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 #74, "Pursue the Panther!" by Roy Thomas, John Buscema and Tom Palmer, Black Panther returned to New York City to get caught in the middle of boiling over racial tensions in the city caused by the Sons of the Serpent.

The Avengers took on the Sons of the Serpent and it was discovered that the two talk show hosts (one Black and one White) that had been fomenting the tensions were actually secretly the heads of the Sons of the Serpent! Once it was discovered that there were no racists in New York and only misled citizens by these charlatans, the Avengers moved on.

We now head to Avengers #75, "The Warlord and the Witch," by Roy Thomas, John Buscema and Tom Palmer

I opened up by noting, "It's funny, it's not like this stretch of issues are historic or anything. But at the same time, it just feels so good to get John Buscema back as the regular artist. Especially paired with such a great embellisher like Tom Palmer." Eileen replied, "There is a sense of 'rightness' about these issues, isn't there? The art just seems to fit. Even if Buscema wasn't always that enthusiastic about superheroes." I noted, "That's a fascinating point, of course, because this issue actually specifically sort of addresses that point. But we'll get to that later in the issue."

I continued, "First, though, we kick off with a classic Avengers opening...someone breaking through their slipshod security system! At least here, it seems like they actually HAVE security measures, which is something." Eileen replied, "It's just their bad luck that the one person fast enough to evade their security measures is the one person busting in." I noted, "Just like when they introduced the Black Panther to the team, Thomas and Buscema cleverly use the intruder's ability to evade security as a spotlight, of sorts, on the character's abilities." Eileen replied, "That's just another way this issue feels a little old school, as is Clint's reaction to Pietro's return that we'll get to in a couple of pages." I responded, "By the way, while Buscema and Palmer get to have some fun with coming up with security measures and then having Quicksilver get around them. It sure seems odd that it's, like, Okay, the butler has to fend off an attack, right?" Eileen replied, "Given how often people break into Avengers Mansion, you'd think they would leave someone qualified on duty at all times, yes. Or at least Clint. 'You're our middle-aged butler, please stand her and operate our security system while we go hang out at the dock.'"

I noted, "Jarvis has to clear up some really messy Avengers continuity. When last we saw Quicksilver in the pages of the Avengers, he was escaping with his sister and the Toad following their ill-conceived return to villainy with Magneto. And then....nuthin' Thomas, being the continuity whiz that he is notes that the last time that Quicksilver met Jarvis was in an issue of Amazing Spider-Man about a year before this comic came out. Where Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch decide to rejoin the Avengers. Quicksilver breaks into the Avengers Mansion by evading security again, only much less security. Then learns that the Avengers are in Wakanda. He then decides to capture Spider-Man to prove himself a hero. He fails and then realizes he should do something else for redemption and then that's it. Just not followed up for a year. I know Thomas was definitely flying by the seat of his pants, plotting-wise, but it's still unusual how long Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver were just stuck in limbo, right?" Eileen replied, "As I recall, the last time we saw them, the Scarlet Witch was still suffering from amnesia from a Magneto-induced head wound. I'm sure the actual explanation for the gap is that Thomas just forgot about them, but maybe in-universe it's taken her this long to recover, hence Quicksilver's long absences." I replied, "But when we see Scarlet Witch in that Amazing Spider-Man issue a year earlier, she's down with rejoining the Avengers. They do a spiel about how Magneto just tricked them into villainy. Which is weird, though, as you really don't think of Stan Lee as the guy who would wrap up plots from a Roy Thomas story, right? Seems almost like opposite day.Of course, John Romita was probably doing most of the plotting of Amazing Spider-Man by this point, but the same thing applies. Why would John Romita care about wrapping up an Avengers plot?" Eileen replied, "That does seem weird. Normally Thomas is the one fixing everyone else's plot holes. Makes me wonder if everyone really did just forget about the Maximoffs until Lee (or Romita) got the idea for a cool Spidey story. And then they forget them again." I responded, "That does seem like it, and maybe Stan just checked with Thomas to set things up in the Spider-Man issue."

I continued, "How amazing does Buscema draw speed? I don't remember him being THIS good at drawing speed back when Quicksilver was still on the team. Then again, Buscema developed a lot in that timespan as a comic book artist. It's crazy to compare how relatively stiff his early work was compared to this issue." Eileen replied, "Agreed. His Quicksilver looks amazing here. It was nice of Thomas to explain to use what CPAs are The man who quotes Teddy Roosevelt speeches takes the time to explain CPAs. It's hilarious."

I noted, "The Wasp/Hank writing off scene definitely was old fashioned. Although, it reminds me of the John Mulaney bit about how people are so nostalgic for the olden days, but from newsreel footage, it seemed like a big passtime in olden days was waiting at the docks to see ships come in. And so this might have still been quite the entertainment scene to see a ship off like this!" Eileen replied, "This scene does feel weirdly old-fashioned, doesn't it? Hank is smoking a pipe, Jan is wearing a flapper hat, and they're all waving goodbye to a big steamship. It's a little odd, now I think of it." I replied, "It seemed like Hank was out of the 1940s in his sequences. Like, 'Roosevelt needs me for the war effort!'"

Eileen continued, "Bonus points for remembering Bill Foster exists, though." I agreed, but added, "it was kind of weird to see him as an after thought, kinda. Like, 'Oh, and of course Bill Foster will move to Alaska with us.' Almost like he's Hank's valet." Eileen replied, "Yeah, that's a good point. If he'd had more development, maybe it wouldn't come off that way." I replied, "Exactly. At least he didn't come back just for the Sons of Serpent plot the last two issues. Imagine that?" Eileen replied, "I'm trying not to." I continued, "'Hey, Bill Foster just walked in. What do YOU think about these two guys talking on TV, Bill?'" Eileen replied, "Nah, then we'd have more than one Black guy as a prominent heroic character, and that wouldn't do. We can't get two women on the team at the same time either, apparently. Just as Wanda is coming back, Jan leaves!" I replied, "Yeah, that's an interesting thing. I don't think Thomas was thinking about it that way. But the fact that that's what happened sort of doesn't matter what he was thinking at the time, right? It's similar to the previous arc. Thomas clearly had good intentions with the previous arc. But intentions don't matter when you still just basically represent institutionalized structures." Eileen responded, "Oh, I'm sure it wasn't intentional, but the fact that this problem didn't even occur to Thomas or anyone else on the book is in itself a problem." I replied, "Exactly. He just sees it as 'I want to bring Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch back, but I need to make room for them' not as 'One woman in, then one woman out.' Especially because, honestly, he was on the vanguard of Marvel depictions of women at the time for even HAVING multiple female characters in his book!"

I noted, " Quicksilver's attack was really well drawn. And Thomas gets in that really clever bit about how Vision knows more about Quicksilver's powers than Quicksilver knows about his." Eileen replied, "It does make me wonder how long Vision has to be on the team until he can stop surprising people with his powers. He's pulled this stunt before, I believe. And Cap has to assume his old role as peacemaker between Clint and Pietro. Ah, memories."

I replied, "Yeah, that was adorable. Clint's usual poor people skills? Not so adorable. 'I never liked you.' Thank you, Clint, that was helpful." Eileen replied, "Honestly! His bigger body clearly did not come with a bigger brain."

Next time, we see what Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch have been up to!