Comic Review: Avengers #200

Writers: Jim Shooter, David Michelinie, Bob Layton & George Pérez

Artists: George Pérez

Undoubtedly one of the most misogynistic pieces of crap that I’ve ever read! AVENGERS #200 is a sheer milestone of failure!

Ranking: ⭐

One of the biggest problems that continues to plague the comic book industry to this day is the prevalence of sexism, or bias towards female readers. Ever since comics first became prominent in the late 1930’s, there has been a common stereotype that the only audience that exists for comics is adolescent males. The stereotype exists not just among the general public, but among the comic companies themselves, as they will often attempt to pander their books solely to boys rather than appeal to a general audience. This has lead to many writers possessing a biased view towards women, which I feel hurts female comic characters in two specific ways. The first and most obvious problem is the objectification of female characters, as they are often portrayed in an overtly sexual manner (primarily through wearing revealing costumes), as conquests for the male characters, or as fragile creatures that need to be protected. While this is definitely a major problem, it’s nowhere near as damaging as the other sexist trend that plagues comics: “women in refrigerators.” Coined by feminist comic book writer Gail Simone, the phrase “women in refrigerators” refers to female comic characters who are either injured, killed, or depowered for the purpose of progressing the development of other characters (particularly men). I find this to be the worst form of sexism towards female characters, as instead of using these horrible events to further develop the female characters themselves, or to touch upon serious issues, they are instead reduced into plot devices for male characters. This not only devalues these characters as characters in my eyes, but as women as well, portraying them as both weak and as tools to progress the plot. While the stuffing of Kyle Rayner’s girlfriend’s body in a refrigerator (the case that the trope is actually named after), Sue Dibny’s rape and murder in IDENTITY CRISIS, and even Karen Page’s drug addiction and career as a porn star in the pages of DAREDEVIL are frequently referred examples, the worst case of “women in refrigerators” in my opinion, would have to be Ms. Marvel in the infamous AVENGERS #200!

While most readers today immediately think of the Muslim teenager Kamala Khan when they hear the name Ms. Marvel, she was not the first person to bear the title. That honor goes to Carol Danvers, who has currently taken on the mantel of the new Captain Marvel. For those who are unaware, Carol Danvers is a former U.S. Air Force pilot who gained superhuman strength and flight abilities after being exposed to a device that fused her genetic structure to that of the superhero Captain Marvel, effectively transforming her into a kree-human hybrid (the Kree is an often fought alien race in the Marvel Universe). Carol is perhaps most well-known for her connections to the origins of the X-Man Rogue, as she permanently stole Danvers’s powers while she was a member of Mystiques Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Chris Claremont created the character in the late 70’s as a response to the lack of strong and independent female superheroes in comics, as he wanted to prove that women could be strong without having to be pushy or reliant on men. Unfortunately, while Carol Danvers was meant to be a figure for the liberation of women, she herself became the victim of one of the worst cases of sexism in comic book history. After her solo-series was canceled, Carol became a member of the Avengers, where the writers decided to have her play a crucial role in the series upcoming landmark 200th issue. The set up for issue 200 began at the end of AVENGERS #199, the Avengers returned to their headquarters to discover that Carol had suddenly become nine months pregnant within the time span of just a few days. The issue then ended with Carol going into labor. The original idea behind the pregnancy was for Ms. Marvel to have been artificially impregnated with the child of the Kree’s leader, the Supreme Intelligence, but because a similar plot-line was already done in the pages of WHAT-IF, the writers were forced to completely rewrite the story from scratch. It’s also worth noting that the end-product of AVENGERS #200 is credited with four writers, including Jim Shooter (former Editor-in-Chief at Marvel and writer of the SECRET WARS crossover), David Micheline (co-creator of the Spider-Man villain Venom and author of the classic IRON MAN: DEMON IN A BOTTLE), Bob Layton (who was a frequent co-plotter with Micheline), and George Perez (the artist of NEW TEEN TITANS and CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS). While each of these men are good writers in their own respective fields, AVENGERS #200 was such a monumental train wreck, that they themselves have openly admitted it to being absolute garbage!

