Heroes Meet and Have a Fight (So What Else is New?)

 

Cover art by George Tuska

I think it must be a federal law--whenever heroes in a comic book universe meet for the first time, there pretty much HAS to be a misunderstanding that leads to them fighting.

I don't mind this trope--it's an effective way of showing us a new heroes abilities and a good fight scene is always entertaining. In Avengers #48 (January 1968), Roy Thomas and George Tuska give us a pretty nifty fight scene.

How did we get to that fight, you ask? The issue picks up with Pietro and Wanda still prisoners of Magneto at Dane Whitman's castle. Pietro gets his hand loose from a manacle and manages to send a message to Avengers Mansion. Since Cap has left, Hawkeye is out brooding, and Goliath and Wasp are foiling a cheater in a casino, Jarvis has to take the message.

That's fine by itself, but Toad (who is being the annoying toady we know and love) spots the twins using a radio. He narcs them out to Magneto, who stops the message before Pietro can say WHERE the castle is located.

The main storyline pauses while we visit Hercules, who is still wondering why the heck Olympus is deserted and vowing to beat the snot out of whomever is responsible. This sets up a story line to be resolved in an upcoming issue.

Anyway, the Avengers finally hear Pietro's message, but are stumped on what to do next without a location for the castle. That's when Black Knight arrives.

We get another flashback, setting up Dane Whitman as the new Black Knight. The original villain was his uncle and Dane has resolved to make up for his relative's actions by becoming a hero. He gets out of the cell into which Magneto had locked him, puts on the Black Knight stuff and flys (via winged horse) to New York.

Where, of course, the Avengers mistake him for the original villain. To be fair, this is actually not an unreasonable assumption on their part, so the fight that follows does flow along a path solid with storytelling logic.

And its a cool fight, effectively choreographed and well-illustrated by Tuska. In the end, after Goliath has to save some civilians from falling concrete and the Black Knight has to save Goliath from falling to his death, everyone realizes they are on the same side. Dane leads the Avengers to the castle, only to find that Magneto has already fled with his hostages. 

The ending is a bit odd. Dane takes offence when the Avengers ask about his background--once again, understandable since Dane is using a former villain's costumed identity. He flies off and disappears from the storyline, not coming back for another six issues. It seems like an odd storytelling beat to take up much of the issue introducing a new character, then sidelining him until another story arc begins. 

But what the hey. The fight was a good one, the main story arc progresses a little bit and Dane is a cool addition to the Marvel Universe. A fun issue, even if it does through off the pacing of the overall Magneto arc.

Next week, we'll take a break from this to visit Roy Rogers. We'll return to the Avengers vs. Magneto in two weeks.