I reviewed Avengers #1 (February 1998) last January, but that was not the first time Perez's pencils graced the world of Earth's Mightiest. Nope, they were old friends of his. In the late 1970s, Perez was cutting his teeth as an artist for Marvel Comics, having made his formal debut in Astonishing Tales #25 (August 1974), drawing a two-page satire of the book's main star at the time: Deathlok. He would rise to prominence drawing the Avengers and Fantastic Four's books at the time.
And it's some of that 1970s work we're going to look at here. Particularly, one of my favorite stories from that era. So, let's take a look at Avengers Annual #8!
The cover is pretty awesome. But then again, it's a Perez piece. I don't think the man can do bad work if he wanted to. It depicts Dr. Spectrum blasting Thor, with fallen Avengers around them. We also see Doctor Strange and Thundra nearby, which makes sense as they do appear in the story. This cover really gets the idea this new Doctor Spectrum is a tough customer. Also, I think this was the first time we saw a female Doctor Spectrum, decades before Alice Nugent, Martha Gomes, or Nenet.
"Spectrums of Deceit!"
Writer: Roger Slifer
Penciler: George Perez
Inkers: Pablo Marcos, Ricardo Villamonte
Colorist: Carl Gafford
Letterers: Joe Rosen, Elaine Heinl
Editor: Roger Stern
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter
The story begins with Hank Pym, the Yellowjacket, fixing a crystal.
He's whipping up a nice little present for his wife Janet Van Dyne/The Wasp's birthday. In a funny moment, he warns the ants he's working with that Jan is not the most patient person when it comes to birthday presents, so they should keep it quiet.
Why is he fixing a crystal? Well, it turns out that this is the Power Prism of one Doctor Spectrum. Not the same one we met in my reviews of the 1980s Squadron Supreme miniseries, a villainous version native to the mainline Marvel U. Yeah, the Squadron Supreme/Sinister thing can be confusing. Pym had recovered the fragments of the Prism after he and the Defenders defeated the villain in Giant-Size Defenders #4 (April 1975). In Spectrum's hands, the Prism was one of the most powerful weapons in the world. But now, it's a harmless trinket, so Hank thought he'd give it to Jan as a birthday present. Yeah, I'd make sure it was harmless before giving it away. You'll see what I mean.
Janet returns from her latest shopping adventures, and tries to pry info from Hank about what he plans to give her. Hank refuses to take the bait. He'll give the gem to her at dinner, and not one moment before. He heads out to go change, but he left his lab door open. This naturally piques Wasp's curiosity. She noticed that Hank shut a drawer very quickly when she arrived. Of course, Wasp can't help herself. She shrinks down, goes through the lock in the drawer, and sees the Power Prism. She reaches out to touch it, and is overcome by light. The lab explodes.
Two of the Avengers in attendance, Quicksilver and Wonder Man, notice the explosion. Quicksilver speeds in to investigate, but gets knocked flat. Wonder Man, well...wonders what knocked the speedster out, and he gets his answer.
Doctor Spectrum is back! Or more accurately, the consciousness in the Power Prism is back, and it is angry! You see, the Prism contains the mind of a Skrull named Krimmon, who was turned into a prism as punishment for his attempting to take the Skrull throne for himself. I love comics.
Using some light tricks, Spectrum is able to hypnotize Wonder Man, and he reveals that he did the same to Pietro. I'm going to use male pronouns for Spectrum here because even though the consciousness in the Prism is using a female body, the consciousness itself is male, as far as I know. Krimmon doesn't want the body of the Wasp. In fact, he wants the body of the strongest Avenger: Thor.
The Prism-possessed Jan flies off, and takes an opportunity for some continuity repair. You see, this is the first time Krimmon has ever been able to really bring himself to the surface. The previous hosts of the Power Prism had strong wills, allowing them to sublimate Krimmon and take full control of the Prism. They had lusts for power, obsessive desires, which Janet doesn't have. Obviously Krimmon should not let her near a Bloomingdale's. Then he'd see just how strong her will is.
Despite this, Krimmon wants the power of Thor. However, he has one obstacle to it: One of the Avengers knows the Power Prism's weakness. That Avenger?
The Golden Avenger himself. Tony Stark, the Iron Man. He's out helping a bunch of workmen with getting a large machine of some kind finished. Krimmon uses Janet's appearance to distract the Armored Avenger and the workmen before he strikes. He's able to overcome Iron Man and takes him back to the Avengers Mansion. He puts Iron Man, Quicksilver, and Wonder Man in an energy bubble and sends them flying somewhere. Unknown to Krimmon, Hank Pym is up and about...well, Krimmon knows.
