Early in this arc we are led to believe Mantis is killed.
But Vision saves her in an amazing panel by guest artist John Buscema.
Mantis got the equivalent of an opening timeslot after the Superbowl; first appearing in #112, she quickly became the focal point of the series. She dated Swordsman, then wanted Vision. She was a warrior, with Vietnamese, German, and Kree roots, who respected only power and referred to herself as “this one.”
Reading the series now, in retrospect, it was clear she wasn’t going to be killed off. But at the time, she was still fairly new so her death was plausible.
These issues offer a deep dive into the incredibly complex history of The Mantis. And it’s…Not fascinating.
First off, Libra (of the Zodiac gang) is her daddy. There’s a long soap-opera type story about Libra being a German mercenary in Vietnam and falling in love with a local, having a baby, and then running off with the baby. Being mixed race, Baby Mantis wasn’t well-liked. Then there’s some stuff about how the Kree were in Vietnam too, and Swordsman was involved, it’s extremely confusing.
Also, some kind of cosmic space dragon is involved. I didn’t find it all interesting enough to sort that out.
But The Avengers annoy him.
If that’s not enough Mantis, there’s a budding love triangle.
Vision knows what it is like to have daddy issues–or to not have a daddy to have daddy issues about, so it makes sense Mantis would be into him.
Swordsman gets jealous, and cries on his rival’s gal’s shoulder.
There’s also weird Thor stuff. Like the panel where John, consciously or not, does a great metaphor shot of Thor’s powerful fifth limb.
In addition to my lame dick joke, Thor has a utility belt in this issue. To my knowledge, he never has one again. That counts as a forgotten power set.
And, in outer space, he loses his hammer but Iron Man is able to get it back.
I know it’s space with zero gravity, but is sure looks like he’s lifting Thor’s family.
After shutting the Zodiac down, the team still has some stuff to sort out–using a ship they commandeered from the Zodiac gang–and they crash though a crossover with the Captain Marvel/Thanos story (from Captain Marvel #31).
Thanos acts creepy and wimpy, hiding behind a chimney. I thought that made this the 15th best appearance of Thanos.
I stand by what I wrote in that post, even though this appearance was really just an attempt to sell Captain Marvel’s comic. Above is all the Thanos you get in this issue–he’s hiding behind a chimney. Way to make him lame, by the way.
This is how much Thanos we were promised on the cover….
There’s so much going on in these issues, and neither Zodiac nor Mantis are particularly interesting. The material is elevated by good writing and great art.
I get that Englehart really wanted Mantis to be a major player, but this is a swing and a miss for me.
I liked Mantis. I still like Mantis. She brought racial diversity to the team ( and to Marvel ) without making it seem forced, or mandated, as it has been at the Big Two for so many years now, using abilities which were plausible, extraterrestrial influence notwithstanding. I still well-remember that scene from issue#114 ( I believe ) where she sent the Avengers’ mightiest members- Iron Man, the Vision, and even the Mighty Thor himself- all flying through the air, with just a shrug of her lovely shoulders! Wow! If terrestrial martial arts are impressive, then extraterrestrial martial arts are super-impressive! I like the fact that, in spite of her extraterrestrial origins, she started out in life by working as a “professional” on the streets of Saigon. Hey- a girl’s gotta eat, regardless of who she is, and/or where she comes from. This aspect of her past makes her relatable, and it is quite likely that she is not concerned with,or distressed by, Western values. In the Far East, prostitution is just a way of life, and it’s not a big deal, although it should be. Apparently, her religion, Buddhism, does not frown on it. Or maybe it does. One way or another, I don’t care, not being an overly-religious person myself. All I can say on this matter is if she still had her “shingle” out, I would gladly and happily pay top-dollar to be one of her regular “clients”. Okay-’nuff said about Miss Mantis. Let’s take a look at the other Avengers in this story: 1) The Vision. I gotta hand it to this guy- for a guy who doesn’t even have any junk, ( see ‘West Coast Avengers’#42, in which the Master of Comics- John Byrne- makes his point about the state of “android-ism” versus actual living humanity ) or is even