Issue(s): Avengers #155, Avengers #156
Cover Date: Jan-Feb 77
Title: "To stand alone!" / "The private war of Doctor Doom!"
Credits:
Gerry Conway / Gerry Conway & Jim Shooter - Writer
George Perez / Sal Buscema - Penciler
Pablo Marcos - Inker

Review/plot:
The fight between the Avengers and Dr. Doom and his Hydrobase dupes continues. Perez has an interesting approach with a two-page spread detailing the fight on the margins while the center recaps the past few issues of the crossover.

In the end the Avengers are defeated. Which is fine if they were defeated by Dr. Doom, but most of them were defeated by Hydrobase scrubs, who are just scientists, and that's kind of embarassing. Tamara again wonders if the Vision is indeed one of her people, but nothing ever comes of that.

In captivity, the Scarlet Witch manages to hex Captain America's shield over to Cap, who manages to throw it with just a flick of his wrist, since his hands are bound. He uses it to free the Vision, who seemingly flees without freeing the other Avengers. He's actually going to suggest an alliance with Doom against Attuma, and he doesn't trust his teammates to keep their emotions in check while he negotiates.

Meanwhile, the Beast, the Whizzer, and Wonder Man hunt down Attuma and try to prevent him from stealing a device that was built to increase the growth of plankton. Then Namor shows up...

...and Attuma tricks him into fighting the Avengers while he flees. Wonder Man is shown to be at least as strong as Namor.

After their misunderstanding fight (resolved when Namor recognizes the Whizzer from his Liberty Legion days) they all head out to Atlantis to fight Attuma again.

Doom agrees to the alliance and he and the Avengers also head out to Atlantis. Their combined forces easily overwhelm Attuma's barbarians, with the 'brothers' Wonder Man and Vision combining their strength to defeat a souped up Tyrak.

Doom runs off with the plankton accelerator, but the Avengers subsequently show up and smash it. With nothing left to fight for, Doom leaves.

The only real character development going on in these issues is the Vision dealing with the fact that Wonder Man has resurfaced, making him wonder if he's a real person if the man whose brain waves his mind is based on is also alive. While the Vision withdraws, the Scarlet Witch gets *s-s-s-sob* worried.

Quality Rating: C

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: Continues directly from Super-Villain Team-Up #9.

References:

• Attuma first appeared in Fantastic Four #33 (incorrectly footnoted as FF #32).
  
• Wonder Man first appeared in Avengers #9.
  
• The Living Laser used the Serpent Crown to wake Wonder Man from his zuvembie state in Avengers #153.
  
• The Sub-Mariner first mistakes the Whizzer for Quicksilver and assumes he has returned to the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Quicksilver joined the Avengers in Avengers #16.
  
• Namor and the Whizzer met in Marvel Premiere #29-30 (incorrectly footnoted as Marvel Premiere #27-28).
  
• The issue ends with Captain America being curious about something, and a footnote says that will be followed up in Super-Villain Team-Up #11 (as Matthew notes in the Comments, it's really in issue #10, but it's part of the same arc).

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

The fact that Namor doesn't immediately recognize the Whizzer could indicate that Namor's long-term memory still has some problems(from when Destiny gave him amnesia), which could explain a number of fights of his from FF #4 onwards.

Dans cette histoire, Doom n'est plus avec Namor, je crois qu'il fait semblant de convaincre les Vengerus de rester avec lui, il tente même s'emparer d'Atlantis avec Attuma malgré cela Doom garde sa colère, sa terreur et ses fourberies maléfiques. A cause de lui, je crois que les Vengeurs sont piégés et presque tués

"In the end the Avengers are defeated. Which is fine if they were defeated by Dr. Doom, but most of them were defeated by Hydrobase scrubs, who are just scientists, and that's kind of embarrassing."

There seems to be a rule (in both Marvel and DC) that brainwashed people don't fight up to their top abilities. Moira's explanation in X-Men #3 that mutants fight off brainwashing every time they use their powers certainly seems a workable idea for all super-powered heroes.

For what it's worth, the footnote in #156 is incorrect; it is in SVTU #10, not #11, that Cap follows up on his mysterious lead.

To be fair, the only Avengers taken down by "Hydrobase scrubs" are Yellowjacket and the Vision. And with Vizh unable to shift density due to the slave collar, it makes sense that he's prey for the super-gun. YJ should be embarrassed, though.

But I can't complain about Namorita (near enough to her cousin) being able to catch the Wasp or a tough Tamara Ran shaking off a weak, half-powered hex from Wanda (still recovering from her wound) and knocking her out. Doom had the stronger women on his side, IMO.