Avengers #271Avengers #271
Title: “Breakaway!”
Writer: Roger Stern
Breakdowns: John Buscema
Finished Art: Tom Palmer
Colors: Christie Scheele
Editor: Mark Gruenwald
Black Knight stands with his arms folded. Hercules sits on a stool throwing grapes into the air and into his mouth. Wasp stands with her hands on her hips when she shouts, “What do you mean, ‘the Sub-Mariner’s gone off to Atlantis?” Dane tells Wasp about how Byrrah, Namor’s cousin, had gotten into the mansion and told Namor about Attuma’s conquering Atlantis and holding Marrina as a prisoner. He says that he wanted to call in the other Avengers, but that Namor said it was a personal matter. Wasp says that she can’t believe Namor would just take off like that. She wonders what he was thinking. Hercules says that Namor’s facing Attuma alone is a point of honor, but that he wouldn’t expect a woman to understand such things. Wasp gets right up in Herc’s face and starts poking his chest. She says that she understands honor just fine, but that it will take Namor days to get there while they could have taken him there in minutes. She says that he would have thought of that if he had anything but muscle between his ears. Hercules gets up off the stool and raises his hand with the grapes still in them. He says that he has endured her insults long enough. Wasp asks Hercules about his insults. Black Knight leaps up and tells Hercules not to because he thinks that Herc is going to hit Wasp. Hercules says, “You, too, Dane Whitman? Orders from you, too?” Herc smashes the grapes into the bowl shattering it. He storms off and says that he will return when he is accorded the respect due an immortal of Olympus. Dane tries to stop him, but Wasp tells him to let Herc go and cool off. She says that maybe he will ready to show some respect for his teammates. Dane asks what if Herc doesn’t cool off or come back. Wasp says that they will deal with it. Dane leans against the counter and puts his face in his hand, “Yeah, sure.”
Herc walks down the street brooding. He says that all of his wives together weren’t as demanding as the Wasp. He says that he has half a mind to return to Olympus. Herc comes to a truck turned over in the street. The cop is writing the driver a ticket as the driver pleads his case. Herc walks up to the truck and the driver tells him to get away. Herc asks if there are any breakables inside. The driver says that there are only mattresses inside. Herc tells them to stand back and lifts the truck upright. As the cop starts directing traffic around him the driver walks up to thank Hercules. He says that his boss would have taken it out of his pay and that Herc should at least let him buy him a drink. Hercules says that there may be hope for mankind yet and tells the man to lead the way.
Blocks away, Wasp sits in her car brooding. Carrothers asks Wasp where she wants to go, but Wasp just tells him to drive. She thinks that Namor couldn’t have picked a worse time to play ‘lone Avenger’ after making a big deal about going to court over his lawsuit. She thinks about the Avengers’ government priority clearance being under review and that hopefully Namor’s leaving won’t leak out. Suddenly Carrothers tells Wasp that the silent alarm at her apartment has been tripped. He asks if he should alert the police. Wasp says that she will handle it herself. She shrinks and flies out of the car. Wasp says that she hopes that whoever broke in is stupid enough to try something because she would welcome an excuse to hand someone their head. Wasp lands and a voice says that he thought she would never get there. Wasp sees Paladin sitting on her couch drinking champagne. He says that he just caught Belgium’s most notorious jewel thief and that the diamond merchants he was working for gave him a bonus. He says that he thought he would celebrate with one of his favorite people. He says that he hopes that she doesn’t mind him letting himself in. She says that a call first would have been nice. He says that he kept getting her answering machine. He guesses that she is angry with him. Wasp says that she is angry, but that it isn’t at him. She says that it is good to see him, but that it is a little early for champagne. He says that he is still on European time, but that she should try relaxing from the stress of leading the Avengers. He asks what the problem is. She says that he doesn’t want to know when the phone rings. Wasp listens and says that she would be interested in that. She tells Paladin that maybe he is changing her luck and asks if he wants to come with her. He says that he will and asks where they are going. Wasp says that they are headed to the Passaic County Jail.
At the New York offices of the FBI, a voice calls out to Agent Freeman. When Agent Freeman answers it, Captain Marvel appears before him. She asks him to forgive her entrance. She says that she knows that the Avengers aren’t on the best terms with the government, but that she needs information and thought that since they worked together before he might help. He guesses that she wants to know about Moonstone. Marvel says that she heard on the radio that Moonstone escaped police custody. Freeman says that she had some kind of super-powered help, but that it might be part of something bigger. He says that a number of super-criminals have been broken out of jail recently. He says that someone tunneled into Grey Gargoyle’s cell at Levenworth. He says that the walls to Whirlwind’s ward in the prison hospital were ripped open in the night. He says that Mister Hyde was being transferred to a maximum security facility, but that the can that was carrying him was found cut in two. He says that at first they thought that it was part of those super-criminals being murdered, but that these breakouts seem to have been masterminded. Marvel asks him to keep her posted. Agent Freeman tells Marvel to call him Derek and asks her out for Mexican food, Marvel says that she is busy this week but to keep her in mind. As Marvel leaves, Derek says that it will be a long time until next week.
