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Avengers #501

Oct 2004
Brian Michael Bendis, David Finch

Avengers #501 cover

Story Name:

Avengers Disassembled: Chaos (part 2 of 4)


Synopsis

Avengers #501 synopsis by Rob Johnson
Rating: 4 stars
Last issue Avengers Mansion was attacked by dead Jack Of Hearts, deranged Vision and 5 Ultrons. JOH killed Ant-Man, and berserk She-Hulk ripped Vision apart and then smashed miniature Wasp. Meanwhile Tony Stark appeared to be drunk while addressing the UN as US Secretary Of Defence and threatened to destroy Latveria.

Now Stark tries to persuade the President it wasn't what it looked like, but is asked to resign as SOD. Then as Iron Man he jets off to answer the Avengers emergency alert.

Last issue ended with the new Captain Britain trying to stop maddened Shulk from dropping a truck on the fallen Captain America. Now the truck lands on him and even his shield offers little protection. Then the Big Mad Green (slightly) crushes Kelsey Leigh's head and goes on a general rampage as SHIELD look on helplessly. Hawkeye tries to talk her down until IM arrives to KO her.

He then lifts the truck off Cap A, who's conscious but in a bad way. SHIELD report that Cap B is out. Falcon has found unconscious mini-Wasp and wants to carry her to hospital. Then Yellowjacket turns up extremely giant-size. He picks up Sam Wilson in 1 hand and carries both Sam and Janet van Dyne away with giant-steps to Beth Israel Medical Centre.

The other injured probably arrive there by more conventional means. Steve Rogers appears to be basically OK, apart from having to have a shoulder pushed back into joint. He politely declines the doctor's suggestion of a few weeks R&R. Kelsey Leigh on the other hand is in critical condition. Scott Lang is in the morgue, Vision's bits have been sent to Stark Enterprises. She-Hulk is in SHIELD custody (in 1 of those ubiquitous liquid-filled containment tubes). Jan van Dyne is also critical and stuck at Wasp-size. Ex-husband Hank Pym watches over her, but no-one knows how to help her. And as usual he's complaining about his shitty life.

Cap A, Falcon, Hawkeye and Iron Man congregate in the hospital grounds. Tony wants to know who's coordinating these attacks. Clint Barton thinks it's just a load of coincidences. After all the team does leave loose ends to come back and bite them. They *thought* Jack Hart was dead but they just left his body floating in space. Sam suggests it might be less than coincidence. Ultron could have left a buried command in his 'son' Vision (he did it before in #66 of the original series) to activate at the team's lowest point. Clint latches on to this because they've never completely beaten Ultron, he keeps resurfacing including in Iron Man's armour (IM(1998)#48). Stark counters by asking how berserk She-Hulk fits in. Falcon reminds them that having a Hulk on the team always backfired (and Shulk went bad recently in #68-75). Steve Rogers has just been listening to it all.

Then Tony throws in something they didn't know and starts to tell them what happened at the UN. But distraught Hank (who was there at the time) bursts in to give his slanted view of the event - Stark was drunk and threatened to kill the Latverian Ambassador. Recovering alcoholic Tony protests that he *hadn't* had a drink, but he *felt* drunk, and he thinks it was part of the attack on them. And it's cost him his government post. Pym thinks he's trying to evade responsibility for his mistake, unlike himself who owns up to creating Ultron. Tony asks who believes him. Cap and Falcon do, but Clint is more dubious - his father was an alky. So Iron Man leaves them.

The others continue the discussion, and access TV news about the UN fiasco. The UN are in emergency session and are probably going to remove the team's UN charter. Falcon discovers there's something else going on at the ruined Mansion. 3 of them head there in a quinjet, YJ elects to stay with Wasp. They land their quinjet in Central Park because the Mansion's a crime scene. And they see a crowd of ex-Avengers (and a few extras) assembled outside the gate.


 

Review / Commentaries


Avengers #501 Review by (June 11, 2021)
It's the Richard Starkings/Albert Deschesne duo on inking again.

As in last issue the Avengers, and now the doctors, know that Captain Britain is Kelsey Leigh.

Ant-Man's remains being in the morgue is another clash with his daughter Cassie going back in time in Avengers: Children's Crusade and rescuing him from Jack Of Heart's explosion. So technically this version of Avengers Disassembled is in an alternate timeline (numbered by Marvel Fandom Wiki and Marvel Chronology Project as 61108). The main Marvel timeline following on from Av:CC presumably had no trace of Scott Lang left after the explosion.

The crowd of ex-Avengers are Beast, Black Knight, Black Panther, Black Widow, Crystal, Darkhawk (a West Coast Avengers reservist), Demolition Man (Captain America temporarily recruited him in CA#348-349), the Fantastic Four, (Human Torch tags along but at this point he's never been an Avenger), Firebird, Firestar, Hercules,
James Rhodes (who was in WCA as replacement Iron Man), Jocasta, Justice, Living Lightning, Mantis, Moon Knight, Photon (Monica Rambeau), Quasar, Rage, Sersi, Silverclaw, Spider-Man, Starfox, Singray, Sub-Mariner, Tigra, Triathlon, Warbird and Wonder Man.
There are some other chars who've worked with the Avengers occasionally but at this time have never actually joined a team:- Daredevil, Hellcat and Spider-Woman. And I don't think Nick Fury would be caught dead joining them.

We'll catch up with the recovered Captain Britain, She-Hulk and Wasp in Avengers: Finale, and Yellowjacket will be there too.
But before that all but Cap B will have some other apps ...
Henry Pym cameos in CA&Falcon #12 as a scientist collaborating with Bruce Banner and Reed Richards.
Giant-size YJ with some other heroes helps Spider-Man in Marvel Knights SM #11.
Wasp is OK as she cameos with some other (ex-)Avengers in Spectacular SM (2003) #19 (part of Spidey's Avengers Disassembled arc).
Meanwhile She-Hulk is also OK as she teams up with Spider-Woman and Warbird in the 2nd story in the She-Hulk Sensational 1-shot. And then she moves on to #11 of her 2004 series.
And Wasp and YJ join her for its finale in #12.



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Main/1st Story Full Credits

David Finch
Danny Miki
Frank D'Armata
David Finch (Cover Penciler)
Danny Miki (Cover Inker)
Frank D'Armata (Cover Colorist)
Additional Credits
Letterer: Richard Starkings.
Editor: Tom Brevoort. Editor-in-chief: Joe Quesada.

Characters

All stories. Listed in alphabetical order.

Captain America
Captain America

(Steven Rogers)
Falcon
Falcon

(Sam Wilson)
Hawkeye
Hawkeye

(Clinton Barton)
Iron Man
Iron Man

(Anthony Stark)
She-Hulk
She-Hulk

(Jennifer Walters)
Wasp
Wasp

(Janet Van Dyne)
Yellowjacket
Yellowjacket

(Hank Pym)
Plus: Captain Britain (Kelsey Leigh).

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