Picture this: it's the spring of 1973, and the Avengers Mansion on Fifth Avenue is under siege. Not by Skrulls, not by Ultron, not by any cosmic warlord — but by a crowd of angry protesters who believe one of Earth's Mightiest Heroes has betrayed his own people. That confrontation kicks off "The Lion God Lives!", a story in Avengers #112 that planted seeds still bearing fruit in Marvel continuity five decades later.
The Roster That Walked Into Trouble
By mid-1973, the Avengers lineup had shifted considerably from the Stan Lee/Jack Kirby founding era. Steve Englehart, a writer with a sharp instinct for interpersonal drama, had taken the reins from Roy Thomas. The active roster inside the mansion included Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Vision, Scarlet Witch, and Black Panther. The Black Widow was still lingering around the team, though her heart had already drifted elsewhere — specifically, toward Matt Murdock's law practice and crime-fighting operation in Hell's Kitchen.
Englehart inherited a title in transition. The Avengers/Defenders War had just concluded, and readers were hungry for something grounded. What they got was a story that mixed real-world racial tension with Wakandan theology — and introduced a character who would become one of the most consequential additions to the team in the entire Bronze Age.
The Creative Team Behind the Curtain
The creative lineup for Avengers #112 reads like a who's-who of Bronze Age Marvel talent:
| Role | Credit | Notable Fact |
|---|---|---|
| Writer | Steve Englehart | Created Mantis; later wrote the Celestial Madonna saga |
| Penciller | Don Heck | Co-creator of Iron Man; Avengers veteran from the 1960s |
| Inker | Frank Bolle | Silver Age veteran; worked across Marvel and DC |
| Cover Artist | Don Heck / Morrie Kuramoto | Heck on pencils, Kuramoto on inks for the cover |
| Colorist | Marvel Color Dept. | Standard four-color separation process of the era |
Englehart had only recently begun his run on the title, and Avengers #112 marks one of his earliest major contributions. Don Heck, meanwhile, was no stranger to the book — he had co-created Iron Man back in Tales of Suspense #39 (1963) and had pencilled dozens of Avengers issues. His return to the title gave the art a visual continuity that long-time readers appreciated. Frank Bolle's inks added a clean, confident finish to Heck's layouts, and the two collaborated on several consecutive issues during this stretch.
The Story: Protest, Kidnapping, and a God's Wrath
The issue opens with a scene that would feel ripped from a newspaper headline. A crowd of African-American protesters converges on the Avengers Mansion, carrying signs and chanting slogans. Their grievance: they believe Black Panther — T'Challa, king of Wakanda — has "sold out to the white establishment" by joining a superhero team based in Manhattan. The accusation stings because it carries a kernel of uncomfortable truth. T'Challa operates in a world of American superheroes, far from the nation that needs him most.
But the protest is not organic. Behind the scenes, a mysterious figure named Umbala — ostensibly a reporter — has orchestrated the entire demonstration. Umbala is no ordinary agitator. He is, in truth, an avatar of the Lion God (N'laka), a rival Wakandan deity who stands in direct opposition to Bast, the Panther God who grants T'Challa his powers. The Lion God views the Black Panther mantle as a corruption of Wakandan spiritual tradition, and he intends to sever T'Challa's connection to it permanently.
When T'Challa steps outside the mansion to address the crowd directly — a move that is equal parts courage and naivete — he is seized. The Lion God spirits him away to Africa, shackling him in a remote village where no Avenger can easily follow.
"The Lion God explains that he has come to take the mantle of the Black Panther from T'Challa — to strip him of the divine connection that makes him more than a man in a mask."
Back at the mansion, the remaining Avengers scramble. Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor assess the situation with their usual tactical precision. Vision and Scarlet Witch, whose relationship is deepening in ways that will reverberate through hundreds of future issues, prepare for a long-range response. The team splits its attention: part of the roster pursues leads to locate Black Panther, while others manage the still-simmering protest outside their front door.
The Lion God, in his true form, is a towering figure — part man, part lion, crackling with divine energy that makes short work of conventional resistance. He does not merely want to kill T'Challa. He wants to unmake him, to sever the sacred bond between the Black Panther and Bast so thoroughly that the mantle can never be claimed again. That ambition raises the stakes far above a standard superhero brawl.