Captain Marvel returns to Avengers mansion and thinks to herself that Derek is polite, intelligent, and gorgeous. She thinks that it will be a long week. She happens upon Black Knight doing experiments on his ebony blade and asks him if there is something wrong with it. Dane says that he is just trying to find out how it works. He says that it can cut through almost anything, and that it can deflect most energy, but that it wasn’t till he faced Moonstone that he discovered that it could absorb energy. Dane tells her that the sword was forged by a meteorite by Merlin and that he then put the sword through all sorts of spells to make it invincible. Marvel asks him if that bothers him. Dane says that it does a little and that he is the only scientist who has a magic sword. He says that she came there for tests of her own though. She says that she wants better control of her powers. Dane says that she doesn’t need much help and that from the looks of it she has mastered the entire electromagnetic spectrum and a whole lot more. He shows her the records of her becoming everything from radio waves to x-rays, He says that she can even become particle beams like cosmic rays. Marvel says that it is just too dangerous for her to be using cosmic rays and x-rays around people. Dane says that he may have an alternative. He asks her if she has ever heard of neutrinos and that they are safer than mother’s milk. Marvel says that he has heard of neutrons. Dane says that neutrinos are different. He says that they are mass less and that they can go through anything. He says that if she can tune herself into becoming neutrinos that they can test her against the largest source of neutrinos in the area… the Sun.
At Passaic County Jail, Yellowjacket asks
Wasp and Paladin what they are doing there. She says that she
doesn’t have to talk to them. Wasp says that she will if she
is smart. She asks her where she got the Yellowjacket costume she
was wearing and that it wasn’t one of Henry Pym’s.
Yellowjacket says that maybe she made it herself. She says that
it is amazing what you can do with a simplicity pattern. Wasp
says that Yellowjacket can’t afford to laugh and that she
has seen her record. She says that she has a couple of minor
convictions, but that the thefts she committed as Yellowjacket
have put her in big trouble. Yellowjacket says that they
don’t scare her and that she knows her rights. She says that
she doesn’t have to talk to them with or without her lawyer.
A man and woman enter the room and tell Yellowjacket that she is
right. They ask how dare they question their client without the
presence of council. Paladin tells them to relax and that
Yellowjacket said she knew her rights. Wasp says that she
certainly isn’t incriminating herself. The man says that he
insists that they leave. Wasp recognizes the man and swipes the
fake beard of his chin. Wasp says that she never forgets a face.
Grey Gargoyle tells Mimi to help him. Mimi lets out a scream and
Wasp, Paladin, and Yellowjacket all fall to the ground. Gargoyle
says that he is glad he wore those earplugs that she gave him.
He asks how
long they will be incapacitated. Mimi says that was a mild scream
and that the average person should be out for 15 to 30 minutes.
Duval says that he doesn’t see the need for his disguise
anymore. He waves his hand in front of his face and transforms
back into the Grey Gargoyle. Gargoyle asks how their
“client” is. Mimi takes off her lawyer outfit and says
that Yellowjacket will be all right. Gargoyle tells Mimi to tend
to her while he turns Paladin to stone for an hour or so. Paladin
kicks Gargoyle and says that “stoning was outlawed in these
parts years ago!” Paladin’s head is swimming, but he
takes off after Gargoyle. Gargoyle punches Paladin through a
wall. Mimi tells Gargoyle to stop clowning around and reminds him
that they have a schedule to keep. Yellowjacket mumbles that her
head hurts. Mimi says that it will fade in time. Wasp is at wasp
size on the floor. She thinks to herself that Screaming Mimi was
a wrestler who was put in jail a while back. She wonders what she
is doing with Gargoyle. Wasp says that it seems that Mimi has
forgotten about her and that is a mistake. Wasp grabs Mimi’s
ankle and starts toppling her over. Mimi lets out a scream, Wasp
begins hallucinating. She weakly flies away.
Captain Marvel has flown to the sun. She begins to feel the neutrinos and says that it feels as though she isn’t even there. She says that it is hard to maintain. She says that she has to use all of her concentration and that she will report in later. Dane tries to tell her that she is breaking up, but then he realizes that this isn’t a two-way conversation. He says that there is an eight-minute transmission delay and that it will be sixteen minutes before he even knows if she heard him. He thinks that she sounded weird and hopes that she is going to be okay. Suddenly the alarm goes off. Dane goes over and sees that it is the Wasp’s emergency beacon from somewhere in Jersey. Dane tries to contact all active Avengers.
