Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities The 2nd All Avengers Thread

Like I tried to say above, I liked Thunderstrike, but I read very few of his stories. I left Thor very quickly into DeFalco & Frenz's run because it was apparent they were walking back Walt Simonson's visual and story changes and going more "back to basics". (I've sampled some of the run in the past few years, and while some of my then-perceptions are correct, the run shouldn't be dismissed with a broad cloth.)

But I did like his look (though admittedly '90s grunge-inspired), his more relatable "everyman" (as you put it) vibe and the idea of Thor continuing to be a mantle that could be passed on (as Simonson did with Beta Ray Bill). I picked up the first couple of issues of his solo series, but my CBS closing made me discontinue newer pickups and focus on tracking down issues of my essential books online.

In a way, Eric kinda delivered on how I feel Donald Blake maybe should have been handled. Taken literally, the enchantment put on Mjolnir means that any person deemed worthy could wield the power. Donald actually being an amnesiac Thor was kind of a cheat. Thor could literally be Thor as the alter ego, but if Donald were a separate individual, that sounds more interesting. When I read Silver and Bronze Age Thor, I never get the feeling that Don matters, which is likely why Walt discarded him. With Eric, even though he's never truly Thor when he transforms, Eric always matters and is crucial to everything that happens, including the fact that he has a teenage (or tween?) son.


That's an idea that hasn't occurred to me and that I'm struggling with grasping, having read the entire run not long ago. I guess I never thought of him as an everyman but more as a key player in an epic struggle and a romantic lead. The latter didn't turn out the way I wanted it to, but I guess it never could...


Again this was my perception because of how I perceived the art style and the closer ties to the X-books. A Sh'iar character like Deathcry and her Liefeld-esque name and design were a part of that. But I know now that it was just Harras utilizing the larger Marvel Universe and some existing character ties. The perception was definitely unfair and was shaded by my disillusionment with the X-Men after having been a fan for quite some time.

Re: Avengers 344.......

I see what you mean about the art looking rough in spaces. In my Omnibus, the colors are also washed out on some pages--not sure if it's so in the floppies or a flaw in the collection transfer. The main page I noticed this is when Herk first comes charging in. Being that Palmer was also the colorist, this reinforces your speculation about his work not being up to par. Perhaps he had the worst of the deadline crunch this issue?

I loved the main fight between Dane and the Swordsman. It did make me wonder about how Dane's new energy sword works. Apparently, it can be solid enough to clash with an actual sword but ethereal enough to penetrate a man's body to deliver only a neurological disruption. It may be exaplained by Swordsman's weapon being able to fire energy bolts, which may make its energy qualities compatible to Dane's. It was fun to watch, as were the tantalizing clues that this might actually be the Swordsman returned.

Seeing Magdalene and Herk clash on a second read made me think that this might be how a clash between Herk and Big Barda might go. Magdalene has some small resemblance in her design to Barda, and her fierce protection of Swordsman reminds me of Barda toward Scott Free. Barda's weapon is much shorter, but I could see her being a match for Herk herself. That was fun for me as was the likelihood that getting hurt like this by a woman probably damaged his male pride--hence the quote you shared. That's my take, anyway.

I liked the Jarvis/Marilla encounter better than you. Jarvis is so respected and given no oversight that it is funny to see someone come in and just not be impressed at all with him. The "skin and bones" cracks were pretty chuckleworthy, as were the criticisms of his cooking.

The OGS asides were definitely distracting, especially as the storyline was omitted completely from the Omnibus. I've yet to read OGS, but I do want to some day. But it's a distraction and a gap in a collection of the Gathering Saga as is. I do love, however, Epting's drawing of the ship and the spacescape in that first aside. The other OGS asides were well drawn, also.

I will say that Proctor looks VERY '90s! That's not entirely a bad thing, but he's definitely a product of his time visually. He looks kind of like a cross between the Beyonder in human form and various characters that John Romita drew in his X-Men run. So Proctor isn't my favorite design, but I don't exactly hate it either. I'm trying to compare it to the person whose identity he is later revealed to be--there's some vague resemblance, but it's quite a stretch. I suppose that's good because there wouldn't be much mystery otherwise.

As for OGS.........

Obviously, I've never read it, but hope to, as stated previously. The Gathering Omnibus has a three-sentence summary of it, consisting basically of: 1) The Supreme Intelligence put a plot into motion to pit the Kree and Skrull against each other in a renewed war. 2) The SI sets off a Nega-bomb killing trillions of its own Kree, hoping to jumpstart their evolution. 3) A faction of Avengers and allies decide to execute the SI for his capitol crime, with Dane delivering the killing blow. It fails to mention the SI basically survives in the method you mention, unbeknownst to the Avengers. I guess what matters is that the Avengers and the universe at large believe the SI is dead, setting up repercussions in upcoming issues, which serve as one of the 2 major recurring secondary threats (the other one being the one that results in the eventual Blood Ties crossover) beyond the central Gatherers storyline in this long run contained in the Omnibus.

It looks like the part that may be feeding the larger Gatherers saga within OGS is the subtle connection you hint at between Dane and Sersi's behavior. That certainly becomes significant over time.

I kinda wish there was something more to that blue/pink Kree divide, because of the 'Kree can't have mutants / super-mutates because of no Celestial genetic tinkering.' The Kree went and tinkered with early humans, to create the Inhumans, as part of experiments into how to A) potentially give themselves super-powered people, or B) at least create super-powered subject races to use as weapons.

