Synopsis
Avengers, The (1963 series) #23 synopsis by
Rob Johnson
Rating:
Last issue Captain America quit the Avengers. This issue sees him get a job as a sparring partner for a boxing champ, holding back so as not to show him up.
Meanwhile Kang the Conqueror has spotted Cap's absence from the future, and plans revenge for his previous defeats in #8 and #11 while the Avengers are at their weakest. (A bit of a hollow victory, as none of the remaining Avengers were involved in the earlier clashes.) He kidnaps Hawkeye, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, by sending a time-ship disguised as a new top floor to Avengers mansion, and takes them to his time.
Wanda frees the Avengers with her hex power, and they fight their way through Kang's complex until he traps Hawkeye and the Witch with energy beams. But Quicksilver is too fast for him.
Kang has conquered the galaxy in his own time. But he has allowed one kingdom to remain free on one planet. All because of his love for Ravonna, the daughter of its ruler. A love that is not reciprocated. But now the situation has come to a head. Ravonna must marry him, or Kang's army will overrun the kingdom.
Meanwhile Cap has heard about the Avengers' disappearance, and quit his sparring job by KOing the champ with one blow. He uses a Recreator, one of the devices Tony Stark provides for the Avengers, to view the past and deduce (how?) that it was Kang who abducted his team mates. Assuming (luckily correctly) that Kang is still monitoring the mansion, Cap shouts a challenge.
Ravonna tries a desperate ploy. She goads Kang into accepting Cap's challenge and bringing him to the future. She also persuades him to let her make things more interesting by sending Cap to join Quicksilver. The two Avengers defeat some of Kang's men, until the Conqueror himself faces them, to impress Ravonna.
Kang subdues his two foes. But Ravonna dares him to fight Hawkeye and Scarlet Witch as well. Kang instead demands that she give him her answer now. Ravonna is about to consent to marriage for the sake of her kingdom, when Hawkeye and Wanda appear, recovered from the energy beams. Cap and Pietro are also awakening. Ravonna delays her decision, and Kang orders his troops to attack.
Characters:
Plus: Ravonna.
Enemies