Issue(s): Avengers #19, Avengers #20
Published Date: Aug-Sep 65
Title: "The coming of... the Swordsman!" / "Vengeance is ours!"
Credits:
Stan Lee - Writer
Don Heck - Penciler
Dick Ayers / Wally Wood - Inker

Review/plot: The Swordsman shows up and Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch kick the crap out of him without anyone else's help, because he is a loser. Hawkeye recalls that he was trained by the Swordsman but turned against him when he found out he was a crook.

Meanwhile, Hydra steals the letter Cap sent to Nick Fury, hoping to get some inside information but they throw it away when they realize it's just a request for employment (the Hydra agent complains about his "blasted hood", which i thought was funny).

Some local stooge finds the letter and gives it to the Swordsman, who apparently wants his ass handed to him again so he sets up a trap fro Cap by pretending he is Fury.

I don't know how a guy with a sword thought he could handle four super-heroes. Quicksilver alone should have been able to take this guy apart.

But luckily, the Mandarin suddenly spirits him away.

The Mandarin powers up the Swordsman's sword and uses an image projector to trick the Avengers into thinking that Iron Man is vouching for the Swordsman to join them. The Swordsman in the end refuses to set off a bomb to kill the Avengers, but while he is defusing the bomb the Avengers think he is setting it and they attack him. He escapes and the Mandarin vows never to use a partner again.

Here's a nice shot of Quicksilver racing Hawkeye's arrow in a training session. Quicksilver won.

Quality Rating: D+

Historical Significance Rating: 5 - first appearance of the Swordsman

Chronological Placement Considerations: Cap is surprised to see Iron Man because he is supposed to be fighting the Titanium Man in Europe.

References:

• Cap wrote a letter to Nick Fury seeking employment in Avenger #15.
  
• Fury left the CIA to take over SHIELD in Strange Tales #135 - Strange Tales #136.
  
• Iron Man fights Titanium Man during Tales Of Suspense #70.

Cross-over: N/A

Continuity Implant? N

Reprinted In: Marvel Triple Action #13, Marvel Triple Action #14

Does the Swordsman refer to the Mandarin as "Fu Manchu"? Could this serve as the first reference to Doctor Fu Manchu at this publisher?