I always felt like the blue Kree were the ancestral Kree, and the 'pink Kree' were hybrids of human and Kree, so that these 'pink Kree' *could* have super-human powers, as some of them, like Mar-Vell, clearly did. (It would certainly be an interesting explanation for why the blues were so nasty to the pinks, even if, many centuries later, the rank-and-file blue Kree would have no idea at all of why the pink Kree looked different anymore, and why some pinks like Mar-Vell felt more at home on Earth, than Hala...)

And then various *blue* Kree appeared with superhuman powers (and not just from amazing tech, like Ronan's 'Univeral Weapon'), even before the Supreme Intelligence's metahuman gene bomb thingie, and I gave up trying to make sense of it. Apparently blue Kree *could* have super-powers, even without the Supreme Intelligence's tinkering, so what the hell was it thinking, blowing up 90% of his race so that the survivors could have *slightly more* superhumans than before?

Good grief, just outfit them all with Universal Weapons, or battlesuits using advanced Kree tech 1000 years beyond what Tony Stark uses? Or learn psychic powers like telepathy and telekinesis, that it's already been established that non-mutant folk like Mantis, Moondragon and Marvel Boy can straight up *learn* from aliens? Or run a couple thousand recruits through magical boot camp (a Kree Hogwarts!), and field a bunch of mystics or summon and bind a bunch of demons or mindless ones or N'garai (cause *that* never goes horribly, horribly wrong, and ends up becoming the basis for a new story!).

There's like, *at least* a dozen power sources in the marvel universe that should have been explored before 'bomb my own species and hope some of the survivors get super-powers!'

I did enjoy the line up during these days, and wish Dane Whitman, in particular, had better storylines then, and was treated a hell of a lot better *now.* (His last solo mini had him derided and badmouthed by the likes of Thor and Black Panther, as he was reduced to the same sort of mostly-incompetent screw-up, held in contempt by his fellow heroes, that Clint Barton and Scott Lang have been reduced to in their latest minis.)

RE: Magdalene and Big Barda, I have it from reliable sources that that was precisely the creative team's intent. Kudos to you, Lardy, for spotting that straightaway!

RE: Jarvis & Marilla, fair enough. Your point about Jarvis being unaccustomed to having his authority undermined is valid and well taken.

RE: Proctor, again, fair enough. The JR comment made me chuckle -- I've learned to better appreciate a lot of his work (i.e. Thor) and some of it I always thought was perfect for him (Daredevil), but his X-Men runs, especially the second one, still look awful to me (legend has it that one of the associate editors in the X-Men office actually called out JR on the half-assed job he was doing!

"reliable sources"? I would be curious to know more about them!

I'm curious if the Barda connection ever occurred to you before having this apparent confirmation. If you hadn't been familiar with her at the time of your originally experiencing this run, maybe not. I think I may not have noticed until I reread the issue a few days ago to provide commentary here. Obviously Magdalene is a lot different, with the similarities being fairly superficial but noticeable, but IYKYK.


I also like that this subplot gives him something to do other than be a hostage or a victim or just to show that he's there to greet people and serve them food and make the expected dry comment.

I'm unsure whether Jarvis' mother was still alive or had ever been seen on camera, but it would have been funny if Harras had her visit and meet Marilla. I'm not sure if it would be funnier to see her going at it with Marilla in her son's defense or having her take Marilla's side and humiliating him more! "Oh, dear, Jarvis--you ARE skin and bones!"


I'm not sure of when his second run began or whether I was still with the book to know anything about the quality. I certainly enjoyed his first run, but having reread part of it recently in Marvel Masterworks, it's surprising that such a fast artist had many more fill-ins than I remembered. His run was relatively short, too, though longer than Paul Smith's to that point in time. I would definitely take Cockrum, Byrne or Smith ahead of JRJr, though.

My take is that the SI is supposedly over rational and obsessed with its people being genetic 'dead ends'. I don't think this is all about the ability for the Kree to have super powers but for the SI's drive to have the Kree be superior to all races in the known universes. Knowing that the Kree are not and apparently have no hope of being superior has made the SI rational to the point of insanity. Justifying almost complete genocide of its own charges in an effort to make them better is insane extremist logic. Of course there are other ways to make your side superior or at least better, but the SI simply cannot see that. It's the SI's biggest flaw--other than being ugly as fuck!


The phrasing here makes it seem like you wish Dane had better storylines during this run. Maybe you truly meant before AND after (the latter is stated pretty clearly in your post above), but I don't know how any Avenger could ask for a better role than Dane got during the Gathering storyline. To me, he is clearly the romantic male lead and the most important male character. You could argue he is THE main character of this entire run! Maybe some don't find his role and all of his actions and emotions to their taste, but this is the Black Knight, front and center, in the kind of role I always wanted to see him in before I finally read this Omnibus! His potential as a lead character is finally realised here, and I'm stoked to talk more about it as we go further.

Not specifically this run, but in general, at this time, I feel like Dane was being positioned for a solo run by his prominence in this era, and could have gone on to be a solo star on par with the likes of Ghost Rider, Daredevil or Wolverine (if not one of the real breakout solo stars like Spider-Man!). But his 'leading man' role here never really seemed to pay off, and he fell all too quickly into obscurity, IMO, after this run.

(As did others who were prominent in this era, like Sersi, who, granted, is perhaps a bit too versatile and powerful for a significant solo run, since it's hard to challenge her without truly epic world-shaking threats, and those get kind of old if they are happening every month...)

