Appearing in "...By Divine Right!"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- ⏴ Drax the Destroyer (Arthur Douglas) ⏵ (Main story and flashback)
Antagonists:
- Robbers
- Stu
- Squid
- Eliot
- ⏴ Moondragon (Heather Douglas) ⏵ (Main story and flashback)
Other Characters:
- Vidal
- Nicole
- NYPD
- Jarvis
- Thanos (Mentioned)
- Numerous unnamed Ba-Bani
- Sensia (Invoked)
- Hank Pym (Mentioned)
Races and Species:
- Humans (Main story and flashback)
- Rats (Invoked)
- Asgardians
- Titanians (Mentioned)
- Insects (Invoked)
- Ba-Bani (First appearance)
Locations:
- Milky Way (Main story and flashback)
- Asgard (Mentioned)
Items:
- Wasp's Suit and Bio-Synthetic Wings
- Iron Man Armor Model 4
- Captain America's Uniform and Shield
- Mjolnir
Vehicles:
- Captain America's Motorcycle
- Moondragon's Spaceship
Events:
- World War II (Mentioned)
Synopsis for "...By Divine Right!"
On a quiet day, the Wasp is getting a new hairdo when she is suddenly compelled to rush out of the shop and fly somewhere she doesn’t even know. Unfortunately, she didn’t bother to bring a costume (made of shrinkable unstable molecules) with her, so when she shrinks to wasp size, she inadvertently begins streaking as well.
Tony Stark is in the midst of a high-stakes game of roulette at a casino when he too feels compelled to drop everything and rush out. He leaves his cards to a stranger (who loses). Likewise, Captain America is in the middle of subduing some thugs when he rushes away as well.
All three of them, and Thor as well, converge on a location where they find a spaceship awaiting. Iron-Man recognizes it as Moondragon’s vehicle. The quartet boards it and sees a short, aborted holographic message from Drax the Destroyer. To their surprise, they discover that in the short time they’ve been aboard, the ship has already left Earth and is deep in space.
The ship whisks them away to the distant planet Ba-Bani, where Moondragon and Drax (revealed to be her father) claim to have quelled a global war. The native population, Moondragon explains, were embroiled in perpetual war until she arrived and intermediated a peace treaty. The Ba-Bani natives now worship Moondragon as the goddess of the mind.
Moondragon says she summoned the Avengers because the planet faces a potentially apocalyptic attack by the last of the planet's warmongers. Despite severe misgivings about interfering in the politics of another world, the Avengers intervene and quell the rebellion. Revered as heroes, the Avengers decide to stay on and tour the planet for a while. Thor, who’s used to visiting other planets, takes off on his own. Iron-Man accompanies Drax to review videos of the battle. The Wasp (finally) gets something to wear before she and Captain America go to the battle sight to investigate. All four of them are suspicious that there is more to the situation than what Moondragon is telling them.
Captain America and the Wasp discover that the "rebels" they had fought were actually peaceful inhabitants mentally compelled to attack the city.
Iron Man and Drax review videos of the battle; Iron-Man discovers Drax was on the scene and could have intervened at a moment where Cap was almost killed. Iron-Man realizes Drax was, and still is, being mentally manipulated by his daughter.
Thor confronts Moondragon with his own suspicions. She confesses she used her telepathic powers to subdue the entire planet’s population and is enforcing the current peace. Moondragon, who arrogantly believes she is a goddess, feels entitled to use her powers for what she believes is for the good of Ba-Bani. She then uses her powers to seduce him to her side.
Notes
- This issue has uncredited inkers. The inking credit is given to "Embellishers Assembled".
- The story has an odd and frankly inappropriate "humorous" subplot involving the Wasp, who doesnt have a costume ready wehn she's "summoned" and loses her clothes as she shrinks down. She then spends the bulk of this issue walking around basically naked.
- The story finally fulfills a plot thread introduced several years earlier, in Vol 1 177, in which Moondragon becomes an opponent of the Avengers, despite believing she's doing the right thing.
- This issue contains a letters page, "Avengers Assemble". Letters are published from: David Reitzers, Doug Chapel. John Anthony Wilcox, Lee Curiel, Rand Lee, Bill Kida, Glen Griffith, Alex Garas, and T.F. Farmer.