This article contains mention of sexual assault

Of the prominent comic publishing companies, Marvel Comics is well-known for crafting more light-hearted inspirational stories than the company’s darker counterparts. However, there is one story that remains a black spot in Marvel’s past. As times change and society becomes more socially aware, comics change to reflect the real world. However, even at the time, this Marvel story was considered the publisher’s most disgustingly vile story of all time.

In 1980, Marvel Comics released Avengers #200. On the cover, the issue promises to be a double-sized anniversary to celebrate the Avengers’ 200th comic. However, inside the pages of the seemingly innocuous comic is a truly horrendous story unlike any other.

In the previous issues, Carol Danvers, aka Ms. Marvel at the time, shockingly discovered that she was three months pregnant despite having shown absolutely no signs in the days prior. When the Avengers visit Ms. Marvel, the team is shocked but ultimately celebrates her pregnancy. However, in Avengers #200 a horrific truth about Carol’s pregnancy is revealed.

The Time Captain Marvel Became Inexplicably Pregnant

Avengers #200 (1980) - Written by James Shooter, George Pérez, Bob Layton & David Michelinie; Art by George Pérez; Inking by Dan Green; Color by Ben Sean; Lettering by John Costanza

Before moving on, we need to discuss the Avengers’ reaction to the initial ordeal. When the team arrives home and discovers Carol, the hero is visibly upset. Huddled in a corner on the couch, Ms. Marvel is practically hiding her face in shame, broken by the revelation of this pregnancy. While the Scarlet Witch and Donald Blake, Thor’s mortal avatar, tend to Carol's needs, the Avengers completely overlook her anguish. Beast, the Wasp, and Wonder Man dote over Carol, celebrating her pregnancy. The Avengers are shockingly tone-deaf to the ordeal, leaving only Donald Blake to care for her needs.

Later that night, the Avengers are enjoying a relaxing round of tea and discussion when Blake bursts through the door claiming that Carol is in labor. In only two days, Ms. Marvel had experienced a full nine-month pregnancy. As Donald crashes through, the doctor is in a sweaty panic. He tells the Avengers it’s unlike anything he’s ever seen; that it’s inhuman. Thus ends the preceding issues to Avengers #200. So far, Carol has been thrust into a wildly complicated situation, without the emotional she needs from her heroic family. However, the truly disgusting story follows next. Be warned.

Ms. Marvel’s Son Has Romantic Feelings For His Mother

From Newborn to Romance In Less Than 24 Hours

Now, in Avengers #200, Carol has been moved into a medical lab within Avengers Mansion. There, Donald Blake and Jocasta oversee her labor while the Avengers nervously pace outside. The delivery goes by suspiciously smoothly; Carol felt nothing, as if the baby had essentially birthed itself. Soon, a baby boy is born into the world and kept in an incubation pod. So far, Blake believes the baby is perfectly healthy, and the Avengers leave Carol to rest. However, within the next hour, the Avengers learn that the baby has already developed into a toddler.

Carol meets Marcus, now a fully grown and incredibly intelligent adult.

Meanwhile, Ms. Marvel hasn’t even looked at her child. She says it isn’t her son, calling the child a “thing.” Later that night, Carol finds the courage to face her son, whom the Avengers now call “Marcus.” When she enters the lab, Carol meets Marcus, now a fully grown and incredibly intelligent adult. The Avengers are soon rallied on a surprise mission, leaving Carol and Marcus alone. As the two fumble through an awkward conversation, Marcus uses his latent powers to knock Ms. Marvel out. Picking his mother up, Marcus looks down at Carol as he mutters, “Forgive me… my love.”

Carol Danvers Learns the Horrific Truth Behind Marcus’s Birth

Marcus Is Both Her "Lover" and Her "Son"

Confronted by the Avengers, Marcus explains his complicated origins to the team. In short, sometime prior, a version of Nathaniel Richards manipulated a woman into falling in love with him. Soon, the two were “blessed” with an infant Marcus, who Richards raised in Limbo. After Richards supposedly died, Marcus was left in Limbo alone. He believed that if he could be born in Limbo, he could be born on Earth. So, Marcus scoured Earth for a woman powerful enough to endure the pregnancy and chose Ms. Marvel.

Marcus its that he kidnapped Ms. Marvel and, through a series of psychological manipulations and advanced machinery, warped Carol’s mind into loving him. He explains that as they consummated their “love,” he imbued his essence into Carol to be reborn later. With the shocking revelation that Marcus essentially kidnapped, brainwashed, and raped Carol, Ms. Marvel is left happy. Carol its throughout her pregnancy that she had experienced subconscious romantic feelings towards her child and finally understood why. That’s right, after the horrific revelation of Marcus’s foul actions, Carol embraces both her motherly love and romantic feelings for her son/lover.

Aftermath: Even the Story’s Writer Feels Ashamed

The "Moral" of the Story Is Sickening

Across the board, this comic has been considered Marvel’s most problematic story to date. It’s less because of what happened to Carol (which is horrific) but rather her loving acceptance of the situation. To Marcus’s own ission, he manipulated and sexually assaulted her. Marcus stole Carol’s memories, leaving her to feel the sickening anguish she was plagued with throughout her pregnancy. Meanwhile, the Avengers were unsympathetic to her plight and mainly focused on Marcus’s miraculousness. Ms. Marvel had been treated less like a character and more as an object to push forward the plot.

There were no repercussions for Marcus’s actions in this story, but instead tears of joy.

Yet, despite all this, Carol was happy. She its her own incestuous feelings toward Marcus and is brought to tears, realizing that she can now explore those feelings freely. But what makes Avengers #200 truly despicable, besides the issue’s primary shock value, is that the writers made Carol a victim of a reprehensible crime, but celebrated it. There were no repercussions for Marcus’s actions in this story, but instead tears of joy. The lesson to seemingly take away is that kidnapping, brainwashing, and sexual assault are all okay if the victim says it’s okay.

The thing is, while Marvel likes to gloss over this black spot in the publisher’s past, not all the story’s creators can. Decades later, previous Marvel Editor-In-Chielf and this issue’s co-writer, Jim Shooter, offered a full apology for the story’s contents. While he did try to skirt around his own responsibility for the story, he still takes full credit that the comic hit shelves to begin with. Marvel has had some rough stories in the past, but nothing as bad as this. The oddities aside, no comic should ever make light of what happened in Marvel’s Avengers #200.

Source: JimShooter.com