In a cheap waterfront tavern, Hercules is arm wrestling five sailors at the same time. One of the customers tells Herc to hang on and that he has twenty bucks riding on him. Herc tells him not to worry and that his wager is safe. Herc smashes his arm down to the table so hard that the table shatters. Herc inadvertently damages his transceiver so he never hears Black Knight.
Captain America is riding along on his motorcycle when he gets Dane’s message. He asks what is up and when Dane tells him he says that he will head east at once, but that it will take him a few hours to get there. He suggests that Dane have Captain Marvel check it out since she is fastest. Dane thinks to himself that he can’t since he doesn’t even know if she is zoning out in solar orbit. He says that Herc isn’t answering and that he maybe the Wasp’s only hope, but that if he should leave and Captain Marvel should need his help that he couldn’t respond.
Wasp wakes up in the dark. She blasts her way out to discover that she was inside a concrete wastebasket. She sees Paladin is pinned under a solid concrete desk. He tells her that they only have a few minutes head start and that she should go since he can take care of himself. Wasp flies and says that it is easy to tell which way they went since everyone is frozen as a concrete statue. Paladin tries to get the leverage needed to push the ton heavy desk off of him.
As they drive down the road in a red van, Gargoyle says that Mimi said they would be out for at least 15 minutes. Mimi says that she said the average person would be, but that neither of them are average. He asks her if she can’t drive any faster. Mimi tells him to relax and try to stay out of sight. She says that they don’t want to draw too much attention. Wasp is flying over the van and says that it is too late. Wasp shoots out one of the tires with a sting. The van veers off the road and runs into the outside wall of a tunnel. Gargoyle rips through the van and tries to grab the Wasp. Wasp tries to elude him long enough for back-up to show.
In the back of the van, Yellowjacket wakes up in her costume. She hears a radio calling out to Gargoyle and Mimi. Yellowjacket tells the voice that Mimi is unconscious and that Gargoyle is chasing the Wasp. She asks who this is. The voice says that is unimportant, but that what is important is that she gets out of there. He tells her to listen to him carefully.
Gargoyle rips a tree out of the ground. He says that Wasp is slowing and that he will swat her out of the air. Black Knight swoops in on his atomic steed and cuts the tree in two. Dane asks Wasp if she is okay. Wasp says that she just needs to catch her breath and asks where the others are. Dane says that for now he is it. Gargoyle launches the remainder of the tree at them, but Black Knight just cuts the thing right down the middle with his ebony sword. Gargoyle grabs the sword and says that he thinks he will turn Dane and his sword into stone. Gargoyle screams in pain and asks Dane what he has done to him. Dane says that his sword doesn’t like him and that he doesn’t care for him much either. Black Knight punches out Gargoyle. Wasp says that is real good, but asks where everybody else is. Dane starts to tell her, but Paladin shows up with a gagged Mimi. He compliments Dane on handling Gargoyle, but says that he is afraid Yellowjacket has flown. Dane asks what is going on and who Paladin is. Wasp starts to make introductions when Captain Marvel arrives and introduces herself. After Dane and Marvel are briefed, Marvel says that it was smart for Dane to set up the repeating recorded message. Dane asks her if she is all right. Marvel says that she is fine. Dane says that her last few transmissions were garbled and that he was worried. He thinks to himself that he was worried he had doomed her just so he could play hero in front of the Wasp. Paladin says that Yellowjacket will turn up and that two out of three isn’t bad. Dane notices that Paladin seems pretty “chummy” with Wasp and wonders where she knows him from.
Days later at Avengers mansion, Dane tells Cap that there is nothing new to report. He says that Gargoyle and Mimi still refuse to why they broke Yellowjacket out of jail or if they know anything about the other prison breaks Captain Marvel uncovered. Cap says that he doesn’t like this. He says that each of these criminals are dangerous individually, but that together they could throw the world into chaos. He says that he is going to check with some of his friends in the intelligence community to see if they can learn anything. Dane is starting to ask Cap to check on a Paladin too, but he is interrupted by an incoming transmission from Namor. Cap answers Namor’s page and says that it is good to hear from him. Namor says that he is calling from the Hydrobase facility. He says that he has been repelled by Attuma’s forces and though it pains him to do so he needs the Avengers or an innocent woman may die.
Avengers Files rating: 9 out of 10
We’re still in the starting gate, but we’re almost ready to break out. The foreshadowing continues as does the magnificent art. My only real complaint with the issue is the inclusion of the Paladin. What a boring character. Still he serves his purpose and that is to set the Black Knight’s jealousy building. Art gets a 5 out of 5.