Avengers vol. 3 #32Avengers vol. 3 #32
Title: "Behind the Masque!”
Writer: Kurt Busiek
Layouts: George Perez
Penciller: Paul Ryan
Inker: Al Vey
Colors: Tom Smith
Editor: Tom Brevoort
CONTINUED FROM THUNDERBOLTS #42
In front of the mansion, Wasp thanks She-Hulk for helping them out. She says that she wishes she could stay longer. She-Hulk says that it has been fun, but reminds Wasp that she said she would stay until Vision had returned and that now he has. She says that if she doesn’t get back to her law practice soon that there won’t be one when she does go back. She-Hulk says that they are after the Grim Reaper right now and that they don’t really need extra muscle for that. She says that if something comes up or if her cousin shows up again that she will “come a-runnin’”. As She-Hulk walks off, Black Widow is walking up to the mansion. Black Widow says hello to all and that Iron Man left a message with her service asking her to come by. She says that she was told it was urgent. She-Hulk says that sounds interesting and that she better get out of there. She-Hulk says to tell Triathlon that she said “so long”. Black Widow asks who that is. Wasp says that he is their newest member. Wasp says that Iron Man is in the basement coordinating with SHIELD.
Iron Man sends over all the reports about the incident in Chicago. Director Sharon Carter and Agent Sitwell receive the reports. Iron Man says that they will be ready to act if they get a line on the Reaper. Iron Man says that if they turn up anything on Madame Masque that the Avengers want first crack at bringing her in. Sharon says that she doesn’t like making deals and that Fury wouldn’t have. Iron Man says that Fury isn’t in charge right now. He tells her to do things her way. Agent Sitwell tells Iron Man to show some respect and that according to their reports that Masque died in Chicago. Iron Man says that they won’t mind humoring him then. Wasp and Wanda walk in with Black Widow. She says that if he is done annoying the government that he has a visitor. Iron Man thanks Natasha for coming and asks if she brought the coin. Black Widow says that she has it with her. Iron Man tells the others that they need to confer and that he will let them know when he is ready for them. As they walk out, Wanda asks Wasp who Iron Man thinks is running the team. Wasp says that he just gets that way sometimes. She says that he is worked up since this is pretty personal with him. She says that the trick is knowing when to push and when to let him run with it. Wasp asks Wanda if there has been any news of Simon. Wanda says that there hasn’t been anything since the report a few days ago about how Simon fought with Atlas of the Thunderbolts and then carried him off. She says that she wishes she knew why they were fighting and if the Thunderbolts have returned to evil or if Simon was being controlled. Wasp says that she wouldn’t worry too much. Wanda says that she isn’t and that she has worried enough. She says that Simon has been through a lot. Jarvis walks up to Triathlon and tells him that he has a call from a Jonathan Tremont in the comm-room.
As they walk to the comm-room, Triathlon asks Jarvis if he agrees with the others that Tremont is a con man and that the Triune Understanding is a religious cult. Jarvis says that he couldn’t say. Triathlon says that Jarvis can’t go wrong keeping an open mind.
Tremont greets Triathlon. Triathlon says that it is an honor to get his call. Tremont says that they are honored by him. He tells Triathlon that they have a rally in Boston on Friday and that they would like him to be a part of it. Triathlon says that he will make it if he can, but that the Avengers are in the middle of a case and that he may be needed. Tremont reminds Triathlon that the Understanding did turn his life around and give him his powers. He says that he is their highest profile member and that people have become interested since he became an Avenger. Triathlon says that he is grateful, but the fact remains that he did join the Avengers. He says that he doesn’t like how he joined, but that it is still something he takes seriously. He says that he will attend the rally if he can, but that his responsibilities as an Avenger have to come first. Warbird overhears the end part of the conversation.
