Avengers Disassembled

"Avengers Disassembled"

Promotional art for Avengers #503.
Art by David Finch.
Publisher Marvel Comics
Publication date August 2004 – January 2005
Genre
Main character(s) Avengers
Creative team
Writer(s)
Penciller(s)
Avengers Disassembled HC ISBN 0-7851-2294-X
Avengers Disassembled: Iron Man, Thor & Captain America ISBN 0785138846

"Avengers Disassembled" is a crossover event involving the Avengers, Fantastic Four, Captain America, Spider-Man and Thor. "Avengers Disassembled" saw the beginning of Brian Michael Bendis' Avengers run with the destruction of the existing "traditional" roster and exile of several key members of the team. The other crossover stories intersect (or in the case of the Spectacular Spider-Man and Thor crossover issues) or take place prior or after to the main Avengers story-line. In particular, the tie-ins saw other changes to the status quo: Iron Man once again closeting his secret identity, Spider-Man developing organic webshooters (like the Sony Spider-Man movies), and the death of Thor and Asgard in one final Ragnarok.

The main story ("Chaos") ran in Avengers #500-503 and a special epilogue ("Avengers Finale") and drew considerable controversy due to its overt continuity errors related to its main plot and deaths and vilification of classic Avengers members. These continuity errors and fan backlash would lead to retconning of the events in "Avengers: The Children's Crusade" and "AXIS," as well as the "Marquis of Death" story line from Mark Millar's Fantastic Four run and the Kurt Busiek and George Perez "Avengers/JLA" mini-series and J. Michael Straczynski's "Amazing Spider-Man" run.

The series would also see to a massive relaunch of the Avengers family of titles with new ongoing series launched for the Thunderbolts, Captain America, and Iron Man as well as the launching of Young Avengers and Thor going on a three-year hiatus.

Plot summary

Avengers

Sending Jack of Hearts to the Avengers mansion, the zombified hero explodes damaging the mansion. Ant Man, who approached his former teammate, is seemingly killed in the blast but in truth is teleported away by future versions of his daughter, Cassie Lang, and her teammates, the Young Avengers. With Ant Man presumed dead, Doom orders Wanda to send Vision (piloting an Avengers Quinjet) to crash into the partially damaged Avengers Mansion causing more damage.

Elsewhere, the mind-controlled Wanda arrives at the United Nations where she has a conversation with Captain America who announces that he is ending their fledgling relationship. Furious, Wanda uses her powers to cause Iron Man to suddenly become drunk and belligerent at an important meeting where the Avengers will have their UN security clearance revoked following the events of Secret War. Attempting to pick a fight with the Latverian ambassador, the Avengers UN charter is revoked as Iron Man leaves Hank Pym in the lurch to respond to the "Code White" from the Avengers mansion.

Leaving the Avengers Quinjet he crashed, Vision warns the Avengers of Doom's plan to destroy the team and then vomits up a series of eggs that spawn Ultron drones that attack the Avengers. With Doom and the mind-controlled Wanda watching from the shadows, She-Hulk is hexed by Wanda and becomes consumed with bloodlust, tearing Vision in half and brutally assaulting Wasp and Captain Britain.

Ultimately, She-Hulk is subdued by Iron Man and Captain America as Hank Pym joins them and rushes Wasp to the hospital. Returning, Hank reveals to Cap and the team of Iron Man's drunken outburst at the UN and the UN's decision to revoke their charter. As the super-hero community gathers at the mansion, the Avengers do not know that several of the members are constructs created by the possessed Wanda on behalf of Doctor Doom to spy on the Avengers.

As the Avengers fear that Ultron may be behind the attack, Doom orders Wanda to summon an armada of Kree soldiers to attack Manhattan. In the ensuing battle, Hawkeye is killed when his arrows are hit causing their explosives to go off. In his dying moments, Hawkeye takes out a Kree battleship in the blast after taking flight with a commandeered Kree jet pack.

In the wake of Hawkeye's death, Doctor Strange suddenly appears for the first time since the Dark Dimension invasion several months prior. His memories altered due to Baron Mordo's meddling, he immediately suspects Scarlet Witch of being responsible and accuses her of having turned against the Avengers in a fit of madness over the loss of her children, triggered by Wasp's comment about aborting her and Hawkeye's would-be children. Strange, no longer familiar with chaos magic due to Mordo, also assumes that Wanda's ability to launch such a complex scheme indicates that she's a high level reality warper and that she must be taken down ASAP before she threatens the world in her current mental state.

The Avengers visit Agatha Harkness's home, where the Life Force possessed Wanda has been left alone by Doom to eliminate the Avengers. Summoning an army of constructs, including a version of Rogue and Red Skull and a group of SS troops, the Life Force entity attempts to destroy the Avengers before Doctor Strange uses the Eye of Agamotto to put Wanda into a coma. However, by this point, Professor X sends Magneto to retrieve Wanda from the Avengers, much to Captain America's dismay and horror. Reluctantly he allows Magneto to take his daughter with him after he vows to help her. The story ends with a flashback to Avengers #16, as Wanda, Hawkeye, and Quicksilver are inducted into the Avengers roster as Iron Man, Wasp, Giant Man, and Thor leave the team.