ALIVE, in the standard sense of the term, does quite all right with the ladies! All across 1973 and 1974, he ( it?? ) has got the Scarlet Witch and Mantis clawing each other’s eyes out over him!! Whatever that unliving android mojo may be, these two exquisite super-ladies WANT it!!! NOT Thor- a literal GOD among men- NOT Iron Man- ( or, I should say, Tony Stark ) a super-handsome, super-sexy, super-suave, super-genius, and, here’s the BIG one- super-RICH, which is, as we all know, the most important male quality to a woman- NOT the Black Panther, a super-handsome, super-sexy, super-smart, super-virile, King of the wealthiest nation on Earth- and, consequently, the wealthiest man on the planet- NOT Captain America, the super-handsome, super-sexy, super-valiant, super-accomplished Living Legend of World War II- but an ANDROID- a plastic, artificial man with no emotions!!!! Now, of all the women I know in real life, having emotions is VERY, VERY, IMPORTANT to them, and they all BITCH like there’s no tomorrow if their men all go no-emotion, “Mr. Spock” on them!! But- it apparently WORKS for the emotionless Vision! A major difference from the worlds of fantasy and real life, I suppose. I can only buy this business of Miss Mantis and the Witch wanting just a “spiritual relationship” with the Vision only so far, because Miss Mantis and Miss Wanda are both, in spite of their respective superhumanity, women of flesh and blood, and are still subject to all of the normal biological drives which most women possess- not the LEAST of which is the normal drive/desire to reproduce! Now, just HOW is either one of these ladies going to catch a baby with THIS guy-??!! He’s/it’s not even interested in pussy, let alone what comes OUT of them!! Again- ’nuff said on that. 2) Iron Man. I have no trouble with this sequence where Iron Man is retrieving Thor’s hammer from orbit- why should I-?? Why should anybody?? The physics involved in the scene holds up- the hammer has a spell on it which prevents it from being lifted/wielded by anyone unworthy of it’s power- that’s true, but the weightlessness of orbit is going to make the hammer FLOAT- like anything or anyone else!! So- Iron Man, or anyone else able to survive in space, with a propulsion system working for them, ( like Iron Man’s rocket jets ) is going to certainly be able to tow that magic mallet around, at least until it is returned to a normal-gravity environment. So- there is nothing wrong with this scene. Incidentally, this particular debate of whether or not the hammer can be moved/wielded in a zero-gravity environment was tackled head-on by the ladies on an episode of CBS’ “The Big Bang Theory”- you would think it would have been the guys- you know, the actual physicists and comic-book geeks Leonard, Sheldon, Howard, and Rajesh- but, NO- it was the ladies of the ensemble who tackled this world-shattering issue, and the prevailing logic over the matter precisely reflected my own! ( yes, Virginia, the hammer CAN be towed around in a zero-gravity environment ) So- enough of THAT. 3) Thor. Two of the most peculiar things that I have ever seen this character do were both done in the above scene shown above: Whereas it does make sense that the Avengers would have clever, high-tech communications devices on their persons, the “JLA signal-device” in Thor’s BELT-BUCKLE is a new one on me, too! As noted above, this scene is the ONE and ONLY time which we have ever seen this device on Thor’s person. It would seem to me that the device, located where it is on Thor’s mid-riff, would simply not survive all of Thor’s high-intensity combats with beings such as Ulik the Troll, the Incredible Hulk, the Absorbing Man, Firelord, the Silver Surfer, the Mangog, Surtur, and so forth, and so on. My assumption on the matter is that Thor’s natural ( and understandable ) arrogance precludes him from carrying a personal ‘signal-device’ on his person, on the grounds that, “Hey! I’m Thor! The God of Thunder! I don’t NEED no Steeeenking signal-device!! I’m the guy that people call for help-not the other way around!!” But- maybe I’m wrong, and maybe Thor keeps a ‘JLA signal-device’ in his belt-buckle! ( ??? ) And, lastly, this scene of Thor sitting in a tree-top just doesn’t work for me, either- WHY is the Prince of Asgard sitting up in a TREE-???!!! An act like that would strike me as being quite beneath his royal dignity! Well- again- maybe I’m wrong, and the Mighty Thor just enjoys sitting up in trees!!!! What do I know-???? Excelsior, and thank you for the privilege of your time!