Avengers Vol 1 180

From their airborne quinjet, Thor, the Vision, and the Beast, as well as Bloodhawk and Teacher, observe a monolithic stone giant lurch toward the island of Muara intent on wiping out its inhabitants. Thor and the Vision confront the Monolith only to find it is every bit as powerful as it looks.

Observing from the quinjet, the Beast reflects on what transpired to bring them there: the mutant Bloodhawk and his Teacher trailed an ancient totem relic to the Museum of Natural History and got into a fight with several Avengers after trying to steal it back. The Avengers subdued Bloodhawk and then debated his claim that the relic protected the island from supernatural forces. Eventually, they decided to return the relic.

The agitated Bloodhawk succumbs once more to a berserker rage. Swiping the relic from Teacher, he flies away from the Quinjet and into the island’s jungles. Teacher tells Beast that the relic is key to defeating the Monolith. Thus, the Beast pursues Bloodhawk.

Back at Avengers Mansion, Iron Man has returned, having cooled down considerably after storming off in a huff last issue. As he strides down the hallway, he’s taken unaware by the invisible villain, the Stinger, who had previously subdued several other Avengers in his absence.

On Muara, the Vision tries to drop down on the Monolith from high above him only to be swatted into orbit, eventually crashing into the ocean some 200 miles away. Meanwhile, the Beast catches up to Bloodhawk and hops on for a ride. He wrests the relic away and then knocks Bloodhawk out. He then returns to the beach only to find Thor being crushed under the Monolith’s heel! After a hurried explanation, Thor has the Beast grasp Mjolnir and hurls it into the air. Woosh! The Beast is rocketed up to the Monolith’s head.

Scrambling for a foothold as the Monolith tries to shake him off, Beast manages a dive to drop the relic into its slot, immobilizing the creature. Thor then manages to scramble free of its foothold. Using Mjolnir, he creates a magical vortex that sweeps the Monolith up, carrying it off to the far reaches of space so as to never again threaten the Earth.

Having returned from the jungle and once again lucid, Bloodhawk demands the Avengers leave. But the Beast tells him of his own mentor (Professor X) and of a school where he won't be shunned for his appearance and can be with other similarly gifted students (Xavier’s school, the home base of the mutant X-Men). Bloodhawk excitedly accepts the offer.

Back at the Mansion, the Stinger gloats to his captives that he was once just a small-time hood until he met the Tinkerer (a recurring Spider-Man foe) who developed his high-tech weaponry. The Stinger is waiting for the three remaining Avengers to return from Muara. Confident that he will get the drop them all as well, he intends to sell the Avengers to the highest bidder to do with as they please.

The three Avengers return. Onboard the quinjet, the Teacher proudly reflects that he has never seen Bloodhawk so happy and excited.

The Vision slips through the walls to tell the others of their return but gets ambushed by the Stinger. Thor and Beast hear his cry and rush to the scene. The Beast gets waylaid but the Stinger is in turn ambushed by Thor. The villain turns himself invisible and is just about to use his high-powered shocker beam on the Norse god when Bloodhawk throws himself in front of Thor. Bloodhawk is felled by the attack.

The Beast (whose mutant healing factor counteracted the Stinger’s knockout drug) has freed the captive Avengers. Thor causes it to rain inside the mansion, revealing the Stinger’s whereabouts. The villain arrogantly boasts he took the whole team out before and can do it again. But without the advantage of taking the individual members by surprise, the team makes short work of the C-list baddie.

Sadly, Bloodhawk took a blast meant for Thor which proves fatal for him. Teacher cradles him in his arms. In his dying moment, Bloodhawk asks Teacher if his father would have been proud of him. Teacher replies “Yes, my son. He is.” Thus revealing that he was Bloodhawk’s father.

Notes

While this is basically a "filler" story, it doesn't quite stay consistent with the regular storyline. The Stinger remarks that the nine heroes that appear in this issue are the entire team. But at this time, there are 23 heroes coming in and out of Avengers Mansion (they will all appear next issue.) Stinger's invisibility would have been unlikely to give him an advantage over heroes like Moondragon, Captain Marvel or Jocasta whose telepathy and/or extra-sensory perceptions would have easily spotted him.

Trivia

The concept that the monolith worshipped by this pre-industrial society is an alien being seems to be inspired by the late 70s pseudoscience book "Chariots of the Gods", which made the claim that monuments like the Easter Island monoliths were evidence of historical visitations to Earth by alien beings with super-advanced technology.

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Avengers Vol 1 180

Appearing in "Berserkers' Holiday"

Synopsis for "Berserkers' Holiday"

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