Avengers vs. the U.S. Government
I've been rereading old issues of The Avengers from the late 1970s, where the team suffers under government regulation. While the government (embodied by Henry Peter Gyrich) is clearly presented as a obstructive interloper, the feds have some valid points. Points that tend to be obscured by iffy writing on both sides of the issue.
Up to this point, the comics had never considered the question of the Avengers' legal status. Are they just a collection of private citizens? Are they a non-profit organization? A corporation? The federal government had previously granted aid and privilege to the Avengers, but the feds are constrained by laws and are answerable to the larger citizenry, so it's reasonable that some requirements must be met. But without legally defining the Avengers, what requirements might be reasonable (or even legal)? This makes it all too easy to see Gyrich as a villain, and to overlook real concerns.
For example, Gyrich is absolutely correct that the Avengers are lax on security. They've always guarded their mansion with security *devices*, but no contingencies. When an empowered Count Nefaria smashes big holes in several walls (The Avengers #164-166), the Avengers run off to give chase…leaving the heavily damaged mansion totally unsecured (as Gyrich demonstrates by casually walking in). This is unacceptable if the Avengers are to continue getting (supposedly) top-secret information on national threats. But the writing fumbles this concern -- Gyrich is satisfied by the installation of new security devices, when he should argue for some kind of support-team security force, to shoe people away while the Avengers are elsewhere.
Similarly, Gyrich *may* have a legit demand that the Avenges have some kind of 24/7 availability / monitor duty. While the team can't be in more than one place at a time, the feds probably do need some kind of assured communications channel. But the writing again fumbles by insisting that monitor duty is performed by *an Avenger*, rather than some kind of secretary (The Avengers, #186). Because it's more important that one of Earth's mightiest heroes man a telephone, rather than be on the front lines against disaster. And the writing compounds this error by demanding an inviolable pre-scheduled duty roster! Sorry, Iron Man, but despite your being the best chance at stopping World Menace X, you have to stay home because the schedule says you have to man the phone bank today.
Good ideas, marred by stupid execution.
Of course, the heroes also suffer writing fumbles. When the Gyrich insists that the Avengers need a racially diverse roster, presumably because of Executive Order 11246 (prohibiting federal contractors for discriminating on the basis of race, sex, etc.), the Avengers complain that they clearly don't discriminate because the team includes mutants and a synthezoid (the Vision). Unfortunately, mutants and synthezoids lacked any kind of legal standing -- mutants were legally treated as no different than non-mutants, and it's not clear that the government could legally recognize the Vision as a person (let alone a protected minority). Rather than try getting legal recognition for their members' special statuses, they heroes just decry the injustice. One might think that Tony Stark could afford to hire some lawyers and lobbyists for this purpose, but it's never pursued. But this oversight gets immediately obscured by having Gyrich set the team's roster for them!
I think I can see some parallels to the Voting Rights Act. Southern states had such a bad track record of discrimination that the federal government meddled in how those states registered voters and conducted elections. But it's hard to see how the Avengers could be considered to have such a bad track record that this kind of direction could be justified. When challenged on this point, Gyrich essentially says the feds can do whatever they like, because they have monopoly power.
In truth, this entire storyline isn't actually a case of regulation, but of negotiation. The federal government *NEVER* threatens to shut down the Avengers, only to rescind privileges that had previously been granted. The Avengers insist those privileges were vital, but most other super teams of the time did without them. And really, the privileges weren't originally granted so much for the Avengers' convenience as for enhancing their ability to serve the public good. As was seen almost immediately when the Avengers defeat a giant rampaging super-villain (Tyrak, The Avengers #172), only to realize they have no private means of transporting him to the authorities or even holding him while waiting for the authorities to show up, so they have to let him go. Good job, Gyrich! You really showed those uppity heroes!!! But yet again, the writing fails to effectively address such consequences.
