Avengers #149

Issue Details

Synopsis

"The Gods and the Gang!" As the Avengers and Hellcat return to their home reality following their clash with the Squadron Supreme, Thor and Moondragon also return to Avengers Mansion. There Moondragon continues to question why Thor spends his time living among "mere mortals" and accuses him of "slumming". Thor once more brushes off this assertion and learns from Jarvis that the other Avengers had gone to the Brand Corporation to investigate their involvement with Roxxon Oil, sending both Thor and Moondragon to see how the others are doing. The others have rematerialized at the Brand Corporation headquarters and are facing off to an army of troops hired by Hugh Jones. As the Avengers fight through these foes, Hugh Jones makes a mental link with Nelson Rockefeller on the Squadron Supreme's Earth to find out what had happened and learns the Squadron Supreme had turned on him and deposed him as President of the United States. With no other choice, Jones unleashes his newest super-powered agent, Orka. He knocks out all the Avengers present and they are taken into Jones' custody. Thor and Moondragon arrive, and the two battle Orka. Moondragon keeps Orka at bay with her mental powers and tells Thor to rescue the others, however, the Thunder God is forced to turn back when Orka manages to shake off the mental attack and strike Moondragon. In a fury, Thor unleashes all his godly might in fighting Orka. As Thor and Orka fight on the other Avengers are hooked up to an Electro-Incinerogram device that will incinerate them into ashes. When Jones leaves the Avengers under the supervision of Buzz Baxter, Hellcat revives and breaks free. After a brief fight with her ex-husband, she manages to have him at her mercy and she demands that he let the Avengers free. Just then Thor manages to defeat Orka in battle, landing a blow powerful enough to knock the mutated Atlantean out. In the climax of the battle, Thor begins to realize that there is perhaps some truth in what Moondragon has been saying all along. Watching the battle on his monitor, Hugh Jones orders Baxter to kill the Avengers, however, when he gets no response he rushes to the other room to find that the Avengers have been freed. With the battle over and Hugh Jones turned over to the authorities, Hellcat comes to terms with her failed marriage and Thor tells the others that he has realized that he is destined for bigger things. Realizing that they need to secure a new roster of Avengers, the group heads back to Avengers Mansion to come to a conclusion on who should be in the next line-up of Earth's Mightiest Heroes...