The Avengers #144

History

Writer Steve Englehart had been laying groundwork for Patsy Walker's superhero transformation since his Beast backup strips in Amazing Adventures #13 (1972) and had been nudging her toward the Avengers since issue #139 (late 1975), making the payoff in #144 the culmination of a multi-year plan. The issue is part four of the Serpent Crown Saga (issues #141–144, 147–149), a storyline that was itself interrupted immediately after #144 when a two-part fill-in (issues #145–146) replaced the next chapter — material that had originally been slated for the cancelled Giant-Size Avengers #5 but was deployed as a deadline buffer, with accounts suggesting Pérez's missed deadlines on his early Avengers work contributed to the gap. Marv Wolfman served as editor, and the cover was penciled by Gil Kane and inked by Frank Giacoia, while Mike Esposito — returning after a 22-issue absence — inked Pérez's interior pencils for the first time on the title.

Trivia · 8 facts

• First appearance of Hellcat: Patsy Walker dons the abandoned Cat costume (originally designed for Greer Nelson/the Cat) inside the Brand Corporation facility and takes the Hellcat identity, becoming an associate of the Avengers.
• Patsy Walker originated as a 1940s Timely Comics teen-romance character (first appearance: Miss America Magazine #2, November 1944), making her one of the oldest Marvel characters to be reimagined as a superhero.
• The Cat costume Patsy wears had belonged to Greer Nelson (later Tigra); the name 'Hellcat' had originally been proposed for Nelson before she took the Tigra identity instead.
• Creative team: writer Steve Englehart, penciler George Pérez (his inaugural Avengers run), inker Mike Esposito, colorist Petra Goldberg, letterer Denise Wohl, editor Marv Wolfman; cover by Gil Kane and Frank Giacoia.
• The issue is the fourth chapter of Englehart and Pérez's Serpent Crown Saga, in which the Avengers battle the Squadron Supreme — Marvel's DC Justice League analogues from Earth-712 — while investigating the Brand Corporation's ties to Roxxon Oil and Hugh Jones.
• The issue's story ends with both the Avengers and the Squadron Supreme transported to Earth-712, setting up the saga's conclusion in issues #147–149 (the two intervening issues, #145–146, were unrelated fill-ins).
• The issue contains Marvel Value Stamp Series B #39 (Mighty Thor) and a letters page (Avengers Assemble) featuring letters from, among others, future Marvel writers/editors Peter B. Gillis and Mary Jo Duffy.
• Reprinted in: True Believers: Marvel Knights 20th Anniversary – Hellcat: The First Appearance #1 (November 2018); Avengers: The Serpent Crown TPB (2005, 2012); Marvel Masterworks: The Avengers Vol. 15 (2015); Squadron Supreme Classic Omnibus (2016); Avengers Epic Collection #8 – Kang War (2022); and Squadron Supreme vs. Avengers (2021).

Cast · 40 characters

Full credits

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