This is "From a Different Point of View," a feature where I discuss a comic book series with another writer. In this case, it is Eileen Gonzalez who will be going over the history of the Avengers with me, story by story!
When last we checked in with our heroes in Avengers #79, "Lo! The Lethal Legion!" by Roy Thomas, John Buscema and Tom Palmer, the Avengers were being led into a trap by the new supervillain team, the Lethal Legion, made up of Grim Reaper and a bunch of C-list Avenger villains. The Black Panther was captured by his old foe, Man-Ape, and now the others are responding to the trap, while the Vision was off letting Black Panther's boss (in T'Challa's civilian identity of Luke Charles, schoolteacher) know that Panther wasn't coming to work.
So let's see the Avengers go to work...
Brian Cronin: We all know Clint is a jerk.
Brian Cronin: But his "You, help ME?" bit was ridiculous
Brian Cronin: When he KNOWS she's super powerful!
Eileen Gonzalez: Hated that so much. I especially hate how Wanda lets him get away with it because he's sad about Black Widow... even though he hasn't seemed all that sad about it.
Eileen Gonzalez: And then they're almost defeated by... light.
Brian Cronin: Yeah, I have to take it back about Grim Reaper's plans.
Brian Cronin: Because the whole "blind them with light" plan was obvious brilliant.
Brian Cronin: "Even blinded, you're a formidable foe!" Don't let Clint hear you say that, Swordsman!
Eileen Gonzalez: Clint is too busy knocking himself out to hear anything. Yikes, dude.
Brian Cronin: That was a great panel, though, right?
Brian Cronin: With the special lettering?
Brian Cronin: And hawkeye punching from, like, his crotch
Brian Cronin: It was an unusual panel design.
Brian Cronin: And the awesome Missouri pun.
Brian Cronin: Thomas is from Missouri. I wonder how long he held on to THAT pun.
Eileen Gonzalez: Yeah, that was pretty great.
Eileen Gonzalez: I assume Thomas was waiting his whole life for this opportunity.
Eileen Gonzalez: It's impressive how Man-Ape rips up that staircase with Cap and Quicksilver on it, if nothing else.
Brian Cronin: Yeah, it's a great panel.
Brian Cronin: You have to love how committed Cap and Quicksilver are to the Prometheus Priority bit.
Brian Cronin: Also, the plan continues to be a bit confusing, as, so, what, are they there to capture them or kill them?
Brian Cronin: What is the plan?
Eileen Gonzalez: I assumed the plan was to kill them all immediately (or did they expect Cap to survive being thrown off a building), but now they're clearly trying to keep them alive, so... who knows.
Eileen Gonzalez: I take it back. Living Laser just goes nuts on the next page.
Brian Cronin: Right?
Brian Cronin: It makes no sense!
Brian Cronin: I like that Thomas makes the fights end with lucky victories for the Legion.
Eileen Gonzalez: That is absolutely the only way these losers would win.
Eileen Gonzalez: But they've got a neat Batman villain trap, at least!
Brian Cronin: This story is so off the walls.
Brian Cronin: This is the second straight story that is like a Batman TV show story, right?
Eileen Gonzalez: They 100 percent stole that giant hourglass from the Clock King episodes. It's wild.
Brian Cronin: Also, Power Man went to go ransack Avengers Mansion.
Brian Cronin: Huh? Wha?
Eileen Gonzalez: Even Living Laser is calling out Grim Reaper on how this plan makes no sense, since none of these Avengers were even on the team when Reaper's brother died.
Eileen Gonzalez: And wow, Vision really took a chance there, just handing ALL of the Avengers files to a guy who hates them and has sworn to kill them.
Brian Cronin: The counter plan to the original plan makes as little sense as the original plan
Eileen Gonzalez: At least they match.
Brian Cronin: It's just so....messy
Brian Cronin: "We were only KIND of unconscious!"
Brian Cronin: How is that their PLAN?
Brian Cronin: Sort of fake unconsciousness?
Eileen Gonzalez: I was scratching my head over that whole bit.
Brian Cronin: The Prometheus Priority tied in, as they knew they were walking into a trap
Brian Cronin: But then they...got caught in the trap anyways
Brian Cronin: But not REALLY!
Brian Cronin: Think this might be some Marvel Method problems?
Brian Cronin: Where Thomas is trying to make it all make sense through the dialogue?
Eileen Gonzalez: If they had just had the Avengers put in magical nose plugs that helped them breathe or something, this would almost make sense. Otherwise it seems very slapdash and could very well be an effect of the Marvel Method.
Brian Cronin: Yeah, that would have been better.
Brian Cronin: But even there, why get captured in the first place?
Brian Cronin: "No, we had to get captured, so that we could attack together!"
Brian Cronin: WHY?
Brian Cronin: And if you knew it was a trap, why did you send your most powerful members off somewhere else?
Brian Cronin: "We have to attack them when they're all here for...reasons."
Brian Cronin: It doesn't make any sense.
Brian Cronin: "Let's let the deadly gas fill up some more until Power Man gets here."
Brian Cronin: "Couldn't we just attack now and then we could all defeat Power Man when he shows up?"
Brian Cronin: "Nope, we need to attack them at full strength. Just trust me on this."
Eileen Gonzalez: Where did Iron Man and Thor go? Once they realized Greenwich Village was villain-free, you'd think they'd double back to help, but no.
Brian Cronin: The plan involved the Avengers waiting for the villains to be at full strength
Brian Cronin: But attack with less than their own full strength
Brian Cronin: You know, strategy and stuff.
Eileen Gonzalez: The ending is equally tacked on. Vision just spontaneously decides to leave the team because... he was successful and helped defeat the bad guys?
Eileen Gonzalez: Because the Swordsman hurt his feelings?
Brian Cronin: It's just some rote Vision emo stuff
Brian Cronin: But whatever, I get it, the Vision is still relatively new.
Brian Cronin: So some routine emo stuff is fair enough, I guess.
Brian Cronin: But yeah, we all know he's going to be back, like, instanteously.
Brian Cronin: It's like when the Fantastic Four used to break up, like, every other issue in the early days
Brian Cronin: But always back together by the next issue
Eileen Gonzalez: The Avengers do have more of a history of gaining and losing members, but there was usually better build up than this, so yeah, it's pretty obvious this one won't stick.
Brian Cronin: I wonder if a BRAND-NEW character might have an impact on the Vision next issue?
Brian Cronin: I wonder who it will be?
Brian Cronin: I bet it will be a very respectful attempt at a minority superhero!
Brian Cronin: Well, by 1970 standards, that is...
Eileen Gonzalez: After the Man-Ape, surely anyone will look good, right? Right!
Brian Cronin: Right!
Okay, folks, join us next time as we discuss Avengers #80. In the meantime, feel free to e-mail me at brianc@cbr.com if you have any thoughts about these Avengers issues and/or discussions.
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