Avengerous Tales 1.38 - 1960s Retrospective

Well, nerds and nerdlings, I can’t believe I’ve made it this far, but I have officially reviewed every single issue of The Avengers that was published in the 1960s.  We’ve come a long way, and to celebrate, I decided to take a brief respite before jumping into the sensational ‘70s and take a look back at what we’ve read so far.  After rereading all of my Avengerous Tales reviews (I am hilarious, I must say), I just want to share a few thoughts about the Avengers’ first six years of existence.

***Because this retrospective covers all previous comics, previous warnings apply.  These include: 

-racism

-racially motivated violence
-physical abuse
-emotional abuse

Best Storyline

I had trouble finding one, to be honest—not because there were so many awesome stories, but because there really weren’t that many that I’d classify as super-spectacular.  There were a lot of enjoyable ones, to be sure, but nothing made me go “WOW GIVE THESE PEOPLE A PRIZE.”

I wanted to pick Avengers #51-#52, a.k.a. The One Where the Avengers Are Almost Beaten by a Comb and Also Grim Reaper Cannot Dress Himself—not just because they’re immensely enjoyable but also because it featured Black Panther’s debut as an Avenger.  Unfortunately, there were just too many plot holes for me to justify giving them the title of Best Storyline.  Instead, I’m going with Avengers Annual #1, a.k.a. The One with the Diamond that Shoots Hate Rays.  Because IT’S A DIAMOND THAT SHOOTS HATE RAYS.

Sure, there were plot holes galore in this issue too—why didn’t Mandarin just take what he wanted instead of trying to manipulate governments into giving it to him?—but a diamond.  that shoots.  hate rays.  Once you get to that, you realize it’s the kind of story that is improved by plot holes rather than diminished by them since it only adds to the sheer ridiculousness of the whole mess.  Mandy’s plot is the very definition of “so bad it’s good,” and the whole thing is a wonderfully entertaining example of Silver Age crackiness.

Worst Storyline

At first I thought it’d be a toss-up between Avengers #32-#33, a.k.a. The One Where They Blame American Racism on Asian Communists, or Avengers #59-#60, a.k.a. The One Where They Completely Misrepresent Schizophrenia and Endorse Emotional Abuse.  But no.  Avengers #59-#60 is WAY worse.  It’s really not even close.

As bad as #32-#33 were, at least Marvel has dealt with racism since then.  But #59-#60?  You NEVER hear about these issues, and as far as I know, Jan has never been taken to task for anything she pulled here.  If I’m wrong, please let me know, as I would take great pleasure in seeing someone call her out.

Obviously this would be terrible under any circumstances, but it especially bugs me with these two because Hank now has a reputation as an abuser and Jan doesn’t, even though she absolutely deserves it.  Hank is just as much a victim of domestic abuse as Jan is, but nobody ever talks about that.  Instead all we get are comments about wife beating and “OMG Jan’s so amazing and strong for divorcing Hank you go girl Hank is such a loser!”

EMOTIONAL ABUSE IS JUST AS DAMAGING AS PHYSICAL ABUSE.  IGNORING OR FORGIVING JAN’S ACTIONS WHILE BLACKLISTING HANK FOR HIS IS HYPOCRITICAL AND OFFENSIVE.

But I’m getting off track here.  We’ll have a nice long chat about all of that, uh, *checks watch* in one hundred and fifty issues or so?

Best Avenger

The Hulk.  He tried it out, didn’t like it, and left to hang out with folks he liked better.  I can respect that.

Honorable mention goes to the Scarlet Witch, who started out as awesome and competent but was soon depowered and devalued because who needs strong women in comics?

Worst Avenger

Was it ever in doubt?

It’s bad enough that she started out as the token girl and embodied every awful stereotype about women that the writers could cram in—she’s obsessed with her looks, she can’t fight, she gets kidnapped all the time, and she’s constantly trying to make her boyfriend jealous and get him to marry her.  It’s bad enough that she embodies this stereotype in the worst possible way—remember in Avengers #9 where she complained that Hank wouldn’t take her out because he was too busy trying to save Wonder Man’s life?  I really hope someone told Simon about that when he was resurrected.

But then, ON TOP of all that, she is just a genuinely awful, horrible excuse for a human being who cheerfully takes advantage of Hank’s illness to push him into a marriage he had serious doubts about (doubts that were clearly justified given her behavior).  Ugh.

Incidentally, I actually like Jan (and Hank too).  When I’m not reviewing these comics, they’re very firmly in my mental “I reject your reality and substitute my own” folder.  But this retrospective is based only on comics from the sixties, and with that in mind, Janet van Dyne is a selfish, useless, manipulative brat and easily the worst Avenger of the decade.