I must confess I was exaggerating there. It's really just a couple posts I saw in the comments sections of websites such as Marvel Universe Appendix or Super Mega Monkey -- I just figured, if the poster cares enough to have gone and tried to find out who Magdalene is an analog of, then she or he should be trustworthy.


Here I can categorically state that it never occurred to me before reading the aforementioned comments. But after I did, I said to myself, "Of course!" I even made up a fan origin for Magdalene -- she's the daughter of Scarlet Witch and Wonder Man, but somehow ended up serving in the all-female army of a Darkseid analog (not Thanos, he's too much of a misogynist to have his own Female Furies.) The reasons I decided on Wanda and Simon are because a hybird of her magic and his ionic powers would be truly formidable, because Marissa Darrow was witchy-looking, and because Wanda's mother (Magneto's late wife) was named Magda.


Now that scenario you came up with about his mother meeting Marilla, that I would have loved to see. I'm honestly not sure if Mrs. Jarvis has ever been seen on camera.


Objectively, I'd say that I find JRJr's first X-Men run palatable for its early issues (especially the one inked by his father, where Colossus gets flash-frozen at the end.) It looks a lot like the later issues of his 1980s Amazing Spider-Man run, and that style can appeal to me sometimes -- as a matter of fact, Greg Capullo, whose work on Quasar I was praising several posts earlier, was quite reminiscent of JRJr circa 1983-84 at that point in his artistic evolution. The second X-Men run was brief (again, probably because the associate editor told him to shape up or get lost) and it was from Uncanny X-Men issues 300 through 311, with a lot of fill-in artists early on -- cover dates are May 1993 through April 1994, which according to your descriptions in previous posts would be right around the time you stopped following the X-Men (full disclosure: JRJr drew the UXM tie-in for Bloodties, issue 307, and yes, I will be reviewing Bloodties, so consider yourself forewarned. LOL)

Avengers v9 issue 9 is the first one in a while that isn't stultifyingly boring. It also ends with a good cliffhanger, promising a Big Reveal next issue.


Best of all, it has Stuart Immonen homaging the classic Gil Kane/John Romita Avengers vs Squadron Supreme cover from issue 141!

Issue 10 of Avengers v9 is so bad it made me want to bathe in tomato juice. Possibly the worst Avengers-Kang story ever, but definitely the worst ending ever to a Kang story.


Then, there's also an interminable "intervention" staged by Wanda and Thor -- it's for Nightmare! I wish I was joking!

At least next month's issue features the return of Edwin Jarvis. There's no way they can screw that up.



Or is there?

I just made the decision I had hoped I would never have to make:

After more than 30 years of staying loyal to Avengers, I will no longer be following the current series. I can't even guarantee that I'll give the next writer a chance. The damage is just too thorough. And sometimes even the most loyal fan needs to recognize that it's time to move on.

As of right now, the only series I'm following is Birds of Prey, for however long Kelly Thompson is writing it. And no matter who turns out to be the next Legion writer, I'll still give their first issue a fair chance.

Back on topic, and trying to wrap this up on a positive note, maybe now I'll finally resume the Gathering re-read.

I'm not making any promises, but I'm reasonably hopeful that I'll resume the 30th Anniversary Re-read of "The Gathering" later today. This is where I left off:

AVENGERS 350-354 (Cover dates Early August 1992-Early October 1992)

In the late 80s and early 90s, Marvel would often ship several of their monthly titles on a bi-weekly schedule during the summers. 1992 was the last year they did this, and all I can say is that it's a shame they didn't stop one year sooner. In a word, this bunch of issues is a mess. But I would be remiss if I were to deny that they get off to a very promising start.

Issue 350 was treated as an anniversary special purely because of its last two numerals (another thing Marvel did a lot in the early 90s.) As such, it is double-sized and it features not only guest spots from characters associated with the X-Men (Marvel's biggest franchise at that time) but also a reprint of Avengers 53, an early Avengers vs X-Men battle written by Roy Thomas and penciled by John Buscema. Since JB is my favorite comic book artist of all time, I wish I could report that the artwork herein represents JB at this best (especially since this story originally came out in 1968, a year which I have often singled out as the pinnacle of JB's entire career.) Sadly, such is not the case, and the blame falls squarely on inker George Tuska, who appears to have simply traced the bare outlines of Buscema's pencil art in a rushed, or perhaps lazy, fashion.

The all-new lead story by Epting/Harras/Palmer...now that's something else altogether! The art time delivers what is arguably their finest showing to date, starting with the front cover, a homage to Dave Cockrum's iconic cover for Uncanny X-Men issue 100. Epting & Palmer more than do justice to the original, with a typically elegant composition by Epting, who unlike most artists of his generation (he was born sometime in the 1960s,) did smooth curvilinear compositions and lean figures, rather than jagged explosions of lines and blocky bodies.

