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Avengers #230

Apr 1983

Roger Stern, Al Milgrom

Story Name:

The last farewell

Synopsis

Avengers #230 synopsis by Rob Johnson

Rating:

Last issue Henry Pym defeated the Masters of Evil. But their leader Egghead was about to shoot him in the back when Hawkeye fired an arrow down the barrel of the gun. The gun exploded and now Egghead is dead. Hank regrets not being able to bring Elihas Starr to justice for all the things his long-time foe had done to him. Clint Barton has mixed feelings, because Egghead caused his brother Barney's death in #65.

Now the new female Captain Marvel zaps in, who is a complete surprise to Pym. The other Avengers Captain America, She-Hulk, Thor and Wasp join them in time to take Moonstone and the unconscious Radioactive Man and Tiger Shark prisoner to join Beetle.

Moonstone confesses all in a plea-bargain. And when Tony Stark's cerebral scanner reveals that Egghead's niece Trish Starr had been brainwashed by Elihas to accuse Yellowjacket in #217 of stealing adamantium from the military, the trial of Henry Pym collapses.

Hawkeye is also found innocent of the death of Egghead.

There follows a couple of interludes sowing seeds for future plotlines.

Beetle is taken to a prison where he literally bumps into Sam Smithers, otherwise known as Plantman. Neither he nor a guard notice a hole knocked in the pseudo-skin covering a wooden arm.

On Titan Eros has been looking after Elysius the lover of his deceased friend the original Captain Marvel. But now his wanderlust has returned and she releases him from his vow to the dying man. Eros consults his father Mentor and the super-computer Isaac over planets that might afford him adventure, and chooses Earth.

Henry Pym accompanies Trish and her friend Fred Sloan to scatter Elihas' ashes in the river. Hank and Trish reminisce about the 3 times they met, all involving Egghead. He tried to use her mind to power machines (in Marvel Feature #5). He planted a bomb which cost her an arm (Giant-Size Defenders #4). And his elaborate scheme in #217 involving a cybernetic replacement arm led to Pym's arrest.

Hank then answers a call to Avengers Mansion where his ex-wife and chairwoman Wasp impassively oversees a meeting to reconsider Hank's recent actions. They want to uses the cerebral scanner to see if those actions might have been caused by mental control. Pym submits, but as he expects it was all his own doing.

He stays for the next item on the agenda as the team hold their own enquiry into the Egghead shooting - accusing Hawkeye of using undue force. Clint states that he's been found not guilty in court, and that he was acting to save Hank's life. Pym supports his case, while affirming on the other hand that they're dismissal of himself in #213 was fully justified.

As Henry leaves the room Jarvis takes him to pick up some personal items he'd left at the Mansion. 1 case contains his Yellowjacket outfit. On the way out the team meet him to offer him his place back. But he says he's quitting the superhero business and returning to science - he already has a job offer. He hands over the Yellowjacket duds for someone better qualified.

Henry has a final private meeting with Jan. They agree that their marriage is still over, but part as friends. However after he's gone Janet Van Dyne at last allows herself to cry.

Review / Commentaries

Avengers #230 Review by Rob Johnson (January 1, 2016)

This is the end of the Trial of Yellowjacket arc.

Trish Starr was in a few issues of Defenders around Giant-Size #4 where she was Nighthawk's girlfriend. Then she split for a desert commune where she hung out with Fred Sloan and Hulk for most of his issues between #233 and #245. Fred had met Hulk in #231 and stayed around until #256.
Current scribe Roger Stern also wrote Hulk #231-244.

Eros will turn up at the Mansion at the end of next issue and join the team as Starfox in the following issue.
Elysius of Titan 1st appeared in #59 of the original Captain Marvel's run and quickly became his girlfriend. She was with him for more than half of his subsequent appearances up to his death, the last being some of the Fred Sloan issues of Hulk (but not 1's written by Stern). CM of course died of cancer in Marvel Graphic Novel #1, and that's where Eros promised to look after her.

The Plantman in jail here is a vegetative simuloid duplicate. The real Plantman will turn up next issue.

Avengers Mansion originally fronted straight onto the street, as I believe 1st shown in #8, but many later issues have given it a considerable garden frontage. The explanation mentioned here that Iron Man and Thor moved the whole building back was 1st given earlier in the year in the 1st issue of the Original Handbook of the Marvel Universe.

Iron Man is described here as still missing. He can only be binge drinking in the period described in IM#168-169. See last issue's comments for more details.

It will be a long time before Henry Pym dons a Yellowjacket suit again. But Rita DeMara will steal 1 to become the 2nd YJ in #264. But like all good Marvel characters Hank can't keep out of the comics, as he's frequently sought out for his scientific expertise. He'll cameo in Spectacular Spider-Man #89 in Black Cat's search for a real superpower. Then he'll be back here in #240-242 to help save the life of Spider-Woman. And later he'll join the West Coast Avengers as Dr Pym.

Marvel villains rarely stay dead. After various fake versions the real Egghead will turn up alive again in the 2015 Ant-Man Annual.

Trish Starr also shows up again in the 1998 Nighthawk mini.
Fred Sloan will write a book about his time with Hulk, as seen in Hulk (1999) #8, and we see some of his research for it in Giant-Size Hulk #1.
Elysius will re-appear in the 1993 Silver Surfer Annual #6 as the mother of Genis-Vell, called Legacy and eventually another Captain Marvel.

Moonstone will continue to harass the Avengers, usually as part of a group, starting in #236. Eventually she'll become a long-running part of the Thunderbolts.
Radioactive Man will become more of an Iron Man, starting from IM#179, until he too becomes a Thunderbolt.
Tiger Shark will next appear in #273-274 as part of another Masters of Evil with Moonstone.
Beetle will form the Sinister Syndicate of Spider-Man foes in Amazing SM #280-281. But much later he too will be a Thunderbolt as Mach-1.

The 2 Avengers with their own series will do their own things before next issue. Captain America cameos in Marvel Team-Up #127 before a proper team-up in #128. Then ex-Bucky Jack Monroe becomes Nomad and they fight Viper in CA#281-283. Followed by the death of Jeff Mace, ex-Patriot and ex-Cap, in #284-285. Meanwhile Thor faces the Crusader in a clash of faiths in his #330-331.

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Holy smokes, Batman!
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Roger Stern

Al Milgrom

Joe Sinnott

Christie Scheele

Al Milgrom (Cover Penciler)
Al Milgrom (Cover Inker)

Listed in alphabetical order. All stories.

Avengers

Captain America
(Steven Rogers)

Hawkeye
(Clinton Barton)

Iron Man
(Anthony Stark)

She-Hulk
(Jennifer Walters)

Thor
(Odinson)

Yellowjacket
(Hank Pym)

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Avengers #230

The last farewell

Synopsis

Review / Commentaries