The Rape of Ms. Marvel Continues: Avengers Vol 1 #198– August 1980
Avengers Vol 1 #198: "Better Red Than Ronin!"
Carol Danvers' pregnancy continues to be strange and unresolvable, causing Ms. Marvel to seek comfort.
The issue opens with Beast and Wonder Man returning from their terrible blind date. On their way back they see Red Ronin, a giant robot coming out of the Hudson River. Just as they want to find the rest of the Avengers to let them know what’s going on, the rest of the Avengers find them. Captain America explains to everyone that Red Ronin was developed by S.H.I.E.L.D and Stark Enterprise to battle Godzilla, yes that Godzilla, but has been turned over by unfriendly forces or more correctly as is usually the case in comic books, crazy forces.
Ronan is being controlled by Dr. Earl Cowan, the current crazy bad guy, and while he is taking the giant robot to his destination, the Avengers attack. And also fail to even make so much as a dent in the body of the Ronin.
Beast finds the door to inside the robot. Wonder Man breaks in and get electrocuted, because he did not listen to Jocasta's warning. She neutralizes the defense system and gets inside along with Beast. But either they never make it inside or the issue just simply forgot about them, because they don't appear again in this issue.
Meanwhile, Nick Fury shows up inside Behemoth, a S.H.I.E.L.D anti-Godzilla aircraft. Also named after a demon from some reason, or after an insult, depends on how you want to look at it. Nick Fury tells the Avengers to go for the head, because that where the current bad guy is sitting and controlling the robot. Captain America send the WASP and Yellow-Jacket to infiltrate the head and take out the man without killing him. They attack him and he takes him time to explain to them his reasoning. Long story short, he wants to destroy the sense of fear in the country with Ronin (this is the Cold-War era we are talking about) by attacking Russia and actually starting World War III. After he is done explaining his plan and the WASP tells him that he needs help (which he does), he than processed to neutralize her and Yellow-Jacket. Which he could have done from the start.
Now we switch to something a lot less playful and funny. Ms. Marvel's pregnancy.
Ms. Marvel is so upset about her pregnancy that she is literally breaking the room that she is in. Her pregnancy is super unusual. First, yesterday she was three months pregnant and now, a few hours later, she is six months pregnant and no one finds that super odd at all. Second, there is no father and it takes two to tango. Three, everyone are acting too calmly considering all of these unusual circumstances. Wanda promises that when they'll get to New-York she'll find her the best specialists for her, but it's pretty useless as she'll probably give birth in two days tops.
Ms. Marvel is so upset that she reveals her secret identity. I guess that in this distressful times she wants to be seen as an actual person. She takes off her mask and tells Wanda that her name is Carol Danvers. Wanda assures Danvers that she doesn't need to reveal her identity, but Danvers wants to. It is not Ms. Marvel who is pregnant with a strange pregnancy and is scared of what's happening, it is Carol Danvers, a real person. Then Wanda says some comforting words to Danvers, that she is an "Avenger, and that makes [her] a very special person, with very special friends. Friends who will stand by [her] -- no matter what." That's actually a rather good speech a much more soothing words than just your regular stay calm. Also, considering what's to come, probably very not true. And it is still not close to a solution. No one even mentioned the possibility of an abortion which is what I would think of in such a bizarre case. Danvers is simply a victim of horrible circumstances, and horrible writing and simply waits for the situation to be resolved in a very passive way. At least Wanda is as a good friend to Danvers as Danvers tried to be for her.
Back in New-York, Iron Man and Nick Fury's Behemoth attack Ronin with no success. Captain America has a plan. At first they let Ronin get to the ocean and then they attack him with the Behemoth. While Ronin is busy attacking back, Iron Man charges his suit with Behemoth's electricity and shoots at the water. This plan fails as Ronin has only slowed down and has some electrical damage, causing the robot to be stuck in destroy mode. He is heading back to Queens to execute that order.
In the Epilogue, Ronin shows up at the steps of Hawkeye's factory and the issue ends there, with a sort of cliffhanger.
I can't say that this issue is worse than the previous one. Ms. Marvel's pregnancy is moving at a rate of months per hours, she's hysterical and she's right to be that. I am slightly touched by her identity reveal as she acknowledges that she, Carol Danvers, and not her secret identity, is scared. She is human, sort of, after all. I guess that the writer of the issue is also a conservative or just lacks imagination, because this is perfectly good reason to get an abortion. This is just so awful, and Wanda's support and comfort doesn't do much to sooth it out. This plot line is just too terrible.
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