Tag: Nighthawk

The World Is Not For Burning

Avengers #85Writer: Roy Thomas
Penciller: John Buscema
Inker: Frank Giacoia
Letterer: Mike Stevens

Featured Issue: Avengers #85

Plot Summary

Having defeated Arkon and Enchantress, the Avengers seek to return to their home dimension. Wielding his magical uru hammer, Mjolnir, Thor calls upon the power of Odin to summon a portal which will transport the Avengers and their mansion home. Black Knight is the first to arrive home, or rather from his point of departure, Stonehenge. His mission accomplished, Black Knight returns to his manor while wondering if the rest of his teammates have made it home safely.

Back in New York Thor and Black Panther find themselves returned safe and sound as well. Noticing that Avengers Mansion has also returned, the pair enter the headquarters in search of their compatriots. Unfortunately and rather curiously the remaining Avengers are not where they should be. Just as they begin to wonder what may have happened to their comrades, Black Panther realizes that both men are late for an important engagement. Rush across New York they manage to arrive in the nick of time in order to pass out toys to under privileged children as part of the Toys for Tots program. Although they find it wonderful to be able to spread so much joy, Thor and Black Panther are troubled by the absence of their friends and cannot help but wonder what has happened to them.

On a street not unlike the one that Black Panther and Thor arrived on, the remaining Avengers arrive bu find themselves failing to materialize fully. At first it is thought to just be Vision, but on closer inspection all four Avengers suffer from the same affliction. Having orientated themselves to their new condition, the Avengers look around their new surroundings to find a scene of abject horror. As a man runs through Quicksilver, the team finds that the world around them is rapidly dying from extreme heat. They quickly identify that the sun is responsible, somehow being dramatically hotter and brighter than normal. The results are utterly devastating. People collapse in the streets while the asphalt smokes and melts around them. Even more shocking is that when Quicksilver finds a newspaper, the Avengers discover they are several days in the future. Not knowing what else to do, Scarlet Witch uses her hex powers. The unexpected chain reaction again sends the Avengers hurtling through time and space, returning them back in time to the day they left. Determined to figure out and prevent the cause of the fate they just witnessed, the Avengers return to Avengers Mansion to regroup.

Upon arriving at the mansion, all is not well. As Quicksilver enters through the front door, he is attacked by an automated defense system that the Avengers have no memory of installing. The team is given little time to think about the occurrence before they are confronted by Nighthawk, member of the Squadron Sinister. After a brief encounter with Vision, Nighthawk, who has no memory of the Avengers, acknowledges that he is severely outnumbered and quickly retreats through a hidden door. Looking to pursue Nighthawk, Goliath prepares to smash the secret door when he is forcefully stopped by Vision. Using his ability to pass through walls, Vision opens the door from the other side, revealing a hidden explosive device, set to detonate if anyone tried to force the door.

Rushing down the secret corridor, the Avengers are stunned to find an entire team of costumed supers waiting for them at the other end. After trading a series of barbs, the two super powered teams rush headlong at one another. In the middle of the battle, another member of the Squadron Sinister, Dr. Spectrum, attempts to make contact with the headquarters of the Squadron Supreme in Cosmopolis. Dr. Spectrum announces that the Brain-Child One rocket is one hour from lifting off on its solar orbit journey. This discontinuity, paired with the information about the rocket force Vision to only one conclusion, that the Avengers have arrived in yet another parallel dimension, one where the Squadron Sinister are not villains, but in fact the super heroes of the Squadron Supreme. Not only that, but that this Brain-Child One rocket is most likely responsible for the solar catastrophe they so recently witnessed. With this, the Avengers change their strategy and attempt to disable the Squadron Supreme so that they can talk and determine where the rocket launch is taking place in hopes of stopping it before it’s too late.

While the Squadron Supreme puts up a good fight, they are eventually beaten down by the superior might of the Avengers. Leaving all of the Squadron members except Nighthawk in the mansion, the Avengers depart on a mission to find the rocket launch site. When Nighthawk regains consciousness in the middle of their flight, the Avengers explain the situation to him. Unable to explain why, Nighthawk believes their story and directs the Avengers towards the launch site, hoping desperately that they will arrive in time to stop Armageddon.

Avengers

Black Knight
Black Panther
Goliath
Quicksilver
Scarlet Witch
Thor
Vision

Villains

Nighthawk
Squadron Supreme

When Strikes The Squadron Sinister

Avengers #70

Writer: Roy Thomas
Penciller: Sal Buscema
Inker: Sam Grainger
Letterer: Sam Rosen

Featured Issue: Avengers #70

Plot Summary

Our issue opens with Kang the Conqueror eschewing his feast in order to concentrate on the upcoming battle between the Avengers and the chosen champions of the Grandmaster. Leaving his banquet hall, Kang questions the Avengers about the progress of the battle, but the Avengers divulge that Grandmaster will not speak with them as they are only pawns in his game with Kang. After finally being confronted by Kang regarding the delay, Grandmaster reveals that he is using the computers on his home planet to create suitable opponents for the Avengers. Secretly though, Kang’s soldiers take position in an effort to assassinate Grandmaster, but the attempt is thwarted by a mere thought from Grandmaster. Shocked by this sudden turn of events, Kang agrees with Black Panther that the strategy was flawed and that he will not make the same mistake twice.