As she walks down the hall, she thinks that Triathlon doesn’t seem to be the raving security risk that people originally thought. She says that she can understand him being ticked when he joined, but that someone should straighten this all out. Warbird walks into the room with Goliath, Wasp, Vision, and Scarlet Witch. Vision asks if she enjoyed her workout. Warbird says that she did, but that she is going a little stir crazy. She says that she is back in New York, but that all his old friends are gone. She says that she wants to get into some trouble. Wanda starts to speak, but Vision pops up and asks if she would have dinner with him tonight. He apologizes if he startled her. He says that he has been trying to be more active in seeking a full life for himself. He says that he is a free man, and that he has always been attracted to strong women. Warbird stammers. Vision says that he sees. He asks Wanda if this would be a problem for her. Wanda says that it would be a little weird, but that she has no claim to him. Warbird says that she guesses it will be okay then. Jarvis buzzes in and says that Iron Man asked him to tell them that they are ready for them now. Wanda tells Jarvis to tell Iron Man that they are still in the main assembly room and ready for him any time he wants to join them.
In a bar near Columbia University a fight has broken out. It started when someone said that Fritz Zernicke hadn’t deserved the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1953. The words were met with sarcasm and gave way to shoving. Things escalated from there and at the heart of the fight is the man that started it all… Dr. Henry Pym… and he is having the time of his life.
Iron Man tells the others that a few days ago they invaded a meeting of Maggia leaders in Chicago. Iron Man says that it has been arranged by the Grim Reaper to capture at least one Maggia leader, Madame Masque for his employer. Iron Man says that it should be noted that he and Madame Masque have had a past involvement. Iron Man says that Reaper failed and that Masque died during the battle. He says that he is convinced that there is more to this that they saw. He says that this isn’t the first time Masque has died. He says that there have been three times when a body has been recovered from a body of water and that in each case the bodies were identical. He says that they were identical enough to fool anyone into thinking that they were Madame Masque. Tony thinks back to when he identified Whitney Frost’s body. Stark says that they aren’t the only Masque’s to turn up in recent memory. He says that there was even a Masque that earned honorary Avengers status for aiding the Avengers a while back. He says that she was similar to the other masks, but that she was someone else. Black Widow tells Iron Man that she will take the story from here. She says that the last time anyone saw that Masque was when they were under attack by a tentacled robot. She says that the robot had effortlessly shut down the nervous systems of Vision, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, and even Thor. Widow says that the only thing the robot did was kidnap Masque. Widow says that she is ashamed to admit that she didn’t even try to stop it. She says that she tried to tell herself that it was because she couldn’t defeat it, but the truth was that she never trusted Masque. As the robot took her she threw the Black Widow a gold coin and said that it was information. Black Widow holds up the coin and says that it contains encrypted data about the Maggia’s families and all the Vegas-based groups Madame Masque led… or leads. Widow says that she turned the information over to SHIELD. Iron Man says that it is an Avengers matter again because of the Grim Reaper and his unknown employer and because of what Madame Masque told him last night. Iron Man says that her head blew up, and that four dead Madame Masques is too many for him to believe that the real Madame Masque is anything but alive.
In the Nevada desert, south of Las Vegas, stands what appears to be an ordinary butte. Inside the butte is the main chamber. Inside it is bright and dry. Men are working industriously, receiving coded messages and sending out commands. One of the men reports to Madame Masque and says that there has been no hostile operations detected. She tells him to keep at it. She says that she must remain ever vigilant and that her enemies are always around her plotting. She says that she must never show any sign of weakness. She says that she was unprepared for the Reaper’s assault and that it must never happen again. She says that the lost her only active bio-duplicate in a time when she needs to maintain a presence in the real world. Masque starts giving orders and says that they must bring another bio-duplicate on-line in days since she can’t go outside where her enemies could get her. As the robots go about their duties, Masque tells them that there can be no more errors. She says that she can’t afford any more vulnerability or betrayals.
Whitney thinks back into her past. She recalls being raised to believe she was the daughter of financier Byron Frost. She says that it was all a lie and that the man she thought was her father was actually only an employee to her real father the criminal mastermind Count Nefaria. She turned to her fiancée, but he turned her back on her and she experienced her second betrayal. She returned to Nefaria, as he said was her destiny, He trained her to be his second in command, but he betrayed her as well when he was arrested. Whitney became the head of the Maggia. Eventually her men failed her and she was forced to flee from the authorities. She crashed and was rescued by Mordecai Midas. He hid her ruined face behind a golden mask and she became Madame Masque for the first time, but he too betrayed her and tried to kill her. She thinks all men, fathers, lovers, employers, all betray and fail her. SHIELD agent, Jasper Sitwell, who had professed to love her. Iron Man, Tony Stark, who she had given her heart to betrayed her when she came to him for help saving her father’s life and he murdered him. She says that it was then that she came to the butte and built the refuge.
