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Avengers Vol. 1 No. 2
Welcome to part 2 of our 535-part series, "Better Know An Avengers Issue"...
AVENGERS Vol. 1 No. 2
November 1963
Written by: Stan Lee
Drawn by: Jack Kirby
Inking: Paul Reinman
Lettering: Art Simek
The story opens with our heroes holding a meeting at Anthony Stark's mansion. Thor makes a crack about the Hulk's choice in wardrobe (look who's talking), while Ant-Man shows off his new costume and a refined shriking formula (he and the Wasp now use pills instead of a gas to change size).
While all this is going on, a mysterious egg-shaped object arrives from space. It turns out to be a shape-shifting alien called the Space Phantom. In the grand tradition of evil aliens, he is scouting out Earth's defenses in preparation for an invasion. The Space Phantom figures that if he can defeat the Avengers, the rest of the population will be a pushover. He then demonstrates his powers on a passer-by: the Space Phantom transforms himself into an exact duplicate of the bystander. And since the same person can't exist in two places at once, the original person is automatically transported to "Limbo".
In his guise as an ordinary human, the Space Phantom arrives at Stark's mansion. The security cameras see him coming, and the ever-eager Hulk runs out to confront the intruder. The Space Phantom then takes on the Hulk's form, sending the real green goliath to Limbo. His plan is to turn the Avengers against each other, and he heads back to the meeting room to pick a fight with Iron Man. Thor breaks up the skirmish, and the Phantom-Hulk leaves in a huff, smashing through the wall.
The phony Hulk begins menacing people on the street, only to be confronted by the Hulk's pal Rick Jones. Jones tells the Hulk that they should retreat to his secret lab. Not knowing who Rick is, the Space Phantom plays along, and leaps into the air with Rick on his back. But Rick suspects something is wrong when the Hulk heads in the wrong direction. His cover blown, the phony Hulk leaves Rick behind and jumps off to commit more mayhem elsewhere.
The Space Phantom sees some workers testing Tony Stark's new "mutliple anti-missile missile gun" and jumps down to destroy the device. Word of the attack immediately goes out to Stark, who puts his Iron Man armor back on and flies to intercept the rampaging Hulk. After a brief struggle, the Space Phantom decides that discretion is the better part of valor, and takes on the form of a passing insect in order to get away. This causes the real Hulk to be pulled back from Limbo. Not realizing that a switch has occurred, Iron Man continues to press his attack on the genuine Hulk.
Meanwhile, Rick Jones has once again used his trusty ham radio to get in touch with Ant-Man and tell him about the Hulk imposter. Using a growth pill, Ant-Man takes on his more powerful Giant-Man form, and he and the Wasp go to break up the Shellhead/Greenskin battle. While Giant-Man tries to calm his teammates down, the Wasp senses an evil presence nearby. And sure enough, the Space Phantom in his bug form attacks her and carries her off.
Luckily, the cybernetic circuitry in Giant-Man's hood picks up on the Wasp's distress, and the Avengers follow the impulses to Tony Stark's factory nearby. Unfortunately, the heroes make the classic horror-movie mistake of splitting up, making them easy targets for the Space Phantom. He takes on the form of Giant-Man, but the nearby Hulk witnesses the change and attacks the imposter. Iron Man joins the battle, but the Phantom then takes on his form.
As the other heroes fight among themselves, the Wasp has flown off to fetch Thor. The two of them arrive back at the factory in time to see the false Iron Man holding the other Avengers at bay. Realizing that he must be the Space Phantom, the Wasp slips inside his armor and disables his weapon. Thor follows up by summoning a rainstorm that instantly (???) causes the armor to rust, immobilizing the imposter.
But the Space Phantom doesn't have to move in order to use his power; he decides to take on Thor's form. However, his powers suddenly backfire, and instead of sending Thor to Limbo, it's the Space Phantom himself who gets exiled. Thor observes that his power only works on humans, not gods. So, with the Space Phantom gone, and all the Avengers back from Limbo, it's a happy ending, right? Not quite. The Hulk feels that his teammates showed their true colors while fighting his imposter; that they never really liked or trusted him. Fed up, he quits the team and leaps off for parts unknown.
This is a strange story, in a lot of ways. The nominal villain, the Space Phantom, is really just a catalyst for getting the team members to fight each other. It almost reads like a critique, or outright parody, of the whole concept of superhero teams. Could it be that Stan and/or Jack were not crazy about the idea of doing a JLA-style "supergroup", and were venting some of their frustration out on the page? Or perhaps they were just trying to be as different from the competition as possible. Having the Hulk quit after only two issues was certainly a suprising move, and set the precedent for the frequent membership shake-ups in the years that followed.
This story doesn't have as many cool set pieces as the previous issue, but we do get some neat Kirby gadgetry, such as Iron Man's sledgehammer attachment and the tank-like moon rover that the Space Phantom uses to run down the Hulk. Paul Reinman's inks aren't quite as refined as Dick Ayers', but he does an ok job here. Curiously, throughout the issue the Hulk is drawn with either 3 or 4 toes on each foot, instead of the normal 5. I guess Kirby was confusing him with the ever-lovin' 3-toed Thing.
