Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes #6: Review

Mar 2005

Joe Casey, Scott Kolins

Story Name:

(No title given)

Review & Comments

Rating:

Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes #6 Review by Peter Silvestro (August 30, 2011)

Review: Full review found at issue #1.

Comments: Story takes place during the events of AVENGERS (Vol. 1) #15 with some changes to the original story. Wasp and Giant-Man do not appear in this issue. The Trial of the Gods was in JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #116. Nick Fury is mentioned briefly as a CIA agent.

Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes #6 Review by Rob Johnson (February 11, 2012)

The Thor scene is one which originally took place behind the scenes in Av#16. Av#15 has Cap rescuing Rick from Zemo while the other Avengers fight the Masters. Av#16 starts by tidying up the loose ends from #15, and leaves Cap and Rick with a long trek back to civilisation (as we will also see in the last 2 issues of this series). The rest of Av#16 then covers what the Avengers do while Cap is away. According to the Indexes and Chronology Project, Thor fights Absorbing Man in Journey into Mystery #114-115, which sets things up for the Trial of the Gods starting in JiM#116. In #115 he is allowed back to Earth to put his affairs in order. In Av#16 Wasp reports that he informed her he was leaving for the Trial, but we don't see it. Here it is Iron Man he tells. Iron Man expresses the Avengers' disbelief in Thor's god-status, until Thor gives him a vision of Asgard. Moving this scene forward doesn't allow time for JiM#114-115. Wanda and Pietro hear rumours that some members have left the Avengers. This could be a variation of another later scene from Av#16 where they read about the Avengers seeking applicants. Cap's South American adventure is essentially the same as in Av#15. Cap rescues Rick. Zemo dies buried under a rockfall caused by his own gun. This issue ends with a contrived cliffhanger as Cap and Rick appear to be buried as well. But next issue will show that they aren't, and will continue as per Av#16. The remaining 2 issues of this series will retell Av#16.

This issue is built around the events in Avengers #15. Av#15 has Captain America spotting Enchantress and Executioner, losing them and reporting back to the Avengers, where Rick Jones gets abducted by a ray. This issue has the chase offscreen, and Cap being told that Zemo and some henchmen physically took Rick at the end of last issue. Both tales have Cap going after Zemo while the other Avengers stay behind to deal with the Masters of Evil, which in Av#15 include Black Knight and Melter as well as the Asgardians. This issue adds to the pressure on Cap when Iron Man tells him that the Avengers will only be allowed their A-1 priority as long as Cap is a member. Cap also mentions contacting Nick Fury at the CIA here, but Fury has already transferred over to SHIELD (although Cap still won't know that in Av#19). This issue now ignores the conflict with the Masters of Evil, and just follows Cap to South America. In fact all the signs are that the fight with the Masters doesn't happen. Instead we get 3 scenes with Hawkeye, Thor, and Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. In a new bit, Jarvis visits Hawkeye, who he met last issue. We learn how Hawkeye lives. He's being the vigilante hero he started out to be in Tales of Suspense #57, before he took up with Black Widow. The standard chronology would have Natasha injured in ToS#64, and taken back to Russia as revealed in Av#16. Hawkeye makes money by stealing from the bad guys. He keeps himself supplied with weaponry from the Tinkerer, who debuted in Amazing Spider-Man #2 but won't make his 2nd appearance until ASM#160.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes #6 Synopsis by Peter Silvestro

Captain America is informed that Rick Jones has been captured by Baron Zemo to lure the hero into a trap. Iron Man tries to dissuade Cap from his path of vengeance but Cap is determined to rescue the young man and bring Zemo to justice and he must go alone. When Iron Man tells him that his leaving would jeopardize the continued existence of the Avengers, Cap can only say he’s sorry as he walks out the door. Iron Man swears Jarvis, who overheard the last part, to secrecy….

Jarvis again meets with Hawkeye downtown and again tries to persuade him to seek the Avengers’ help. Hawkeye, depressed, does not believe redemption is possible for a guy like him….

At the Mansion, Iron Man finds Thor sitting in a darkened room. Thor reluctantly informs Tony that he has been summoned to Asgard for a Trial of the Gods. Iron Man accuses him of abandoning the team in favor of another delusion from his fantasy world. Thor, offended to not be taken at his word, offers his hammer Mjolnir for Iron Man to touch. When the Armored Avenger does so he is granted a vision of the splendor of Asgard and realizes in a second that all Thor has told them about himself is true. He apologizes to Thor and wonders if the Avengers experiment is now to be considered a failure. The Thunder God reminds him that the Avengers is a concept larger than any one member and if Iron Man has faith, others will follow. He then takes his leave….

In Germany, the fugitive Wanda and Pietro Maximoff hear on a television new report that the Avengers have lost several members just as they were beginning to gain acceptance….

Captain America lands in Bolivia, which CIA sources have identified as Zemo’s hiding place. Cap infiltrates the compound and frees the bound and tortured Rick. Zemo however has the drop on him and orders him to beg before he kills him. Cap responds, "I don’t beg…take your best shot." As Zemo opens fire with a ray gun, Cap leaps among the Nazi’s henchmen throwing punches as Zemo screams defiance. Cap hurls his shield deflecting Zemo’s aim and the bolt fires upward causing an avalanche among the rocks above. Rick makes it to safety but Cap and his enemy are buried by the falling boulders….