Epting & Palmer's inside art (Palmer also sharing coloring duties with Sara Mossoff) is superlative! The first three pages, set on a sleazy exoplanet, galaxies away from Earth, are so good I almost want to weep (not only in joy, but also in sadness that, despite his talent for space opera, Epting has never illustrated a Star Wars or Star Trek comic; nor, for that matter, a Legion comic.) In this prologue, the reader is witness to dirty scheming on the part of Raza Longknife and Mam'selle Hepzibah, the two most morally ambiguous members of the band space pirates known as the Starjammers (semi-regulars in the X-Men franchise, who interacted with the Avengers for the first time during a sequence from Operation Galactic Storm.) Raza, with his long topknot hair, beefy build, cyborg eye, and steely demeanor, is clearly not a sentient to be messed with, while Hepzibah -- whom the Starjammers' captain, Earth-born Christopher "Corsair" Summers, named after a character from the classic comic strip Pogo) -- is a sexy femme fatale who also resembles an anthropomorphic skunk; not being a furries fan, it takes a special kind of talent to make Hepzibah look attractive to me, and Epting has it in spades!)

The two rogue Starjammers conspire with an equally roguish Kree soldier to kill the Earth-born Avenger known as the Black Knight (recall that, during Galactic Storm, it was the Knight who dealt the killing (?) blow to the Kree's genocidal leader, the Superme Intelligence, allowing the Shi'ar to annex the Kree empire to their own.) The Kree presents Raza with his missing son's medal, asserting that if Raza does this deed, he will lead Raza to the location of the boy.

Turn the page, and we have a beautiful double-spread of a rather motley assemblage at Avengers headquarters: Black Widow, Thor Substitute, Hercules, Vision, and Crystal representing the official team members (but where are Black Knight and Sersi? Just wait and see!) playing hosts to Carol Danvers (a sometime Starjammer who was separated from them during OGS and rescued by the Avengers,) Quicksilver (Crystal's estranged husband and the father of her daughter, Luna,) US gov't stooge Valerie Cooper, and, finally, Cyclops and Professor X. But this is no party -- the Avengers' guests bear grim tidings of mutant radicals possibly conspiring to make an example of Luna, who, despite being the child of an Inhuman and a mutant, is herself an ordinary human being.) That Quicksilver's late (?) father was the mutant messiah Magneto doesn't help matters at all.

Unknown to all present at the mansion, the Starjammers are about to pay them a surprise visit, under pretenses of reconnecting with their estranged teammate Carol. In fact, it is the most expedient way to get close enough to Raza & Hepzibah's intended victim, the Black Knight. Despite having taken lives in the past (presumably always in self-defense) Raza proves to not be entirely cold-hearted, questioning his impossible situation: a life (Black Knight) for a life (Raza's son.)

And speaking of the Black Knight, he's deliberately been avoiding the assemblage on the mansion's ground level by clobbering drones in the training room down below. Hercules (now without his signature beard -- me likey) and Thor Substitute/Eric Masterson gently approach the Knight to fill him in on the doings up above, only to be rudely rebuffed by a huffy Knight. After he exits the training room, who should the Knight run into but Crystal (the object of his unrequited affection) and Quicksilver! It's the very definition of an awkward encounter, giving the Knight all the more to brood about as he makes his way to the mansion's roof, where there awaits none other that a levitating Sersi! This, at first, seems a blessing in disguise, giving the Knight someone to confide in about his guilt over killing the Supreme Intelligence, but it soon gets awkward, REALLY awkward, when Sersi just up and kisses him -- passionately. Cue the arrival of the Starjammers!

While the space-pirates mingle with the crowd, Crystal hands Luna to the Inhuman nanny, Marilla, so that the baby girl can return to her crib. Meanwhile, a morosely determined Raza gets the drop on the Knight, who had been alone, tinkering with the Quinjets in the mansion's docking bay. They fight ferociously, making enough noise to alert everyone else in the mansion. Marilla and Luna, closest in proximity to the fray, investigate, unwilling giving Raza an advantage when he snatches Luna from Marilla's arms and threatens to kill her! Despite his rough edges, the Knight is still humane enough to put Luna's safety above his own, giving Raza an opening to disembowel him! Just as Luna is returned to the safety of her nanny, Hercules grabs Raza from behind and begins throttling the space-pirate. As the rest of the heroes rush into the bay, Hercules vows to kill Raza!

This is all very good stuff, good enough to make up for the unfunny filler backup story which immediately follows it. Here, presumably taking place several hours before the events of the lead story, we are witness to the continuing feud between Jarvis and Marilla, ending with Jarvis acting entirely out of character by committing a puerile prank (and I must stress that this waste of paper was NOT written by Harras.)

I wish I could say it gets better again, but, unfortunately, issue 351, a regular-sized installment which wraps things up (sort of,) has few redeeming qualities other than another fine Epting/Palmer cover. In brief, the fighting escalates out of control and spills out into the streets, while Black Knight is comatose in the infirmary. Carol Danvers confronts Raza and, in an unsettling show of we-take-care-of-our-own loyalty, concocts an alibi for Raza. Later, after the Knight pulls through and everyone goes to bed, Hepzibah sneaks into the infirmary, in order to do the dirty deed herself. Just as it seems like Black Widow has caught Hepzibah red-handed, there is an extremely awkward (and unconvincing) interrupton from a celebratory group led by Hercules, which apparently leads the Widow to decide that, whatever Hepzibah's true intentions, nothing bad happened, so let's all forget about it and get happy (this would seem further proof of the personal fanwank I mentioned in my review of issue 343, that this isn't the real Widow but an imposter.) In the end, Carol heads off to her folks' cottage for some rest & relaxation, and the Starjammers leave Earth, with Raza bitter and remorseful despite Black Knight surviving, and a smiling Hepzibah proving herself to have ice for blood.

Even if Epting & Palmer had been able to draw issue 351, I don't think they'd have been able to redeem Harras's script, which, as I described in the paragraph above, cops out clumsily. I'm not going to shame the guest artists by naming them, instead I'll settle for a mild chiding for an obvious rush-job poorly done.

