It’s been a while since the last installment but the road to Marvel’s original Civil War blowout is indeed a slow and steady thing. You can find Parts One and Two here and here but let’s get back to it now with an in-depth look at the very next case…
(New Avengers #1, cover-dated January, 2005. Cover art and colors by David Finch, Danny Miki and Frank D’Armata)
THE NEW AVENGERS
New Avengers #1 – 10 (2004 – 2005): …And there came a day unlike any other. Okay, maybe there’s been a few days kinda, sorta like it- but this one definitely brings something… New. Writer Brian Michael Bendis encores the super-crew from his Secret War mini and transposes into reigniting Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. It’s not exactly all going back and just flipping the lights on at the Mansion but, all the same, the rallying cry and fighting spirit live on!
Like the very first time, though, it’s a bit of fate/bit of chance that brings the group together. Either way, Cap and Iron Man realize that maybe they shouldn’t’ve broken up in the first place…
The first six issues of this relaunch is an extended story entitled “Breakout”. Like the name implies, there is a jailbreak but it’s more about mysteries within mysteries than it is about something that straightforward.
[[Full disclosure before continuing: the beginning of this Avengers reboot is in actuality laying long-game tracks for a story Bendis is brewing called Secret Invasion, not seeing fruition until 2008. That said, I’m going to try my damnedest to stay on point with only how the formation of the New Avengers pertains to Civil War…]]
So, the prison. Lawyers Nelson and Murdock (yes, that Nelson and Murdock) helicopter out to the Ryker’s Island super-power annex island, The Raft, along with their specially-hired bodyguard, Luke Cage. They are greeted by S.H.I.E.L.D. liaison, Jessica Drew (yes, that Jessica Drew- the former Spider-Woman).
Yep. Totally normal day at the office for Foggy… (New Avengers #1, cover-dated January, 2005. Words by Brian Michael Bendis. Art and colors by David Finch, Danny Miki and Frank D’Armata)
Nelson, Murdock and Cage are visiting The Raft at the request of Reed Richards- asking that they look into the well-being of Robert Reynolds, The Sentry. We’ll get more into the whole thing of the Sentry soon enough but for right now, let’s just leave it with: Bob, a Superman-type good guy, asked to be put in prison because he is convinced that he killed his wife. M’kay?
Just as Jessica and the guys are making their way through the prison, doing the whole run-down of who’s incarcerated there, how evil powers are neutralized inside very thick cells and how incredibly safe they are with all the S.H.I.E.L.D. guards around, the power cuts out. Classic.
Um… prisons aren’t supposed to do that, right? (New Avengers #1, cover-dated January, 2005. Art and colors by David Finch, Danny Miki and Frank D’Armata)
It’s not just the prison, either. The entire city’s grid is down. From his apartment, Peter Parker notices a bright light and explosion coming from The Raft. As Spider-Man, he decides to investigate further. Again, the luck/fate factor steps in, as he’s able to snag a webline ride along the bottom of a passing helicopter, also turning toward the incident.
However, an electrical surge strikes the chopper and Spidey lands in the icy water. Swimming to shore, Peter is pulled up by fellow passenger of the fiery wreck: Captain America.
“Come with me if you want to live…” (New Avengers #1, cover-dated January, 2005. Art and colors by David Finch, Danny Miki and Frank D’Armata)
What’s happening is that Electro, one of Spidey’s B-list Silver Age goons, is hired by persons momentarily unknown to break someone out of The Raft. Their intelligence says that the Fantastic Four is out of town and that the X-Men are “preoccupied”. And since there currently aren’t any Avengers- well, that just about takes care of that. Right?
So… yeah, Electro makes off with this person but not before disrupting everything with his electricity powers, letting all the inmates loose in the process. Good stuff.
