Synopsis
Avengers, The (1963 series) #44 synopsis by
Rob Johnson
Rating:
Hawkeye and Black Widow are imprisoned in a secret Chinese base where Natasha had been sent by SHIELD to destroy a new weapon called the Psychotron. Inside the Psychotron Hercules thinks he is fighting the Hydra. The other Avengers are on their way from America. The Red Guardian, the Communist answer to Captain America, has revealed himself to be Natasha's supposed-dead husband.
Russian General Brushov wants Red Guardian to prove Communist superiority by defeating Captain America. But Chinese Col. Ling is convinced his Psychotron is more important, once they expand its range so that it can sow fear across the US. However he will need Russian atomic submarines to get Psychotrons near America.
Brushov isn't convinced. He wants to know why the Psychotron didn't break Black Widow in #41-42. She claims it is because she isn't a traitor, despite what a SHIELD defector says. They administer a lie-detector test which seems to confirm that she is a loyal Communist. They now reconsider the secret US submarine plans that Natasha brought with her, which the defector had claimed (it says here) were obsolete. (They conveniently ignore the fact that they caught her trying to destroy the Psychotron in #42.)
The Avengers arrive, following a suspicious homing beacon. They battle the defending forces until Cap is knocked down a shaft into one of the transparent tubes Hawkeye and Natasha found themselves in last issue. Cap breaks out and Brushov gets the fight he wanted as Cap and Red Guardian duke it out. The battle is inconclusive until Cap's shield and Guardian's 'hockey puck' meet in midair. The puck shatters, but the shield doesn't return to Cap. Cap KO's Red Guardian, but is himself shocked with electricity by Ling as he tries to retrieve the shield.
Meanwhile Hawkeye's restraining tube had suddenly shattered, and he rushed off to find the Widow, whom he suspected must have caused it. She had taken the opportunity while everyone was watching the fight to sabotage the Psychotron. Ling notices and tries to shoot her, but the revived Red Guardian takes the shot for his ex-wife. Hawkeye arrives in time to catch her as she is hit by another shot. The whole place catches fire, but Hercules breaks out of the now-inactive Psychotron and smashes a way free for them, with Hawkeye carrying the wounded Widow and Hercules hefting the unconscious Cap.
Ling makes one last attempt to shoot Cap with a laser beam, but he is stopped by the wounded Red Guardian, who has had a last minute conversion to the light. He doesn't want a valiant opponent shot while defenceless, and also fears for his ex-wife. The laser beam goes wild, and the base goes up in explosions.
The other 4 Avengers have abandoned their attempt to fight their way into the base and have been flying round in the aero-car. So they are on hand to pick up the 4 escapees, and they all return to America. Natasha is rushed to hospital and saved from her wound.
When she has recovered, Natasha explains various things. Her husband Alexi was a test pilot, and she was told he had died in an experimental rocket. She now realises he had been taken to be trained as the Red Guardian. But at the time she had become Black Widow in his honour. Cap tells her he died saving them.
For this mission SHIELD had given Widow a post-hypnotic suggestion to believe she was on the Communists' side whenever her loyalty was tested. This enabled her to survive the Psychotron and fool the lie-detector.
Characters:
Plus: Goliath (
Hank Pym).
Enemies