Synopsis
Avengers (1998 series) #55 synopsis by
Rob Johnson
Rating:
This is an epilogue to the Kang Dynasty War that ran through #41-54.
It's
3 weeks after the end of the War but there is a continuing vigil at a
memorial to all those who died in the destruction of Washington DC (#49).
Meanwhile in Avengers Mansion there is a court-martial hearing that Warbird insisted be held over her killing of the Master Of The World (#48). The court consists of Captain America, Iron Man, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Silverclaw, Wasp and Yellowjacket. They have already heard testimony from the other Avengers present at the event (Q, SC and YJ). Now they ask Carol Danvers to give *her* account. She reminds them how the Master had tech to defend North America from Kang
but wasn't going to help the rest of the world. Her team of 4 were sent
to gain control of that technology. But they were unable to subdue him,
so Warbird decided to ignore the Avengers no-kill rule and she
killed him. Subsequently when Kang attacked Washington the Master wasn't
alive to control that city's defences. If they'd captured him and
persuaded him to help, the people of Washington might still be alive.
They send Warbird out for a moment and then call her back to hear their unanimous verdict. Cap
tells her that the world was at war and the Avengers team were acting
as soldiers on an official mission to secure their objective at any
cost. As such the court finds her action was justified. Carol still
feels guilty about Washington but Iron Man insists that the blame lies
squarely with Kang. Her action enabled the Avengers to master the MOTW's tech and use it to defeat Kang (#53). Her friend Wanda Maximoff assures her that she still deserves to be an Avenger, as she always did.
Then
they all go out into the main sitting room of the Mansion where many
other Avengers are waiting to congratulate her. We see Edwin Jarvis, Firestar & Justice, Wonder Man, Jack Of Hearts, Black Widow, Photon, Living Lightning, Firebird, Stingray, She-Hulk and Hercules. Justice is giving advice to newbie JOH
as an 'old hand', to the embarrassment of girlfriend Firestar because
they 2 haven't been Avengers that much longer. Firebird asks Wasp if she
knows where Thor is, because she's still worried about him. Jarvis asks Photon to tell everyone to stay here for a while, and then tells IM that Mr Freeman will be here soon to see him. Cap comments to YJ that IM and their Government liaison Duane Freeman didn't get along after Duane revealed that he was a member of the Triune Understanding who were causing the Avengers trouble (in more issues than I can count).
But we leave things there and turn to Los Alamos, New Mexico where Peggy Chandler greets the triple being Triathlon/3-D Man/Hal Chandler. Triathlon had promised (#36) to find her husband Hal and bring him home. Now he uses the remains of the power he got from the Triple-Evil's pyramid (#50) to split the 3 men apart. Now Peggy embraces Hal and his brother Chuck (who hasn't aged since 1958 (Marvel Premier #35 to us) when he was absorbed into Hal as the 3-D Man). The brothers have now lost the 3-D Man powers. Delroy Garrett
is back to his own triple-level powers. He says that the Triune
Understanding movement is going to try to continue doing the good that
they did despite their corrupt ex-leader Jonathan Tremont. But he
won't be joining them, at least not for now. He'll head back to the
Avengers for a while to help them put the world back together.
Someone else who's not at the Mansion is the Vision who's watching the rebuilding of the UN building in his Victor Sage guise. (Kang destroyed it in #41.) Suddenly he runs into Darby Charvat
who it turns out works for a company helping with the job. Darby was 1
of the people he hung out with in Chicago when he was undercover (#31).
'Victor' unveils himself as Vision and apologises for the deception.
Darby says she guessed, and gives hjm her card in case he'd like to go
for a drink or to a ball game again.
Back at the Mansion Stingray
asks Jarvis if he could have a sandwich but the butler claims that the
kitchen is temporarily out of service, then goes to answer the front
door. Iron Man gets a video call from another absentee Black Knight
who's remained in Canada to study the Master's tech. Apparently when
they failed to provide an override code to the computer system (last
issue) all the MOTW's tech crumbled to dust worldwide. And Dane Whitman is sorry to have to report that there's no way they can retrieve anything.
Jarvis interrupts Shellhead to tell him that Mr Freeman is here. When IM goes to meet him we learn that it isn't Duane but his brother Derek Freeman.
It turns out that Duane died in the Washington disaster, and his
brother's here to pick up some of his things. Derek tells IM that Duane
was always a fan of the Avengers, including collecting memorabilia and
news cuttings. We see that he has a copy of #58 of the original run signed by some those involved including Iron Man himself.
The Golden Avenger
says that Duane was a joy to work with, but has to confess that he and
Duane fell out over the Triune Understanding. Since then they found out
that it was only the movement's leadership that were corrupt, but by
then it was too late to apologise to Duane. Derek tells him that he has
learned from his brother's notebook that Duane suspected that Jonathan
Tremont had gained access to Avengers secrets from his mind during
personal mental cleansing rituals. Because of that he had written a
resignation letter. IM is shocked because they would never have asked
for that.
Derek also says that Duane never lost respect for Iron
Man. When the Triune's got their member Triathlon appointed to the team
IM opposed it and Duane accused him of inferring guilt by association.
But Duane was impressed that the superhero listened and backed off. And
he figures that Duane understood how the Avengers really appreciated
him. And on the way out he leaves the comic book behind.
In the
main room the guests are trying to get Jarvis to spill the beans about
what they're waiting for. To 1 side Firebird is confessing to Cap, Wasp
and YJ that she thinks she drove Thor away. The immortal Thunder God told her in #45 that he was thinking of leaving the team and Midgard after the War was over and returning to Asgard
because associating with the fleeting lives of mortals was too painful.
Over succeeding issues she tried to persuade him that the pain was
worth it but then in #52 she lost her temper with him, and last issue he flew off when the fighting was done.
But
now Jarvis announces his surprise as Thor leads in a bevy of Asgardian
chefs bearing an Asgardian victory feast. The team are seated round a
huge dining table and Thor makes a speech before the meal begins. He
tells them of his desire to leave Midgard but then embarrasses Bonita Juarez
by saying that the 'wise young woman' stood up to him and taught him
the error of his ways. It is *knowing* that your friends will 1 day die
which makes their friendship all the more precious.
As Thor
toasts those lost Iron Man leaves. Wasp follows him and guesses where
he's going, and says she's coming with him and someone else will want to
join them. The duo and Captain America go to the Washington memorial
stone. Steve Rogers remembers how Duane Freeman even made Thor
back down once. They add a picture of Duane to others there and tape to
it the copy of Av#58.
CharactersGood (or All)Plus: Derek Freeman, Hal Chandler, Justice (
Vance Astrovik), Living Lightning (
Miguel Santos), Peggy Chandler, Photon (
Monica Rambeau), Silverclaw (
Lupe), Stingray (
Walter Newell), Triathlon (
Delroy Garrett Jr.), Warbird (
Carol Danvers).