By Mark Rodriguez
I decided that with recent events, it would be a good time to dive into some of the first Marvel stories I got into when I decided to give them a try. I got into the Avengers, but rather than buying the main book, for whatever reason I used to collect Avengers Spotlight and Avengers West Coast. One story I got was one where Scarlet Witch suffered a meltdown and went after her fellow Avengers. I never saw how this story ended, but luckily thanks to trade paperbacks, I can go back in time and find out.
Issue 51 opens with Iron Man making his return to action, but it seems Hank Pym, Wonder Man, the Wasp and the US Agent aren't too happy to see him. US Agent believes that this current Iron Man has killed Stark and is wearing the armor now, and heads off to call Washington to confirm this. Once he leaves, Hank says they know Stark is still alive and ask Iron Man if that's their old friend under the armor. Iron Man apologizes but says he can't say.
Wanda and Vision head back home and the Scarlet Witch complains that she doesn't him to sound so 'human'. Vision points out that she works with the Avengers which are mostly humans and she calls it a passing weakness. They arrive to discover someone in their house, an old woman named Agatha Harkness who they have witnessed being burned at stake at an earlier story.
Agatha points out that the matter at hand isn't her miraculous return, but Wanda's children. She tells them they seem to vanish whenever she isn't thinking about them. Every time she's in a fight or something to place her thoughts elsewhere, her children cease to exist. Wanda is shocked to hear this and Agatha tells Vision that she will need him now more than ever,
The original Human Torch, (there was an android that looks exactly like Johnny Storm does when he's Flaming On), is flying around enjoying his newfound freedom after the Scarlet Witch has turned him back on. He sees a woman that confuses his normal form for her dead husband Tom. Torch seems to have known Tom and is shocked to find out he was dead. Just then, monsters attack and they dump snow all over Torch before he has time to flame on.
The Avengers hear Torch's screams and run out to fight. The heroes are confused by the monsters but know that they must be the work of Master Pandemonium (eye roll?). Iron Man asks about their last encounter with him and Hank wonders how he knew that. US Agent steps back into the room and is surprised to see the demons, but jumps in to help. Torch is able to vaporize the dampness around him and flame back on. Wasp and Pym notice that the demons don't seem to want to kill them and only want to distract them.
Vision is trying to calm Wanda down, but she explains all the things she had endure recently. The demons crash into their house and Agatha prepares to use her witchcraft on them. Pandemonium breathes fire upon her to stop her. Vision phases his hand through his chest, but the villain has no heart for him to stop (that was a drastic attack move anyway). Wanda uses her hex powers to drive the villain back, and he gets away saying his work is done. Vision wondered what he meant by that and Wanda is shocked to discover that her children have vanished.
Master Pandemonium rests in hell (or some hellish place) with the
children, and he explains how he was a normal guy caught in a car
accident, but Mephisto replaced his lost arms with demon arms. He also
tore out his soul which left him with a gaping hole in the shape of a
pentagram.
Wanda is pissed that everyone is standing around talking while he children are missing. Wasp mentioned maybe they just disappeared again, and the Scarlet Witch pimpslaps her demanding the others help her find her children. Agatha opens a portal leading them to Pandemonium. Elsewhere a guy named Immortus is able to see this happening and flies off to take care of it, saying they are getting in the way of his plans for Wanda.
Once the Avengers arrives they are surprised to see a nice and peaceful landscape. Agatha, in spirit, tells them to be careful. Just then the landscape itself starts attacking them and the heroes fight back. They see a building in the distance and head towards it since the villain must be inside. As the heroes arrive, Master Pandemonium is already waiting for them..... and he somehow has Wanda's children fused to his arms, acting like this hands....
My Opinions-
Wow, does this ever take me back. Avengers West Coast was probably the first super hero team book I ever read and there are so many changes with the characters from then to now and all these questions. If this Iron Man isn't Tony Stark... then who is he? What's the deal with the US Agent? I remember him in those old days but I never got the idea if he was supposed to be some kind of back-up for the real Captain America or what? And with all these characters running around in modern comics, he's one character I haven't seen coming back or redesigned or whatever. And somehow he thinks Tony is dead, and the others seem to know better but choose to keep it from him. So weird. I do remember him appearing as a 'secret character' in Marvel VS Capcom 2, which is of course, basically a palate swapped Captain America.
Another classic character is 'the original Human Torch', an android that was around since the 50's. Um... wut? Again it's such a bizzare coincidence that Johnny Storm was exposed to radiation in space and was somehow able to 'flame on' and look exactly like a hero from the 50's. I guess you can say Johnny was a fan and named himself after him... but c'mon. His powers would work the exact same way and everything? C'mon.... just..... c'mon now.
