Late Night

To boost his exposure as an actor, Wonder Man used his status as a reserve member of the Avengers to get booked on Late Night with David Letterman. The only catch was that he needed to bring other Avengers on the show with him.

All active members of the Avengers were unavailable at the time, so four other reserve Avengers agreed to fill in: Hawkeye, Black Widow, Black Panther, and Beast.

The TV appearance posed a conflict of interests for Beast, who used the opportunity to plug his newfound place in the Defenders and announce he would be stepping down as a reserve Avenger. Near the end of the issue, Beast turned in his Avengers I.D.

Avengers. Vol. 1. No. 239. January 1984. "Late Night of the Super-Stars!" Roger Stern (writer), Allen Milgrom & Joe Sinnott (artists), J. Novak (letterer), C. Scheele (colorist), Michael Carlin (editor), Larry "Bud" Melman (inspiration).

Also published that month (more specifically, Assistant Editor's Month) was New Defenders #127.