Resuming, Murdock and company find Bob Reynolds’ cell and toss Foggy inside, figuring it’s probably the safest place for him, as they prepare for all hell to break loose. All the while, of course, ol’ Matty is publicly disavowing that he’s actually Daredevil. Nah, man- blind lawyers always get into ninja fight stance during a superhuman prison riot. It’s all good…
Awkward… (New Avengers #2, cover-dated February, 2005. Art and colors by David Finch, Danny Miki, Mark Morales and Frank D’Armata)
Up top, Cap urges Spidey to let the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents take the investigation lead. However, before the wall-crawler can fully fire back his quippy retort, he’s eating energy blast from the escapees! Indeed, it is now on (as the kids say)…
Sooo… that just happened… (New Avengers #2, cover-dated February, 2005. Art and colors by David Finch, Danny Miki, Mark Morales and Frank D’Armata)
Down below, Jessica Drew exhibits that she’s evidently back in the Spider-Woman game- complete with venom blasts and flight ability. The inmates make their presence known as Foggy petitions the Sentry to help his friends. Reynolds finally comes around and overzealously dispatches 90s Venom derivation, Carnage. Not only “dispatches” him but flies straight up through floors of the prison and into low orbit- ripping the frikkin’ psychotic symbiote in half! Yeah, that’s a totally measured response…
Getting the band back together. (New Avengers #2, cover-dated February, 2005. Words by Brian Michael Bendis, Art and colors by David Finch, Danny Miki, Mark Morales and Frank D’Armata)
Finally Iron Man shows up and makes it a proper Avengers stew! Before long, more S.H.I.E.L.D. reinforcements arrive and the lockdown begins. In the aftermath, Cap and Tony talk at length about reactivating the Avengers.
Tony hems and haws a bit but Cap goes around the next day asking anyway. No U.N. bells and whistles. No fancy crime-busting lab and “Danger Room”-esque work-out center. Just heroes taking on the big problems. And no regular paycheck (yes, the Avengers used to offer a weekly stipend). The irony is not lost on Spider-Man…
Daredevil respectfully declines as he is far too busy doing damage control to the public outing of his secret identity. Luke Cage agrees to join but on the condition that he is “heard” in the new organization. Indeed, Cage goes on to become something of a central figure throughout Bendis’ eight-year franchise tenure. (Sidebar: Foggy Nelson- relieved or upset that no one asked him?)
Spider-Woman is busted down by S.H.I.E.L.D. for “total assignment failure” as Cap offers her the distinction of being their new “go-between” agent. However, on her way to the first official assembling, she converses with a shadowy figure about re-framing a spying arrangement to now also incorporate the Avengers…
Establishing shot. (New Avengers #3, cover-dated March, 2005. Art and colors by David Finch, Danny Miki, Allen Martinez, Victor Olazaba and Frank D’Armata)
The “New” Avengers (they still just call themselves “The Avengers” in-story) gather at Stark Tower. Despite Tony’s wonky “Stark-onomics” not allowing the wherewithal to rebuild historic Avengers Mansion and restore the super-team to its “classic” status quo, he’s had a skyscraper ginormity in the offing since before the old guard went tits up. Never mind that the Avengers typically operate from grants by the Maria Stark Foundation, a separate non-profit existing regardless of Iron Man’s presence and operational inclusion. But whatever- let’s go with Tony now has a brand new office building that he can’t lease space in for fear of super-attacks and was planning on using the top three floors as his new personal New York residence anyway. Convenient, right? Even more so when he reveals that he just happens to have a new prototype Quinjet in the roof hangar (because, y’know, Jarvis was just gonna use it to zip down to the store for groceries otherwise…).
There! New charter ratified! Boom! Next! (New Avengers #4, cover-dated April, 2005. Words by Brian Michael Bendis. Art and colors by David Finch, Danny Miki, Allen Martinez, Victor Olazaba and Frank D’Armata)
Before the gang gets down to formulating their prison break recourse, new S.H.I.E.L.D. Director, Maria Hill, is on the video-conference trying to break up whatever it is this gathering of supers think they have going on. Cap counters by citing that he has “Full Champion Licence”- some obscure ace-in-the-hole title that pretty much allows him to do whatever he wants. Including forming (or re-forming) super-teams. Hill acquiesces and forwards information so the Avengers can begin investigating but not without giving them a very hairy stinkeye. She also claims to have the Sentry back in custody but that’s not exactly the case. We’ll circle back on this soon…
Break out ye old Handbook! (New Avengers #4, cover-dated April, 2005. Words by Brian Michael Bendis. Art and colors by David Finch, Danny Miki, Allen Martinez, Victor Olazaba and Frank D’Armata; Characters on monitor screens by various artists)
Going through scant security footage, the Avengers identify Electro. Spidey actually cops to “recognizing that blurry shoulder anywhere” and proceeds to heap guilt on himself that it’s one of his rogues responsible. It takes Tony two seconds to trace Electro’s recent banking transactions and so the team chases him down.
