The Avengers #21

Oct 1965 · Marvel · 0.12 USD

📊 ~71,751 copies sold its debut month

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“The Bitter Taste of Defeat!”

★ 1st appearance — Power Man★ 1st appearance — Erik Josten★ 1st appearance — Atlas

About this Issue

The Avengers #21 delivers the debut of Erik Josten as Power Man, a villain whose long evolutionary arc — from Zemo-legacy mercenary to Thunderbolts hero Atlas — would span more than three decades of Marvel storytelling and anchor the entire Thunderbolts premise. The issue is also a pivotal chapter in the 'Cap's Kooky Quartet' era: the Enchantress and her new powerhouse exploit the reformed team's internal bickering so effectively that New York's City Council formally orders the Avengers to disband, raising genuine stakes around a lineup that readers already doubted could survive. Beyond the debut, the issue underscores a recurring Silver Age Marvel theme — that public perception and institutional distrust can threaten heroes as lethally as any supervillain — a tension that would resonate through decades of Avengers storytelling.

In "The Bitter Taste of Defeat!", the Avengers face their greatest challenge yet—not from a super-villain, but from a scheme that turns one of Zemo’s old allies into Power Man, using the very machine that once created Wonder Man. With the team’s unity tested and their reputation in ruins, the City Council demands they disband. Written by Stan Lee and brought to life by Don Heck’s dynamic art, Wally Wood’s inks, Artie Simek’s letters, and Stan Goldberg’s colors, this 1965 issue captures the Avengers at their most vulnerable. The cover by Jack Kirby and Wally Wood perfectly encapsulates the tension, with the team fractured and the future uncertain.

writer Stan Lee · artist Don Heck · inker Wally Wood · letterer Artie Simek · colorist Stan Goldberg · cover Jack Kirby, Wally Wood

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (VG) $29

CGC 9.8 · 7 in census $5,531

CGC 9.6 · 5 in census $1,418

CGC 9.4 · 17 in census $581

CGC 9.2 · 19 in census $487

CGC 9.0 · 41 in census $252

CGC 8.5 · 63 in census $165

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CGC 8.0 · 55 in census $151

CGC 7.5 · 49 in census $118

CGC 7.0 · 60 in census $99

CGC 6.5 · 40 in census $99

CGC 6.0 · 38 in census $67

CGC 5.5 · 30 in census $52

CGC 5.0 · 39 in census $52

CGC 4.5 · 28 in census $40

CGC 4.0 · 20 in census $36

CGC 3.5 · 15 in census $36*

CGC 3.0 · 10 in census $29*

CGC 2.5 · 7 in census $26

CGC 2.0 · 1 in census $20*

CGC 1.5 · 1 in census $20*

CGC 1.0 none in existence

CGC 0.5 · 2 in census $20

* estimate — limited direct-sales data at this grade

Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

More listings for this title

NM $4.48 NM- $5.99 NM $5.99 NM $6.99 VG $19.99 VG $19.99 GD $23 VG $23

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History

Issue #21 sits near the midpoint of the twelve-issue 'Cap's Kooky Quartet' run that Stan Lee launched in Avengers #16 (May 1965) as a deliberate editorial solution: by replacing Thor, Iron Man, Giant-Man, and the Wasp with three former villains, Lee shed the continuity burden of coordinating characters who each headlined their own ongoing series. The issue was scripted by Lee and penciled by Don Heck, the artist who had largely taken over interior duties from Jack Kirby beginning with issue #9; Wally Wood inked both the interior story and the Kirby-drawn cover, producing one of the stronger visual collaborations of the Quartet run. The story was released on August 10, 1965, carrying an October 1965 cover date, a standard Silver Age newsstand practice.

Trivia · 8 facts

First appearance of Erik Josten as Power Man, created by writer Stan Lee and artist Don Heck, making his debut as a villain empowered by the Enchantress using Baron Zemo's ionic ray machine — the same device that had created Wonder Man in Avengers #9.
Story title: 'The Bitter Taste of Defeat!' — Interior credits: Stan Lee (script), Don Heck (pencils), Wally Wood (inks), Art Simek (letters). Cover penciled by Jack Kirby and inked by Wally Wood.
Release date: August 10, 1965; cover date: October 1965.
The Enchantress orchestrates a campaign of illusions and set-ups that makes each member of Cap's Kooky Quartet — Captain America, Hawkeye, Quicksilver, and Scarlet Witch — appear to be reckless public menaces, culminating in the City Council ordering the Avengers to disband.
Tony Stark (Iron Man) makes a guest appearance; Heinrich Zemo, the Executioner, and Wonder Man appear only in flashback or recap panels, establishing continuity with the earlier Masters of Evil storyline.
Erik Josten would go on to use multiple identities across Marvel history — Smuggler (first in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #49), Goliath (first in Iron Man Annual #7), and Atlas (first in Incredible Hulk #449) — making this debut the origin point of one of Marvel's most-transformed supporting characters.
The issue contains a letters column including a letter from future comics writer Mike Friedrich.
Reprinted in Marvel Triple Action #15 (November 1973); also collected in Thunderbolts: Marvel's Most Wanted (February 1998), Essential Avengers #1 (November 1999, black and white), and multiple Marvel Masterworks and Omnibus editions of the Avengers.