Masque thinks about her bio-duplicates, her sisters, but they too betrayed her. Masque turns to the honorary Avenger Masque and says that her betrayal was the worst of all. She escaped during the imprinting process while she was still malleable and tried to betray her to the Avengers. The duplicate says that she made no move against her. She says that she didn’t know who she was or why she could change her face to those others thought of. She says that she was just overwhelmed. Masque says that she went to her enemies. The duplicate says that she sent Benedict after her and killed the one friend that she had made. She says that she ran and that the only one she could think of was Iron Man. She says that he loved her and that she could feel it and read it on him. She says that she can read off of her that she still loves him as well. She asks how reaching out to someone for solace can be bad. Masque says that she does not love Iron Man. She says that he is the one that made it seem like her father was alive and in his powerful state again. She says that it was obviously a ploy to bring her out of hiding. She says that even if it were true that she has designed a defense against him as well. She says that she is protected there. The duplicate asks how she can be protected when she fears everything and see enemies in every shadow. She begs her to take a chance. She says that she was built to absorb emotions and that she knows that Tony Stark never meant her any harm. Masque says that it would be so nice to believe that, but that she can’t show any vulnerability and that she has kept herself safe for so long. She says that she must be hunting her.
Outside, Grim Reaper’s ship lands and
his Steelskull troops walk out and take their positions. Reaper
walks out and says that the sub-capos that he shook down told him
about this place after he realized that the Masque he killed was
a fake. He tells them that their cloaking field won’t hide
them forever. He tells them to fan out and that they need men on
the north and south of the butte. He says that they need some on
top of the butte as well and that he will tell them where to
strike to kill her defenses. Reaper is telling his men to get
their jetpacks when he looks up and sees the Avengers standing
looking down on him. Wasp says that SHIELD has been tracking them
and that they felt they would have the best chance of taking him
down. Vision tells his brother that his power is no match for
theirs and that surrender is his best option. The Steelskulls
stand flabbergasted, but Reaper just calls them idiots. He fires
on the Avengers and asks what kind of “miserable
losers” the Taskmaster is producing these days. He says that
this is what their training was for and to attack. The
Steelskulls finally snap to and start firing. The Avengers start
whipping out the Steelskulls in short order. Reaper yells at them
to work as a team. He tells them to take out the biggest target
and work their way down. Reaper absorbs Iron Man’s repulsor
blast with his scythe. The troops start firing on Goliath, but
Warbird just absorbs the power and blasts it back at them. Reaper
freaks. He says that he has defeated them all on his own and that
he won’t be defeated here. Reaper strikes the ground and
sends Iron Man flying off his feet. Reaper starts to run for his
ship in the confusion, but while he is looking back he runs
squarely into Vision. Vision tells Reaper that he let him escape
once because he had helped them and he felt a kinship with him.
Vision says that it won’t happen again, but suddenly he is
hit in the back with a powerful purple energy. Madame
Masque’s visage appears over the butte. She says that she
knew they were playing her. She orders her robots out to kill
them all. Iron Man can sense that this Madame Masque is the real
Whitney Frost. He tries to tell her that they aren’t there
to hurt her, but he is overwhelmed by her robots. 
Suddenly a voice
says, “Really, now. This will never do. You’re standing
in the way of a family reunion, Avengers… and I’m
afraid I really have to protest!” The Avengers look up to
see Count Nefaria. He is followed on either side by a purple
glowing Wonder Man and a newly red glowing Atlas. Triathlon asks
who this guy is. Wasp just says, “Trouble, Triathlon, big
trouble…”
Avengers Files rating: 9 out of 10
Classic… just purely classic. Firstly I love the Grim Reaper working for Nefaria. Secondly I love that Simon and Reaper are working for Nefaria together. Third I love Madame Masque and the family ties with Nefaria. Fourth, I love bad Erik Josten. Fifth… well I just love that Nefaria is around. Perez does a great gob with the storytelling and substance. His “big reveal” with Nefaria, Wonder Man, and Atlas is truly a classic shot.
Review and pictures by The Leader