As the villain faints before they can get anything from him, the Avengers resort to Plan B: bribery. Agent Drew returns to Rykers for information from the inmates who didn’t escape. They pretty much fall over each other for a box of donuts, blurting out the name of Electro’s target extraction: Dr. Karl Lykos.
Cap’s thinking how different log entries are going to be now with this new bunch… (New Avengers #4, cover-dated April, 2005. Words by Brian Michael Bendis. Art and colors by David Finch, Danny Miki, Allen Martinez, Victor Olazaba and Frank D’Armata)
Lykos is an old-school X-Men bad guy dating back to the Roy Thomas/Neal Adams late 60s run. Essentially, he siphons other mutants’ energies to become a giant, leather-winged pterodactyl-man named Sauron. Make no mistake, like many Led Zeppelin lyrics, his name is indeed a heart-on-the-sleeve nod to the works of J.R.R. Tolkien.
And where does an evil parasitic dino-mutant go when he wants to lay low? How about Marvel’s own improbable prehistoric subcontinent located in Antarctica, The Savage Land! (Of course, so obvious…)
Giving chase anew, the Avengers no sooner set down when a dinosaur crushes their vacant Quinjet. Scattering to the nearby underbrush, Cage and Spider-Woman narrowly escape the one attack to encounter something just as shocking and deadly: the familiar clawed forearm of Wolverine is now at Drew’s throat as she grabs cover behind a tree…
The Best There Is = Earth’s Mightiest. (New Avengers #5, cover-dated May, 2005. Cover art and colors by David Finch, Danny Miki and Frank D’Armata)
Working the Lykos abduction from another angle, Wolverine is there on a tip from another one of Spidey’s bad guys who was offered Electro’s job, The Scorcher. Wanting to go straight and without Avengers around, Scorcher phones the X-Mansion and gives Logan the scoop. Hopping in one of the X-Men’s Blackbirds, he heads out solo and crashes in the Savage Land. (Destructive flight arrival is evidently how one simply travels there…)
On the run with his hyper-keen senses all screwy from the preternatural environment, Logan sets upon Cage and Drew mistaking them for some mysterious jungle stalkers. Also reacting before realizing he’s a friendly, Spider-Woman venom-blast flash-fries his face, judo flips and stabs Wolverine in the jugular with his own claws.
Regrouping and comparing notes, the Avengers are soon ambushed by the Savage Land Mutates (more Silver Age X-Men goons), knocked unconscious and taken captive.
Ladies and gentlemen… The Nude Avengers! (New Avengers #5, cover-dated May, 2005. Words by Brian Michael Bendis. Art and colors by David Finch, Danny Miki and Frank D’Armata)
Awakening naked (awkward and creepy, right?), bound and suspended in midair (again…), the Mutates take the Avengers to Lykos (at least that works out). Cap demands the doctor surrender himself. The Mutates want to experiment on their captives while Lykos urges to just shoot them.
Tony takes matters into his own hands and remote-control activates his Iron Man armor into breaking the Avengers free. The ensuing melee escalates when Wolverine goes after Lykos and accidentally brings on the Sauron transformation! Just as “Jurassic Vampire” is about to launch into a full-on villain monologue about how his escape is actually bigger than just him and the Mutates, Lykos is shot in the head by a S.H.I.E.L.D. sniper unit emerging from the nearby jungle. The Avengers recognize the commander as blonde Black Widow also-ran, Yelena Belova. She orders her unit to “clean and clear” the area and leave no survivors.
