Avengers, The (1963 series) #173

At Avengers Mansion, Iron Man explains the mystery of the vanishing heroes to Black Panther, Captain Marvel and the Whizzer. Black Widow and Hercules arrive soon after. Iron Man tries to contact SHIELD but their privileges have been revoked and access to their communication frequencies is denied. Elsewhere, the enigmatic Michael watches with approval the Guardians of the Galaxy and their efforts to protect young Vance Astrovik, unaware they are serving his will. Michael probes the universe and discovers that the Watcher, Odin, Zeus, Mephisto and even Eternity himself are as yet unaware of him. He detects a disturbance in the next room but it is only his lover Carina, who is coming to believe Michael is the god and rightful owner of the universe he claims to be. As the Avengers settle down to business, several odd things transpire: an old man carves a wooden image of Scarlet Witch and Thor insists he has never before met Wonder Man or participated in the Avengers’ most recent adventures. Suddenly Black Panther and Yellowjacket become the next heroes to vanish. Iron Man contacts Vance Astro on the Guardians’ ship and the future hero has traced a radiation trail to a small orbiting construct. Astro manages to teleport the last remaining Avengers onto this craft where they come face-to-face with their old nemesis, the Collector!