Perhaps I'd better appreciate the writers' perspectives had I been an adult during the 1970s. I understand the concept of government overreach and stifling regulation, but since I grew up watching the results of unregulated misbehavior, it's hard for me to just accept that Gyrich is being totally unfair to our selfless heroes. I wish the writers had managed to devote a little more explicit thought to the issues they presented. :/
Up to this point, the comics had never considered the question of the Avengers' legal status. Are they just a collection of private citizens? Are they a non-profit organization? A corporation? The federal government had previously granted aid and privilege to the Avengers, but the feds are constrained by laws and are answerable to the larger citizenry, so it's reasonable that some requirements must be met. But without legally defining the Avengers, what requirements might be reasonable (or even legal)? This makes it all too easy to see Gyrich as a villain, and to overlook real concerns.
For example, Gyrich is absolutely correct that the Avengers are lax on security. They've always guarded their mansion with security *devices*, but no contingencies. When an empowered Count Nefaria smashes big holes in several walls (The Avengers #164-166), the Avengers run off to give chase…leaving the heavily damaged mansion totally unsecured (as Gyrich demonstrates by casually walking in). This is unacceptable if the Avengers are to continue getting (supposedly) top-secret information on national threats. But the writing fumbles this concern -- Gyrich is satisfied by the installation of new security devices, when he should argue for some kind of support-team security force, to shoe people away while the Avengers are elsewhere.
Similarly, Gyrich *may* have a legit demand that the Avenges have some kind of 24/7 availability / monitor duty. While the team can't be in more than one place at a time, the feds probably do need some kind of assured communications channel. But the writing again fumbles by insisting that monitor duty is performed by *an Avenger*, rather than some kind of secretary (The Avengers, #186). Because it's more important that one of Earth's mightiest heroes man a telephone, rather than be on the front lines against disaster. And the writing compounds this error by demanding an inviolable pre-scheduled duty roster! Sorry, Iron Man, but despite your being the best chance at stopping World Menace X, you have to stay home because the schedule says you have to man the phone bank today.
Good ideas, marred by stupid execution.
Of course, the heroes also suffer writing fumbles. When the Gyrich insists that the Avengers need a racially diverse roster, presumably because of Executive Order 11246 (prohibiting federal contractors for discriminating on the basis of race, sex, etc.), the Avengers complain that they clearly don't discriminate because the team includes mutants and a synthezoid (the Vision). Unfortunately, mutants and synthezoids lacked any kind of legal standing -- mutants were legally treated as no different than non-mutants, and it's not clear that the government could legally recognize the Vision as a person (let alone a protected minority). Rather than try getting legal recognition for their members' special statuses, they heroes just decry the injustice. One might think that Tony Stark could afford to hire some lawyers and lobbyists for this purpose, but it's never pursued. But this oversight gets immediately obscured by having Gyrich set the team's roster for them!
I think I can see some parallels to the Voting Rights Act. Southern states had such a bad track record of discrimination that the federal government meddled in how those states registered voters and conducted elections. But it's hard to see how the Avengers could be considered to have such a bad track record that this kind of direction could be justified. When challenged on this point, Gyrich essentially says the feds can do whatever they like, because they have monopoly power.
In truth, this entire storyline isn't actually a case of regulation, but of negotiation. The federal government *NEVER* threatens to shut down the Avengers, only to rescind privileges that had previously been granted. The Avengers insist those privileges were vital, but most other super teams of the time did without them. And really, the privileges weren't originally granted so much for the Avengers' convenience as for enhancing their ability to serve the public good. As was seen almost immediately when the Avengers defeat a giant rampaging super-villain (Tyrak, The Avengers #172), only to realize they have no private means of transporting him to the authorities or even holding him while waiting for the authorities to show up, so they have to let him go. Good job, Gyrich! You really showed those uppity heroes!!! But yet again, the writing fails to effectively address such consequences.
Perhaps I'd better appreciate the writers' perspectives had I been an adult during the 1970s. I understand the concept of government overreach and stifling regulation, but since I grew up watching the results of unregulated misbehavior, it's hard for me to just accept that Gyrich is being totally unfair to our selfless heroes. I wish the writers had managed to devote a little more explicit thought to the issues they presented. :/