Taking advantage of the soldiers’ momentary hesitancy in shooting Captain America, the Avengers press the initiative. Tony magnetically attracts all of their weapons to the Iron Man armor, literally sending the goons running for the hills while Cap has to physically restrain Wolverine- bent on killing Belova.
O…kay. Not too cryptic… (New Avengers #6, cover-dated June, 2005. Words by Brian Michael Bendis. Art and colors by David Finch, Danny Miki and Frank D’Armata)
The Avengers begin aiming “Who do you work for?” questions at the captive mercenary; Spider-Woman leaning in and threatening with a face full of venom blast. They don’t exactly know what to do when Belova half blows up Jess’s spot by firing back that the two of them are actually on the same side but then continues on with gibberish.
Before they can ask further, Sauron pops up surprisingly not dead (it’s chocked up to his absorbing Wolverine’s healing factor) and dragon-breath flambes Belova! Evidently, he’s due some payback…
The Avengers subdue Sauron while Belova runs off burning and smoking. Wolverine tells them it doesn’t smell so good for her. As they’re figuring out where this inept weirdo black ops squad parked, Tony starts getting some strange nearby readings.
Hey, Professor! What’s another word for “buried treasure”? (New Avengers #6, cover-dated June, 2005. Words by Brian Michael Bendis. Art and colors by David Finch, Danny Miki and Frank D’Armata)
Soon, they come across a mining facility where S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are forcing the indigenous Savage Landers to stockpile the Vibranium super-metal onto trucks at gunpoint. The team rushes in but doesn’t get too far when Iron Man picks up another incoming signal: a full-scale air strike targeted right at their location (Gah! No breaks!). His quick-responding repulsor force field saves the Avengers but the surrounding area is utterly decimated (not going for the all-too-obvious “bombed back into the Stone Age” joke- wait, did I?).
The launchers of this rain of death rockets? None other than Maria Hill and the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier. Hill claims she’s acting on orders to eradicate a rogue faction and has no prior knowledge of the Avengers’ investigation leading to the Savage Land- let alone ground zero of her intended strike zone. She furthers that, in all fairness, she did also ask them not to nose in.
“Welcome to the Avengers, Wolverine. Hope you enjoy our butler and weekly paychecks!” (New Avengers #6, cover-dated June, 2005. Words by Brian Michael Bendis. Art and colors by David Finch, Danny Miki and Frank D’Armata)
Hill gives the Avengers a ride home as Wolverine is offered a spot on the team despite his own and Cap’s reservations. Ultimately, it comes down to Tony’s irresistible money paying for a guy who can make “tough choices”. (To recap: $$→ Logan = Yes; $$→ Spidey = No?! Wtf- “Parker Luck” is no myth…)
As the team pretty much gets right back to the business of convict round-up (the noobs prove their Avenger-yness during a protracted foray against the enchanted crowbar-wielding Wrecker), Iron Man approaches another one of their new mysteries: The Sentry.
Together again for the first time. The first in-story appearance of Marvel’s “Illuminati”. (New Avengers #7, cover-dated July, 2005. Words by Brian Michael Bendis. Art and colors by Steve McNiven, Mark Morales and Morry Hollowell)
Tony begins by assembling a think-tank of Marvel’s major “patriarchs”. It consists of Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four, Professor Charles Xavier of the X-Men, Doctor Stephen Strange- the Sorcerer Supreme, Prince Namor of undersea Atlantis and Black Bolt- King of the Inhumans, an alien-infused offshoot of humanity (currently making their way around the Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series).
It’s not so much that Iron Man starts throwing nets out into the super-community. Don’t forget, Reed Richards is allegedly the one who hires Nelson & Murdock to go out to The Raft and check on the Sentry in the first place. However, Tony is taken aback when Reed denies doing such a thing. It’s part of the mystery and we’ll get there but it isn’t something that these bigwigs get into right away with, either…
Instead, their immediate through-the-door line of questioning boils down to “when did the Avengers get back together and when were you going to tell us?”, followed up with “didn’t we talk about establishing new hero teams in other cities?”. Yeah, this doesn’t really come off as an impromptu one-time confab to just talk business about this Sentry guy. No, this smacks of some kinda regular meet-up familiarity…
What the hell is this group all about?? How long has it been going on for? And why are they meeting in an old, abandoned Stark subsidiary warehouse?
