Avengers #9 (October 1998)

Since this is Black History Month, I thought I'd take the opportunity to showcase a lesser-known Black superhero...and a lesser-known Black supervillain. And this is also an excuse for me to return to one of my favorite comic book runs of all time: Kurt Busiek's Avengers run. If you're a regular reader of this blog, then you may be aware of my immense love for this run. It helped make me a fan of comic books. This is Avengers #9!

The cover is awesome. It depicts the villainous Moses Magnum using his geokinetic powers to send out heroes flying. He's front and center in the cover, and the amount of rubble around him show just how powerful he is. This shows that Magnum is a very dangerous and powerful villain, one that you need a group like the Avengers to face.

"The Villain Who Fell from Grace With the Earth"
Writer: Kurt Busiek
Penciler: George Perez
Inker: Al Vey
Colorist: Tom Smith
Letterers: Richard Starkings, Comicraft, Dave Lanphear
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Editor-in-Chief: Bob Harras

The story begins with the Avengers doing...a bit of swimming.

Thing is, they aren't doing it for fun, even though swimming is fun. They're doing it to secretly get on board a massive cruise ship known as the Evangeline, presumably named after the Longfellow poem. 

The Evangeline is such a big ship that it has hotels, a casino, sports fields, and even a nautical theme park.

Yeah, I'd love to spend a week on this ship myself. It likely would not be enough time to see everything, but at least it'd be a fond memory. Two of the Avengers (Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch and Vance Astrovik/Justice) alongside their new ally Maria Santiago/Silverclaw have infiltrated the ship with civilian disguises. Steve Rogers/Captain America, Clint Barton/Hawkeye, Angelica Jones/Firestar, and Tony Stark/Iron Man have made their way into the Evangeline thanks to a bit of underwater infiltration. As they go in, Steve starts to think about how this all started:

Earlier that day, the Avengers are all enjoying some breakfast at the Mansion.

"Oh, boy! It's Hash Brown Day!"

I'd love to eat breakfast at the Avengers Mansion. Look at that spread! Mmmm, breakfast buffet...

Anyway, Maria is joining them thanks to the events of last issue. In that issue, she seemingly led a group of men in an attack on an airport, under the command of an arms dealer named Moses Magnum. So, why is she here with the Avengers?

Gladly. Turns out that "Lupe" is connected to the Avengers' butler, Edwin Jarvis. She lived in an orphanage that was sponsored by a charitable organization. One of those "sponsor a child" things. Jarvis was Lupe's sponsor. The two of them regularly corresponded. As a result. she sees him as an uncle, calling him "Tio Edwin".

It's here we get some character stuff, touching on the ongoing sub-plots. Wanda is dealing with her being able to summon Simon Williams, aka Wonder Man from the dead (this was before he was fully resurrected later on). Hawkeye is struggling to fit in with the team, thanks to his time being a leader of the West Coast Avengers for a while. He's trying to go back to an old role he clearly has outgrown. And Firestar? Well, Firestar has issues with her powers. You see, unlike many mutants, Angelica Jones's powers can potentially cause her great harm, even kill her. Naturally, she gets very scared of using them at a high level (like when she had to power up dimensional portals in both the New Warriors book and in the recent Live Kree or Die crossover). She tells this to Wanda (she had also told Cap). Wanda asks her to give her a day or two, and the Scarlet Witch may have some ideas. 

Cap calls the meeting to order and recaps the events of the previous issue. Magnum had arranged the attack at the airport to steal an experimental device called the Seismic Cannon. Developed by Rand-Meachum Industries, the Seismic Cannon was a device meant to ameliorate the tectonic forces that can cause earthquakes. This fits with Magnum's past MO as he's been involved with earthquake threats. Vision then gets a call.

"Hey, guys! Triathlon here!"

Yeah, somehow Triathlon had managed to hack into the Avengers' comm-system and alert them that he managed to sneak away on the plane Magnum's men stole for their getaway in the last issue. He reports that Magnum is ranting about showing some apocalypse some chaos. Cap realizes who he's talking about: the X-Men villain. 

The Avengers sneak through the Evangeline, knowing they have no hope of getting to Magnum without being discovered. Hopefully, they can prevent that for as long as possible. During this, Hawkeye notes with horror that Magnum's men are willing to kill each other if it means getting him. He meets up with Triathlon, and the two do their best John McClane.

It's here we learn about the origin of this mysterious new hero. His name is Delroy Garrett Jr, from the City of Brotherly Love itself, Philadelphia. A child of the suburbs, he was a star track athlete, breaking records left and right. Made it all the way to the Olympics, winning medals for the USA. He became famous. Every company on the planet wanted to endorse him. 

However, his desire to win consumed him. It consumed him to the point where he started using steroids. He was caught, and as a result, he was stripped of his medals and banned from competition. It all came tumbling down afterwards for him. He wallowed in his shame and self-loathing, until he found the Triune Understanding.