Turning to Kang’s time-scanner, the Avengers, Kang and Grandmaster watch their teammates Captain America, Goliath, and Thor back in the 20th century. The trio is soon joined by the newly restored Iron Man (Tony Stark having recovered after the events of last issue). Just as the Avengers get done catching Iron Man up on the details of their mission, the Squadron Sinister again appears before the quartet of heroes. The Squadron members admit that they are in fact not present, but that the Avengers are only seeing their astral images. As such, the Squadron Sinister decides to fill in the Avengers on their origin, since there is no risk to the Squadron. Being the master of time and space that he is, Grandmaster reached back and altered the lives of four Earth men in order for them to become the super powered villains Nighthawk, Hyperion, Dr. Spectrum, and Whizzer. As they finish, the four figures dissolve into images of four famous locations on Earth, the Statue of Liberty, Taj Mahal, Big Ben and the Sphinx, implying that a member of the Squadron Sinister is located at each. With that, Iron Man sets off for the Taj Mahal while Thor uses the powers of Mjolnir to transport the other Avengers to their battles.

Up first is Captain America, facing off at the most fitting of locations, the Statue of Liberty. As he evaluates the situation, Captain America notices a figure watching from the statue’s crown, but fails to notice the snare set on the ground and Cap is caught in it as he moves forward to investigate the figure. Battered against the figure, Cap is knocked unconscious. When he comes to, the Avengers finds himself the prisoner of Nighthawk. Even more astonishing than his imprisonment, is the fact that the pair in flying in Nighthawk’s aircraft, carrying the Statue of Liberty in tow. When Nighthawk threatens to destroy the statue if Cap does anything to interfere with the Grandmaster’s plans, Cap reacts immediate and destroys the detonator with his shield. In a last ditch effort to destroy the statue, Nighthawk leaves the aircraft and attempts to release the statue in midair. Again Captain America’s quick thinking saves the day as he attacks Nighthawk and manages to turn the tables on when Nighthawk tries to kill Cap with an explosive capsule. In the 40th century, Kang points out that one of the Grandmaster’s champions has already fallen.

Next to fight is Iron Man, facing off against Dr. Spectrum and his sentient power prism. Saved from an initial blast by his new armor, Iron Man quickly takes to the offensive only to find that his attacks are useless against Spectrum’s defenses. Thinking quickly, Iron Man catches on to something Dr. Spectrum said and bathes Spectrum and his prism in ultraviolet light. Drained of his power, Dr. Spectrum collapses to the ground and another of Grandmaster’s champions is defeated.

In Egypt, Thor arrives but finds no enemy. Only when the ground begins to quake and Hyperion explodes from beneath him does Thor realize that he has fallen victim to a trap. After narrowly avoiding the ambush, Thor confronts Hyperion only to find that Mjolnir bounces off the most powerful member of the Squadron Sinister. Struck low by a blast of Hyperion’s atomic vision, Thor is forced back on the defensive and must use Mjolnir to block the incoming attack. Finally given a moment to think, Thor hurls Mjolnir at Hyperion, who, in his overconfidence allows Thor a free shot. Instead of ineffectually bouncing off Hyperion again, Mjolnir instead encircles Hyperion and traps him within a bubble of glazed sand.

Lastly we find Goliath in London, preparing to face off against Grandmaster’s final champion. Before he can find his foe however, Goliath is confronted by Avenger’s ally, Black Knight. Although he offers to help Goliath, Black Knight’s assistance is rejected. As Black Knight prepares to depart, the heroes notice that something moving at great speed is travelling around Big Ben. This can be none other than Goliath’s adversary, Whizzer. Although outmatched in size, Whizzer speeds around Goliath, making a near tornado around the supersized hero. Unfortunately for the Avengers, Black Knight decides to intervene and attacks Whizzer with the flat of the Ebony Blade, his mystical ancestral sword. Goliath quickly attempts to step in and stop Black Knight, but the damage is done. With the outside interference from Black Knight, Grandmaster interrupts the game and removes both Avengers and their competitors for a final round. With this, the Black Knight is left alone to swear that he will make amends for his interference, though he is uncertain of how he will do this.

Avengers

Black Panther
Captain America
Goliath
Iron Man
Thor
Vision
Wasp
Yellowjacket

Villains

Kang the Conqueror
Grandmaster
Hyperion
Nighthawk
Dr. Prism
Whizzer