Random Happenstance

I got the Walgreens exclusive Baron Zemo last week, because it was basically free after getting too many shots, but also to keep my streak of Walgreens figures going. Then, conveniently enough, I picked up what I thought was a spare copy of this one, but now I'm not positve I had read it! From 1986, Avengers #273, "Rites of Conquest!" Written by Roger Stern, breakdowns by John Buscema, finishes by Tom Palmer. This was the one with the Black Knight on the 25th anniversary bordered cover! 

This seems like a fun opening, but with troubling undertones: Hercules is playing to the crowds at a local bar, when a barfly needles him about "takin' orders from a dame," current Avengers chairwoman the Wasp. Said barfly gets thrown out a window and nearly hit by a truck, before Herc realizes his error and saves him; but he needn't have rushed: the barfly was actually the Wrecker! Not unlike Juggernaut, readers wouldn't recognize him unmasked in a bar. He had been gathering information, wearing a wire designed by the villainous Yellowjacket: 9 out of 10 superhero costumes look better on a girl, but that might be the exception. Or maybe I'm just sour, since I want the Yellowjacket suit! Wrecker and Yellowjacket report in, to Moonstone, who wasn't supposed to be monitoring: Baron Zemo had other work for her, and knew she'd be a troublemaker. But he needed her, because he needed the paranoid Darkforce user Blackout as a counter for one of the Avengers' mightiest, Captain Marvel. Zemo's Masters of Evil was an exercise in herding cats: he has Piledriver start a fight with Mr. Hyde, then surreptitiously sedates Hyde to make it seem like he was in the driver's seat to Moonstone. 

Since Herc had let slip that Namor had left the team, Zemo tips that to the news, prompting a reporter to ambush Jan at a charity gala with questions about his departure. The cocky Paladin swoops in to 'save' her, much to the Black Knight's chagrin. (He may have had a crush on Jan, although I don't think that would go much longer.) Zemo also gets word that Captain America was in Florida, and Whirlwind is sent to intercept him. (Setting up Cap #324, a pretty fun issue with a pretty lasting upgrade for Whirlwind.) Calling a meeting, we see Zemo has put together a solid roster of hitters. Moonstone suggests, perhaps a leader should be elected: Zemo turns Blackout on her, since he had Fixer duplicate the tech she used to control him. Still, Zemo knows Moonstone's power was useful; he just had to keep her in her place. 

That night, the Masters attack Avengers Mansion: they had arranged for Hercules to be distracted with a date, so only Jarvis was in, and the Mansion is taken easily. Phase one complete...This would of course be collected later as "Under Siege," running through #277: a highwater point for the book, and things would get much worse for the heroes before they got better.