And it all gets even worse in the next three issues, a piss-poor homage to the writings of H.P. Lovecraft, with which neither Harras nor Epting have anything to do with. Again, I won't shame the guest creators, and again chalk it up to unfavorable working conditions and a tight schedule.

There is nowhere to go from here than up, and, happily, Avengers soars back to glorious heights in issue 355, which begins an unbroken run of seven issues by Epting/Harras/Palmer which I consider the pinnacle of their entire Avengers run. Stay tuned.

In my desperate search for decent Avengers stories that I hadn't already read a million times before, I chanced upon Avengers v3 Annual 1999, drawn by Leonardo Manco and written by John Francis Moore (with Kurt Busiek getting a cryptic consultant credit.)  I had read it once before, when I borrowed an Avengers v3 trade from the library, but other than thinking it wasn't half bad, I couldn't remember much else about it.


My second reading of it was a revelation!  It's one of those stories that rekindles my passion for Avengers and reminds me why they're my favorite superhero team.


A significant portion of the story, which is framed by Jarvis writing a long letter to a party who remains unknown until the last panel, is a flashback to the bad old days of the Heroes Reborn Marvel Universe, and Black Widow's ultimately futile efforts to form a new team in the wake of the other Avengers' "death" at the hands of Onslaught.  This is my favorite part of the story, especially when we see exactly who Tasha approached -- Beast, Iceman, Archangel, She-Hulk, Ant-Man, and War Machine (and Moondragon, in a very funny one-panel scene.)  I don't know about you guys, but I think there's a wonderful What If story to be written about that lineup actually coming together and proving themselves!  For instance, the Thunderbolts' plot would be undone thanks to Ant-Man, who would recognize most of the disguised villains because he helped out the Avengers when they were besieged!


The rest of the story, the present day scenes, that's pretty good.  Manco's art does suffer there from being too faithful to the George Perez style, thus replicating Perez's biggest flaws (the older I get, the less patience I have for those tangled, over-fussed spaghetti lines.)  But Moore writes much better superhero dialogue than Busiek ( let's face it, Busiek's Avengers dialogue always reeked of bad Saturday Morning cartoon cheese) and the story is well-paced and highly engaging, making good use of the minutiae of Avengers continuity without coming off as being too impressed with its own cleverness.

I'd love to hear what other Legion Worlders think of this Avengers Annual.

I've don't think I've read that one Fickles. I was reading the book at the time,. But I've read a number of Marvel Annuals I've not enjoyed, so possibly just skipped this one.

I was toying with getting the Busiek run which is currently on comixology sale. I see this annual is in vol 2.

Yeah, a lot of those Annuals are stinkers.

The exact numbering of this Annual is Avengers Annual 1999.

Speaking of Avengers Annuals that were stinkers, the worst in my opinion would have to be Avengers v1 Annual 23, released in 1994. I had unusually high expectations for it, because it was John Buscema and Roy Thomas reuniting for a sequel to Avengers v1 issue 50, the Hercules vs Typhon battle and a personal favorite of mine.

I was devastated by how awful it was. Thomas, as usual for him during the 90s, flaunted his contempt for the Marvel Universe of that time, but it was Buscema who really let me down. Usually, even his lesser, going-through-the-motions work still had redeeming qualities, but there were none to be seen here. The release date of the Annual coincided with the monthly series' post-Epting decline. Just thinking about this era makes me want to cry.

And the 30th Anniversary re-read of The Gathering continues.

AVENGERS 355 (Cover date: Late October 1992)

The opening page is superb in both writing and art -- Harras' narrative captions are unusually spare and to the point, while Epting & Palmer immediately establish a strongly ominous mood, making the readers question whether this is actually happening in the Marvel Universe we all know and love UNTIL the brilliant next-to-last panel of Captain America proves that this is a different iteration of Cap, and therefore, a different universe within the Marvel Multiverse.

Turn the page, and the reader is reacquainted with the familiar yet enigmatic Magdalene & Philip, while simultaneously introduced to another two seemingly lost souls: Sloth, a fur-covered, massively built were-beast of sorts who speaks with a Scots accent (and, thankfully, a less over-the-top one than those sported by Moira MacTaggert or Rahne Sinclair) and Cassandra, a withered and white-haired, yet still lively and feisty, old crone.

Investigating the ruins of Avengers mansion, the kooky quartet finds three more Avengers variants -- respectively, they are easily identified as Giant-Man, Iron Man, and Hawkeye. They are also, as with their teammate Captain America, dead. This fact sits uneasily with Philip, because in the alternate universe where he grew up, he and Hawkeye were childhood friends. The reverie is disrupted when it turns out there is one surviving Avenger: T'Challa. Again, it's clear from his first panel that this is not the T'Challa we are familiar with: his costume is different (as well as a clever Easter Egg for Marvel fans who will recognize it as a rejected early design by T'Challa's creator, Jack Kirby) and he calls himself the Coal Tiger.

The intruders are not entirely suprised by his presence, nor his hostility. They came looking for at least one survivor of this mysterious armageddon, and found him. Sloth knocks T'Challa unconscious just as Magdalene reports that an EMP is about to vaporize the remains of this ill-fated universe. She manages to teleport them all away just in time. Their destination: the headquarters of their equally, if not even more, enigmatic leader, Proctor. Cassandra reports that they made it back by the skin of their teeth, to which Proctor replies that every alternate-timeline survivor is essential to his plan; he then politely asks her to leave with her teammates, so he may have solitude.