The Vision and Scarlet Witch Subplot
While the main plot charges forward with the Lion God confrontation, Englehart threads a quieter but equally important thread through the issue: the evolving bond between the Vision and the Scarlet Witch. The synthezoid and the mutant witch had been orbiting each other for some time, and Avengers #112 gives their relationship room to breathe amid the chaos. Vision's concern for Wanda during the crisis, and her reciprocal protectiveness, signals to attentive readers that this romance is not going away. It becomes one of the defining emotional anchors of the Englehart run.
Mantis Arrives — And Nothing Is the Same
Here is the detail that makes Avengers #112 a certified key issue: the first appearance of Mantis. She does not burst onto the page with a full origin story or a dramatic solo fight. Instead, she arrives alongside the Swordsman (Jacques Duquesne), a former villain and one-time Avenger who has been trying to rebuild his reputation. Mantis is his companion — and, as Englehart would later reveal, far more than that.
Englehart created Mantis with deliberate ambiguity. She was introduced, by his own later admission, as a disruptive presence — a woman whose confidence, combat skill, and inscrutable demeanor would shake the team's internal dynamics. She trained in martial arts at a temple in Vietnam (a detail rooted in the Kree-Skrull War-era Marvel cosmology) and carried herself with a quiet authority that made even Captain America take notice.
What nobody reading Avengers #112 in 1973 could have guessed was that Mantis was the seed of something enormous. Over the next two years, Englehart would develop her into the central figure of the Celestial Madonna saga — a sprawling, multi-issue epic that wove together the Kree, the Skrulls, the Cotati, and the very origin of life on Earth. Mantis was not just a new Avenger. She was, according to the prophecy Englehart crafted, the most important being in the universe.
That revelation came later. But it all started here, in a single issue about a lion god and a protest, where a green-clad martial artist walked through the mansion doors and never left.
Black Widow's Exit: A Door Closes
While Mantis enters, another fixture of the Avengers' recent history departs. The Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff) decides to leave the team, ending a run that had seen her serve as both ally and ambiguous presence within the group. Her departure is not dramatic — there is no blowup, no betrayal. She simply recognizes that her path leads back to Daredevil, to the streets of New York, to a kind of solo espionage work that does not fit neatly into the Avengers' structure.
Her story continues in the pages of Daredevil, where her partnership with Matt Murdock becomes one of Marvel's most compelling romantic and professional pairings. For Avengers readers in 1973, her exit signaled that Englehart was willing to make real changes to the roster — not just shuffle characters around for the sake of appearances.
Why the Lion God Matters in Wakandan Mythology
The Lion God (N'laka) is not a throwaway villain. Within the expanding mythology of Wakanda that later writers — particularly Christopher Priest, Reginald Hudlin, and Ta-Nehisi Coates — would develop into one of Marvel's richest fictional cultures, the Lion God represents a genuine theological threat. Bast, the Panther God, is the patron deity of the Black Panther lineage. N'laka, the Lion God, stands as a rival claimant to Wakanda's spiritual allegiance.
The conflict between these two divine forces maps onto real-world tensions within Wakandan society: isolationism versus engagement, tradition versus modernization, divine right versus earned leadership. Englehart, writing in 1973, was not yet working with the fully developed Wakanda that modern readers know. But he laid a foundation. The Lion God's appearance in Avengers #112 established that T'Challa's authority as Black Panther was not unquestioned — even within his own country's spiritual framework.
The Lion God would resurface in later Avengers issues, including Avengers #114, where Mantis secretly summons him back to the mansion in a move that catches the entire team off guard. That recurrence underscores how Englehart viewed this character: not as a one-issue menace, but as a piece of ongoing narrative architecture.
