Avengers #158
April 1977
Cover art by: Jack Kirby & John Romita (these are the 2 that GCD and CBDB agree on)
Story: When Avengers Clash!
Writer: Jim Shooter
Pencils: Sal Buscema
Inks: Pablo Marcos
Man, that Wonder Man costume is really hard for me to get past. Red and green is hard to pull off normally. Then Wondy has a belt, and then he has that weird design above that with the cursive “s” going around his belly. Add the goofy headgear and bracelets. It is just a disaster.
Well this takes place immediately after last issue, and Wonder Man is aiding Scarlet Witch after the damage she tool . The Vision sees this, and he has now decided he is going to give up any pretense of even acting human. Just not yet, and he is ticked that Wonder Man is helping Wanda. Sensing he trying to put the moves on her.
We get a really good fight between the two. With each of them dishing out and taking quite a bit of damage. Wonder Man even withstanding Vision's solidify the arm in the chest bit. Wasp tries to get Iron Man to stop them. He wisely tells her he is going to let them fight it out. Tony does eventually step in and breaks it up once the pair are both practically out on their feet. Smart guy.
Iron Man also worries that they spend to much time with internal problems and aren't actually dealing with real problems in the world.
Flash on over to Research City which is now floating in the sky thanks to Gravitron. One guy did a get a phone call to the Avengers, but he assures Gravitron they thought he was a crackpot. Next, we are shown his origin. Which I believe if you turn to page 5 of your Supervillain Handbook we see it was the very generic lab accident.
The Avengers attack of course. Oh nelly! Does Gravitron whoop their butts. It isn't even close. Ol' Grav was even hoping that Thor was there so he could whip him as well. I really enjoyed this scene as Gravitron uses his powers in such fun ways to defeat the Avenging ones.
This was a really fun issue, and I've always liked Gravitron. I just wish he was a bigger player in the MU. Anyone know his current status?
Replies
I think he's dead. This was a low point for the Avengers as a team, as noted they really didn't do much against Gravitron.
First off, I always liked Wonder Man's original outfit. It was unique and memorable with a retro feel. And they were gradually increasing his strength and giving him a personality.
There's the irony of the Vision saying that he's no longer going to "pretend" to be human then get jealous for no reason.
Graviton was a very powerful villain but with your standard origin and motivation (see the Molecule Man or Doctor Octopus). The only thing that made him stand out was his unrequited love for a married woman.
It's one of the stronger covers of this period!
Sadly, he didn't get a chance to brawl with the Hulk, a rite-of-passage for all Marvel guys with super-strength!
Philip Portelli said:
I could be wrong, as I've only seen part of the above issue, but I don't think she was depicted as married at that stage. Graviton returned in Marvel Two-In-One Annual #4, and my recollection is at that point Jarvis was interested in her. But there may have been - I'm fuzzy on this point - something about her having a secret. The SuperMegaMonkey website tells me when Graviton returned again in Thor #324 she was depicted as married (and the GCD says her husband was Joe Parks, which is the same surname she's listed as having had in her earlier appearances).
The next issue (#159) clearly states that Joe Parks, who leads a temporary rebellion against Graviton, is married to Judy. Graviton's obsession with her caused his initial downfall, far more than anything the Avengers did.
Thanks, Philip.