SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains major spoilers for Avengers #676 by Mark Waid, Al Ewing, Jim Zub, Pepe Larraz, David Curiel and Cory Petit, on sale now.


While the world is in a state of crisis, the forgotten Avenger known as Voyager has risen again to lead the collective teams in the face of danger -- but her disappearance and reappearance are so tied into the chaos that her very existence is suspect. It can't just be a coincidence that this hero we've never heard of has returned during the world's more dire crisis, after all. And while the Avengers all now have fond memories of their long-missing teammate, they're almost too trusting of her story.

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Of course, Voyager isn't the first forgotten hero from time gone by who has returned when they’re needed most. But what can we learn from other lost heroes, and what does her connection to a C-List member of Justice League Task Force have to do with anything at all?

Triumphant

In Avengers #676, we saw how Voyager was erased from everyone’s memories in a fight against the Squadron Sinister taken — or rather adapted — from Avengers #70. While fighting the Squadron member Victory, her spacetime powers interacted with his electromagnetic powers and erased them both from the timeline and from everyone’s memories. The character of Victory is an interesting one though, because like Voyager he didn’t exist until this storyline, but like all members of the Squadron Sinister he is analogous to a member of the Justice League; in this case, Triumph.

Triumph was created by Mark Waid, Brian Augustyn and Howard Porter, and debuted in Justice League America #92. It was established that Triumph was the son of a supervillain’s henchman and grew up resentful of villains while looking up to her heroes, in particular Hourman who arrested his father. Gifted with electromagnetic abilities, Triumph assembled the Justice League of America in their first appearance but was forced to sacrifice himself in such a manner that he was erased from history.

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Fall From Grace

He was returned to the world thanks to the events of Zero Hour, but no-one remembered who he was or his role in forming the JLA. As such, Triumph developed a very entitled and almost spoilt attitude, partly as a reaction to the negative fan reception of the character. He was visited by the demon Neron who offered him the ten years of his life back in exchange for his soul, should he light a magic black candle. While Triumph ultimately rejected the offer, the candle was lit by teammates unaware of what it would do and Triumph not only lost his soul, but learned that his presence would have had no impact on the timeline over the time that he missed.

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Triumph returned later as a villain in Grant Morrison and Howard Porter’s run on JLA, where he was down-on-his-luck and forced to sell stolen Justice League memorabilia to make ends meet. He came into possession of a fifth-dimensional imp similar to that of Johnny Thunder’s Thunderbolt and set about getting his revenge on the Justice League, and was ultimately punished by The Spectre who froze the disgraced hero solid. The Justice League placed him in their trophy room inside a locked freezer, and Triumph was later destroyed when the Injustice Gang blew up the Watchtower.

Triumph reappeared briefly in Kurt Busiek and Mark Bagley's weekly series Trinity, when the titular heroes were removed from the DCU's timeline, Triumph took Superman's place as one of the leaders of the altered world's heroes in the Justice Society International alongside other heroes with the potential to be A-Listers, such as Cyborg, Starfire and Booster Gold. He was given a new chance at heroism when he fought to return reality to its normal self, even though in that timeline he was dead and regarded a villain. He sacrificed himself to save the life of the Tomorrow Woman, dying the hero he always wanted to be.

Missing In Action

While reminiscent of Triumph, something the writers leaned into rather than shy aware from, Voyager isn’t the first forgotten hero in Marvel Comics either and there have been several to occupy that role over the last decade or two.

The most notable is likely The Sentry, a Superman analogue who was originally introduced as a lost Stan Lee concept from the Silver Age who was forced to erase himself from history continuously to make sure his arch-enemy The Void wouldn’t destroy the world.

The Blue Marvel, another Superman analogue, was forgotten for different reasons. Once the greatest hero America ever knew, he was forced into retirement by the President of the United States once the country learned that their super-powered protector was a black man, and he spent decades in exile before returning to aid the Avengers against his own arch-nemesis, Anti-Man.

Mark Waid seems to have a taste for “forgotten heroes” stories, because along with Triumph and Voyager, he also introduced the previously unheard of Avenger X just under a year ago. Avenger X was a member of the Avengers during the Cap’s Kooky Quartet era who had the power to amp up the abilities of those around her, but to do so she drained the lifeforce of innocent people. She recently appeared as a villain to tackle the most recent roster of Avengers, and was forced into the Microverse.

However, the disappearance of one forgotten Avenger and the reappearance of another is somewhat suspicious, and it wouldn’t be surprising if Voyager and Avenger X are somehow linked. "Avengers: No Surrender" still has a long way to go, and there’s definitely more to Voyager’s sudden appearance than we’re being told, so she’s definitely a character to keep a close eye on this year.