Proctor uses this solitude to reflect upon a lost teammate and lost love: none other than Sersi. But his feelings for her are not wistful, they are vindictive and hateful.

The creative team then makes a startling, and very effective cut, to New York City, and the Sersi of our universe, flaunting a new black-and-red costume topped off with one of the bomber jackets she created during Operation Galactic Storm. Sersi and her fellow Eternal, the usually impish but currently grim Sprite, are having a volatile discussion about "old legends" and concerns from the other Eternals, who are far less free-spirited than her. She rudely and condescendingly dismisses Sprite before flying towards Avengers Mansion, leaving him humiliated and worrried.

At the mansion itself, Black Knight and Vision report to their teammates that there is indeed a link between the sabotage committed on the ill-fated Skycar from a few issues ago and the violent vanishing of Marissa Darrow. The team's resident boffins have created a new hi-tech thingamajig, which will basically prevent the saboteurs from returning to Avengers mansion undetected. Black Widow adds that she has placed the mansion on highest alert, with mandatory security scans.

As the other Avengers file out of the conference room, Crystal stays behind to thank Dane for saving her daughter Luna, almost at the cost of his own life. Her friendly hand-on-the-shoulder gesture has a far more...stimulative effect on Dane than he's willing to let on. Enter Sersi, sarcastically quipping, "Did I miss the meeting? Drat the luck!" Crystal intuitively knows that now is the time to excuse herself, but she's not out of there fast enough to avoid seeing Sersi plant another deep kiss on Dane. Nor is Dane able to prevent himself from seeing, out of the corner of his eye, a jealous Crystal fuming silently. This is all beautifully drawn by Epting & Palmer, in a refreshingly understated fashion which breaks from the standard melodramatic presentation associated with Marvel.

Elsewhere, at Proctor's headquarters, he has, with great difficulty, managed to stabilize Coal Tiger's body and mind. But the healing will not last long, which brings a great urgency to the next part of their plan: to do unto the T'Challa of this world what Proctor and Magdalene did to Marissa Darrow -- in essence, wipe him out so that Coal Tiger can survive to join Proctor's team. Ergo, they must breach Avengers Mansion one final time. When Magdalene validly points out that this is fraught with peril, Proctor nearly becomes violent! It quickly becomes clear that he and Magdalene were lovers in the recent past, and that he is insanely jealous of her newfound love for Philip. With that, he furiously commands his underlings to perform the break-in -- that very night.

To the reader's relief, the near-unbearable tension of that scene gives way to a light-hearted sequence where Black Widow finds an atypically tongue-tied and indecisive Hercules struggling to find the oomph to call Taylor Madison, the cute social worker he met a few issues ago. Widow seizes the day, impulsively making the phone call herself, and inviting Taylor to a seemingly impromptu dinner party. Hercules has mixed emotions about this, but Widow easily defuses the tension. Clearly, the harsh climes of Mother Russia produce pearls of the wildest romanticism in certain souls.

The rest of the issue involves the Avengers ambushing Proctor's crew (score one for Magdalene.) It's all effectively and efficiently crafted, if a bit predictable. The one false note is struck by Cassandra's easy manipulation of Widow, allowing her to psioncally blast the heroines and heroes unconscious, so that they may escape to complete their plan. (See? More proof that this might not be the real Black Widow!)

This issue takes the Gatherers thread from B-Plot to A-Plot, and, in the process, brings the quality of this monthly Avengers comic to a whole new level. The awkward bits from Epting's earlier issues are completely gone, Palmer's inks are on point throughout, and Harras manages to hint at multi-layered characterizations of his and Epting's creations! And so begins the 7-issue streak I mentioned in my previous review, the near-indisputable pinnacle of the Epting/Harras/Palmer Avengers run.

Stay tuned.

AVENGERS 356 (Cover date: November 1992)

This is the one issue from the Epting/Harras/Palmer Avengers run that I am wholly incapable of being objective about! It was not only the very first Avengers issue I bought in "Real Time," it was one of the first Marvel comics I ever bought in "Real Time!" 1992 was a heady, exciting year for Marvel -- the multiplatinum sales record set by X-Men v2 issue 1 pleased the publisher's owners and executives enough that they backed off (for what turned out to be an all-too-short while) and allowed the creators and editors to do their best possible work. In addition to Avengers, there were excellent ongoing runs for every title in the X-Franchise (pretty much the only time that's ever held true for the X-Franchise,) as well as Iron Man, Incredible Hulk, New Warriors, the Spider-Franchise, Quasar, Ghost Rider, Daredevil, and Darkhawk. Even the Summer Blockbuster Event Du Jour, Infinity War, at least had the potential to be a good story, what with Dr. Doom and Kang added to the Warlock/Thanos mix, and the return of the Magus, the evil alternate-future version of Warlock, not seen since the late 70s. That Infinity War didn't live up to its potential was more than compensated for, through its being bookended by my two favorite superhero events of all time: Operation Galactic Storm at the beginning of the year, and X-Cutioner's Song at year's end.

But let's get back to Avengers 356:

The cover is my favorite of all the Epting Avengers covers! I mean, they were never less than good, but this one -- it's like a freeze-frame bursting at the seams with kinesthetic energy, as Magdalene appears to impale Vision with her energy lance (the same lance that injured Hercules in issue 344) while Philip appears bewildered, and the Black Panther leaps into the fray!

