The Real Chairman of the Avengers

Wow! Henry Gyrich is sure peeved about the bloated state of the Avengers:

But, aren't appearances deceiving here?

Let's backtrack a little. Most of these people were called in because of the mysterious disappearances of Avengers, due to the Collector and his attempt to preserve the team from the coming attack of "the Enemy." And when the Avengers faced that foe, they did so with nearly every one of their members present, including some allies. Before that, as far as I can tell, the core membership of the team consisted of Iron Man, Captain America, Yellowjacket, the Wasp, the Beast, the Vision, and the Scarlet Witch--as well as Wonder Man, who was seemingly welcomed back into the fold informally.

So, now that the crisis is over, is this really the problem that Gyrich thinks it is?

After all, once we subtract all the heroes who will be heading back to their own affairs, that means that at least thirteen people are gone from this gathering--some of whom weren't even Avengers to begin with. Which will leave us with an Avengers team numbering nine, now that Hawkeye is probably going to stick around:

• Yellowjacket
• Wasp
• Hawkeye
• Scarlet Witch
• Vision
• Iron Man
• Captain America
• Wonder Man
• Beast

But let's hear how Gyrich sizes up the membership from this point on. Wait a minute--Gyrich is calling the shots on Avengers membership now? Of course he is, because we have to hear him say that line we've been waiting for him to say:

(Nice touch with the conceited facial twitch, Mr. Byrne.)

Now that he's made himself clear, Gyrich finalizes his own Avengers roster:

So from the prior listing, Yellowjacket, Hawkeye, and Wonder Man are out (though with Hawkeye only recently returned, his exit isn't exactly going to cause shockwaves). As for the addition of the Falcon, Gyrich is simply acquainting the Avengers with the EEOC:

Iron Man points out that the team has already met such requirements with the inclusion of mutants and androids, but I think we can assume that Gyrich's directive is going to stand as is. And why?

You KNEW you just wanted to hear it one more time.