So, will the team continue to fall apart, or will they get their act together? Stay tuned!
AVENGERS Vol. 1 No. 2
November 1963
Written by: Stan Lee
Drawn by: Jack Kirby
Inking: Paul Reinman
Lettering: Art Simek
The story opens with our heroes holding a meeting at Anthony Stark's mansion. Thor makes a crack about the Hulk's choice in wardrobe (look who's talking), while Ant-Man shows off his new costume and a refined shriking formula (he and the Wasp now use pills instead of a gas to change size).
While all this is going on, a mysterious egg-shaped object arrives from space. It turns out to be a shape-shifting alien called the Space Phantom. In the grand tradition of evil aliens, he is scouting out Earth's defenses in preparation for an invasion. The Space Phantom figures that if he can defeat the Avengers, the rest of the population will be a pushover. He then demonstrates his powers on a passer-by: the Space Phantom transforms himself into an exact duplicate of the bystander. And since the same person can't exist in two places at once, the original person is automatically transported to "Limbo".
In his guise as an ordinary human, the Space Phantom arrives at Stark's mansion. The security cameras see him coming, and the ever-eager Hulk runs out to confront the intruder. The Space Phantom then takes on the Hulk's form, sending the real green goliath to Limbo. His plan is to turn the Avengers against each other, and he heads back to the meeting room to pick a fight with Iron Man. Thor breaks up the skirmish, and the Phantom-Hulk leaves in a huff, smashing through the wall.
The phony Hulk begins menacing people on the street, only to be confronted by the Hulk's pal Rick Jones. Jones tells the Hulk that they should retreat to his secret lab. Not knowing who Rick is, the Space Phantom plays along, and leaps into the air with Rick on his back. But Rick suspects something is wrong when the Hulk heads in the wrong direction. His cover blown, the phony Hulk leaves Rick behind and jumps off to commit more mayhem elsewhere.
The Space Phantom sees some workers testing Tony Stark's new "mutliple anti-missile missile gun" and jumps down to destroy the device. Word of the attack immediately goes out to Stark, who puts his Iron Man armor back on and flies to intercept the rampaging Hulk. After a brief struggle, the Space Phantom decides that discretion is the better part of valor, and takes on the form of a passing insect in order to get away. This causes the real Hulk to be pulled back from Limbo. Not realizing that a switch has occurred, Iron Man continues to press his attack on the genuine Hulk.
Meanwhile, Rick Jones has once again used his trusty ham radio to get in touch with Ant-Man and tell him about the Hulk imposter. Using a growth pill, Ant-Man takes on his more powerful Giant-Man form, and he and the Wasp go to break up the Shellhead/Greenskin battle. While Giant-Man tries to calm his teammates down, the Wasp senses an evil presence nearby. And sure enough, the Space Phantom in his bug form attacks her and carries her off.
Luckily, the cybernetic circuitry in Giant-Man's hood picks up on the Wasp's distress, and the Avengers follow the impulses to Tony Stark's factory nearby. Unfortunately, the heroes make the classic horror-movie mistake of splitting up, making them easy targets for the Space Phantom. He takes on the form of Giant-Man, but the nearby Hulk witnesses the change and attacks the imposter. Iron Man joins the battle, but the Phantom then takes on his form.
As the other heroes fight among themselves, the Wasp has flown off to fetch Thor. The two of them arrive back at the factory in time to see the false Iron Man holding the other Avengers at bay. Realizing that he must be the Space Phantom, the Wasp slips inside his armor and disables his weapon. Thor follows up by summoning a rainstorm that instantly (???) causes the armor to rust, immobilizing the imposter.
But the Space Phantom doesn't have to move in order to use his power; he decides to take on Thor's form. However, his powers suddenly backfire, and instead of sending Thor to Limbo, it's the Space Phantom himself who gets exiled. Thor observes that his power only works on humans, not gods. So, with the Space Phantom gone, and all the Avengers back from Limbo, it's a happy ending, right? Not quite. The Hulk feels that his teammates showed their true colors while fighting his imposter; that they never really liked or trusted him. Fed up, he quits the team and leaps off for parts unknown.
This is a strange story, in a lot of ways. The nominal villain, the Space Phantom, is really just a catalyst for getting the team members to fight each other. It almost reads like a critique, or outright parody, of the whole concept of superhero teams. Could it be that Stan and/or Jack were not crazy about the idea of doing a JLA-style "supergroup", and were venting some of their frustration out on the page? Or perhaps they were just trying to be as different from the competition as possible. Having the Hulk quit after only two issues was certainly a suprising move, and set the precedent for the frequent membership shake-ups in the years that followed.
This story doesn't have as many cool set pieces as the previous issue, but we do get some neat Kirby gadgetry, such as Iron Man's sledgehammer attachment and the tank-like moon rover that the Space Phantom uses to run down the Hulk. Paul Reinman's inks aren't quite as refined as Dick Ayers', but he does an ok job here. Curiously, throughout the issue the Hulk is drawn with either 3 or 4 toes on each foot, instead of the normal 5. I guess Kirby was confusing him with the ever-lovin' 3-toed Thing.
So, will the team continue to fall apart, or will they get their act together? Stay tuned!