Cover art to New Avengers: Illuminati #1 (May 2006) by Gabriele Dell’Otto
Throughout the next few years, Brian Michael Bendis sporadically releases a New Avengers: Illuminati side-series that delves into the gathering’s surprisingly lengthy exploits. It turns into something of a reluctant fellowship that they can’t seem to quit, either- no matter how hard they try. Suffice to say, it’s an alliance that takes its cues and will go on to inform major Marvel plotlines reaching from 1971’s Kree/Skrull War to Jonathan Hickman’s 2015 Secret Wars.
Some time later, Tony and Cap hop in a Quinjet and head to the Nevada desert, where Maria Hill and S.H.I.E.L.D. are maintaining armed watch over a cave. Inside, the Sentry is fetal-position huddled in a dark corner. (This counts as “in custody”, Hill?!?)
Cap and Tony approach. They are accompanied not only by the Sentry’s surprisingly not-dead wife, Lindy, but also Paul Jenkins, a comic book creator claiming to have written stories about the Sentry years ago. These stories are the only reference to the Sentry that the Avengers could find anywhere on the planet.
Art imitating life imitating a serpent eating its own tail… (New Avengers #8, cover-dated August, 2005. Art and colors by Steve McNiven, Mark Morales and Morry Hollowell. “Startling Stories featuring Sentry!” interior comic book art by Sal Buscema)
Before this gets all too “meta” (can’t see how…), let’s take a bit of a sidestep. Paul Jenkins is the actual, in-real-life creator of the Sentry character. Circa 2000, Jenkins, with an assist from artist Rick Veitch, pitches then-Marvel Knights editor Joe Quesada a story about a middle-aged, struggling addict ex-superhero that somehow the world forgot. Tweaking the idea slightly, Quesada greenlights a mini-series featuring Jenkins and his collaborator from the acclaimed Inhumans run, artist Jae Lee.
Topping off the mythos, Quesada fabricates a winky backstory wherein Marvel staffers just happen to have been moving some filing cabinets when some “mysterious unused sketches from the 1960s” are “discovered” from an artist named “Artie Rosen” (undoubtedly an amalgam tribute to actual Silver Age Marvel Bullpenners Artie Simek and brothers Sam and Joe Rosen). Stan Lee even corroborates the entire hoax, “conveniently” owing up to his notoriously bad memory as to why he’d forgotten commissioning the character until the “fortuitous unearthing”.
So, despite having all these deep, meaningful and allegedly reconnective moments with the denizens of the Marvel Universe, the original Sentry “phenomenon” unfolds and resolves itself in such a manner that it reads as kinda ambiguously canonical (Think: Earth-616.1, if you will). And that’s the skinny up until the Sentry appears all tattered and bearded in a Raft prison cell…
Oh, and one other thing: In addition to the heroic Sentry persona, Bob Reynolds also becomes his own evil opposite- The Void- an elusive shape-shifting being so destructively powerful it is the very reason why he feels the need to be locked away.
Another other thing: Comic creators have been inserting themselves into their fictitious worlds forever. Stan The Man and Jack “King” Kirby began doing it back in early issues of Fantastic Four and its become something of a running gag ever since. Hell, Steve Rogers even got the job as the artist on Captain America for a while (but couldn’t keep the gig because actually being Cap messed with his deadlines).
Back in the cave, Bob is quickly confused and overloaded by all the feels. Terrified, he flees in a flash of light, fearing that The Void is already on its way…
Marvel’s Intervention Now! (New Avengers #8, cover-dated August, 2005. Words by Brian Michael Bendis. Art and colors by Steve McNiven, Mark Morales and Morry Hollowell)
The Avengers call in additional support, affording Tony’s secret club a chance to scrutinize under the guise of a more universal coalition. It also helps that the X-Men just happen to have a few world-class telepaths as well…
Tailing Sentry to the Reynolds’ suburban home, Emma Frost starts to get inside Bob’s head. However, The Void manifests (as a separate entity) and begins attacking the assembled heroes- right there on the lawn! (Whatever will the neighbors think??)