Iron Man

After rescuing Force from the corrupt senators who have been trying to kill Tony Stark since he became Secretary of Defense, Iron Man finds himself targeted by an Iron Man impostor who murders his longtime love interest Rumiko Fujikawa. Iron Man eventually defeats his impersonator and bring down the ring of corrupt senators who were behind the murder and Force being blackmailed. Realizing that his loved ones are being targeted by his enemies, Stark gives a press conference where he announces that he is resigning as Secretary of Defense and will no longer actively be Iron Man, in favor of returning to "subordinates" filling the role for him.

Thor

A mystic force that is the living embodiment of Ragnarok has begun slaying the Asgardian Gods, in rapid succession. Investigating the genocide of his people, Thor discovers that the universe itself is seeking to eliminate the Asgardians for cheating death by surviving countless previous attempts by the universe to fulfill Ragnarok and wipe out the Asgardians. Ultimately Thor allows himself to be destroyed, as all known Asgardians are destroyed.

Captain America and Falcon

Prior to the UN Meeting to determine if the Avengers will retain their UN Charter, Captain America discusses his past, most notably his abusive childhood at the hands of his alcoholic father with Scarlet Witch. Captain America ultimately decides to end his relationship with Wanda, citing that he feels that he can not give her the normal life she desires due to his own emotional issues.

Spectacular Spider-Man

Peter and his wife MJ go to a friend's wedding, not knowing that the bride is an ancient evil known as the Spider-Queen, who has married MJ's friend so that her new father-in-law would give her a spider statue that she uses to turn everyone at the wedding into spider-creatures. MJ and Peter barely escape being turned, which allows Peter to stop her but not before she bites him, causing a partial transformation which he is able to regress after MJ destroys the statue. However, as a side-effect, Peter now finds himself able to produce organic spider-webbing from his wrists.

Fantastic Four

While the Avengers face the destruction of their mansion and the invading Kree armada, Wizard and the Frightful Four launch a surprise attack on the Fantastic Four, defeating the heroes and seizing control over the Baxter Building. The Fantastic Four regroup and beat the villains.

Captain America

Following the events of Red Skull conspires with the Serpent Society and a LMD of Diamondback to destroy Captain America, on

Aftermath

In the wake of "Avengers Disassembled", two new Avengers series were created. The New Avengers title replaced the Avengers title (with a new No. 1 in December 2004) which ended with issue No. 503 and Avengers Finale (November 2004). This new title continued with the creative team of writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist David Finch. The other title, premiering February 2005, was Young Avengers, which featured teenage heroes, each of whom (excepting Hawkeye) related in some way to the legacy of the Avengers. This series was written by Allan Heinberg, a writer for The OC, with art by Jim Cheung. The group was revived by its creators in July 2010 with the bimonthly series Avengers: The Children's Crusade which is a follow-up to Disassembled and House of M.

The Scarlet Witch's storyline continued in the pages of Excalibur, where Magneto and Professor X tried helping her, to no avail. This in turn led into the House of M mini-series and crossover, also written by Bendis.

The event is now considered by Marvel editors as the first part of a long series of events, which includes House of M, Decimation, Planet Hulk, Civil War, The Initiative, Endangered Species, World War Hulk, Messiah Complex, Divided We Stand, Secret Invasion, Manifest Destiny, Dark Reign, Messiah War, Utopia, Nation X and Necrosha . All these grim events lead up to Siege written by Brian Michael Bendis in 2010, which ushers in a new Heroic Age for Marvel, and X-Men: Second Coming by Christopher Yost and Craig Kyle, which sees the slow rebirth of Earth's Mutant population.

As for the Avengers killed during Disassembled saga, they have all returned to life in separate events. Ant Man was rescued by the time-traveling Young Avengers during The Children's Crusade, as Stature brings him away from the range of Jack of Hearts' explosion. Ant-Man is thus brought to the present along with the Young Avengers. The Vision is successfully rebuilt by Tony Stark after Fear Itself, and Jack of Hearts is restored by a team of scientists of Project Pegasus: during an assault of a pack of zombified clones of Squadron Supreme, a source of zero-point energy aggregates taking the corporeal form of Jack Hart. Hawkeye was brought back to life during the events of House of M.

List of crossover issues

Although not bannered as a part of the crossover, the events of Stormbreaker: The Saga of Beta Ray Bill are a direct sequel to the story in Thor.

Later references to the storyline

New Avengers Disassembled

Although not directly connected with the previous storyline, Bendis's 5th arc on New Avengers is titled "New Avengers: Disassembled", a reference to "Avengers: Disassembled". It deals with the events of the Civil War (in which superheroes were forced to register with the government or be arrested) on the Avengers, and how the team's varying opinions have caused them to break apart. The first three issues featured Captain America, Jessica Drew and Luke Cage's opinions on the matter, all who have heavily weighed against the registration. The next two featured the Sentry and Iron Man, both of whom were for registration.

