The two issues of Avengers covered in this post really have to seen in their entirety to be appreciated, presenting us a smorgasbord of George Pérez brilliance as he designed Arthurian-era outfits for dozens of heroes after they were transported by the sorceress Morgana le Fey, using the powers of the captured Scarlet Witch, to a medieval reality at the end of the last issue. Following that tale, the Avengers join other heroes in confronting the Thunderbolts in their own book after they were revealed to the world to actually be (gasp) Baron Zemo and the Masters of Evil.
We’ll start our coverage of Avengers #2 with this example of Perez’s brilliance (Thor being the only one who didn’t get the memo about the renaissance fair theme):
The Avengers now serve the queen (Morgana le Fey) as part of her royal guard, with Captain America—I’m sorry, Yeoman America—still their leader. (“What’s ‘America’?” the townspeople would surely ask, if they weren’t distracted either by fear or lust.)
But while the rest of the Avengers are ensorcelled, Cap is actually himself…
…and uses the Mighty Blue Eyes to snap the others out of it, leading to the perfect reaction from Clint. (I know what he means!)
The voice Cap heard belonged to Wanda, who I would like to think found it easiest to bring Cap back because his will was already fighting Morgana le Fey’s influence. (But I might be a little biased.)
Cap has a different theory of why only he and Clint “heard the call”…
…although I would have thought that by “your feelings about the team” Cap meant resentment. (Maybe he did, and he just let Clint go with what he thought instead!)
Regardless, they do make an endearing pair as they ride off to save yet another world.
After reviving the Wasp and Photon, they literally wake up a sleeping Tony, who believes himself to be Sir Anthony of Cumbria, also known as the Iron Knight. (He does have a history with this sort of thing.) When the rest of the brainwashed Avengers rush to Tony’s aid, Cap addresses them all, reminding them of the heroes they are and the values they both embody and protect.
Of course it works, and one by one the Avengers start to come to their senses—and even those who are not (yet) Avengers, which Clint notes, giving Cap an opportunity for a snide comment. (Just in case you thought they were getting too buddy-buddy.)
The great awakening continues, even reaching Sir Anthony of Cumbria, but not all, as Namor (still called Namor) resists violently…
…leading to a War Most Civil between the freed Avengers and what remains of Morgana’s forces, with Cap making a final appeal to the heroes within (yes, even to Walker).
Even when Morgana herself appears, Cap refuses to give up, promising the Avengers will never stop fighting…
…until they reassess the threat Morgana poses, even after Thor returns to join their forces. (He never completely fell under Morgana’s control, which she suspects is because he lived “during this time,” whatever.)
Avengers #3 opens with one of Cap’s favorite activities: the training session, albeit a world away from the gym in Avengers Mansion. He gives advice to some of the less experienced heroes, making sure Justice doesn’t beat himself up, before Purple Arrow makes a wry observation. (He failed to mention that Cap could have seen the classic 1938 film when it was released.)
Cap reaffirms his distaste for subterfuge—so you can guess what’s coming up soon—before offering an analysis of Morgana’s strategy so far. (Is it just me, or does Janet look like Tinker Bell, dressed in green and perched on Cap’s shoulder like that?)
Cap’s judgment is confirmed when Morgana appears and reveals that Wanda is missing—she was freed by Wonder Man after summoning him back to life at the end of the last issue—and his inspirational optimism earns the awe of his #1 fanboy (both the Justice version as well as the Guardians of the Galaxy version from another timeline).
Much to Cap’s dismay (we can assume), the Avengers do sneak into the castle in monk’s robes…
…but immediately come upon their colleagues, still under Morgana’s trance.
This actually relieves Cap, who sees opportunity where others see obstacles…
…and when Monica comments on Cap’s steadfastness, Janet echoes it (before blasting her ex-husband).
When Giant-Size Morgana le Fey #1 shows up holding the Twilight Sword, Cap reasserts that the Avengers will never stop until they’ve defeated her, at which she scoffs…
…until her secret weapon, in a new Romani-themed outfit designed by Pérez, turns against her.
Cap dutifully cheers her on…
…but Wanda struggles until Wonder Man joins the fight.
Meanwhile, a mind-controlled Moondragon attacks Justice before she is downed by a big stick, courtesy of D-Man, who signals that Morgana is losing control of the rest of the team.
Once freed, the collected Avengers channel their willpower and energies through Wanda, and Cap is happy to see his lost colleagues rejoining the side of the angels.
