Avengers #145-146: The Assassin?

[Shellhead]

Recently, in the Weakest Avenger thread, I dismissed Avengers #145 as a filler story. I remember buying that issue and getting confused and annoyed because it had nothing to do with the current Squadron Supreme storyline that started in #141 and had paused on a cliffhanger in #144.

Now, as I think back on #145, I can't remember anything about that issue. And I didn't even get #146, because a quick peak confirmed that they still weren't back on track with the Squadron Supreme story.

Does anybody here have those two issues, or at least remember them? Please post a brief commentary on that issue here. Thanks.

http://www.plexico.net/avengers/covers/a141.html

[Kirk G]

He looks like Lucifer from the early early Xmen issue #9 where Prof X's legs were crushed and the Avengers guest star. But the cover art is Gil Kane.
Could he be related to the Monacle, the one-time-only assassin from FF #96 or so, that Johnny Storm battled? (Just curious...)

[Shellhead]

He looks like Lucifer from the early early Xmen issue #9 where Prof X's legs were crushed and the Avengers guest star. But the cover art is Gil Kane.
Could he be related to the Monacle, the one-time-only assassin from FF #96 or so, that Johnny Storm battled? (Just curious...)

Yeah I mentioned the Lucifer resemblance in that Weakest Avenger thread, but he was actually active around that time, merging with Aries (!) and becoming two Lucifers and then battling Captain America and the Falcon. I think Lucifer was an advance scout for a hostile alien race... maybe this Assassin guy stumbled onto one of Lucifer's hideouts and grabbed some weapons and a Lucifer helmet?

[tricksterpup]

I do not remember the issue at all.. sadly I started with avengers #200 and worked my way down to the byrne era of avengers.
But looking at this, you can not go wrong with this crowd of creators.

Avengers 145: The Taking of the Avengers!
March 1976
Cover: Gil Kane/Dan Adkins
Writer: Tony Isabella
Penciller: Don Heck
Inker: John Tartag

Tony Isabella at that time was right up there with Roger Stern and Claremont as my favorite writers. I have always partically loved his writings. And love reading his column Tony's online tips aka TOTS (http://www.worldfamouscomics.com/tony/).

[Daulton]

Well, I have 146.

At the start of the issue, a No-Prize is offered for anyone who can "tell us exactly where this two-part tale falls into the Avenger's continuity."

Apparently, somebody hires the Assassin and the Assassin's goons to take out the Avengers for...one billion dollars [insert Dr. Evil laughter here].

As the story starts, Cap's been severely injured while assisting the cops with a drug bust, and he's in the hospital. Donald Blake is operating on him. The Vision, Iron Man, and Hawkeye are guarding Cap.

The Assassin drugs Hawkeye and Iron Man and then sends goons in to finish 'em off, but both the poison and the goons fail. The goons do manage to take out a robot Thor decoy, though.

The Assassin plans is to shoot Blake, so Cap can't be operated on and saved. Hawkeye, the Vision, and Iron Man show up at the last second and stop the Assassin, and in the process, destroy the Assassins' costume, revealing the Assassin to be a woman.

The Assassin flees, and in the end, her own goons gun her down and kill her, since they don't recognize her without her costume on.

On the last page of the issue, I'm assuming that whoever hired the Assassin (probably the drug lord whose operation Cap helped mess up last issue) is revealed to be the Assassin's father. His son, Angelo, threatens revenge for his sister Maria's death, so the crime boss shoots and kills his son, and then himself.

[Kirk G]

Well, I have 146.

At the start of the issue, a No-Prize is offered for anyone who can "tell us exactly where this two-part tale falls into the Avenger's continuity."

Apparently, somebody hires the Assassin and the Assassin's goons to take out the Avengers for...one billion dollars [insert Dr. Evil laughter here].

As the story starts, Cap's been severely injured while assisting the cops with a drug bust, and he's in the hospital. Donald Blake is operating on him. The Vision, Iron Man, and Hawkeye are guarding Cap.

The Assassin drugs Hawkeye and Iron Man and then sends goons in to finish 'em off, but both the poison and the goons fail. The goons do manage to take out a robot Thor decoy, though.


The Assassin plans is to shoot Blake, so Cap can't be operated on and saved. Hawkeye, the Vision, and Iron Man show up at the last second and stop the Assassin, and in the process, destroy the Assassins' costume, revealing the Assassin to be a woman.

The Assassin flees, and in the end, her own goons gun her down and kill her, since they don't recognize her without her costume on.

On the last page of the issue, I'm assuming that whoever hired the Assassin (probably the drug lord whose operation Cap helped mess up last issue) is revealed to be the Assassin's father. His son, Angelo, threatens revenge for his sister Maria's death, so the crime boss shoots and kills his son, and then himself.
That's twisted!
Who wrote this amazing piece? :eek:

[Shellhead]

It sounds like pre-Internet fanfic.

[Daulton]

That's twisted!
Who wrote this amazing piece? :eek:

Tony Isabella.

I'd never noticed that both Keith Pollard and Don Heck illustrated this issue - Pollard did the first three pages, and Heck did the rest of the issue. Not that that's anything spectacular or anything, I'd just never noticed that before. :p

[kcekada]

The Pollard pages look nice, the Heck pages....well, Heck is Heck.

I hated when this story appeared. This is back in the days of the freakin' dreaded doomline crap ...something Jim Shooter made go away (thankfully).

In the middle of a great storyline (Squadron Supreme/Roxxon/Heroes in the old West), we get a story about some kooky assassin?!!!

However, it really is a decent story. I think I had those issues for months before actually reading them in entirety. The story is about the perfect crime...how to take out the Avengers and get away with it. The ending was very surprising...similar to a Greek tragedy.