger pursues her.
Karla is able to ambush the Winsome Wasp with a light flash. Their battle makes the street rumble and quake. A truck nearly crushes a man, but Hercules is able to save him. The Black Knight encounters Moonstone, who blasts at him in a panic. His sword, the Ebony Blade, absorbs the attack. Dane Whitman finds this odd, as the sword normally deflects energy attacks. Karla taunts him, saying she'll get him like she got the Wasp. An enraged Black Knight hurls the energy blast back at Moonstone, knocking her for a loop. But the Wasp flies up, reassuring him she's alright. Yeah, Dane had a bit of a crush on Janet at the time.
When Moonstone tried to zap Janet, she blew a gas main. However, Jan shrunk down to insect-size and rode out the shockwave, making the explosion hurt Moonstone more than her. With the streets calmed down, the Avengers are about to head to the park to see what they can do for Namor and Captain Marvel, but they're alright, and managed to get the helicopter's passengers out.
Some believe it was a stunt to make Namor look good, much to Derek Freeman's shock. But people will believe what they want to believe, even if it's utterly stupid. I've heard some pretty stupid conspiracy theories myself, so yeah. Wasp and Hercules are able to capture Moonstone and expose her little lie. She's put in a special harness that dampens her powers, and some cops take her away. Namor is then approached by a process server. Turns out the Sub-Mariner is getting sued. Oh God, Namor in court. Hopefully, he won't end up throwing a table at the judge.
Back with Moonstone! The two cops are having a little fun at her expense. After all, she's supposed to be this highly educated person (Which is true, as she is an expert in psychiatry and psychology), but yet she took on the Avengers by herself. The two cops take off their helmets, revealing themselves to be the Absorbing Man and Titania, two supervillains who had battled Avengers members in the past, namely Thor and She-Hulk respectively. They have a proposition for our Miss Karla Sofen...
Back at Avengers Mansion, their lawyer is looking over the summons. Well, a group of insurance investors (the men in the office we saw earlier), have sued Namor because in one of his rampages, he destroyed two billion dollars of property that was covered by them. Yup. That's a lot of damages. But wait, you may ask? Wasn't Namor given amnesty? Well, yes. He was excused from criminal charges, but he still can be sued in civil court. I have no idea if that's true. Anyway, the lawyer is confident they can win he case, but considering that this will be a major court battle and there will be a lot of publicity involved, he recommends a settlement. But Namor, being a fighter, wants to go to court.
Later that night, below the Mansion, Namor is visited by someone he is a not a particular fan of: his cousin Byrrah.
He and Namor may be family, but they don't like each other very much. Anyway, despite this, Byrrah has a message for the King of Atlantis: Attuma has got the throne of Atlantis, and has Namor's fiancée Marrina captive. It's clearly a trap, but Namor is determined to face Attuma, and get back his throne and girl. Black Knight suggests that he get the Avengers to help out as, you know, Attuma is no lightweight. He's a big-time villain.
Namor refuses, seeing this as a personal issue. The trap is meant for him and him alone. Hercules understands, as he sees it as a matter of honor. The God of Strength wishes him well as Namor heads out. This will be further elaborated on in Alpha Flight #36 (July 1986). The story ends with the Black Knight hoping this doesn't blow up in their faces. Wasp is not gonna be happy...
This comic was perfectly fine. I have no real complaints about it. Namor's entry into the Avengers is understandably controversial, as well, the man does tend to be mercurial when it comes to being a defender or menace to humanity. Keep in mind, back in 1940, Namor wanted to sink Manhattan underneath a tidal wave, which resulted in a battle with the original Human Torch. And that's just one thing he did. So yeah, one can understand why some would take umbrage to him being an Avenger. We also see one of the seeds of Zemo's big plan to bring down the Avengers. I'll talk more about it in the future.
I also have to give a shoutout to John Buscema and Tom Palmer for the art. Their work to me makes a nice blend between realism and the fantastic. It makes the classic superhero costumes look plausible. It's amazing, I love it so much.
Under Siege is one of the great Avengers stories. If you want to read it yourself, I have the 1998 trade Marvel's Finest: Under Siege. But it can be found in the 2016 Epic Collection Avengers Epic Collection Vol. 17: Under Siege. The Epic Collection is easier to obtain. Thanks for reading, and if you want to give this blog a little extra support, feel free to drop a tip in my Digital Tip Jar!
Next time, it has begun. Marvel's greatest heroes and villains meet a being who can make their fondest desires a reality...
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