Marvel Chronology Project

I'm not quite ready to post definitive character chronologies for Hulk Smash Avengers #3 because what we see here involves either a reshuffling of chronologies or the insertion of a gap in an issue of Incredible Hulk. Here's the situation:

An editor's note on the title page states that HSA 3 occurs between A 227 and A 228 and between H2 280 and H2 281. This is backed up by various in-story references...

It's "a few short weeks" after Monica Rambeau became Captain Marvel (ASM@ 16).

She-Hulk joined the Avengers "last month" (A 221) -- I think more time has passed since then.

Henry Pym's trial (A 228) is "weeks" away.

Looking at some of these time references begins to reveal some chronology problems, but the real, hard-to-ignore problem comes from the Hulk saying in HSA 3 that he was attacked and Rick Jones was kidnaped by the Leader's humanoids "this morning." That attack and kidnaping occurred in H2 280.

H2 280 begins at "midnight" and H2 279, the amnesty issue that features a horde of Marvel heroes, occurred "yesterday." H2 280 starts with the press hounding the newly intelligent Hulk in the aftermath of the widely publicized amnesty. During the wee hours of that morning, Bruce Banner dines at a restaurant with Bereet and they return to their hotel at "dawn," only to encounter the Humanoids who fight Hulk and abscond with Jones and Bereet. Hulk goes to the Avengers for help in HSA 3 following the attack that occurred "this morning."

All the timing above means that HSA 3 must occur the day after H2 279. This can't be, given the fact that HSA 3 must occur after Rambeau joins the Avengers in A 227 and there are far too many appearances of various Avengers between H2 279 and A 227. Cap, for instance, has this chronology:
H 279
M/TIO 92
FF 250
M/TIO@ 7
M/TIO 96
FF 258-FB
V&SW 3
ASM@ 16
A 227

Something's gotta give. My solution is to place a gap in H2 280 between pages 13-14. Banner's and Bereet's return to the hotel at dawn on page 14 is not from the restaurant date shown on pages 1-13 but rather from a different date that occurs many weeks later. This solution enables us to preserve the time reference to H2 279 as being "yesterday" in the first part of H2 280 and to the second part of H2 280 having occurred "this morning" in HSA 3. In HSA 3, Cap does refer to the restaurant date as having occurred "the other night," which itself suggests a gap between pages 13-14 of H2 280, but I'd insert more time.

H2 281 then picks up right after HSA 3, with Banner leaving Avengers Mansion. Thus the Avengers shown in HSA 3 (Thor, Captain Marvel, Hawkeye, Captain America, Wasp, Iron Man, She-Hulk) would appear there between A 227 and H2 281.

Thoughts?

Paul, we've got the same problem regardless of Hulk Smash Avengers 3- it makes no sense to put a huge gap in between the humanoids' attack in H2 280 and the Leader's defeat in H2 284. In H2 280, the Leader kidnaps Rick and Bereet. In H2 281, the Leader returns Rick and Bereet. In H2 282, Banner finds out where the Leader is (note that Banner's hotel room is still being repaired from the damage in H2 280). In H2 283-284, the Avengers go after the Leader. It makes no sense to put a gap in the middle of these events, unless we want to assume that the Avengers decided to take their time going after the Leader.
So we have a choice between your solution, which is to place a gap in the middle of H2 280, or simply ignoring the "yesterday" reference. Personally, I think that it would be simpler just to ignore the "yesterday" reference, since there's no reason why the events at the beginning of H2 280 HAVE to take place the day after H2 279, as opposed to a few days after. Also, in the first half of H2 280, Jackdaw pours dust out of a canister. It's implied that that's where the humanoids in the second half of H2 280 come from.

Michael wrote:

Personally, I think that it would be simpler just to ignore the "yesterday" reference, since there's no reason why the events at the beginning of H2 280 HAVE to take place the day after H2 279, as opposed to a few days after. Also, in the first half of H2 280, Jackdaw pours dust out of a canister. It's implied that that's where the humanoids in the second half of H2 280 come from.

Ah, but Cap's reference to the first part of H2 280 implies a gap of a "few days" already. I'm suggesting the gap be increased to a few months. Perhaps the dust took that long to form into Humanoids?

If we restrict the gap in H2 280 to a few days, we'll still have to put another gap between H2 279 and H2 280 to accommodate the larger span of time that needs to be dealt with. A lot of other stuff is going on in the MU between H2 279 and H2 281.

I don't think any of this affects the chronologies of individual characters, just the calendar placement of various pieces of H2 280.

I also vote to ignore the "yesterday" reference.

-Jeph!

It's either ignore the "yesterday" reference from a comic published decades ago or a "the other day" reference from a comic just published. Given the reference to "the other day," a gap should exist between pages 13-14 of H2 280, but a short one lasting only a couple of days. The first 13 pages of H2 280 gets moved forward in time from its mooring the day after H2 279, and the press's excitement over the intelligent Hulk has lasted for months.

If we do this, then Hulk's chronology needs to change:
...
H2 279
**H2 280 [move from here]
M/TIO@ 7
M/TIO 96
**H2 280 [move to here]
**HSA 3 [add]
H2 281
...

For the chronologies of Captain America, Captain Marvel (Rambeau), Hawkeye, Iron Man, She-Hulk, Thor, and Wasp, HSA 3 should be inserted right before H2 281.

The only other named character in HSA 3 is SHIELD Agent Greenberg, for whom this is his only appearance to date (I think).