The first story page is a gorgeous panorama of the Black Panther's kingdom of Wakanda, finding T'Challa in a contemplative mood, which is disrupted by an intruder whose scent is none other than T'Challa's own -- yes, it's the Coal Tiger again, and he is the bait for a trap set by the Gatherers. Thankfully, it transpires that T'Challa had been forewarned by the Avengers, who recovered from Cassandra's sweeping mind-blast quickly enough to get on the horn to Wakanda. Though the Black Panther manages to dodge Magdalene's fire, he is taken down by...you guessed it, Cassandra's signature psionic attack. Both T'Challas are left unconscious, facilitating the Gatherers' mission to wipe out the Black Panther.

But the anti-heroes' best-laid plans are spoiled, thanks to the Inhumans' teleporting dog, Lockjaw, who zaps the Avengers to the exact spot where they're antagonists are. Inevitably, a fight breaks out (you can't blame the Avengers for drawing first blood, after their humiliating loss of last issue's battle against the Gatherers.)

The only anti-hero reluctant to join the fray is Philip, who confides in Magdalene his ambivalence and confusion about the mission.

Vision floats over to where the two T'Challas fell, only for the Black Panther to unmask so as to confirm that he and Coal Tiger are nearly-exact counterparts. In an exquisite bit of robotic understatement, Vision declares, "This is most...unexpected!"

Meanwhile, at Avengers mansion, Dane Whitman the Black Knight is getting a bit too full of himself for his own good (and that of the readers,) and even the Black Widow (if that's really her) is not immune to his alpha-male Gary Stu charms (nor, I must confess, was the 18-year-old Ann Hebistand.) When he collapses from too much bluster, Marilla & Jarvis are on hand to play Mother Hen & Father Rooster. And, of course, to banter with each other; said banter is, in my opinion, the best it's been since Marilla's introduction back in issue 343.

When Sersi and Hercules are taken down by, respecitvely, Cassandra and Sloth, Magdalene is eager to press the advantage but Philip is still doubtful; she tersely promises an explanation once the mission is completed. Magdalene the rushes the T'Challas, with the Coal Tiger declaring his rescuers to be "evil incarnate" as a warning to the Black Panther.

Vision gets the drop on Magdalene, but when he tries his usual hand-through-the-chest attack, SHE SHAKES IT OFF AND STABS HIM WITH HER LANCE! If that's not a "Holy $***" moment, I don't know what is. Which is why, when Black Panther charges the only-slightly-weakened Magdalene, we the readers fear for his well-being!

In a clearing nearby, Sloth declares Hercules and Lockjaw down for the count. And while he and Cassandra head over to break up the (offscreen) battle between Black Panther and Magdalene (an injured T'Challa would be useless for the ritual at hand,) Coal Tiger gets through to Philip that it's time to stop going along to get along -- "Once an Avenger, always an Avenger!"

At that selfsame moment, over in Proctor's headquarters, the ringleader of the anti-heroes is more relieved than distressed that he is losing his telepathic hold over Philip. All the better, he thinks, to remove Philip from the chessboard once he has served his purpose. That way, in Proctor's twisted reasoning, Magdalene would return to him. As he finishes pondering this, he decides it is time to confer with a powerful and previously unseen ally (or, more likely, a prisoner.)

Back in Wakanda, Philip tries to impress upon Coal Tiger that the Avengers of Philip's universe betrayed him, broke him, and left him to die. Coal Tiger firmly replies that all Proctor has done is bring pain to him and, by implication, to others. With exquisite timing, Magdalene returns to comfort Philip, earning nothing but scorn from Cassandra, whose only concern is the mission.

As the ritual begins, Cassandra admits she is less skilled at it than Proctor, "but the results will be the same, I assure you." Indeed, the toll on both Coal Tiger and Black Panther is considerable, but it is Black Panther who is doomed to literally vanish from existence, unless...

Unless Philip intervenes!

Which is exactly what he does, striking Cassandra in the head with the flat of his blade!

Before Philip can suffer the repercussions of his actions, Hercules finally breaks free of the pile of boulders he had been trapped under and gets payback for Sloth's earlier actions. By now, Cassandra is livid with rage and threatening to kill Philip. Magdalene stands in her way, threatening the same.

And then...the cavalry arrives, in the form of the Wakandan Elite Strike Force, with Thor Substitute/Eric Masterson in tow, after having alerted them! This decisively turn the tide in the anti-heroes disfavor, and they prepare to retreat through Magdalene's teleportation portal. But Philip misses the trip -- partly because the dying Coal Tiger thanks him for helping him die with dignity and integrity, rather than live at the expense of Black Panther's life, and partly because of Vision tackling him while he's halfway into the rapidly closing portal. Before they are both cleaved in half, Hercules pulls them back to safety, with less than a second to spare!

So, the majority of the Gatherers might have eluded the Avengers, and the heroes may be more bewildered than ever at the bizarre goings-on, but Philip is now their captive, and hopefully he is, to paraphrase the Vision, the "key" they need to unlock this complex mystery.

To reiterate, I simply cannot be objective about this particular issue. It takes me back to a time and place where I could still fully escape into a fun and colorful world which was far preferable to the horrible, angst-inducing real world of the early 1990s. I could complain that Palmer's inks have some rough spots, or that some key battles happen mostly or entirely offscreen, but that would be the height of churlishness, in my opinion.

