By Mark Rodriguez
The Avengers try to stop Magneto's latest scheme. While the Master of Magnet seems unstoppable, the Avengers bring in extra support. Daredevil and the Black Widow! This comic was re-released as a 'True Believers' edition which showcases the Black Widow as her movie was being released at the time. Let's take a look.
"With Two Beside Them" opens with Magneto commands the Scarlet Witch to dance while the captive Captain America, Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Ice Man, Iron Man and Professor Xavier can only watch. He tells his minion Piper that alongside her fellow Avengers and the X-Men, Scarlet Witch can only think the thoughts given to her by Magneto, as he can currently control minds.
Magneto explains that he has recently learned that he can control the iron in peoples' blood. He can slow the blood flow to the brain just enough to make them their mindless slaves. Magneto also boasts on how he defeated the Avengers and left them in ruins. Piper says the rest of the Avengers will regroup and try to find their hidden lair. Magneto says only Thor, Vision, and Black Panther remain and the three of them would not be enough to stop his hordes.
Elsewhere, the Avengers are planning a counter attack. Their numbers are even lower since at this time Quicksilver and Hawkeye retired from the team. They went to SanFranscisco and recruited Daredevil and Black Widow. Hawkeye had fallen for Wanda, but was hurt when she chose Vision over him. When Hawkeye returned to his first love, the Black Widow, she has already moved on to Daredevil. This led to a fight between Hawkeye and Daredevil. When the Avengers came to Hawkeye again, he wasn't in a mood to listen and felt he was already being replaced.
Within the Avengers Quinjet, Daredevil says they're willing to help but it sounds like the Avengers don't know where to go from here. The Black Panther says he knows Magneto was after the X-Men and now tried to trap the Avengers. Vision said he seemed particularly interested in Wanda. Daredevil says it seems they have to wait for Magneto to make a move. As his fingers move along a newspaper, he can the newsprint describing a conference for the members of the Atomic Energy Commission being held that day. He says it's fifty miles away from their current location. Thor says atomics are the prime cause of mutations, which is Magneto's field of interest.
Black Widow walks into Hawkeye's old room and ponders how her heart now belongs to Daredevil, and before that, her husband Red Guardian. Widow wonders how many times Clint stood there and thought about her. She holds up a portrait of Clint and senses that she failed him in several ways. Black Panther steps into the room and tells Black Widow to join the others since her boyfriend has a lead. Widow snaps out of her thoughts and is ready to move out with the team.
Elsewhere, Hawkeye is sulking at the top of the Golden State Bridge. He feels like he burned his bridges, so to speak, with Black Widow and the Avengers. Hawkeye figures he started out without a friend. He went from being a top carny performer, to a super villain to a superhero. He says someday the name Hawkeye will mean more than the Avengers, Daredevil and Black Widow put together.
Elsewhere, at the home of commissioner Alfred, the men are having their special conference there due to reports that say there might be an attempt made to capture one of their atomic bases. Alfred says he has asked the secret service to double up on security today. Suddenly the table breaks apart on its own, snapping it off and surprising the men. We see that Magneto is commanding the Scarlet Witch to use her hex powers.
The men spot Magneto and the Scarlet Witch by the window, but as they draw their guns, they fly out of their hands thanks to Magneto's powers. One of the men recognizes that Wanda was a super villain in the past, and that Magneto, thought dead, was still alive. As he makes a run for it, Iron Man blasts him back. Magneto calls for Cyclops, Marvel Girl and Ice Man to stop in.
The X-Men, as well as Iron Man, attack the men. Magneto notices that the moment he takes his focus elsewhere, one of the men manages to land a punch on Cyclops. Magneto regains control and Cyclops blasts the man back with his Optic Blasts. Soon the government men are also under Magneto's control. Just then Thor and the others arrive as he calls out to Magneto.
Magneto tells Iron Man to lead the captured officials into his ship. Thor tosses his hammer at the villains, saying the Avengers won't get defeated again. Suddenly the mind-controlled Captain America tosses his shield which deflects the hammer in mid-air. Magneto finished boarding most of the government men, so he has his ship unleash dark fumes. Black Widow says they can't see with all the smoke, but Thor says he has things handled.