The story opens following the cliffhanger at the end of the previous issue, where the Captain America, Hawkeye, and Iron Man are waiting outside the Avenger’s medical bay as Ms. Marvel gives birth. After Thor helps deliver the child, the Avengers soon discover that the baby is aging at a rapid rate, learning to speak and obtaining knowledge to use complex tools and machinery within the span of a few hours. Although initially distrusting of the baby, Carol Danvers soon agrees to meet her supposed “child,” only to discover that he is now a full-grown adult who addresses himself as Marcus. Marcus then reveals that he is actually the son of the Avenger’s long-time nemesis, Immortus, who he had conceived with another mortal woman within his Limbo dimension. After Immortus’ death in a previous story, Marcus desired to live on Earth, but understood that since he was a product of Limbo, he could not enter our realm without disrupting the fabric of time and space. To prevent this problem, Marcus had forcibly abducted Carol and impregnated her with himself so that she would give birth to him on Earth, supposedly preventing the risk of his presence altering reality. Marcus’ plan is revealed to have failed however, when his presence causes different time eras to collide with each other, resulting in dinosaurs, medieval knights, and ships from the future to run amok across Manhattan. Will the Avengers be able to stop the complete collapse of the time stream, and if they do, how will they deal with Marcus in light of the atrocities he was revealed to have inflicted upon Carol.

To fully explain why AVENGERS #200 is a monumental disaster would take an eternity as it virtually fails in almost every category imaginable! Not only is this one of the most horribly written and poorly conceived comics that I’ve ever come across, but it leaps an extra mile in terms of awfulness with it’s extremely misogynistic treatment of Carol Danvers. Before I discuss the issues of sexism however, I feel that I should address the comic’s other problems first. The first and most immediate problem with AVENGERS #200 is the idiotic characterization of all the other Avengers. Throughout the story, the Avengers never take Carol’s feelings into consideration and do not react to her perilous situation like human beings would. This behavior is even present in the previous issue, as instead of attempting to investigate what could have caused it, the Avengers instead simply express excitement over the idea of a baby, with Wasp stating “Wow, a real baby,” or Beast proclaiming that he could be the kid’s teddy bear. It is simply astonishing how horribly written the Avenger’s behavior is, as real human beings would never act like this, and it completely contradicts their established characters. If this were a well-written story, the Avengers would have immediately investigated the circumstances behind the pregnancy, as well as provide medical care and emotional support for Carol. Instead, the characters are written as if their blind to both reality and Carol’s feelings, as not once do they stop and think that she might be hurt by the things inflicted upon her, or that a newborn baby speaking and asking to work with advanced technology is bit out of the ordinary. Not since the likes of SPIDER-MAN: ONE MORE DAY and MAXIMUM CLONAGE have I seen such idiotic and out-of-character behavior, which is made worse when Marcus reveals the terrible things he did to Ms. Marvel. 

The other major problem with the comic disconcerting the sexism is that the premise is extremely weak for a milestone issue. Seeing as this is the 200th issue of the AVENGERS series, one would think that Marvel would want to honor such an occasion by telling an epic story that either reflected upon the Avenger’s history what made the book so great to begin with, or provided new and innovative concepts to the team’s mythos. Instead, the story that Marvel decided to tell was essentially about some random guy in limbo who had never appeared before this story, impregnating a mortal woman just so he could live on Earth. This is an especially weak plot when compared to Marvel’s other landmark issues, which told either emotionally gripping or exciting tales that either celebrated aspects the character’s past or introduced something new into their lives. This was evident with stories such as the return of the Burglar who murdered Peter’s Uncle Ben in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #200, the reveal Magneto’s tragic origins as a Holocaust survivor in UNCANNY X-MEN #150, or even Iron Man attempting to reclaim control of his company from Obadiah Stane in IRON MAN #200. When compared to the effort and innovation present of Marvel’s other milestone issues, the plot of AVENGERS #200 comes across as weak and mundane, providing nothing notable or innovative to the team’s history. Even putting aside the terrible writing and misogynistic treatment of Ms. Marvel’s character, AVENGERS #200 would still fail as a milestone issue due to it’s weak premise.

Speaking of misogyny however, it’s finally time to discuss the real reason as to why this comic is so notoriously infamous and despised. As I stated previously, the plot of AVENGERS #200 is centered around Ms. Marvel being impregnated by Marcus so that he could give birth to himself on Earth. While this premise is already weak, it is elevated from being stupid and contrived, to downright terrible and insulting when it is revealed exactly how Marcus carried out his plan. When Marcus reveals his history to the Avengers, he states that he abducted Carol Danvers from Earth and into his Limbo dimension. Although he says he could have mind controlled her with Immortus’ machines, he at first attempted to win her love through various gifts and acts of flirting. Marcus then immediately contradicts this statement by stating, and I quote, “Finally, after relative weeks of such efforts - - and admittedly, with a subtle boost from Immortus’ machines - - you became mine.” 

