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Avengers #77: Review

Mar 2004
Chuck Austen, Olivier Coipel

Story Name:

Lionheart of Avalon (part 1)

Review & Comments

Rating:
4 stars

Avengers #77 Review by (May 28, 2021)
This is the start of the 5-part Lionheart Of Avalon story, and the start of Chuck Austen's stint as scripter until Brian Bendis takes over for Avengers Disassembled.

Richard Starkings and Albert Deschesne share the lettering.

It appears that Wasp is now using Pym particles to grow bigger as well as get smaller. I don't know whether Hank Pym had to modify her system to allow that, or she'd just never done it before.

The Wrecking Crew were last in this series in #15-18 where they were looking for alternative powers sources to replace their lost Asgardian ones. Then in Thor #28 they drained Asgardian energy for Thor and the Warriors Three. Since then some or all of them have appeared in Wolverine #164, Thunderbolts: Life Sentences, Thing: Freakshow #1 and the 2004 Marvel Holiday Special.

We'll learn later that Thunderball is being possessed by someone else.





 

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Avengers #77 Synopsis by Rob Johnson
The Avengers are in Ipswiich, England on the trail of old foes the Wrecking Crew. Captain America and Hawkeye are on the streets in civilian clothes. The scanners Tony Stark provided them with don't seem to be working, and Hawkeye is worried that the special arrows he provided won't do any good either. Clint Barton passes the time by lecturing Steve Rogers on his inability to maintain a relationship with a female. He thinks it's because Steve's attitudes to women are stuck in the 1940's. But his message is confused. He says that women want to be respected, but he also urges him to sweep a girl off her feet. And he criticises Cap for being too gallant to punch a supervillainess.

Meanwhile single mom Kelsey Leigh, who has a jagged scar down her face, is worried about her son Marty idolising Cap. She's out walking with him and his little sister Jenny who now wants an ice cream so she takes them into a pub/restaurant, the Tallymander despite the looks she'll get over her disfigurement.

Clint and Steve suddenly get a call from Jan van Dyne to say she's just seen suspects approaching an armoured truck near the Tallymander. Trying but failing to contact She-Hulk, the duo change to their uniforms in an alley. (They weren't wearing them under their clothes because they just got off a plane.) Then they look up to see a more-than-building-tall Wasp exercising a new growing power, with Bulldozer and Piledriver in 1 hand and the truck in the other with Wrecker dangling from it and loose money falling out.

But Thunderball is still on the ground and he throws his wrecking ball to wrap its chain around 1 of her ankles. A tug makes her stagger and drop 'Dozer, 'Driver, Wrecker and more money but she keeps hold of the truck. Leaving Hawkeye to deal with those 3 Cap runs through the pub to get to the 4th villain, much to the delight of Martin Leigh. Kelsey sees the disaster unfolding around them and tells the kids to go out the back door (following Cap). The Wrecking Crew have Asgardian power which is why Hawkeye has brought the especially-powerful arrows. He unleashes 1 which knocks the 3 villains over.

Thunderball is displaying unusually literary speech (he's intelligent but scientifically-minded) as he continues to yank Wasp's chain. She gets the truck's guards to escape to a roof before she drops it as she falls down and hits her head. The truck lands on Bulldozer, taking him out of the fight, as Wrecker gets up to face Hawkeye again. As Thunderball menaces the fallen Wasp Cap socks him in the jaw. Wasp has switched to insect-size but the sudden severe change knocks her out as Thunderball too rises for a rematch.

The Leigh family are now outside with Cap. He tells them to go back in but the door jams. Trying to protect them with his shield he gets a wrecking ball in the face which knocks *him* out and breaks his jaw. As the Leighs watch in horror the villain prepares to kill him.



Olivier Coipel
Andy Lanning
Chris Sotomayor
John Cassaday (Cover Penciler)
John Cassaday (Cover Inker)
Letterer: Richard Starkings.
Editor: Tom Brevoort. Editor-in-chief: Joe Quesada.

Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Captain America
Captain America

(Steve Rogers)
Hawkeye
Hawkeye

(Clint Barton)
Wasp
Wasp

(Janet Van Dyne)

Plus: Captain Britain (Kelsey Leigh), Jenny Leigh, Martin Leigh.

> Avengers: Book info and issue index

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