The Trial of Yellowjacket is a storyline featuring The Avengers by Marvel Comics. It ran from July 1981 to January 1983 from The Avengers (1963) #212-230. Jim Shooter wrote most of the storyline, with Roger Stern wrapping it up.
During the battle with a mysterious sorceress known as the Elfqueen, Hank Pym, then known by the identity "Yellowjacket", attacked the misguided woman after Captain America had talked her down. Unable to explain his actions, Hank is court-marshalled by the Avengers to determine punishment. However, Hank's actions would lead to the man's darkest moment of his life, one an old foe long-thought dead is more than willing to exploit.
This story is well-known for its most infamous moment: an unhinged Hank Pym slapping Janet Van Dyne, a Never Live It Down moment both in and out of universe.
Tropes featured in this Story:
- Brought Down to Normal: Radioactive Man uses his powers to absorb She-Hulk's gamma radiation, returning her to normal Jennifer Walters. She's pushed to the Despair Event Horizon as she liked being She-Hulk. Thankfully, Hawkeye is able to reawaken her form by pissing her off.
- Didn't Think This Through: Hank's big plan to get him back onto the team is by creating a robot that only he can defeat. However, the robot proved to be way too strong and it leads to Wasp being the only one to stop it (having overheard Hank discussing its weakness the night before).
- Domestic Abuse: One of the most infamous moments in Avengers history, only if it's a brief one: Hank backhanding Janet as she tries to reason with him.
- Faking the Dead: When he enters the picture, it's revealed that Egghead had pulled this trope after his last appearance. He uses this to great effect to further ruin Hank's reputation, as the Avengers assume Hank's snapped even further when he accuses a dead man of forcing him to commit his recent actions.
- Frame-Up: Egghead does this twice to Hank:
- First, it's revealed that the cybernetic arm he attached to Egghead's niece, Trish, didn't have a bomb like he claimed, but instead gave her Laser-Guided Amnesia to make it seem that Hank willingly started robbing places instead of a threat of death.
- Second, during Hank's trial, the Masters of Evil storm the courtroom and spirit him away with the captured Shocker telling everyone that Hank had willingly joined them.
- Humiliation Conga: Poor Hank. His desire to be seen as useful leads to him being drummed out of the Avengers, divorced from his wife, made homeless and penniless, framed for robberies and accused of working with some of their deadliest foes. It's no wonder Hank opted to pull a 10-Minute Retirement after all of that.
- I Just Want to Be Special: Early in the story, Hank is completely and utterly chomping at the bit to be seen as a worthwhile member of the team, acting totally irrational. He also believes this is what will get him back in the team's good graces during his court-martial.
- Interrupted Cooldown Hug: What kicks off Hank's Humiliation Conga: his bioelectrical sting stops working just as he's about to stop Elfqueen. While he's off fixing it, Captain America manages to talk her down. When Hank returns, unaware of this development and chomping at the bit to be a hero, he fires his now-working weapons at her, resuming the battle. Thankfully, Cap is able to calm her again, but to say the team is displeased is an understatement.
- Irony: Despite Hank’s fears of his court-martial, his teammates were all deciding on acquittal. Even Cap, despite his speech on Hank’s irresponsibility, was hoping Iron Man, Thor, and Tigra would let Hank off.
- Kick the Dog: Even before the infamous scene, Hank’s response to Janet asking which dress to wear is to destroy one of them with his laser beams.
- Killing in Self-Defense: At the end, Hawkeye spots Egghead ready to shoot Hank In the Back and fires an arrow into the barrel of the laser he had trained on the fallen hero. However, Egghead had pulled the trigger as the arrow entered the barrel, and the feedback ends up killing Egghead. Hawkeye is horrified at this unintended consequence, but the law and the Avengers side with Hawkeye and he's cleared of all charges.
- Legion of Doom: Egghead forms his own Masters of Evil in this story. It's initially comprised of Moonstone, Tiger Shark, Whirlwind and the Scorpion, but Whirlwind's vengeance against the Wasp proves to be a liability and he and Scorpion are replaced with Radioactive Man, Shocker and the Beetle.
- My Greatest Failure: Cap justifies putting Hank through the court-martial due to the fact that, back in World War II, he got so caught up in avenging the troop he was in that he nearly killed a little girl that wandered into the battlefield; in that case the girl only survived because she ducked to pick up some scrap metal in time for the shield to pass harmlessly overhead.
- Sanity Slippage: It's quite clear in the story that Hank is not in his right mind and, years later, it would be confirmed that he has manic episodes. Egghead uses this to his advantage to get Hank framed and arrested for robberies.
- Sixth Ranger: The Avengers go through quite a number of members during this storyline. Wasp, Yellowjacket and Tigra all join in at the start of the storyline. Yellowjacket gets kicked out and Tigra bolts early on, leaving only Cap, Thor, Iron Man and Wasp. Hawkeye rejoins and She-Hulk joins partway through, and the then-new Captain Marvel, Monica Rambeau, joins as a "junior member" near the end.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Monica Rambeau rips into the Avengers when they seemingly give up on Hank after his abduction by the Masters of Evil and get them to think about things from a different angle.
- What Happened to the Mouse?:
- A number of heroes are invited to join the Avengers, though only She-Hulk and Hawkeye are able to join, the others not showing up. Spider-Man does appear a year later in real-time to respond (Avengers vol 1. 236), but the Avengers' government contacts ultimately don't approve of his potential membership.
- Tony Stark up and disappears during the trial. It's not explained in the story, but by this time Tony relapsed into alcoholism and James Rhodes took over as Iron Man. He wouldn't work with the Avengers until the events of Secret Wars (1984).