As Thor uses his spinning hammer to blow the dark smoke away, more of it takes its place. Black Panther and Daredevil work together using their acrobatics to swing from trees. As they do so, Panther jokes that Daredevil used to be in an act called the Flying Wakandas. Daredevil says it was the Wallendas and they might have missed their chance to be on the Ed Sullivan show. Panther grabs onto Daredevil and swings him towards Mangeto's ship, saying the Sullivan show has been cancelled for two years. The dark smoke doesn't affect Daredevil's vision since he is blind. He grabs onto Magneto's ship as it takes to the sky, but now he has to figure what he's going to do.
The ship picks up speed so Daredevil hangs on tight as he tries to find some way inside. The ship suddenly gets electrified, which knocks the Man without Fear off of it. Magneto has seen that Daredevil was trying to sneak inside and took care of him. As Daredevil falls, Black Widow in on a tree and she shoots out her Widow's Web for him to catch. Daredevil thanks her but says he's fine as long as he has his billy club. Daredevil says her heart's in the right place, and asks himself why he said that. Meanwhile Thor is flying after Magneto's ship.
Magneto has Iron Man hold Captain America out of the ship. He threatens that if Thor continues to follow them, he will have Iron Man drop Captain America as well as they rest of his hostages. Thor has no choice but to let the villain escape.
Thor returns with the others and asks how they can fight someone with so many hostages. Daredevil says it feels like Widow and her haven't been much help and they're out of leads. Black Panther thinks of something. He says that Magneto attacked the X-Mansion with dinosaurs (in the last issue) and he must have been holding them somewhere. He mentions he memorized the scent of the dinosaurs and find where they've been kept will be a clue. Just then, Black Panther notices that Vision is missing.
Elsewhere, Magneto addresses the government men he captured. He says they hold the key to atomic energy at their fingerprints, yet they would rather live on as faceless civil servants on a salary. Magneto says he was born to rule. He explains he once led the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants in which he blackmailed Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver to join. When he was trapped in the Savage Land, he created his own supporters by mutating the swamp men, like his current minion Piper.
Magneto plans to create more mutants. He wants the men to give him access to all the atomic power in the country so he can let it loose among the populous. He says the radiation will destroy the 92% of the people it touched but the ones strong enough to survive will become mutants at his command. The men says he's insane and will never get away with this. Magneto says he has captured the X-Men and defeated the Avengers.
Magneto says he tried a smaller version of this plan before. He tried to use a device that would release radiation that would only be fatal to non-mutants. The device exploded and Magneto was gravely injured. However, Magneto has been gravely injured before in the Savage Land, so he took precautions this time. When he ran into Angel, he tricked him into wearing a costume that would gradually absorb his youthful energy. When Magneto attacked the X-Mansion, he was able to knock out Angel and take the costume back. Upon wearing it, Magneto gained all the youthful power and was back to 100%. When the rest of the X-Men arrived, he took them down by controlling their minds. He then laid a trap for the Avengers. While he hid in the shadows, they thought he was Angel and he was able to ambush them.
The men refuse to help and say they'd never betray their trust even if Magneto was Henry Kissinger himself. Magneto says this isn't a debate since he can control their minds. He says it will take longer this way, but he has all the time he needs.
Meanwhile the heroes are nearby as Black Panther tracks the Tyrannosaurus scent. Daredevil says he feels vibrations from below and thinks a cave must be below. Thor says he doesn't understand how Daredevil can sense these thing, but he won't question it. He smashes through the ground with his hammer and sees that they have found their goal.
Magneto sends his brainwashed minions to attack. Thor and the others are forced to fight their friends, but all of them are controlled by the mind of just one man. Magneto has Iron Man try to wrestle Thor's hammer away from him, which is a bad move. Thor swings Iron Man to the ground, taking him out of action. Just then Cyclops blasts Thor. Black Panther lands on him with a foot stomp and is about to knock him out. Ice Man freezes one of Black Panther's wrists before he can do so. Black Panther slams his wrists together, shattering the ice, and then proceeds to tackle Iceman into a wall. Iceman forms his hands into blocks of ice and claps them on both sides of Black Panther's face.
Daredevil tries to use his senses, but can't detect where the Vision is. He notices Cyclops is still up and gets out of the way before he can get blasted. Daredevil finds it funny how the one with powers linked to his eyes is going against the blind guy. He punches Cyclops across the face and thinks he keeps how his powers work a secret.