With the possibility of Wanda's children not being real, we start to see the beginning of her descent to madness. Master Pandemonium has a silly name but at least his backstory is interesting. We'll continue to see how this harsh ordeal eventually breaks Wanda towards the dark side.
I decided that with recent events, it would be a good time to dive into some of the first Marvel stories I got into when I decided to give them a try. I got into the Avengers, but rather than buying the main book, for whatever reason I used to collect Avengers Spotlight and Avengers West Coast. One story I got was one where Scarlet Witch suffered a meltdown and went after her fellow Avengers. I never saw how this story ended, but luckily thanks to trade paperbacks, I can go back in time and find out.
Issue 51 opens with Iron Man making his return to action, but it seems Hank Pym, Wonder Man, the Wasp and the US Agent aren't too happy to see him. US Agent believes that this current Iron Man has killed Stark and is wearing the armor now, and heads off to call Washington to confirm this. Once he leaves, Hank says they know Stark is still alive and ask Iron Man if that's their old friend under the armor. Iron Man apologizes but says he can't say.
Wanda and Vision head back home and the Scarlet Witch complains that she doesn't him to sound so 'human'. Vision points out that she works with the Avengers which are mostly humans and she calls it a passing weakness. They arrive to discover someone in their house, an old woman named Agatha Harkness who they have witnessed being burned at stake at an earlier story.
Agatha points out that the matter at hand isn't her miraculous return, but Wanda's children. She tells them they seem to vanish whenever she isn't thinking about them. Every time she's in a fight or something to place her thoughts elsewhere, her children cease to exist. Wanda is shocked to hear this and Agatha tells Vision that she will need him now more than ever,
The original Human Torch, (there was an android that looks exactly like Johnny Storm does when he's Flaming On), is flying around enjoying his newfound freedom after the Scarlet Witch has turned him back on. He sees a woman that confuses his normal form for her dead husband Tom. Torch seems to have known Tom and is shocked to find out he was dead. Just then, monsters attack and they dump snow all over Torch before he has time to flame on.
The Avengers hear Torch's screams and run out to fight. The heroes are confused by the monsters but know that they must be the work of Master Pandemonium (eye roll?). Iron Man asks about their last encounter with him and Hank wonders how he knew that. US Agent steps back into the room and is surprised to see the demons, but jumps in to help. Torch is able to vaporize the dampness around him and flame back on. Wasp and Pym notice that the demons don't seem to want to kill them and only want to distract them.
Vision is trying to calm Wanda down, but she explains all the things she had endure recently. The demons crash into their house and Agatha prepares to use her witchcraft on them. Pandemonium breathes fire upon her to stop her. Vision phases his hand through his chest, but the villain has no heart for him to stop (that was a drastic attack move anyway). Wanda uses her hex powers to drive the villain back, and he gets away saying his work is done. Vision wondered what he meant by that and Wanda is shocked to discover that her children have vanished.
Wanda is pissed that everyone is standing around talking while he children are missing. Wasp mentioned maybe they just disappeared again, and the Scarlet Witch pimpslaps her demanding the others help her find her children. Agatha opens a portal leading them to Pandemonium. Elsewhere a guy named Immortus is able to see this happening and flies off to take care of it, saying they are getting in the way of his plans for Wanda.
Once the Avengers arrives they are surprised to see a nice and peaceful landscape. Agatha, in spirit, tells them to be careful. Just then the landscape itself starts attacking them and the heroes fight back. They see a building in the distance and head towards it since the villain must be inside. As the heroes arrive, Master Pandemonium is already waiting for them..... and he somehow has Wanda's children fused to his arms, acting like this hands....
My Opinions-
Wow, does this ever take me back. Avengers West Coast was probably the first super hero team book I ever read and there are so many changes with the characters from then to now and all these questions. If this Iron Man isn't Tony Stark... then who is he? What's the deal with the US Agent? I remember him in those old days but I never got the idea if he was supposed to be some kind of back-up for the real Captain America or what? And with all these characters running around in modern comics, he's one character I haven't seen coming back or redesigned or whatever. And somehow he thinks Tony is dead, and the others seem to know better but choose to keep it from him. So weird. I do remember him appearing as a 'secret character' in Marvel VS Capcom 2, which is of course, basically a palate swapped Captain America.
Another classic character is 'the original Human Torch', an android that was around since the 50's. Um... wut? Again it's such a bizzare coincidence that Johnny Storm was exposed to radiation in space and was somehow able to 'flame on' and look exactly like a hero from the 50's. I guess you can say Johnny was a fan and named himself after him... but c'mon. His powers would work the exact same way and everything? C'mon.... just..... c'mon now.
With the possibility of Wanda's children not being real, we start to see the beginning of her descent to madness. Master Pandemonium has a silly name but at least his backstory is interesting. We'll continue to see how this harsh ordeal eventually breaks Wanda towards the dark side.
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