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Avengers #32

Sep 2000

Kurt Busiek, Paul Ryan

Story Name:

Behind the Masque

Synopsis

Avengers #32 synopsis by Rob Johnson

Rating:

This crossover continues from THUNDERBOLTS #42.

She-Hulk leaves the team because she was only here filling in for the absent Vision, and he returned last issue. Wasp, Scarlet Witch and Edwin Jarvis see her off. But as 1 person goes another drops in to the Avengers Mansion. Black Widow's here because Iron Man left her an urgent message. The 3 females go join the 4 current male Avengers in main basement meeting room ...

... where they are remote-confabbing with Sharon Carter, Director Of SHIELD, and Agent Jasper Sitwell over their joint operation last issue against Grim Reaper and the Maggia. Iron Man wants the Avengers to deal with Maggia boss Madame Masque alone if SHIELD finds her. Director Carter says her predecessor Nick Fury wouldn't make deals like that and Sitwell says MM died in the raid. But IM knows more than he's telling ...

... which is why he asked Natasha Romanoff to bring a special coin with her. The pair leave the room for a private conference, and IM says he'll send for the others when he's ready. Wanda Maximoff bridles at his assumption of command when Wasp is the team leader, but Jan Van Dyne is cutting him some slack because anything to do with Madame Masque is personal to him. She changes the subject by asking Wanda if she's heard any more of her lover Simon Williams since Wonder Man was reported fighting the Thunderbolt Atlas a few days ago (TBolts#42), and the answer's no.

Goliath's in the room but hasn't said anything. Jarvis informs Triathlon that he has a call from Jonathan Tremont, leader of the Triune Understanding 'religion' to which he belongs. On the way to the main comms room Delroy Garrett asks Edwin if like the others he thinks the Triunes are just a cult. Butler Jarvis as ever answers diplomatically. Tremont tells Delroy he wants him to attend a rally on Friday. Garrett replies that Avengers business may take priority, which doesn't please the man who seemingly gave him his powers. The 7th Avenger Warbird overhears as she returns from a workout and figures Triathlon may not be the Triune spy some of the team think he is.

She enters the meeting room where Henry Pym is bending the patient ear of his ex-wife/current lover Jan over a tech mod he's proposing. Carol Danvers mentions to Wanda that she's in need of some fun, but it is synthezoid Vision who asks her out on a dinner date. Carol is taken aback and Hank & Jan look apprehensive. Vizh takes their cue and asks *his* ex-wife Wanda if it would be alright. She smiles and answers 'weird but OK'. Carol hesitantly accepts the offer.

Jarvis contacts them to say that Iron Man and Madame Natasha are ready to see them now. It is Scarlet Witch who replies that *they* can join the rest of the team here.

But we take a short break to see a bar fight in pub near Columbia University. A fight which started over a dispute about a Physics Nobel Prize and is being won by an exhilarated Henry Pym! (This is obviously the alternate Hank who has been secretly hanging around as miniature Yellowjacket in recent issues.)

The Golden Avenger (still in his old armour from the (real time) late 70s/early 80s) reminds the team (and us) of last issue's events:- They and SHIELD raided a meeting of Maggia bosses with Grim Reaper. It turned out 1 of GR's objectives was to capture Madame Masque for his employer, but she self-destructed to foil him. The team should know that IM has a long complicated history with MM, and he tells them this isn't the 1st time recently he's seen her dead body. She's been fished out of the New York waters 3 times (#245 of the original IM run and #11&20 of the current 1). Then there was a live similar person called Masque who became an honorary Avenger (she turned up during the Crossing event and hung out until #399).

Black Widow was leading the Avengers then and she relates how a tentacled robot named Benedict defeated the Avengers to take Masque away (#398-399). In exchange he gave Tasha a gold disc (the coin she's brought here). She now tells them that the disc contained info on all the Maggia families except Madame Masque's Las Vegas 1, which the Avengers shared with SHIELD. IM adds that the multiple dead MM's lead him to suspect that the real deal is still alive and still running the Vegas Maggia.

