Issue(s): Avengers #150, Avengers #151
Published Date: Aug-Sep 76
Title: "Avengers assemble!" / "At last: The decision!"
Credits:
Steve Englehart / Stan Lee / Gerry Conway & Jim Shooter & Steve Englehart - Writer
George Perez / Jack Kirby - Penciler
John Tartaglione & Duffy Vohland / Dick Ayers / John Tartaglione - Inker

Review/plot:
Yellowjacket and the Wasp get out of the hospital and return to the Avengers Mansion in time to see that they've announced that they are choosing a new line-up.

Thor, still under the influence of Moondragon's talk of godhood, is leaving the team, and he is taking Moondragon along with him (to the relief of everyone else).

Moondragon in turn is taking Hellcat, for training.

When Thor announces that he's leaving, Iron Man says "As a friend I can't help but wish that nobody'd put this idea in his head". Perez chooses to illustrate that with a rare over-the-should perspective from behind Moondragon, which i thought was great.

Yellowjacket/Hank Pym still doesn't want to be an Avenger, but the Wasp does. In a typical passive-aggressive fit, he says that he's quitting, but by the end of the arc he decides to stay on the team after all.

Most of these two issues are filled with flashbacks (and indeed just about all of Avengers #16, the first of these "choosing of the team" issues). Beyond that, it's a nice action-free issue with a lot of good character moments.

    

There are a number of cameos and mystery appearances, some of which are just people reacting to the recruitment drive and some set-ups for future plots.

The Avengers settle on a core team of Vision, Scarlet Witch, Beast, Captain America, Wasp, and Yellowjacket, with Iron Man as chairman (Thor was the previous chairman).

The other Avengers are put on a prototype of the reserve status, to be called upon in times of need.

At the end of the issue Wonder Man appears, accusing the Vision of having stolen his mind.

Despite multiple creative teams and too many flashbacks, this was a fun issue.

Quality Rating: C+

Historical Significance Rating: 6 - reappearance of Wonder Man, first concept of reserve status, new line-up.

Chronological Placement Considerations: The Thing, watching the newscast of the Avengers event on TV, is wearing the Thing exo-skeleton that he wore in Fantastic Four #170-175. Takes place after the formation of the Champions (the MCP actually has it between Champions #6-7 and Ghost Rider #20-21 but i have some limitations thanks to my Champions trade). Continues directly into Avengers #152.

References:

• Wanda jokingly says she wants to revive the Lady Liberators, a reference to Avengers #83.
  
• Thor mocks Iron Man for forging "yet another face mask" which occurred in Iron Man #85 (he's gotten rid of the nose, and he's now got the classic Iron Man look). Iron Man responds "You just wish you could hide your ugly face".
  
• Avengers #16 is reprinted in Avengers #150 (and its events are also referenced in a newscast in issue #151, the first time the line-up in that issue was referred to on-panel as the "Kooky Quartet"), and here are its footnotes:
  • Hawkeye's actions were misunderstood by the law in Tales Of Suspense #57.
    
  • The Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver fought alongside the rest of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants in "just about every issue of the X-Men".
• Throughout this issue, as the Avengers are deciding upon their new line up, there are scenes from the news media that form a combination commentary/retrospective, and refer to a number of past events, including:
  • The formation of the Avengers in Avengers #1.
    
  • The thawing of Captain America In Avengers #4.
    
  • The fight with the Lava Men in Avengers #5.
    
  • Pym - as Goliath - and the Wasp were the first original members to rejoin the team after the initial line-up change, in Avengers #28.
    
  • Pym began shrinking again in Avengers #46.
    
  • Pym became Yellowjacket in Avengers #59.
    
  • Hawkeye became Goliath in Avengers #63.
    
  • He reverted to Hawkeye, but with a new costume, in Avengers #98.
    
  • Spider-Man turned down an offer to join the Avengers in Amazing Spider-Man annual #3.
    
  • Namor turned down an Avengers membership in Avengers #16.
    
  • Namor's 'not that simple' recent alliance with Dr. Doom has a reference to Super-Villain Team-Up; no issue number.
    
  • The Black Knight disappeared in Defenders #11.
    
  • The Champions were formed in Champions #1.

Cross-over: N/A

Continuity Implant? N

Reprinted In: Avengers #27 (vol. 3)

When Gerry Conway became EIC at Marvel, he immediately grabbed titles that he wanted to write for himself, such as Avengers and Defenders. This ticked off Steve Gerber quite a bit, and this(among other things) angered Steve Englehart so much that he defected to DC. Conway also interfered with Jim Starlin's coloring on Warlock, causing Jim to quit and go to DC and Warren. Gerry's poor conflict resolution skills(I believe he was 22 at the time) caused Marvel higher-ups to fire him after 6 weeks as EIC. But because Conway wrote really fast, his stories continued to appear for a while, sometimes requiring completion by other writers, as in this title.

Marv Wolfman left the EIC position after about a year because the strain was overwhelming. I think Roy Thomas was asked to come back to it, but was turned down after demanding some concessions. Gerry Conway immediately left DC to take the job--most of his work at DC tended to be very short-run series that weren't necessarily his fault(DC was thrashing about really bad trying to regain comic sales dominance; virtually nothing worked and publisher Carmine Infantino got fired and replaced by Jenette Kahn).