Character Breakdown: Who Appears in Avengers #112
| Character | Role | Significance in This Issue |
|---|---|---|
| Black Panther (T'Challa) | Protagonist / Captive | Kidnapped by the Lion God; his divine authority is challenged |
| Captain America | Team Leader | Coordinates the Avengers' response to the crisis |
| Iron Man (Tony Stark) | Avenger | Provides tactical and technological support |
| Thor | Avenger | Heavy-hitting muscle for the rescue operation |
| Vision | Avenger | Developing relationship with Scarlet Witch continues |
| Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) | Avenger | Vision/Wanda romance deepens amid the conflict |
| Lion God (N'laka / Umbala) | Antagonist | Rival Wakandan deity; orchestrates the protest and kidnapping |
| Mantis | Newcomer (First Appearance) | Arrives with Swordsman; future Celestial Madonna |
| Swordsman (Jacques Duquesne) | Newcomer / Returning | Returns alongside Mantis seeking redemption |
| Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff) | Departing Member | Leaves the Avengers to rejoin Daredevil |
Where Avengers #112 Sits in Marvel History
Context matters. Avengers #112 hit newsstands during a period when Marvel was stretching beyond the comfortable formulas of the Silver Age. The Bronze Age (roughly 1970–1985) saw writers tackling social issues, racial identity, drug abuse, and political corruption with a directness that earlier comics had avoided. Englehart's run on Avengers was part of that wave, and this issue exemplifies the shift.
The protest at the mansion is not a backdrop. It is the inciting incident. Englehart forces his heroes to confront the idea that their actions — even well-intentioned ones — carry political weight in communities that do not see themselves reflected in the team's lineup. Black Panther, as the sole Black Avenger at the time, bore a representational burden that the story acknowledges without pretending to resolve.
At the same time, the issue feeds into Englehart's longer-term plotting. The Celestial Madonna saga, which would not fully crystallize until Avengers #129–135 (1974–1975), has its earliest root here. Mantis's arrival is the first domino in a chain that eventually involves the Kree Supreme Intelligence, the Skrull Empire, the Cotati plant-people, and a wedding that reshapes the cosmic order. Readers who picked up Avengers #112 for the lion god fight had no idea they were holding the prologue to one of Marvel's most ambitious crossovers.
Collector's Corner: What Avengers #112 Is Worth Today
The first appearance of Mantis, combined with the Lion God's debut and Black Widow's departure, makes Avengers #112 a recognized key issue in the Bronze Age Avengers run. Its value has climbed steadily, particularly after Mantis appeared in the 2017 film Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 — albeit in a form so different from her comic counterpart that Englehart himself publicly criticized the adaptation.
| Grade | Condition | Approx. Value |
|---|---|---|
| GD 2.0 | Good | $20 |
| VG 4.0 | Very Good | $50 |
| FN 6.0 | Fine | $75 |
| VF 8.0 | Very Fine | $164 |
| NM 9.4 | Near Mint | $383 |
| CGC 9.8 | Near Mint / Mint | $5,500 (record sale, 2022) |
The jump from $383 at NM 9.4 to $5,500 at CGC 9.8 illustrates a pattern common to Bronze Age keys: the population of high-grade survivors is extremely thin. Most copies of Avengers #112 that circulated in 1973 were read, traded, folded, stuffed into back pockets, and generally treated the way kids treated comics before anyone thought of them as investments. A copy that survived in 9.8 condition is a statistical outlier, and the price reflects that scarcity.
For collectors on a budget, a raw copy in VG/FN range ($40–$75) still delivers the full story experience. For speculators, CGC-graded copies in the 8.0–9.4 range represent the sweet spot between affordability and condition prestige. The 30-cent price variant (distributed in select markets) commands a modest premium over the standard 20-cent cover price edition.
The Aftermath: What Happened Next
The Lion God storyline does not end with Avengers #112. The villain resurfaces in Avengers #114 (August 1973), where Mantis secretly summons him back to the mansion — a move that throws the team into chaos and results in Thor himself being overwhelmed by the Lion God's power. That escalation confirms what Englehart had been signaling: Mantis is not simply a love interest for the Swordsman. She operates on her own agenda, one that intersects with cosmic forces the Avengers are only beginning to comprehend. Here is how the threads from #112 played out over the next two years:
- Avengers #114 (August 1973): Lion God returns; Mantis reveals her hidden agenda by summoning him to the mansion. Thor is defeated.
- Avengers #123–125 (1974): Swordsman officially rejoins the team; Mantis's combat abilities earn her a place in the field alongside the core roster.
