The Avengers #99 | Hercules Returns

The Avengers #99 is a classic Bronze Age chapter that bridges major events in Avengers history. Released with a May 1972 cover date, the issue follows the aftermath of the famous Kree Skrull War. It also builds directly toward the milestone Avengers #100.

Roy Thomas wrote the story, with Barry Windsor Smith providing the interior pencils. Tom Sutton supplied the inks. The cover combines pencils by John Buscema with inks by Barry Windsor Smith.

Hercules stands at the center of the story. He has returned without his memory and carries a frightening warning involving Ares. The Avengers attempt to uncover what happened to him before that threat becomes reality.

Hawkeye also receives an important spotlight. Clint Barton had recently abandoned his Goliath identity and returned to being Hawkeye. Here, readers learn how he survived his dangerous mission during the Kree Skrull War.

Clint recalls being trapped aboard a Skrull spacecraft without his Goliath growth serum. Rather than surrender, he returns to the archery skills that originally defined him. He constructs a makeshift bow and fights his way through the ship.

After destroying the Skrull vessel, Clint escapes and crashes back on Earth. He eventually finds himself in Yugoslavia. There, he joins a traveling circus and discovers an amnesiac Hercules working as its strongman.

That unusual encounter brings both heroes back into the Avengers story.

The issue also develops the complicated relationship between Scarlet Witch, Vision, and Hawkeye. Clint admits his feelings for Wanda Maximoff, but Wanda does not return them. She later acknowledges her love for Vision while speaking with Quicksilver.

Those emotional developments become important when new danger arrives.

Kratos and Bia attack the Avengers under orders connected to Ares. Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, and Hawkeye join the battle. Hercules remains strangely unwilling or unable to defend himself.

Vision eventually enters the conflict and discovers Wanda injured. His concern for her overwhelms his usual emotional control. The moment reveals just how deeply Vision cares for Scarlet Witch.

Kratos and Bia succeed in taking Hercules away. The Avengers are left with little choice but to pursue the mystery into Olympus.

That ending provides the direct setup for Avengers #100 and its enormous gathering of heroes.

Collectors also have strong artistic reasons to appreciate this issue. Barry Windsor Smith was developing the detailed style that would become closely associated with his celebrated 1970s work. His interior pages give the cosmic and mythological action a distinctive appearance.

The bold cover is equally memorable. Hercules dominates the foreground while Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, Vision, Scarlet Witch, and Hawkeye rush into action behind him.

The Avengers #99 is not simply another numbered Bronze Age issue. It offers important Hawkeye history, major Scarlet Witch and Vision developments, and the beginning of an Olympian confrontation. It also serves as an excellent companion to the landmark issue that immediately follows.