So now we look inside a butte in the Nevada desert near Vegas and find a hi-tech complex where operatives keep track of the activities of all other Maggia families and report to Madame Masque that there's no sign of hostile action towards her. But their paranoid leader won't believe them. She's surrounded by robots, the tentacled Benedict and other more-conventional 'bots ironically named after famous traitors (Brutus, Fawkes, Quisling and Monmouth - and Benedict is probably named after Benedict Arnold). She refers to the MM who died last issue as a bio-duplicate, and says it was the only 1 she had active at this time. She orders the robots to get another duplicate ready and down-loaded with her memories within days. She needs someone to take her place in the world while she continues to stay here in safety.

Then she remembers all the betrayals she has suffered:- She was brought up as Whitney Frost, daughter of rich financier Byron Frost. But when he died she was told that she was really Giuletta Nefaria and her true father was Count Luchino Nefaria, a European Maggia boss. When he learned the truth her political fiancé disavowed her. Then she allowed Nefaria to train her as his 2nd-in-command and successor. So that when he was arrested and sent to jail she became head of (his) Maggia. (A shortened version of what we learned in #8 of the original IM run.)

Her memories continue:- Her Maggia world fell apart and her men turned on her in that #8. During her escape she crashed and her face was disfigured, and she was given a gold mask and the identity Madame Masque by Mordecai Midas (all revealed in #17-19). She claims here that Midas betrayed her, but actually she betrayed him by helping Tony Stark escape. She also says that Jasper Sitwell, who professed to love her also betrayed her. (We see a panel from #106 where JS has a gun to her head. This is somewhat misleading but it is true that Jasper was conflicted about his love for her and his duty.) She also remembers Tony claiming to love her. (A minor image from #109 is used but their relationship goes back a long way to before the MM days. And she omits to mention that for a long time she, Tony and Jasper were a triangle.) But then he betrayed her trust (#116) by refusing to help her and killing her father. (She doesn't accept the fact that Nefaria died as a side-effect of her attacking Stark.) It was then she retreated to this hideout and started sending out bio-duplicates to represent her (and all apps since then are now attributed to these duplicates).

But the duplicates kept betraying her by doing their own thing. And the worst of them was the 1 who called herself Masque. Apparently she escaped before she was fully imprinted and joined MM's enemies the Avengers, but MM foiled her plot by sending Benedict to capture her and divert the Avengers attention to her other enemies the rival Maggia families. Now we see that Masque is alive in 1 of comics' ubiquitous containment tubes, alongside other misshapen duplicates who I think are still in development. Apparently part of the imprinting process will give them MM's appearance (but they all already have their masks on).

Masque tries to explain that initially she didn't know who or what she was, but that she had the ability to mould her face into the image of someone another person loved. She says MM sent Benedict after her and he killed the only friend she made, so then she ran to find Iron Man who she sensed loved MM/her. (I don't know what Benedict killing her friend refers to, and it would have to have happened before Masque's 1st app IM#320.)

Masque also says she knows Whitney loves Tony Stark, but Frost protests (too much) that she doesn't. Iron Man proved himself her enemy yet again recently when he made it seem that her father was still alive and in his powerful ionic state - an obvious trick to lure her out of her sanctuary. (This was IM Annual 1999 and it was real and nothing to do with MM.) Masque says she's met Tony and read his emotions, and she knows he never meant Whitney any harm. She urges her to overcome her paranoia and trust him. But Whitney can't afford to let her guard down - the Avengers must be hunting her even now.

But actually it's another enemy who comes calling. Grim Reaper has persuaded some Maggia Las Vegas sub-capos to tell him about this desert hideaway and it's weaknesses. He's brought a team of Taskmaster's mercenaries he calls his Steelskulls to invade the place. But SHIELD has tracked *him* here and sent the Avengers (not including Black Widow) to handle them. The minions aren't eager to clash with the superheroes until Reaper encourages them with his scythe. So battle is joined and fairly quickly over. GR tries to escape but (literally) runs into his 'brother' Vision.

