Avengers (1963) #16

Cover by Jack Kirby

Cover Date: May 1965

On-Sale Date: March 1965

Synopsis: The old Avengers quit, and a new team is formed consisting of Captain America, Hawkeye, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch.

CHRONOLOGICAL NOTES

Page 20, panel 5

A new team of Avengers is formed in this issue, which includes Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch. From this point forward the mutant twins cease to be X-Men villains, and are much more connected to the Avengers.  I won't be tracking their chronologies unless they intersect with the X-Men.

Thor, Iron Man, Giant-Man and the Wasp all effectively quit the team with this issue. They'll all be back eventually, but any scenes with that particular team should be placed before this.

Page 10, panel 1

Wanda notes here that Quicksilver is older than her. They're twins, so the age difference is negligible, but nevertheless she defers to him on most decisions in this era.  (I'm not actually sure if it's been established that they're twins at this point, but given that I'm about to stop tracking their chronologies it's something of a moot point.)

Page 10, panel 2

This flashback seems to be an alternate angle of a scene from X-Men (1963) #6, taking place right after page 3.1 of that issue.

Page 10, panel 3

This flashback doesn't match up with any of the X-Men/Brotherhood battles we've seen, but once again the off-panel fight from Journey Into Mystery (1962) #109 comes to my rescue.  I'll place this flashback during that issue.

Page 14, panel 1

At some point between X-Men (1963) #11 and this issue, the X-Men put out a public statement saying that Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch are no longer to be considered menaces to society. It's quite remarkable how trusted the X-Men are by the media and the authorities in this era. That's something that will change going forward, after the Sentinel arc in X-Men (1963) #14-16.

COUNTING THE DAYS:

There are a lot of intersecting subplots in this story, taking place over several weeks at the very least. The passage of time is a little vague, but thankfully I only have to track what's going on with Wanda and Pietro.

Given that X-Men (1963) #11 ends on a cliffhanger, this issue will have to be placed out of publication order.  It most probably occurs after the Juggernaut story in X-Men (1963) #12-13, and before the Sentinel story in #14-16.

• Day 1:
• Page 6.3 to 8.6: Iron Man, Giant-Man and the Wasp decide to quit the Avengers. Hawkeye breaks into the mansion, and is accepted as a member.
• A source leaks Hawkeye's membership to the media.
• Day 2:
• Page 9.5 to 10.5: Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, in their European homeland, hear that the Avengers are recruiting. They decide to apply.
• Days later:
• Page 13.4 to 20: Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch arrive in New York. They are accepted as team members, and the new Avengers team is formed.