These two issues of Avengers deal with a number of matters, including the unique romantic triangle between Vision, Wonder Man, and the Scarlet Witch, as well as growing intrigue surrounding the Triune Understanding, but most important for us is the protests regarding the Avengers roster, focusing on the (current) absence of Black heroes and the (also current) presence of mutants. We also get a quick scene from Fantastic Four (about whom a new book is available from yours truly) and Generation X (featuring two young characters from the mutant world who become involved with the FF later on).
Avengers #23 opens up with a great shot of our hero and his recently reconstructed best friend, courtesy of George Pérez (with Al Vey and Tom Smith), so great that I won’t even mention that thing I usually harp on.
The team is in the middle of a practice session…
…and if we zoom in on the right side, we see T’Challa and Cap respond to Iron Man’s comment about the increased level of play.
You’re just too awesome, Tony, so Cap had to make things tougher!
No thanks to the Irritable Iron Man, the exercise comes to an end when Justice comes up with an ingenious plan that earns praise all around, including from Cap, who hopes this means his young admirer has matured a bit…
…though he’ll never match Cap’s moustache what the—? (Was colorist Tom Smith having a laugh?)
Cap offers Justice one last word of advice before heading to the showers to watch that hairy beast off his upper lip, while Tony and T’Challa wink towards Cap’s recent Wakandan adventure.
Our lighthearted prelude completed, we now move to the serious stuff: the protesters outside, demanding greater racial diversity among the Avengers.
While Cap dismisses this particular issue, and is presumably about to recall the (small number of) Black members they’ve had in the past, Janet mentions other concerns the protesters have, some invalid but one that hits Hank very hard.
Tony and T’Challa join the party to suggest that all of these sudden disputes about the team may not be a coincidence, which only increases Cap’s headache. As he says below, he thinks their good works should speak for themselves, which the other appreciate, both on principle as well as its strategic value, but at the same time they all know public perception matters (as they will see when the same public demands registration in a few years’ time).*
* Another shameless plug: If you can’t wait to get to the Civil War on this blog, check out my book on the entire storyline, as well as chapter 6 in my new Fantastic Four book.
When they turn back to the racial diversity issue, Tony makes the same point Cap was about to make earlier, and considers bringing back a past Black member for appearances’ sake, even though it’s not ideal. When he suggests T’Challa return for exactly that reason, the Panther declines based on the ideal, as well as the fodder it would give to the anti-diversity forces in society (especially if it’s seen as politically motivated and not sincere).
When we return to this issue in Avengers #24, the crowd outside the mansion has grown, with signs decrying the lack of Black Avengers, hailing previous ones, and minimizing Wanda’s Romani background (and the Vision’s crimson hue), as well as expressing anti-mutant sentiment. (I really don’t understand the one about Scandinavia, though.)
The Odinson doth not take the tumult well, and Cap tries to be the voice of reason…
…although he stop short of acceding to the crowd’s demands. Tony brings up his and T’Challa’s suspicions again, bringing the Triune Understanding into the discussion, which provokes their government liaison, Duane Freeman. And then Jarvis enters the chat, doing his best Willie Lumpkin and citing a number of popular media figures of the day.
When Freeman asks what they’re going to do, Cap is resolute on staying the course, but Tony is more pragmatic. Cap sees his friend’s point, despite his preference to focus on the heroic mission over political considerations, but nonetheless retires to the gym (as usual).
We’ll have to see if Jarvis’s concerns are warranted… but Cap’s respite is interrupted when Quicksilver arrives in a tizzy and calls an emergency meeting. To his displeasure, though, the first order of business is Justice, who was cleared for active duty by Dr. Jane Foster earlier in the issue, and shows to the meeting in new duds. (For his part, Cap seems grateful for something relatively trivial to break the tension.)
When they finally get around to him, Pietro reveals that he found Triune Understanding medallions on most of the people outside the mansion, protestors and reporters alike. Again, Freeman takes offense, revealing himself to be a Triune member and defending their good works.
They put a pin in this for the time being, though, as a disaster in the city beckons, involving the Exemplars, a group of super-powered beings who are after the X-Men foe known as the Juggernaut, and despite the Avengers’ best efforts, they succeed in abducting him, a crisis the team will address in the next issue.
Before we leave this one, though, I have to share this page featuring Jim Hammond, the original Human Torch, who is happy to learn that the Vision is built from his “parts” (as explained, in a fashion, in Avengers Forever #8).
The same month, Cap, Wanda, and Tony make a virtual appearance in Fantastic Four #24, pledging their support to the multiversal crisis Marvel’s first family is currently facing.
One more shameless plug, because we’re talking about the FF: Check my new book, Ethics of the Fantastic Four, as well as my new FF blog titled Here’s the Thing… and my thoughts on the new film, The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
There’s also an FF link to the two pages from Generation X #59 below: The two rascals impersonating Cap and Thor, Artie and Leech, are young mutants and friends of Franklin Richards who will later be charter members of the Future Foundation.
Cap is very reasonable, moreso than Justice and Thor, possibly intuiting that the imposters are only children who posed no threat and not Skrulls.
Firestar, on the other hand, knows a real threat when she hears of one!
ISSUE DETAILS
Avengers (vol. 3) #23, December 1999: Kurt Busiek (writer), George Pérez (pencils), Al Vey (inks), Tom Smith (colors), Richard Starkings and Comicraft (letters). (More details at Marvel Database.)
Avengers (vol. 3) #24, January 2000: Kurt Busiek (writer), George Pérez (pencils), Al Vey and Dick Giordano (inks), Tom Smith (colors), Richard Starkings, Albert Deschesne, and Comicraft (letters). (More details at Marvel Database.)
Collected in: Avengers Assemble Volume 3.
Fantastic Four (vol. 3) #24, December 1999: Chris Claremont (writer), Salvador Larroca (pencils), Art Thibert (inks), Liquid! (colors), Richard Starkings and Comicraft (letters). (More details at Marvel Database.)
Collected in: Fantastic Four: Heroes Return – The Complete Collection Vol. 2.
Generation X (vol. 1) #59, January 2000: Jay Faerber (writer), Terry Dodson (pencils), Rachel Dodson (inks), Kevin Tinsley (colors), Richard Starkings, Saida Temofonte, and Comicraft (letters). (More details at Marvel Database.)
Collected in: Generation X Epic Collection: Family Business.
PREVIOUS ISSUES: Avengers #21-22 (October-November 1999)
ALSO THESE MONTHS: Captain America #24 (December 1999), Avengers Forever #12 (December 1999), Galactus the Devourer #4-5 (December 1999-January 2000), Domination Factor: Avengers #2.4 and #3.6 (December 1999-January 2000), and Captain America #25 and Heroes Reborn: Young Allies #1 (January 2000)
NEXT ISSUE: Avengers #25 (February 2000)
THE VIRTUES OF CAPTAIN AMERICA 
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