Synopsis
Captain America is bringing charges against Yellowjacket, and Iron Man and Thor will be the jury at this preliminary hearing. He reports that while they were fighting the mystery woman (we know as Elf-Queen) yesterday (last issue) Cap got her to cease hostilities. But then YJ shot her in the back with his disruptor. Fortunately she survived.
Henry Pym offers no explanation (that he was desperate to prove his worth to the team). So they schedule a court martial hearing in 3 days. Meanwhile YJ is suspended and has to hand in his Avengers ID.
Wife Wasp is worried. Tigra tries to buoy up her spirits. (She knows Jan is deeply in love with the man, but personally can't see what she sees in him.) When Hank comes out he initially assuages his anger by pushing Jan away. But then realises what he's done and they hug.
Cap and Thor leave Avengers Mansion into a thunderstorm. The thunder reminds Steve Rogers of artillery fire in WWII. He remembers a time when he'd just defeated a troop of German soldiers as Cap. He heard a noise behind him and threw his shield. But it was a little girl, who luckily was bending down as the shield whizzed over her head. He knows how easy it is to make a mistake, and wonders if he should drop the prosecution.
Iron Man remains and scans the database to remind hinself (and us) of Henry Pym's history with the Avengers. Ant-Man was 1 of the founding members, but by #2 he'd already done the 1st of his many changes of name, costume and/or powers and become Giant-Man. He and Wasp left with all the other early members in #16, but they were the 1st to return (#28) and this time he chose the name Goliath. But his growth power proved to be a strain on his system.
Hank continued to be a scientist as well as an Avenger. Shellhead muses that Pym felt inferior in the Avengers and turned back to science to restore his self-esteem. In #57-58 we met his greatest creation the AI robot Ultron, who became the Avengers greatest foe. In #59-60 he suffered a schizophrenic incident that temporarily gave him a new personality and name - Yellowjacket. He married Jan and decided to stick with shrinking and the new name (and in #63 Hawkeye took over the growth serum and the Goliath ID). Iron Man thinks retaining the new ID was an attempt to reject his past, especially Ultron.
The married pair quit again in #75. They popped up again occasionally, including Hank's visit as Ant-Man in #93 during the Kree-Skrull War to repair the android Vision from within. They were back on the team in #137, and Vision returned the favour in #140 by delivering a cure to inside a giant-sized Yellowjacket.
Ultron returned (not for the 1st time) in #161-162, regressed Henry to his Ant-Man days, and tried to kill Wasp while recreating her as his robot mate Jocasta. Of course everything turned out OK. But Iron Man wonders if Pym will ever rid himself of guilt over Ultron. And he too thinks they should be helping him, not punishing him.
Outside the Mansion fans line up for Wasp's autograph, ignoring YJ. But Hank takes their dismissive comments about him to heart. When they get home Jan dismisses the servants so they can have some time alone. But Hank just retreats to his lab (paid for by Van Dyne heiress Jan's money). It turns out he still thinks the creation of AI was his only success (despite Ultron's later evil). And maybe AI can solve his current predicament.
3 days later, back at the Mansion Jarvis gives Tigra her 1st weekly check from Tony Stark. It's for expenses, not a salary. Most(?) Avengers turn it down, but some accept it because they have no other income - usually those who live in. Greer Nelson takes it because she's broke - but then discovers to her glee that the 'expenses' arrangement is a thousand dollars a week!
Tony Stark leaves a board meeting and Dr Don Blake leaves others to close up at the end of an operation so that Iron Man and Thor can attend the court martial. Captain America is already there. He will do his duty as prosecutor but hopes the result will be acquital.
Janet Pym awoke alone again this morning as her husband continues to work in his locked lab. Worried, she turns Wasp-sized and sneaks in to find that Henry has built an adamantium robot Salvation-1, or Sal for short. It can identify Avengers visually or by brain-wave pattern. Hank is surprised when it reports 2 Avengers present, and then realises his wife is there. He gets angry and accuses her of spying on him. He demonstrates his invention by letting it attack Wasp with it's pincer claws. Then he stops it with a precisely aimed disruptor stinger blast at Sal's secret weak spot.
YJ explains his plan. If, as he expects, the court martial turns against him then he'll signal Sal to attack. The team won't be able to stop an adamantium robot, and then he'll save the day as he just did. Jan is understandably unhappy about this. But her husband hits her, giving her a black eye, and orders her not to warn the Avengers.
The other Avengers are waiting, including newbie Tigra who feels awkward sitting in judgement on a founding member. The Pyms arrive late, Jan in civilian clothes and dark glasses. (She won't get a vote on her husband's case.) Cap reiterates the charge. And now it's YJ's turn to speak.
Hank pleads not guilty. He doesn't dispute the sequence of events Cap described. But he claims that the Elf-Queen might have been only pretending to give up - she might have been preparing a sneak attack. So Hank actually saved Steve's life. But Cap trusted her because he fancied her. And now he's got it in for Hank because YJ hurt his woman.
The other Avengers can't believe their ears. Henry Pym turns to Janet for confirmation of his story. But she just shows the team her black eye. So YJ calls in Salvation-1.
Wasp tells them the robot is made of adamantium, and true to Hank's plan they can't stop it. But he isn't prepared for the savagry with which it attacks. It even hits him, designed to allay suspicion, but its blow makes him dizzy and he can't aim his stinger. The robot is crushing its maker's ribs when Wasp hits the sweet spot with her stinger. And Sal collapses.
The other Avengers can't believe what YJ just tried. And he can't take being upstaged by his wife again. So he staggers out without waiting for the verdict.