Synopsis
Avengers, The (1963 series) #185 synopsis by
Rob Johnson
Rating:
The current Avengers (Beast, Captain America, Falcon, Iron Man, Ms Marvel, Vision and Wasp) plus recently-fired Hawkeye survey the damage from last issue's fight with Absorbing Man. There's no sign of their foe when the police arrive, because he dissolved himself into the ocean. So Iron Man promises that Tony Stark will cover the costs.
Newest recruit Falcon bemoans the fact that he wasn't any use in the fight. Hawkeye is disgusted that they've replaced him with someone like that (despite the fact that he didn't do anything after the Avengers arrived, and his arrows didn't have any effect on Crusher Creel before that). But he changes into his civvies and leaves, with ill grace.
The team return to Avengers Mansion. Beast leaves for a date. Iron Man leaves to repair his armour ...
... and later Tony Stark turns up to check the new security system installed in #183. He finds Ms Marvel bonding with Jocasta. The 2 humans start to flirt, so the robot Jocasta leaves them to it, and goes to see the android Vision. She asks if he's worried about his absent wife Wanda, on a journey to Europe with her brother Pietro. But Vision seems to have returned to his old identity problem, because he says that machines like him can't worry.
That's it for the current Avengers for this issue, because we now turn to Scarlet Witch on her leave of absence with brother Quicksilver and their putative father Django Maximoff in Transia some days later.
They are welcomed to an inn for the night, the twins recognised as the famous superheroes (and even known by their names Wanda and Pietro Frank). Wanda goes to her room, and the men share the 1 next door. But Pietro can't sleep, and recalls why they are here.
Wanda and Pietro believe that they are the children of the WWII heroes Whizzer (Robert Frank) and Miss America who were adopted as infants by gypsies (as Wanda learned in Giant-Size Avengers #1). But gypsy Django Maximoff claims they are his own children Ana and Mateo.
Pietro's memories match up with much of what Django said. He remembers being brought up by gypsies, and his 'father' making puppets. He remembers he and his sister fleeing from the camp as it was burned down by villagers.
But Wanda has told him of Bob Frank's story of how they were born to Madeline Frank in the High Evolutionary's citadel on Mount Wundagore. Madeline died and they were looked after by the evolved cow midwife Bova. And Wanda herself claims to remember them running away as teens from Mount Wundagore (as she said in GS#1). Pietro himself remembers that they both returned to this area when Scarlet Witch's powers ebbed. And that they were often told of lights in the sky over Mount Wundagore on the night they were born.
Meanwhile Wanda is asleep, but is awakened by a medieval-garbed figure appearing in her room (speaking mock-Shakespeare). He names himself Modred and offers to show her the secrets of her past. He tells her to come without Pietro, because only magic-users can go this way. And he magics her costume on to save time.
They travel in 2 balls of light to Wundagore Mountain. They are attacked by a laser-blasting mechanical tentacle which Modred calls a dragon but Wanda reckons must be a device of the High Evolutionary. Whatever, she blasts it with a hex bolt.
They approach the ruins of HE's citadel, also called Wundagore. Then they see a floating altar, and a book floating above it. And Modred downs the Witch with a sorcerous blast in the back.
The next morning Django and Pietro come to find Wanda, and instead find her gone. Quicksilver does a high-speed search of the village but can find no sign of his sister. Then the inn-keeper's little daughter tells him she saw Wanda flying off to Mount Wundagore last night.
The mutant speedster races up the steep mountain-side (drawn almost vertical), but runs into a forcefield near the top. He bounces back down the way he came, and is knocked unconscious.
When he awakens he's in a house on the mountain with the midwife cow Bova.