Avengers: The Initiative Disassembled

Like the 5th arc of Bendis's New Avengers, the storyline of Avengers: The Initiative also references Avengers: Disassembled, complete with a banner reminiscent of the original. Issue No. 21, the first in the Dark Reign event, centers on the aftermath of the failed Skrull invasion, and the revelation that the shape-shifting aliens had infiltrated and corrupted the Fifty-State Initiative and Camp Hammond, where the registered heroes were trained. Most disturbingly, Camp Hammond and the Initiative were largely under the supervision of the legendary Avenger Henry Pym, but Pym had in fact been replaced by a Skrull years earlier. This is an opportunity for "top cop" Norman Osborn, the newly appointed director of H.A.M.M.E.R. (formerly S.H.I.E.L.D.) to radically redefine how the Initiative will fit into the new order—to his own advantage. Thus, the whole structure (and much of the cast) of Avengers: The Initiative is disassembled.

Avengers/New Avengers: End Times

Bendis's last Avengers and New Avengers storylines used a red smashed Avengers symbol and a black text box with white text in same font as the Disassembled logo on the front covers of each issue of thouse stories.

Ultimates Disassembled

The 6th story arc of the 4th series of The Ultimate Comics series The Ultimates used the Disassembled name complete with the black box white text logo.

Other versions

What If?

On November 1, 2006, Marvel released a "What If?" special showing a different outcome to the storyline. In this alternate reality, the Beast, sensing something wrong, investigates afterward. He and Warbird go to see Dr. Strange who claims to have no knowledge of what occurred. Strange uses his abilities to see the event, claiming that is not really him ("Of course there's chaos magic...I would never use the Eye that way."). They deduce that Wanda used her magics to make everyone believe Strange had defeated her and Magneto then took her away. The Beast eventually figures out that Captain America, his mind suffering long-term damage from his years in ice, had pushed Wanda to do this, using the deaths to power her. They remake Genosha into a mutant paradise and Magneto fights to defend his daughter from the Avengers and the X-Men, who all end up dead as the Scarlet Witch's spell is interrupted by Rogue. In the end, Wanda and Cap allow themselves to be taken to oblivion to stop any more harm being done. Only Rogue, Ms. Marvel, Beast, Falcon, Cyclops, Iron Man and Doctor Strange are left – they were the ones who were directly confronting Cap and Wanda – and a guilt-ridden Beast, learning from Uatu that Cap would have recovered from his illness and abandoned his manipulative relationship with the Witch as he became leader of a new team of Avengers if Beast had done nothing, realizes that he should have left everything alone.

Earth-5012

In an alternate world, the Avengers were never disassembled, but were subsequently captured by an alien race called the Trellions when the Vision detected the arrival of their agent Titannus, a brainwashed Skrull super-soldier, accompanying him on a mission to rescue his dying lover only to learn that he had been brainwashed with a fake story to lure the Avengers into a trap. The Wasp was quickly killed, Hank Pym - apparently another Hulk in this reality - was announced missing in action, and Captain America was executed to break their spirit, the reserve Avengers taking five years to rescue them and another five to beat back the Trellions sufficiently to stop them trying to re-conquer Earth. At some point, Reed Richards apparently attempted to conquer the world, Iron Man taking on a Doctor-Doom-like apparel to oppose him, killing the Human Torch before Richards sent him to Earth-616 prior to Titannus's arrival on that Earth. This Iron Man has since become the villain Iron Maniac, being kept in stasis in a Helicarrier, while the Titannus of Earth-616 was defeated by a team assembled by Doctor Strange when he detected Titannus's arrival only after Titannus had destroyed most of Tokyo in a rampage, his violent approach leaving the heroes less inclined to trust him than they had been in this world.

Parodies

Great Lakes Avengers: Misassembled

The GLA miniseries, GLA: Misassembled (2005), written by Dan Slott and pencilled by Paul Pelletier, provided a tongue-in-cheek reference to Avengers Disassembled. In a move which satirized the comic book deaths in that book, it was announced that a character would die in each GLA issue. Surely enough, Dinah Soar, the newcomer Grasshopper, the squirrel Monkey Joe, and Doorman are all killed, and Mr. Immortal commits suicide. However, Doorman was resurrected almost immediately acquiring the powers of Deathurge, Monkey Joe was replaced with an identical squirrel called Tippy Toe and Mr. Immortal stayed dead for only a few seconds. Three other Grasshoppers appeared in later issues of GLA, and were all killed in the space of few pages, continuing the parody.

Bongo Comics Free-For-All

A Bongo Comics Free-For-All (Free Comic Book Day Special) has Comic Book Guy reading, Archie Disassembled. The following quotes:

Cable & Deadpool #12

Collected editions

The stories have been collected into a number of volumes:

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.