I just reread the Squadron Supreme maxiseries from 1985-86 and it got me thinking of its ramifications, origins and possible agenda.
I decided to go through their earlier appearances in Avengers, Thor and Defenders and see how they evolved.
I also decided that I would not be including the appearances of the Squadron SINISTER, at least for now! Should there be interest in that topic, we'll have to see!
However, I feel that I should include the first appearance of the villainous Squadron since the heroic Squadron sprung from it!
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They did the same kind of thing when they temporarily made Hank Pym a redhead to distinguish him from the blonds, Captain America and Hawkeye!
My earliest Avengers were actually Marvel Triple Action especially the ones featuring the "Trapped At Ten Feet Tall...For Life!" Goliath!
I remember being struck by the blond-ness of early Avengers in, I think, Avengers #45, where it shows all of them in civvies, and I suddenly couldnt tell Steve from Clint from Hank except by dialogue. Thank goodness Pietro's blondness was of the platinum variety.
What If...the Human Torch and the Angel were members of the Avengers with Cap, Hank & Hawkeye?
Hey, what about me?
Oh, go join the UN or something!
AVENGERS #141 (N'75): "The Phantom Empire!"
writer: Steve Englehart
art: George Perez (1st Avengers art) and Vince Colletta
editor: Marv Wolfman
Avenger Trainee the Beast is attacked by ROXXON troops and is saved by the returning CAPTAIN AMERICA (who had been gone since #126 [Au'74] except for a brief visit as the Nomad in #131 [Ja'75]. It was a hectic time for Cap!). He tells the Beast about his suspicions about ROXXON Oil President HUGH JONES and the two go to the hospital where Yellowjacket and the Wasp are recuperating from their recent injuries (#139, #137, respectively) and are being visited by Thor, the Vision and Scarlet Witch. The five heroes depart for Avengers Mansion and they just miss a mysterious, yet familar woman looking for the Beast!
At the Mansion, Iron Man and Moondragon have returned from their time trip trying to retrieve the missing Hawkeye and tell the others that it was all a trap by KANG THE CONQUEROR (again). This time Thor and Moondragon go forth and summon IMMORTUS to enter the time stream where they are indeed confronted by Kang who escapes into the past!
The others realize that there is a connection between ROXXON Oil and the BRAND CORPORATION and are about to investigate the Brand Building, only to be confronted by the Mysterious Woman, revealed to be Patsy Walker from the Beast's run in Amazing Adventures, back to using her maiden name, PATSY WALKER after her divorce! She tries to coerce the Beast by revealing his secret identity of Hank McCoy but the Avengers already know that! Still the Beast made a promise to her and wants her to tag along, over Cap's objections, but only Cap's which is weird!
At the Brand Building, they are observed by Hugh Jones and COLONEL BUZZ BAXTER, Patsy's ex-husband (small world) and after Wanda muses again about her abbreviated honeymoon (you didn't have to agree to leave early, Wanda!), they are confronted by ROXXON's security team: THE SQUADRON SUPREME!
The two teams pair off with:
-Captain America facing THE GOLDEN ARCHER II (1st App. As), formerly Hawkeye II. Apparently he learned about Cap's battle with the "first" Golden Archer who was really Hawkeye in disguise, trying to motivate a depressed Steve Rogers (see Captain America #179 [N'74], also written by Steve Englehart) and thought it would be funny to co-opt the identity on this Earth. Which is odd because he kept it on his Earth too!
-Iron Man against THE WHIZZER III, showing a lot more bravado and who curtly explains why they're with ROXXON: they "SOLD OUT!" The Golden Avenger cannot cope with his opponent's blinding speed!
-the Beast manages to avoid HYPERION somehow and kicks him in the face! The Man of Brawn shows great restraint and defeats him without turning into blue paste!
-the Vision is stymied by DOCTOR SPECTRUM, defeated when he gets distracted by Scarlet Witch's downfall!
-the Scarlet Witch and Patsy Walker take on LADY LARK only to fall to her song!