Most Improved Avenger

Hawkeye!  Or, well, Goliath.  Whatever he wants to call himself, he started out as a needlessly belligerent, entitled, tactless jerk and a half, but gradually came to realize the error of his ways.  Now, he’s a slightly less belligerent, entitled, tactless jerk and a half, but he occasionally has reason to act so, and in the cases when he doesn’t, he’s adult enough to admit he was wrong.  Facing his flaws couldn’t have been easy, and I have massive respect for anyone—real or fictional—who can do so and improve themselves in the process.

Granted, there’s still room for improvement—he calls T’Challa “Jungle Man” on a regular basis, and even if T’Challa is technically from a jungle area, the history of associating black people with jungles makes this nickname cringeworthy at best—but he’s miles ahead of where he started.  This category isn’t called Most Perfectly Perfect Avenger, it’s Most Improved Avenger—a label that Clint Barton has most certainly earned.

Best Costume

Black Panther’s, once he got the full face mask.  It’s sleek, it’s simple, it’s utilitarian, and it makes him look like the total badass he is.

Worst Costume

Goliath’s.  Several iterations of the Giant-Man/Goliath outfit have been pretty tacky—why so many colors in so many places?—but Clint Barton’s is by far the worst.  Normally it’s the female characters who have the impractical, skimpy outfits, but actually, Wasp’s and Scarlet Witch’s outfits have been pretty conservative so far.  Goliath’s is just… why?

I’d say I can’t wait for him to go back to being Hawkeye, but I know what costume he adopts when he does and it is in no way an improvement.

Moment to Remember

The return of Captain America in Avengers #4.  Not only was it a good story that demonstrated the Avengers’ capacity for compassion, it also signaled the return of a comic book icon whose legend would only continue to grow as the years went by.

Moment to Forget

The Teen Brigade, a group of non-characters who had no place being anywhere near the Avengers.

Loose Ends

What is the Swordsman’s real name?

Why did Jan feel dizzy at the end of Avengers #46?

Why is T’Challa called the Black Panther when black panthers are actually leopards and leopards are indigenous to the Americas?

Are Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver ever coming back?  If they do, will they be friend or foe?

Where did Black Widow go?  She and Clint were practically engaged at some point, but her role has gradually been reduced to the point where she hasn’t been seen since Issue Fifty-Eight.  What has she been up to since then?

Is Hank schizophrenic, or is he the victim of a comic book-y chemical accident?  Or is he both?  He’s always been sort of withdrawn, seemingly preferring his lab to the outside world.  I assumed he was just shy, but looking back, could this be a symptom of undiagnosed, untreated schizophrenia?  Hell, is that the real reason he was reluctant to marry Jan—because he knows there’s something wrong but doesn’t know what it is?

And of course there’s Wonder Man, Baron Zemo, Ultron, Kang the Conqueror, and all those other folks who are currently dead.  We know they’re all coming back—it’s just a waiting game, really.

What Have We Learned?

Hank Pym likes pancakes.  Steve Rogers is a pyromaniac.  People of color are unicorns.

Actually, one major takeaway is how much you have to overlook to enjoy these comics.  I’ve said this before, but just about every male character indulged in some good old-fashioned misogyny back in the day, and if I held a grudge against all of them, I’d have to stop reading comics.  Likewise, just about every female character was obsessed with fashion and men, and their only real contribution to the story was as Designated Kidnap Victim; I wouldn’t be able to like any of them if I couldn’t ignore this in the long run.  At some point, you just have to recognize that, as messed up as it is, that stuff was acceptable back in the day.

But where do you draw the line?  Sexist comments and annoying stereotypes are one thing, but Marvel apparently thought domestic abuse was hilarious when the woman was attacking the man.  Remember when Natasha threw stuff at Clint?  Or when Jan deliberately acted like a jerk to get Hank’s attention?  Should I overlook that as a sign of the times?  I’d probably be more inclined to forgive Natasha since her tantrum was a one-off, whereas Jan is establishing a pattern of controlling behavior and emotional abuse.

Where’s the line between acceptable unacceptability and just plain unacceptable?

Ah, but I don’t want to end this retrospective on a negative note.  The 1960s Avengers had a lot of problems, but they had a lot of good points too, some of which I’ve already highlighted.  At the risk of sounding cliché, it was a simpler time, at least in terms of comic books, and while the Silver Age isn’t my favorite, sometimes it’s nice to go back and indulge in the silliness and levity of modern Marvel’s early days.  To honor that spirit, I leave you with this, one of my favorite ‘60s Avengers panels: Hank losing a battle to flour.

We’ll assemble again in the next decade!

To read Avengerous Tales 2.1, go here!

Images from Avengers Annual #1, Avengers #60, Avengers #2, Avengers #34, Avengers #17, Avengers #69, Avengers #63, Avengers #4, Avengers #8 and Avengers #3