Marvel Girl uses her telepathy to make Daredevil levitate, while Scarlet Witch prepares to bring the roof down on him. Black Widow watches and decides to bring the man in charge into the action. She whips her Widow's Web at Magneto and flips him to the floor near Daredevil. Black Widow tells him to keep the falling rocks off of Daredevil or both of them will be squished. Magneto stops Marvel Girl and Scarlet Witch and says he didn't bother to control the Avengers because it was fun to watch them suffer. He is no longer amused and uses his powers to control Black Widow's mind.
Magneto gloats to Piper how he now controls the X-Men, the Avengers and soon the world. Just then, Piper chops Magneto on the back of the neck, knocking him out. Piper says he should learn how to count since he was one Avenger short. Daredevil can sense that Vision is in there. Vision explains that he is inside Piper now, but he is intangible enough to not affect his organs but his brain has solidified just enough to control his movements. Vision leaves Piper's body and joins his teammates.
Vision explains he took over Piper's body under the cover of the black fog from earlier. Staying in another's body could have consequences for both, so he has to wait until he was completely sure he could perform it. Wanda, who is now back to normal, says Vision has never tried this before due to the huge risk involved. Vision said he has to take the risk for her.
Later on, Xavier has been revived and he used his powers to put Magneto in a deep sleep. He comments that he can recall everything he did while under Magneto's control and can sense that the other felt the same. Xavier asks what happened to Angel during all this. Marvel Girl says Iron Man searched the mansion and couldn't find him. Xavier is concerned they were saved out of one situation only to enter a more dangerous one.
Elsewhere, Captain America thanks Daredevil and Black Widow for their help and welcomes them to become fellow Avengers. Daredevil kindly declines on behalf of both of them for personal reasons. Daredevil thinks to himself that being around a group would mess with his senses. He also feels that it would also be harder for him to keep his powers a secret.
Black Widow speaks up and says she accepts joining the Avengers. Daredevil is surprised and says she can't. Black Widow tells Daredevil that she can, since he doesn't own her. She also thinks to herself that it will give him some time away from him so she can think through their relationship. Daredevil swings off and says she can find him in San Fransisco if she's ever looking. Black Widow thinks to herself, asking why Daredevil never understands her. She turns to her teammates and say they must have things to do.
My Thoughts-
I'm so used to seeing Magneto as some sort of anti-hero, a member of the X-Men or having evil plans that are still for some misguided sense of his version of the greater good. This was back in the 70's so Magneto is more of the stereotypical mustache-twirling villain trying to take over the world and whatnot. I was completely caught off guard by the first page in which he's making Wanda dance around for his twisted amusement. A few more years down the line, in 1982 to be exact, it would be revealed that Wanda and Pietro are Magneto's children. That would sure make looking back on this a lot more awkward. But hey, don't worry. Sometime in 2014, they re-retconned this to where they weren't his children after all. OK guys... choose one and stick with it.
A lot of things were different in the 70's. Hawkeye has a crush on Wanda? Hawkeye had a legit crush on Natasha? Natasha was dating Matt??? The rest of the Marvel heroes don't know that Daredevil is blind?
The relationship between Black Widow and Daredevil seems kind of rocky. I imagine it was better in the Daredevil comics around the time, but here we see both characters either saying the wrong thing to each other or having doubts.
While the issue was released as part of a 'catch up on Black Widow before the movie' deal, she's barely in the comic which is crammed with so many characters. Thankfully she goes get to grab Magneto and set him up under the same trap he has set for Daredevil. The main deal was at the end, when Captain America officially invited her to join the Avengers and she accepts. It's also kinda odd that this is pretty much a 'part 2' of a story where Magneto hijacked the Avengers in a previous issue.
Seeing that this is a 'True Believers' edition, naturally the comic is in incredible condition for a story originally printed in 1973. Maybe some day I'll find the issue before this, but let's face it... which a comic old enough to have cost 20 cents back when it was originally released... it's gonna have a crazy price tag on it nowadays.
Pretty fun story and there was a lot of cool superhero vs superhero action in the final pages. It was cool to see where the characters were at back in the 70's. The banter and quips were definitely a lot cornier back then.
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