Avoid the Void! Bringing death and destruction to the world will probably ruin your pizza, too. (New Avengers #9, cover-dated September, 2005. Words by Brian Michael Bendis. Art and colors by Steve McNiven, Mark Morales and Morry Hollowell)
Frost and Reed Richards, aided by a pre-recorded video message of Bob Reynolds himself, start in on the mother of all pep talks as their friends run interference. Emma gets back inside Bob’s head and begins to unravel the mystery…
This is your brain on comics. (New Avengers #9, cover-dated September, 2005. Words by Brian Michael Bendis. Art and colors by Steve McNiven, Mark Morales and Morry Hollowell)
After some intense mental digging, Emma uncovers the root of it all- turns out that among his other super-powers, Bob is also an incredibly powerful psychic. Like “forget I ever existed” powerful. Bob is duped into turning that very power on everyone and himself by Mastermind, one of Magneto’s original Silver Age Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and probably best known as the guy indirectly responsible for the X-Men’s infamous Dark Phoenix Saga. In this case, a hidden memory reveals he’s in the employ of the Sentry’s generically retro-tinged arch-nemesis, “The General”.
After this breakthrough, the Void’s assault stops. They also realize that the “comic stories” in-story Paul Jenkins has “written” are actually Bob’s metaphoric messages in a bottle, psychically sending them to Jenkins (seemingly at random) so that he wouldn’t be truly erased from the world.
Yep. Definitely no super-people living here. Totally normal office building. (New Avengers #10, cover-dated October, 2005. Words by Brian Michael Bendis. Art and colors by Steve McNiven, Mark Morales, John Dell, Morry Hollowell and Laura Martin)
The post-intervention chinwag is cut short when Jarvis calls- urging the Avengers to return to Manhattan immediately as something weird’s going down at Stark Tower. In the type of coincidence that can only be found in comic books, it seems Sentry’s old Watchtower hq has also re-joined the world. However, it’s sharing real estate and now sits like some creepy, Lovecraftian skyscraper pencil-topper above Tony’s new building! (People are totally gonna rent there now…)
Whatever you do- don’t call it a “Fortress of Solitude”… (New Avengers #10, cover-dated October, 2005. Words by Brian Michael Bendis. Art and colors by Steve McNiven, Mark Morales, John Dell, Morry Hollowell and Laura Martin)
The Avengers land on the roof and the Sentry departs for the Watchtower, feeling he needs some “alone time” to process everything. The team and his wife reassure that they’ll patiently await his return.
Whew! What an action-packed couple of days!
In all, the Avengers are left certain that the world definitely needs them to once again unite against a common threat. But what does this all mean on the Civil War tip?
Well, aside from the bureaucratic new kid no longer extending former Director Fury’s gruff yet familiar camaraderie, something’s definitely horribly “off” within S.H.I.E.L.D. A subject that will keep for now but suffice to say trust, transparency and oversight issues are a-brewin’…
However, it’s not exactly like the Marvel public should suddenly feel 100% safe and protected either. After the Scarlet Witch debacle, this iteration of the team (now living in a giant “here we are” target) sees the addition of two new potential super-WMDs. One a mutant assassin. The other an agoraphobic-schizophrenic touting “the power of one million exploding suns” (whatever that means but it’s probably worse than a nuclear bomb).
Yeah, Cap and Tony can’t lose when the roster rounds out with Spider-Man- you know, “New York’s Media Darling”, a known ex-con (Cage) and a “former” HYDRA agent.
About that last one, that mysterious convo of Jess’s before the first meet-up at the Tower? Turns out Drew’s back in HYDRA (they gave her her powers back). BUT- she’s really doing a “triple-agent” thing and is reporting back to Nick “I may be forced underground but I’m still a spymaster” Fury. Indeed, Jess has many secrets…
Welcome back, Avengers. Just in time for old shit to bite you in the ass…
UP NEXT: The House of M! (No, seriously, f’r realz this time…)
avengers accessible 