This is "From a Different Point of View," a feature where I discuss a comic book series with another writer. In this case, it is Eileen Gonzalez who will be going over the history of the Avengers with me, story by story!

When last we checked in with our heroes in Avengers #71, "Endgame," by Roy Thomas, Sal Buscema and Sam Grainger, the Avengers were trapped in a cosmic game betwen Kang and the Grandmaster with the fate of Earth at stake! The Avengers first defeated a brand-new villain team called the Squadron Sinister (whose members were based on the Justice League of America, as part of a tricky crossover with DC) and then the World War II heroes later known as the Invaders.

Kang turned down the chance to revive his love, Ravonna, to get the power of death to kill the Avengers, but Grandmaster tricked him and Kang was defeated. The Avengers then made Black Knight an official member.

So what's up next in the following issue, Avengers #72, "Did You Hear The One About Scorpio?" by Roy Thomas, Sal Buscema and Sam Grainger? Find out!

I opened with, "First off, 'Did You Hear The One About Scorpio?' is a weird title, right? Second off, doesn't it sort of seem like a sort of sad copy of a John Buscema opening splash page by his little brother?"

Eileen replied, "I kept waiting for the title to pay off and then it didn't." I retorted, "It was like Thomas just couldn't think of a title." Eileen continued, "My first instinct on looking at that splash page was that John Buscema was back, to be honest. But it doesn't quite look as natural or as dynamic as something John would have come up with." I replied, "Yeah, like it was John Buscema Lite." Eileen offered, "At least he tried?" I conceded, "True." Eileen continued, "He's clearly read some back issues and is attempting to incorporate them into his own work." I replied, "Yeah, I guess I can see him wanting to try to live up to the shoes he's stepping into. It's funny how often he seems like he's trying something just a bit out of his range. Like some of the action sequences in this issue are stuff that, with, say, John Buscema drawing it, it would look legendary. But here, it's just...fine." (EDITED TO ADD: My pal Rob H. wrote to me to suggest that he assumed Buscema was doing a Jim Steranko riff, not a John Buscema riff. That seems fair enough. Steranko DID use those Will Eisner-esque openings a lot on his Nick Fury stories and this IS a Nick Fury story).

I noted, "As we know by now, Roy Thomas is a master of continuity. And yet, even for him, it's astonishing how he manages to resolve two outstanding plot points from two other comic books, comics that Thomas had no direct connection to, as well as throwing in a tie-in to a third comic book series, one that Thomas WAS writing at the time. It all revolves around a weird time in the life of Rick Jones. We had been watching Rick for years be this pseudo-Avenger. While Cap kept stringing him along that he might make him his new official sidekick. Jim Steranko took over Captain America's title and actually made Rick the new Bucky. They had that one Steranko-driven adventure and then Steranko was gone and so was the partnership. During a storyline where the Red Skull swapped bodies with Captain America, the Skull (as Cap) broke up the Cap/Rick Jones partnership." Eileen joked, "Rick is like a stray kitten that no one wants. He keeps getting passed around to different heroes. At least Rick seems like a forgiving sort. He buys Cap's story about the Red Skull body switch immediately." I continued, "Well, isn't that thing, right? That these heroes really DO accept hell turns WAY too quickly when they run up against brainwashing villains all of the time. 'Could Cap be under duress, or could he just be a total heel now?' Roy Thomas picked up the thread of that Captain America plot and had Rick follow an image of Captain America to a cave where Rick found the Nega Bands. That then allowed him to switch places with Captain Marvel. Roy Thomas, being a clever fellow, liked the concept because he, essentially, recreated the Golden Age Captain Marvel, just with a twist. Where Billy Batson would shout 'Shazam!' and trade places with Captain Marvel, Earth's Mightiest Mortal, now Rick Jones would clang his Nega Band and trade places with Captain Marvel, Kree's only famous Captain." Eileen replied, "Ooh, that is clever. Rick doesn't seem so appreciative, though. He still hasn't let go of the idea that he can be a hero by himself."

I replied, "Well, he IS sort of trapped in the relationship. So that must kind of suck. So Thomas then ties it all together by having Rick meet up with Cap while Rick is running around on rooftops for weird reasons. Thomas has now also cleverly basically added Cap, Thor and Iron Man back to the Avengers. On the theory that they will all just be busy most of the time. So the main roster of Yellowjacket, Wasp, Vision and the Artist Formerly Known as Hawkeye will remain the "main" team. But Thomas gets to use the big name heroes, just like he's wanted to do for ages. He's a smart cookie." Eileen replied, "I did think it was funny that he made a big deal about the big heroes coming back, only for them to immediately leave. But I imagine he was doing what he could."

Eileen noted, "I love that Tony Stark apparently designed the Avengers chairs? What, are they connected to the internet?" I replied, "I imagine Tony just sat down and put the individual decals on them. Plus, how weird is it that Clint has a giant chair? He can be normal sized any time he wants. Presumably 'at a meeting' would be one of those times, right?" Eileen replied, "I can't even remember the last time we saw Clint chilling at normal size. He must like being tall." I continued, "So we see Thor's empty chair and there's at least one more visible empty chair. Is Rick in Black Panther's empty chair, Iron Man's empty chair or do they have a guest chair?" Eileen replied, "Not sure about the chairs. The other empty seat is by Vision, so I guess it depends whether Iron Man prefers to sit next to him or next to Wasp. I think I answered my own question." I replied, "Ha! By the way, their meeting was oddly contentious, right? Vision telling Cap that the Avengers are too big-time to care about three missing NY officials and Clint telling Vision, 'Hold it, Android!' Dude, not cool!" Eileen replied, " Clint is super rude to Rick too. How dare you speak thus to the leader of the Teen Brigade, sir! I see Rick was desperate enough to risk getting shot for a chance at being Nick Fury's sidekick."

I replied, "What the heck was up with that? He's already with Captain Marvel, so how would that work, exactly?" Eileen replied, "The only thing I can figure is that Rick is so bent on being a hero in his own right that he's willing to pull double-duty as Captain Marvel's sidekick and Nick Fury's at the same time. That would make for a good sitcom, though." I replied, "It would! I can't imagine how he thinks that would work. Also, here's something else I don't get - he tells the story about Captain Marvel showing up to chase after Scorpio, but he won't say how he is connected to Captain Marvel. Why wouldn't he just tell the Avengers his deal with Captain Marvel? Instead of lying about it. What is the benefit of covering it up?" Eileen replied, "There is none that I can see. I think they mention somewhere that he promised not to tell, but... why? Why wouldn't Captain Marvel want an elite team like the Avengers to know about his plight so they can try to get him out of it?" I responded, "'Well, I pretended to kill myself and then marry my girlfriend in my new personality, which I then kept after the wedding, but you switching places with Captain Marvel is WAY TOO weird for me!' 'My android brain can't handle it!'" Eileen continued, "Also, if Captain Marvel can talk to Rick from the negative zone, you'd think he'd be pestering him about his decision to become Fury's sidekick. 'I'm not good enough for you now?!'" I replied, "Yeah, it's a weird deal overall. That's what you get, though, when you try to wrap up a Captain America plot, tie in with the Captain Marvel series AND wrap up a Nick Fury plot."

The Nick Fury plot (TWO OF THEM!) gets resolved in the next installment!