Then Madame Masque sends out her robots, including Benedict, urged on by a large hologram of her head to deal with obviously another trick by her foes. Iron Man tries to get through to her (both physically and emotionally). But then another group enters the equation - Atlas and Wonder Man are here from Thunderbolts #42 backing the very-much-alive Count Nefaria.

This conflict will actually continue next issue but 1st the crossover itself follows Black Widow to THUNDERBOLTS #43.

Review / Commentaries

Avengers #32 Review by Rob Johnson (June 5, 2020)

This time it's Albert Deschesne who helps with the lettering.

So She-Hulk wanders off but not far. She'll miss next issue but be back for the end of the crossover in Thunderbolts #44 and our #34.

Nick Fury left Sharon Carter in charge of SHIELD in Captain America #31. (We don't know it yet but he's gone off to find out what happened to Agent David Ferrari, brother of Cap's girlfriend Connie.) She was last seen in that issue and will go from here to another bit part in Iron Fist/Wolverine #3 and co-starring with Cap in the framing sequence of CA: Sentinel Of Liberty #1 before returning to her regular home in CA#33.

Jasper Sitwell has been an Agent Of SHIELD since Strange Tales #144, last seen in Cable #58. He's obviously been dragged into this story arc because of his relationship with Whitney Frost.

Black Widow is here following her 2nd mini-series (the 2nd to feature her relationship with the other BW, Yelena Belova). She'll stick with this crossover to the end.

The Triune Understanding subplot has been on the back burner for some issue, but it and Jonathan Tremont will be back in #36.

The 1st Madame Masque bio-duplicate featured from Iron Man #138 to #238 At the time we thought she was the real MM. and when she was killed by another MM in #238 (but her body wasn't found until #245) we assumed it was someone taking over the ID. But that was the 2nd duplicate who lasted until being killed by a successor in IM(1998)#10 (but again the body found later in the following issue). But that was actually duplicate 4 who was found dead in IM#21, obviously replaced by d5 who died last issue.
Duplicate 3 was Masque who overlapped d2 (because she escaped rather than being sent out).

The idea that the bio-duplicates can shapeshift to imitate someone's loved one is probably put in to explain how Masque copied Bethany Cabe and Marianne Rodgers during the Crossing event.

Count Nefaria gained superpowers in Avengers #164-166 but they started ageing him to death. His daughter MM tried to get a cure in IM#114-116 but he wound up dead. (But the Avengers issue (#3) of the 2004 Official Handbook series says that his appearance dead in Grim Reaper's Legion Of The Unliving (Av#353-354) was, like the other members, a fake.) He rose from the 'grave' as a man composed of ionic energy (as Wonder Man did long ago) in IM Annual 1999, but needing to drain other powered beings to maintain his power. After that in CA#28-31 he was in the Savage Land trying to create more ionic beings. Now he's got hold of fellow ionics Wonder Man and Atlas in Thunderbolts #42.

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Main/1st Story Full Credits

Kurt Busiek

Paul Ryan

Al Vey

Tom Smith

George Perez (Cover Penciler)
George Perez (Cover Inker)
Tom Smith (Cover Colorist)

Additional Credits

Layouts: George Perez. Letterer: Richard Starkings.
Editor: Tom Brevoort. Editor-in-chief: Bob Harras.

All stories. Listed in alphabetical order.

Atlas
(Erik Stephen Josten)

Avengers

Black Widow
(Natasha Romanoff)

Count Nefaria
(Luchino Nefaria)

Grim Reaper
(Eric Williams)

Iron Man
(Anthony Stark)

Jarvis
(Edwin Jarvis)

Jasper Sitwell

Madame Masque
(Giulietta Nefaria)

Scarlet Witch
(Wanda Maximoff)

Sharon Carter

She-Hulk
(Jennifer Walters)

Vision

Wasp
(Janet Van Dyne)

Wonder Man
(Simon Williams)

Yellowjacket
(Hank Pym)

Plus: Benedict, Goliath (Hank Pym), Jonathan Tremont, Masque, Triathlon (Delroy Garrett Jr.), Warbird (Carol Danvers).

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