The Skrull-turned-sentient gem attacks Pym, but gets a faceful of ants for his trouble. Well's Janet's face full of ants, but you know what I mean. Krimmon is able to send them flying thanks to a propeller construct. Despite this, Pym is able to distract Krimmon long enough for some backup to arrive.
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| "Here they come to save the dayyyyyyy!" |
However, being a hardy sort, Carol Danvers is quickly back on her feet, and gives Doctor Spectrum a Level 2 Mighty Punch, sending him flying through a wall to the pool. Hawkeye and Scarlet Witch arrive to back Ms. Marvel up. And they're not alone.
Here comes the Vision, armed with some sun lamps! ...how long was he down in the pool with them? And isn't that dangerous to be submerged in the pool with sun lamps? I know the Vision is a synthezoid, but...yeah. Anyway, the UV light from the sun lamps weaken Spectrum. Krimmon is shocked by this, as only Iron Man knew his weakness. How did the other Avengers know?! You see, it never occurred to him that Iron Man may have told the Avengers about his battling Doctor Spectrum in the past and he shared information about it with his fellow Avengers in case they encountered him as well.
Hank goes to check on the possessed Janet. She hasn't regained consciousness, so they call in a medical expert: Dr. Donald Blake, aka Thor. He arrives at the Mansion, and examines her. Physically she's fine, just in a trance. He has also found that the Power Prism has grafted itself to Jan's hand. They have to find a way to get it out of her quick. Not just for Jan's sake, but for Iron Man, Quicksilver, and Wonder Man. They're laying in a bubble under the ocean.
The Avengers head to Greenwich Village, where they meet Doctor Strange. He was one of the Defenders who helped defeat Dr. Spectrum last time he showed up alongside the Squadron Sinister. Strange is busy at the moment, but he can spare a second to hear them. Strange explains that the last host of the Power Prism had his memories of being posses by the gem erased. All you have to do is track the host down and remind them. But it would also cause the other members of the Squadron to remember who they were, too. The Avengers will just have to take precautions. They split up and track down the Squadron.
First, Vision, Ms. Marvel, and Black Panther head to the Arnold Columbo Health Spa in Queens. Thundra, warrior woman from another dimension, is looking for a job there. The head of the spa, a "Mr. Kant", is very particular about his hires. Thundra shows why she should get the job.
The three Avengers arrive at the gym, Vision hoping this can be settled peacefully. "Kant's" face shows confusion...and pain. The memories of being Hyperion return to him. A concerned Thundra leaps to his defense by laying out Ms. Marvel with a Mighty Punch. Vision zaps her with his eye beams. Hyperion catches Black Panther in a chokehold, but the King of Wakanda is able to use a judo-like maneuver to toss him into some weight equipment. He then grabs a pair of large barbells and smashes them together, sending everyone flying.
The Superman pastiche tries to fight Vision, but the synthezoid's powers make that difficult. He calls out Vision for deriding his actions, saying he's justified in them. You see, Hyperion (at least this Hyperion. There's a bunch of them, and it can be confusing) came from a micro-world, a world contained within a molecule. However, his world was destroyed in Avengers #70 (November 1969) by nuclear scientists doing fission experiments. They were unaware of what they did. Vision is able to end the conflict by...playing counselor to Hyperion.
Vision's words are able to calm the angry powerhouse, and it ends peacefully. Squirrel Girl would be proud. Thundra is disappointed, as she wanted to see which of them was stronger. However, Carol Danvers is just glad this conflict is over. Fun fact: This Hyperion would eventually meet his end in Squadron Supreme #8 (April 1986).
With that over, we next go to Captain America, the Scarlet Witch, and Hawkeye. The place: Hudson Pharmaceuticals, West Caldwell, New Jersey. They found the Whizzer, working as an employee there. The comic mistakenly refers to him as "Harvey", but his actual name is James Saunders, who would eventually be known as Speed Demon. Upon seeing the three Avengers, Saunders' memories as the Whizzer return to him. He takes on the Avengers, easily able to beat Scarlet Witch and Hawkeye with his speed, but Captain America is able to take him down with his shield.
