The Avengers #60
Avengers #60 (January 1969) delivers one of the Silver Age's most consequential domestic storylines: the marriage of Henry Pym and Janet Van Dyne, making them only the second married couple in the Marvel Universe after Reed Richards and Sue Storm. The issue resolves the disorienting Yellowjacket mystery introduced the previous issue by revealing that Pym's new identity was the product of chemically induced psychological dissociation — a storytelling gambit that planted seeds later writers would revisit for decades, most memorably in the infamous Avengers #213 breakdown arc. The wall-to-wall cameo roster of nearly every active Marvel hero in 1969 — the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, Spider-Man, Daredevil, Doctor Strange, Nick Fury, and Iron Man — made the issue function as a state-of-the-Marvel-Universe snapshot unique for its era. The wedding's complicated ethical underpinnings (Jan knowingly marries a man in a dissociative state, the rest of the Avengers fail to intervene) have kept the issue a touchstone for critical discussions about how the medium depicted mental illness and relationships in the Silver Age.
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Writer Roy Thomas scripted this issue — the second half of a two-parter beginning in Avengers #59 — while on his Caribbean honeymoon following his July 1968 elopement, a biographical footnote Stan Lee later trumpeted in the Bullpen Bulletins of Avengers #61. John Buscema provided pencils and Mike Esposito inked (crediting himself under his long-used pseudonym 'Mickey Demeo'); the cover by Buscema and George Klein was subsequently altered by John Romita before publication. Stan Lee served as editor-in-chief, with the on-sale date confirmed by the 1969 Library of Congress Periodicals records.
Trivia · 9 facts
- First marriage of Henry Pym (as Yellowjacket) and Janet Van Dyne (the Wasp), making them the second married couple in the mainstream Marvel Universe after Fantastic Four Annual #3 (1965).
- Written by Roy Thomas, penciled by John Buscema, inked by Mike Esposito (credited as 'Mickey Demeo'), lettered by Sam Rosen, and edited by Stan Lee; cover by Buscema and George Klein with alterations by John Romita.
- Thomas wrote the script on his Caribbean honeymoon — a fact Stan Lee publicized in the Bullpen Bulletins page of the following issue (#61).
- The issue serves as a massive Marvel Universe cameo showcase: wedding guests include the full Fantastic Four (plus Crystal), all five original X-Men, Spider-Man, Daredevil, Doctor Strange, Nick Fury, Black Knight (Dane Whitman), and Iron Man, alongside the active Avengers lineup of Captain America, Black Panther, Hawkeye, Vision, Wasp, and Yellowjacket.
- The Circus of Crime (Ringmaster, Princess Python, Clown, Human Cannonball, and the Great Gambonnos), disguised as caterers, crash the reception seeking revenge on Thor — who is absent, battling the Silver Surfer at the time.
- Yellowjacket's true identity as Hank Pym is exposed mid-battle when the Ringmaster threatens Jan, causing Pym to involuntarily grow to giant size and tear through his costume; Pym explains the Yellowjacket persona was generated by accidental exposure to experimental gases that induced a dissociative state.
- The events of the issue were retroactively expanded and recontextualized in Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes Vol. 2 #5–8 (2007, writer Joe Casey), which revealed the Avengers had known Yellowjacket was Pym all along and were advised by a S.H.I.E.L.D. psychiatrist to play along to avoid destroying his mind.
- The issue made an anachronistic appearance in the M*A*S*H television episode 'Der Tag' (Season 4, Episode 17, 1976), visible under the sleeping hand of Radar O'Reilly — despite the show being set during the Korean War of 1950–53, more than fifteen years before the comic's publication.
- Reprinted in: Marvel Super Action #21 (July 1980); Essential Avengers Vol. 3 (2001, black and white); Marvel Masterworks: The Avengers Vol. 8 (hardcover); True Believers: Ant-Man and the Wasp — 'Til Death Do Us Part #1 (August 2018); and Avengers Epic Collection Vol. 4.
Cast · 40 characters
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Henry Pym and Janet Van Dyne (Yellowjacket and the Wasp) are married. Cameo appearances of many of the Marvel Universe. Vs. the Ringmaster and his Circus of Crime.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).