I know people like to complain about Jim Shooter, but in my book the Shooter-era Avengers is the best. Nearly every issue had a rewarding story with a beginning, middle and end, but also was full of ongoing storylines, some funny, some dramatic. Like, for instance, in this issue we see that Hawkeye really likes potato chips.
Egghead has a robot girlfriend that he dresses in a French maid outfit.
And She-Hulk really doesn’t like pink Cadillacs…
For the main story, Hank Pym is still in jail after his attacks on The Avengers.
He’s still victim-blaming Janet for the consequences of his own actions.
And his fellow inmates take advantage of his presence and state of mind. After Whirlwind taunts him, Tiger Shark busts his buddy out of jail.
Egghead has assembled a new Masters of Evil, featuring Tiger Shark, Whirlwind, Scorpion, and Moonstone. They begin their attack by putting Whirlwind behind the wheel of Janet’s limo, which is how the character first met her–so many years ago.
\Whirlwind starts to sexually assault the Wasp, but she shrinks and stings the crap out of him.
Hawkeye hears the commotion and is drawn to the scene.
The villains get defeated in about a page and half.
Seems about right.
In the aftermath, there’s more on She-Hulk and her ongoing/never-consummated flirtation with Hawkeye.
By now, her solo book has been cancelled, and it was never all that great. But we see her developing into a full-fledged fan favorite during her stint with The A-Team, and then later when she joins the Fantastic Four she fully emerges as an A-list character.
She gets a new outfit from Janet Van Dyne. When Hawkeye sees it, he ridicules her…
But then she kisses him full on the mouth.
I know, I know. If a guy did that, it would be rape.
But when a girl does it, it’s funny.
Lots of sex in these issues, which is kinda cool and appropriate. And sex is used playfully by the heroes and for evil by villains—I don’t think there’s sexual range in a lot of modern books. It’s so taboo, comics are afraid to write about it.
It’s also worth noting how Wasp and Hawkeye, in addition to She-Hulk, get lots of screentime in this issue (and others from this period). The other main characters, Cap, Iron Man and Thor, had their own solo books, but this was the only place you could read about these other heroes. It was special—another thing missing from today’s books, where there’s an event every six weeks so you see all the Marvel characters assembling all the time.
I know, I sound like an old fart.
Jim Shooter plotted this one.