"I also tended to turn the world around me red and green."

The Understanding helped him find peace, and helped unlock his hidden power, making him three times as strong, as fast, as agile, as tough as the best human athletes. Hawkeye said he heard the Triunes were a cult. Delroy doesn't think so, as they've done a lot of good for him. And that's how cults get you. The two then get to a grate, where they see this weirdness going on.

"This new massage chair is of THE GODS!"

Magnum is ranting about how he will take Apocalypse's gift and make it into a weapon. A weapon so great, even the mad mutant eugenicist will tremble at its terrible power. The grate collapses, causing the Avenger and Triune member to fall into the room. Magnum reveals he knew they were there, thanks to his mastery of seismic forces. I can imagine that meant he felt the vibrations of their moving through the ducts and their whispering. He commands his men to subdue them. Clint and Delroy seem to be standing alone against an army of Magnum Shells, the arms dealer's men. Clint...is not worried. After all, he's not the only Avenger here.

And his point is demonstrated.

"What is it with you Avengers and wrecking my house?!"

And with that, the fight is on.

The Avengers have an easier time with the Magnum Shells, but Magnum himself? That's a whole other story. Magnum now has greater control over his earthquake-generating power. He can now tap into the seismic energies of the Earth itself, and he will now create an earthquake that will destroy the entire American Eastern Seaboard.

However (thankfully), something is blocking him. It's Wanda, using her hex powers. Throughout Busiek's run on the book, she's been finding herself being able to tap into various forms of energy, even mystical powers like Morgan le Fay's in issue #3. Wanda has him on the ropes, but Magnum takes her down with a big metal component to the mouth.

This causes an enraged Wonder Man to make his appearance. 

"Hey, Simon! What's your favorite ice cream bar brand?"

The Avengers are shocked as normally, Wanda has to summon him...and she's out cold right now. Wonder Man tackles Magnum so hard, the two go flying out of the ship, unknowingly getting the attention of two incarnations of James Bond in the process.

I always knew James Bond was a Time Lord.

The two end up landing on the shore of Martinique. Simon then proceeds to land a series of Mighty Punches to Magnum's face. Magnum crows "It's not happening" and that he is cured. Cured of what, you may ask? Well, he's not as cured as he thinks, as an earthquake starts to happen. The other Avengers arrive after Magnum tosses Wonder Man away like he was a piece of garbage. A terrified Magnum explains his situation.

After the events of Power Man Annual #1 (1976), Classic X-Men #25 (September 1988) showed that Magnum was rescued by Apocalypse. The immortal mutant gave the man geokinetic powers in exchange for acting as one of his Chaos-Bringers. However, after his failures against the X-Men in Uncanny X-Men #119 and Black Panther and the Michael Collins Deathlok in Deathlok #22-25, Apocalypse punished Magnum by letting him keep his power but stripped away any control of it. As a result, Magnum can't step on solid ground without causing massive earthquakes. It's why he created the Evangeline. It's why he was after the Seismic Cannon. He hoped it would allow him to control his powers again and win back Apocalypse's favor. 

Cap tries to get Magnum to surrender and return to the Evangeline. Maybe they can do something about this "curse" Apocalypse saddled Magnum with. However, the ground rips open. Magnum falls into it, ranting and raving that he'll never be free of Apocalypse. Iron Man tries to grab him, but the ground fissure closes shut, seemingly killing the superpowered arms dealer. Cap laments that Magnum was so used to using force and terror to get his way that it never occurred to him to just...ask for help. 

The next day, Silverclaw leaves to start orientation at Empire State University. Triathlon also leaves, but does so on good terms, saying that if they need his help, he'll be there. Vision (who was confined to the Mansion due to damage) asks how Wanda is doing. She did take a metal component to the face. She did manage to get off a potential hex, lessening the damage. She's in the mood for some chili, and Hawkeye's is god-tier. However, the Avenging Archer had his own plans. 

"P.S. I ate all the chocolate ice cream."

Yup, he's gone off. We'll see him with the Thunderbolts.

You all know what I am going to say about this. It's Kurt Busiek writing, George Perez on art, it's spectacular. I loved seeing the Avengers try to do their best James Bond spy impression. Busiek also masterfully touches on ongoing storylines like the whole Wanda/Simon/Vision issue, Hawkeye's struggles with his place on the team, Justice's lack of confidence, Firestar's issues with her powers, etc. Also, Magnum's fate was rather appropriate for him: A man who lusted for power ended up being destroyed by it. 

Magnum would return of course, and he would somehow get his lack of control over his earthquake-causing power stabilized. He would go on to face Spider-Man and the Punisher, as well as Wolverine and even Shuri.

If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2010 trade paperback Avengers Assemble Vol. 1. I highly recommend it. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! See you next time!