The Mighty Avengers are defeated and captured by the Squadron Supreme!
Meanwhile, Thor, Moondragon and Immortus appear in the American West in the year 1873 and are confronted by someone unexpected!
NOTES: Ten-year old me bought this and it was the first time I had seen either the Squadron Supreme or Sinister, and I will admit that I didn't get the joke! I did NOT see the Squadron as a Justice League takeoff, at least not until a few months later!
I didn't see Hyperion as Superman because the Beast kicked him in the face! Could you see that happening to the Man of Steel?
If anything, I saw them as counterparts to the Avengers themselves with Hyperion for Thor (I knew that Hyperion was a Greek Titan), Whizzer for Quicksilver, Golden Archer for Hawkeye, Lady Lark for Scarlet Witch and Doctor Spectrum for Iron Man (they both had their faces covered!).
Once again, the Squadron Supreme is referred to as the Squadron Sinister on the cover! The Sinisters had appeared in The Defenders #13-14 (My-Jl'74) the previous year and Giant-Size Defenders #4 (Ap'75) earlier in the year.
Since the Sinister's NIGHTHAWK had turned face, changed his look and joined the Defenders, the Supreme's Nighthawk was dropped from the team and would not reappear until 1982! They didn't even say why!
I never read her Silver Age books nor Amazing Adventures so this was my first exposure to Patsy Walker and I liked her. I always thought that it would have been interesting to have her hang around as just Patsy for a longer while!
Next: "Nor Iron Bars a Cage" or "Reach for the Skies, Varmints!"
By this time in my comic book reading experience, I had already caught on to various artifical tricks writes use. In this case, when the first Avenger lost, I thought "Oh, they're all going to lose. I should just skip ahead." Because if some Avengers lost, but some Avengers won, it would complicate the plot. They all had to win, or they all had to lose. Even if Cap should have taken down Golden Archer and Lady Lark without breathing hard. And you don't beat Iron Man by running fast.
But I accepted what I was given, and overall it was a pretty good issue.
AVENGERS #142 (D'75): "Go West, Young Gods!"
writer: Steve Englehart
art: George Perez & Vince Colletta
editor: Marv Wolfman
The majority of the story is focused on Thor, Moondragon and Immortus arriving in Tombstone1873 where they finally reunite with HAWKEYE (who is going around maskless and shirtless but thankfully not wearing his light blue miniskirt!) and his allies, Marvel's Western Stars! (see Aside). They must work together to stop Kang the Conqueror who has brought future technology to enslave the town. He plans on conquering the 20th century by taking over the 19th century! They must stop a train carrying uranium ore from being robbed!
As for the other Avengers, they're not seen until halfway through the book. They and Patsy Walker are imprisoned in a giant energy cage created by Doctor Spectrum. The three pertinent facts are:
-Doctor Spectrum's power prism can successfully stop Iron Man and the Vision. Remember that!
-Patsy and her ex-husband, Colonel Buzz Baxter, still have a lot of drama going on!
-Hyperion wants to prove that the Squadron is a better team than the Avengers. Taking into account that the only time Hyperion encountered the Avengers, they saved his world from utter destruction, making the Man of Brawn awfully petty and ungrateful!
Aside: The Western Heroes helping Hawkeye are The TWO-GUN KID, the RAWHIDE KID, KID COLT, the PHANTOM RIDER (formerly the Ghost Rider) and the RINGO KID. I knew about most of them through ads and their own series still on the newsstands. At the time of this issue, The Two-Gun Kid, Rawhide Kid, Kid Colt, Mighty Marvel Western and The Ringo Kid were available though all were reprints only by then.
The most interesting thing was the Two-Gun Kid being deeply affected by these future heroes with the same secret identity problems he has!
When I first read this, I had no idea who the Ringo Kid was. I was shocked to learn that his reprint book lasted SIX years! Still, I was going "Who...Who...WHO is the Ringo Kid? And what's his connection to the Beatles?"
Next: Breakout! or Scram, It's the Cops!
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