- Avengers #129–135 (1974–1975): The Celestial Madonna saga reaches its climax. Mantis is revealed as the prophesied figure; Swordsman's fate is sealed in one of Marvel's most heartbreaking sequences.
- Giant-Size Avengers #4 (1975): Mantis marries the Cotati representative in a ceremony that closes the cosmic loop Englehart opened two years earlier in #112.
The Swordsman, meanwhile, earns his way back onto the team through his actions in these issues, though his story takes a tragic turn in the Celestial Madonna saga that has never been fully reversed in mainstream continuity. Mantis ascends to a role far beyond anything her debut in #112 suggested — becoming, in Englehart's vision, the prophesied Celestial Madonna who marries a Cotati and gives birth to a being of immense cosmic significance.
Black Panther, for his part, survives the Lion God's challenge and retains the mantle. But the issue leaves a mark. The protest at the mansion, and the accusation that he has abandoned his people, reverberates through his character for decades. Later writers return to this tension — the king who spends more time fighting alongside Americans than governing Wakandans — because it is a genuinely unresolved question.
Questions Readers Keep Asking
What actually happens in the story?
"The Lion God Lives!" follows a protest at the Avengers Mansion led by African-Americans who believe Black Panther has abandoned his people. The protest is secretly orchestrated by Umbala, who is actually the Lion God (N'laka) — a rival Wakandan deity. He kidnaps T'Challa and takes him to Africa, intending to strip him of his connection to the Panther God Bast. The Avengers mount a rescue while dealing with the arrival of Mantis and Swordsman and the departure of Black Widow.
Is this really Mantis's first appearance?
Yes. Mantis makes her Marvel Comics debut in Avengers #112 (June 1973), created by writer Steve Englehart and artist Don Heck. She arrives at the Avengers Mansion alongside the Swordsman. Her full significance — as the prophesied Celestial Madonna — is not revealed until later issues.
Who exactly is the Lion God?
The Lion God, also known as N'laka, is a Wakandan deity who opposes Bast, the Panther God. He first appears in Avengers #112 disguised as a reporter named Umbala. He views the Black Panther mantle as a corruption and seeks to sever T'Challa's divine connection. He returns in Avengers #114 and has appeared sporadically in Wakanda-centric stories since.
What prompted Black Widow to leave?
Black Widow's departure is a personal decision rather than a dramatic split. She recognizes that her skills and inclinations align better with street-level espionage and her partnership with Daredevil. Her story continues in the pages of Daredevil, beginning shortly after this issue.
How much should I expect to pay for a copy?
Values range from roughly $20 for a Good (GD 2.0) copy to $383 for a Near Mint (NM 9.4) copy. The record sale stands at $5,500 for a CGC 9.8 graded copy in 2022. Mid-grade copies (VG to FN, or $40–$75) remain accessible for most collectors. Here are a few practical pointers if you're hunting for one:
- Raw copies in the $40–$75 range often have readable stories and decent covers — check seller photos for spine stress and staple rust before buying.
- CGC-graded 8.0–9.4 copies hit the sweet spot between condition and cost; expect to pay $164–$383 based on PriceCharting.com market data (2025).
- The 30-cent price variant (distributed in select Canadian and newsstand markets) carries a modest premium — worth checking if you spot one listed without the variant noted.
- Stay cautious of restored copies sold as unrestored; CGC's purple label (Restored) designation will cost significantly less than a blue label (Universal) at the same numeric grade.
What makes this a key issue worth collecting?
Three factors converge: the first appearance of Mantis (who becomes central to the Celestial Madonna saga and later appears in the Guardians of the Galaxy films), the debut of the Lion God (a recurring Wakandan mythology villain), and the departure of Black Widow from the team. It also marks an early highlight of Steve Englehart's influential run on the title.
Sources: Marvel.com official issue listings (accessed 2025), Marvel Database at Fandom, "Avengers Vol 1 112" entry (updated 2024); Quality Comix, "Avengers Comics Price Guide" (2025); PriceCharting.com, "Avengers #112 Key Issue Values" (market data, 2025); Comic Book Realm, series listing (2024); Earth's Mightiest Blog, "AVENGERS #112 (1973): 1st Mantis" retrospective (2023). Values reflect market observations and may fluctuate.
