Avengers: "Divided... We Fall!"

Avengers #274 (1986)

By Roger Stern, John Buscema, Tom Palmer

Background: The current Avengers' roster is Captain America, Wasp, Black Knight, Captain Marvel and Hercules. Namor has recently taken a leave of absence. Wishing to get revenge on Captain America by killing those closest to him, Baron Zemo has assembled a the new Masters of Evil, who have broken in Avengers Mansion and captured Jarvis. The Masters are: Zemo, Moonstone, Goliath, the Wrecking Crew, Tiger Shark, Mister Hyde, Blackout, the Fixer and the new Yellowjacket

So, What Happens? Upset because of his unrequieted love for the Wasp, the Black Knight returns to Avengers Mansion and is attacked by the Masters of Evil, quickly falling in battle against Mister Hyde. Zemo then lures Captain Marvel at the Mansion with a fake summoning, and before Monica can realize it's a trap and escape, Blackout imprisons her in his Dark Force and makes her disappear. The Baron makes sure everything is going according to plan, keeping the Masters in line and using special circuitry hidden in his headband to control Blackout, but unbeknown to him Captain America is visiting the Wasp's New Jersey estate, to report about a recent battle against the Trapster and Whilwind. Steve had already contacted the Mansion and spoken to someone who sounded like the Wasp, but her apparent lack of interest had made him suspicious so he visited her in person. The two heroes realize something is amiss at the Mansion, so a short time later Janet enters the Avengers HQ at wasp size, seeing the Masters trash the place before finding Jarvis, who explains the situation and warns her that a trap has been prepared for Hercules. Minutes later, a heavily drunk and drugged Hercules returns to the Mansion. Steve and Janet manage to stop him from entering and inform him of what's going on, but Herc, who was already unhappy with the Wasp's leadership, is too drunk to listen or wait for any reserve Avenger to arrive and attacks head on, forcing the other two heroes to follow suit. Cap and Janet are quickly captured by the Mansion's own security system, reprogrammed by the Fixer, and the Wasp is the only one who manages to escape before the estate is encased by Blackout's Dark Force. Meanwhile, Hercules defeats Tiger Shark and holds his own against Mister Hyde and the Wrecking Crew, but Goliath turns the tables and the combined villains completely thrash the hero, who's too drunk to fight back. Whilst Zemo enjoys goading and beating a tied up Captain America, Herc's lifeless body is thrown out of the Mansion. 

Notes: Captain America faced the Trapster and Whilwind in Captain America #324. The woman who was paid to drug Hercules is Black Mamba of the Serpent Society.

Something Silly This Way Comes: How could the Masters repair not only the gate, but also the main door and all the security systems they had destroyed last issue, in the space of a few hours at the most?

Review: If last chapter served mainly to put things in place, this is where everything kicks into gear as in the space of 22 pages the Avengers are virtually defeated with even their most powerful members unable to do anything. Fans of the Under Siege storyline usually tend to remember two iconic moments from this saga, one of which comes from this issue as Hercules suffers a dramatic beat down whose consequences will reverberate for a long time both in Avengers and Thor. And yet, this isn't the first time either Hercules or the Avengers had been beaten over the years. What makes this occurrence memorable are its lasting effects and the careful planning and consideration that had gone into the attack, saying a lot about Zemo, and in turn about the writing. Stern had been dropping hints for several months, building up Herc's increasing intolerance of Jan's leadership. Internal strife is nothing new among the Avengers - indeed it used to be a constant during the early years of the book - but more often than not it seemed done only as a pretext to add momentary drama, without producing any lasting consequence. This time it's quite the opposite, it all started slowly and harmlessly enough, only to suddenly produce catastrophic results.

Hercules' drunkenness and temper remind us of one of Marvel's core elements, that is that heroes (and indeed even demigods) are human and have weaknesses. That despite all this it takes the combined might of most of the Masters to take him down says a lot about Herc, but another Avenger doesn't fare quite so well. In modern terms, one could say that the Black Knight has been friendzoned by the Wasp, a status unlikely to win him much sympathy with readers given that his only reaction is to keep brooding by the side. I actually think that the Knight is getting the short end of the stick here, as, regardless of what Zemo implies, his unrequited love for Janet doesn't play as big a factor in his defeat as Herc's drunkenness (if any at all), but either way this is certainly not one of his proudest moments.

Less iconic than Hercules' beating but perhaps equally striking is the scene where the Masters thrash the Mansion, once again adding a more personal touch to the current invasion. Ask anyone who's suffered a burglary and they'll tell you that the worst part is the idea that their personal space has been violated by strangers, so by playing that angle in just a few panels Stern hits the nail hard right on the head, conveying the feeling that this time the Avengers will suffer more loss - both symbolic and physical - than ever before.

The art is nothing short of extraordinary. Perhaps Buscema doesn't draw the most beautiful of girls, but the fight between Hercules and Hyde is the essence of dynamism, all of it without sacrificing his trademark level of expressivity. There's not much more I can add, it simply needs to be seen and admired.

Final Verdict: A superb issue chronicling the Avengers' darkest hour. 5/5