Whizzer's easily beating Scarlet Witch and Hawkeye made little sense to me. You see, back in the day, they served together in the Avengers with Captain America and Quicksilver...who is a speedster. You'd think they'd know how to counter a speedster easily.
Next, we joint the Beast as he heads towards a big ol' religious revival in Trinity Park, Texas. The revival sermon is being told by one Billy Roberts.
His sermon is basically telling people they can buy their way into heaven by giving him money. When the preacher says if someone has a problem he can help with, the Beast sees it as his cue and jumps on stage. The two are able to talk in private, and Roberts takes it...rather well. Roberts remembers how the Prism took control of him. The Power Prism was found in Detroit by a sanitation worker presumably after the events of Iron Man #67 (April 1974). However, the worker didn't fall under the gem's spell. The worker was an honest, God-fearing man. He took the Prism to Roberts, who was holding a revival in Detroit at the time. Roberts had intended to get the Prism appraised, and use its value to fund his services.
Roberts believes he can help Jan get free from the Prism. The preacher gets brought
to the Avengers Mansion. He says good things come to those who wait, and summons the gem to his hand. Turns out the preacher sees the Prism as a divine tool, given to him by God to punish sinners.
Roberts walks through the Avengers. Man, I bet Krimmon must be furious right now, being sublimated by another being's will again. Don Blake transforms into Thor, and Krimmon takes over, fleeing Roberts's hand. Thor seemingly smashes the Prism with his hammer Mjolnir, but...
Meanwhile, in the waters of the Jersey Shore, the construct holding Wonder Man, Quicksilver, and Iron Man fades. However, the Golden Avenger is able to get his teammates out of the water before they drown...well, Pietro drowns. I don't think Simon Williams needs to breathe, and I can see Tony's armor having an oxygen supply for situations like this. Which he does. Simon stays to tend to Pietro while Tony goes to engage Krimmon.
Now more powerful than ever, Krimmon WRECKS the Avengers. Iron Man engages the ensorcelled Thor, but the Thunder God is able to send the Armored Avenger flying.
Stark tries blasting Thor with ultraviolet light, but Thor's powerful body makes Krimmon immune to it. But there is a saving grace.
At the time, if Thor lost his hammer, he had sixty seconds to retrieve it before reverting to Don Blake. Iron Man exploits this, fighting Thor with everything he's got. Iron Man's armor was the most powerful armor he had at the time, but even be can only take so much from the God of Thunder. Iron Man uses his boot jets to knock the Norse god into the pool.
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| Knuckle sandwich?! Ha! Iron Man hands out BOOT JET SANDWICHES! |
Tony fishes Don out of the pool, who is himself again. Yup, Odin's little enchantment on the hammer is mean to prevent something like this. The story ends several hours later, with the Avengers finally getting around to celebrate Jan's birthday.
And to think, they could have done this sooner had Hank Pym not fixed the Power Prism. Thanks a lot, Hank. Although to be fair, he had no idea the Prism had a conscious mind in it. And where's Pietro? Maybe he's in the infirmary still recovering from nearly drowning.
This story was awesome. It was action-packed, it built on previous established continuity, and it was fun seeing a whole bunch of Avengers going up against a Green Lantern pastiche. As I said, I enjoyed that the story acknowledged and built on previous continuity. It's a thing I think is sadly not done anymore by many Big Two writers anymore. Nobody cares about building on the past, just doing their own thing, and that's sad.
I did have a bit of an issue with Cap, Hawkeye, and Scarlet Witch's battle with the Whizzer, but I did explain why earlier. Also, when Roberts got the Prism back, why didn't Vision grab those sun lamps and use them again? Maybe he didn't have a chance to retrieve them? I liked the battle between Thor and Iron Man. Really helped show how outmatched the Golden Avenger truly was, even with his armor.
And as for the art, well...it's George Perez! Of course, it's great! We're really starting to see some of the trademarks associated with his art style, like his high amounts of detail, and characters having distinct faces. It's really cool seeing how his style has evolved and grown over the years.
If you want to read this for yourself, I read it in the 1999 trade paperback Avengers Visionaries: George Perez. Thanks for reading! If you liked this blog entry, please spread it around! And if you want to give my blog some extra support, feel free to drop a nice tip in my Digital Tip Jar!
Next time, I think I'll continue the celebration of George Perez's career, by looking at something a bit more recent. Join me as with the rise of the Final Crisis, George and Geoff Johns bring together a Legion of Three Worlds...
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