If it wasn’t already clear before, this comic is basically saying that Marcus raped Carol in order to achieve his plan. This is not something that’s implied, can be misinterpreted, or is hidden between lines. It is directly stating that Carol was raped, as the “subtle boost from Immortus’ machines” line suggests that Marcus used mind control in order to Carol do something that she would not do of her own free will. Even disregarding that one line, the implications of Carol’s plight would still be horrible, but they are made more damaging due to them not only being openly stated, but that no editor was able to spot such an obvious flaw. In my opinion however, it is not the rape itself that makes the treatment of Carol’s character so blatantly sexist, as it would have been excusable if the writers wanted to tell a story about how rape affects people both physically and psychologically. Instead, it is the manner in which it’s presented that makes this story both horribly misogynistic, and the worst example of “women in refrigerators” that I’ve ever seen in a comic. After Marcus reveals that he raped Ms. Marvel and that his presence will permanently damage the space-time continuum, he states that he needs to return to his limbo dimension. Carol however, states that she we’ll accompany him, stating that the feelings she felt for him during her time in limbo still lingered on, and that she felt closer to him due to her also having given birth to him on Earth. 

I… I can’t believe this is… this comic is essentially stating Carol Danvers, a rape victim, has fallen in love with her rapist, and the story then ends with her leaving with her rapist to live with him in limbo… That is without a doubt the most insulting and disgusting piece of misogynistic bullcrap that I have ever heard in my entire life! Not only is this a sexist slap in the face to Carol Danvers, but it’s also extremely insulting to rape victims and to women in general, portraying them as weak individuals with no willpower of their own, and are easily swayed by sex and love for men! That just enrages me to no end! What makes this even worse is the fact that none of the other Avengers even attempt to stop Carol from leaving with Marcus. In fact, they actually help Carol by having Thor transport her and Marcus to limbo. This is just awful on almost every conceivable level! I can’t believe I’m actually saying this, but not even the modern-day works of Frank Miller are this sexist and degrading towards women. Miller may be a dirty old man who objectifies women as prostitutes and conquests for men, but not even he went as far as to insult rape victims by having a character fall in love with their rapist! I don’t think I’ve ever seen something more insultingly misogynistic than what is presented here in AVENGERS #200, and I hope I never will!

AVENGERS #200 is not just one of the most insulting and disgusting pieces of misogynistic crap that I’ve ever come across, but it also ranks among the top 5 worst comics that I’ve ever read or reviewed! It’s right up there alongside travesties like SPIDER-MAN: ONE MORE DAY, Chuck Austen’s run on UNCANNY X-MEN, and Frank Miller’s HOLY TERROR in terms of sheer awfulness! Not only is this comic horribly written with it’s idiotic mischaracterization and poorly conceived for a milestone 200th issue, but it has a prominent female character raped for no reason, and ends with her leaving with her rapist to have a “happily ever after.” Ironically Carol Danvers did end up having a happily ever after as AVENGERS #200 was immediately despised by both fans and people working at Marvel. This led to Chris Claremont undoing the damage in AVENGERS ANNUAL #10, where after having her powers stolen by Rogue, Carol returns to the Avengers and berates them for not helping her and that she was forced to leave as she was under Marcus’ mind control. And let me just say, after all the crap that Carol went through in AVENGERS #200 it was incredibly satisfying to see her essentially give the Avengers the middle finger and leave the team, allowing her to spend time with the X-Men until she recovered her powers. Aside from some of the creative fights the Avengers have with the time-displaced creatures and the artwork by George Perez, there is nothing redeemable about this garbage! To be fair to the writers however, I hold no ill-will towards them for this comic, as they've written plenty of good comics, and all of them have admitted that AVENGERS #200 is absolute garbage. Jim Shooter himself even publicly stated this on his blog, and that even though he has no idea how the heck it ended up the way it did, he takes full responsibility for it as he was Editor-in-Chief at the time. This is a story that's so bad, that none of its creators want to take credit for it! Overall, the only means in which AVENGERS #200 can be considered a milestone story, is as a milestone of sexism, misogyny, horrible writing, idiotic characterization, poor planning, and a degradation of women in comic books!

“The greatest threat to women (and by extension humanity) is the growth and acceptance of a misogynistic, authoritarian and violent culture of militarism.”

-Amina Mama