The Avengers eventually defeat Morgana, but at the cost of Wonder Man, whose ionic form explodes when the power of the Twilight Sword feeds back into him, while the Vision is split in two by one of Morgan’s blasts. Once returned to normal, Cap quickly takes command, ordering the others to attend to the Vision while Wanda sees the last wisps of Wonder Man overhead.
Wrapping up this particular adventure, Thor readies to return the Twilight Sword to its home and then search for his fellow Asgardians, and Cap thanks him and the others for their service, before the Beast asks the inevitable question.
Coming up in issue #4, an Avengers tradition: picking up new line-up!
But first, we squeeze in the Avengers’ confrontation with the Thunderbolts, who were outed (by Zemo himself) as villains in issue #10 of their title before blowing up Four Freedoms Plaza, former home of the Fantastic Four. By issue #11, Zemo has engineered a worldwide military coup, about which Reed talks with the Avengers Prime; Cap pledges their aid, even though the team has no actual line-up yet.
It doesn’t take long for the Thunderbolts to start fighting amongst themselves, as several of them resist being Zemo’s stooges anymore. When the Avengers and the Fantastic Four show up, all would seem over for the villains…
…if they weren’t all mind-controlled by Baron Zemo.
In Thunderbolts #12, the two teams battle until the rebel Thunderbolts escape to a space station, where Iron Man finds them and is convinced to work with them against Zemo—who is on his satellite, enjoying taunting his greatest enemy, revealing that he knows Cap didn’t kill his father and gloating about fulfilling his dream of world conquest (mwa ha ha).
Zemo orders Cap to walk through the airlock but realizes it would be a hollow victory… and while he reconsiders, the Thunderbolts return with Iron Man to confront Zemo and his Avengers again. After disabling Zemo’s mind-control, the ethically ambiguous Thunderbolts—and their one genuinely heroic member, Jolt—pretend to be hardcore villains to draw the Avengers into a fight as a distraction to defeat Zemo.
After Jolt is forced to… well… “jolt” Quicksilver, she runs up against Cap, but is saved by a “stray” repulsor blast from his old buddy Tony. (“My bad!”)
Eventually the three teams join forces and defeat Zemo, after which the heroes must decide what to do with the Thunderbolts, who enlist Iron Man to their side in their defense. Janet reminds everyone what the villains did in Avengers #274-277; the classic reformed bad guy Hawkeye speaks up for the power of redemption (hinting toward his own future with the team); and Ben brings up the rubble where Four Freedoms Plaza used to be. It is up to Cap to take the decision out of their hands and put it where it belongs: in a dispassionate criminal justice system that (ideally) will consider all the relevant factors without succumbing to feelings of vengeance or resentment.
On the next page, Moonstone and the others agree to give themselves up, but then are transported away, leaving the heroes to wonder if they planned their escape or if they were abducted. (Read the next issue to find out!)
ISSUE DETAILS
Avengers (vol. 3) #2, March 1998: Kurt Busiek (writer), George Pérez (pencils), Al Vey (inks), Tom Smith (colors), Richards Starkings and Comicraft (letters). (More details at Marvel Database.)
Avengers (vol. 3) #3, April 1998: Kurt Busiek (writer), George Pérez (pencils), Al Vey (inks), Tom Smith (colors), Richards Starkings and Comicraft (letters). (More details at Marvel Database.)
Collected in: Avengers Assemble Volume 1.
Thunderbolts (vol. 1) #11, February 1998: Kurt Busiek (writer), Mark Bagley (pencils), Vince Russell (inks), Joe Rosas (colors), Dave Lanphear and Richard Starkings (letters). (More details at Marvel Database.)
Thunderbolts (vol. 1) #12, March 1998: Kurt Busiek (writer), Mark Bagley (pencils), Vince Russell, Scott Hanna, Larry Mahlstedt, and Greg Adams (inks), Joe Rosas (colors), Dave Lanphear, Richard Starkings, and Comicraft (letters). (More details at Marvel Database.)
Collected in: Thunderbolts Epic Collection: Justice, Like Lightning.
LAST ISSUE: Avengers #1 (February 1998)
ALSO THESE MONTHS: Captain America #2 (February 1998), Captain America #3 (March 1998), and Captain America #4 (April 1998)
NEXT ISSUE: Avengers #4 (May 1998)
THE VIRTUES OF CAPTAIN AMERICA 
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