Finally, this issue marks the last appearance in the Avengers monthly series of Eric Masterson as Thor Substitute. When he returns, towards the end of Epting's Avengers run, the real Thor is back, and Eric is 100 percent Thunderstrike. And as I said earlier in this re-read, I prefer the way Harras wrote Eric to the way his creator, Tom DeFalco, wrote him. Because while DeFalco's Eric was excessively abrasive, with a belligerence that was not always well-timed, Harras' Eric was just a lovable lug with an earthy, aw-shucks attitude. Either way, though, it's "bye for now" to Eric as an Avenger.

Reviewing Avengers issue 356 has been exhilirating for me, due to its special place in my heart, but the next 5 issues to come are just as good or better.

Stay tuned.

AVENGERS 357 (Cover date December 1992)

This issue is what is known, in Avengers Fandom parlance, as an "Interlude" issue. It features no super-villains, and it concentrates on the soap-opera style interactions between the team members. The opening sequence is all-out comedy, as the Jarvis-Marilla feud reaches its nadir, with Marilla having had Lockjaw teleport over the entire Inhuman kitchen staff, allowing her to usurp Jarvis' proudest duty. Crystal does her best to play diplomat between the two; it certainly helps that Jarvis has been stunned into paralyzed silence by this ultimate exercise in one-upmanship. What's notable about this three-and-a-quarter page scene is not that it's especially funny (it's a bit too heavy-handed for that,) but that it brings out a side of Steve Epting's talent that he hasn't had nearly enough of a chance to demonstrate: old-fashioned, characterization-driven illustration, a la Steve Rude (Epting is a confirmed Nexus fan.) And for a change, Palmer inks do not overwhelm Epting's pencils, perhaps because Palmer once aspired to be a magazine illustrator a la Norman Rockwell, but was born a little too late for that. The whole issue is a visual feast!

Next comes my favorite scene in the entire issue: the Avengers' interrogation of Philip, captured en medias res. And it is not going well. Black Widow is being patient yet firm, but Philip is still wracked by headaches and blurred memories. Then, Vision makes a perfectly logical suggestion, requiring only a sample of Philip's DNA. But instead, the mere suggestion triggers a rage from Philip, where he rants about how the Vision and the rest of the Avengers left him for dead, and how Vision cannot be trusted.

That gives Black Knight an idea. He asks Philip if he remembers the Vision looking the way he currently does (the ugly yellowish John Byrne redesign from a few years back.) Philip replies in the affirmative. Sensing that they're finally onto something, Dane shows Philip a hologram of the Vision's original green-and-red appearance -- it doesn't ring a bell. Then comes the real bombshell -- in Philip's universe, Mantis was not a long-haired, straw-skirt wearing Eurasian, she was a bald-headed white girl in a green bikini, as in Moondragon! This was all fascinating to the 18-year-old me, and made me want to buy as many of the relevant back issues of the Avengers as I could (no Avengers trades back in those faraway days, except Korvac, which I hated so much I almost threw the trade across the room.)

Cutting to a far less salubrious section of NYC, Sersi is in the middle of a flirtation-gone-wrong. The guy she's hooked up with wants her to go up to his loft and go all the way. Eventually, his pleading works, and Sersi says, "All right, I'll stay a little longer -- but don't say I didn't warn you!"

And on that eerie note, we return to Avengers Mansion, as Dane and Hercules, both tuxedo-ed for the dinner party, discuss the enigma that is Philip (he has been sedated for the night,) Dane holding forth on his theory that Philip came from a parallel universe. This prompts Herc to ask the obvious questions: "How did he come here? And why are his fellow Gatherers determined to destroy our noble assemblage?" Dane starts to politely try to change the subject, but he needn't worry, because Herc's attention is now squarely focused on the Avengers' special guest for the night: Taylor Madison, looking lovely in an aquamarine gown and powder-blue gloves. As Herc and Taylor make with the cute, Dane begins to make a sexist comment on how long it takes women to get ready for anything. Enter Crystal and Black Widow, both fabulously dressed and dolled up. A slyly smiling Crystal crisply cuts off Dane: "I think you should stop there, before you say something you know you're going to regret." Dane shuts up, all right, though it's hard to say if he's taking Crystal's wide advice or he's simply stunned silent by the gorgeousness of his teammates.

Unknown to any of the Avengers, godly voyeurism is taking place, with Hera watching Hercules & Taylor in her scrying pool. Suddenly, her husband Zeus barges in. He's grumpy at the best of times, and this is not the best of times. He is furious, because rumor has it that someone or someones among the Olympians have defied his edict that they must not set foot on Earth. But Hera is an expert manipulator, and she calms down hubby with saccharine assurances of loyalty and love, while the expression on her face says something else entirely.

Back at the mansion, the party is proceeding pleasantly enough. The Widow's seen it all, so she's unfazed by a flying, feathered Inhuman offering to refill her wine glass. Jarvis, despite also having seen it all, is understandably miffed as he comes in to announce that dinner is served. Hercules, now all puppyish and gentlemanly, offers to escort Taylor to the dining room. Dane, obviously hoping to make up for his earlier boorishness, extends the same courtesy to Crystal.

Enter the lady in red! No, wait, that's no lady, it's Sersi! By this point, any bad behavior from her is no surprise, but she reaches a new low by snatching Dane from Crystal. Thankfully, Vision is on hand so that Crystal may still have a proper escort.

Meanwhile, Jarvis finally stands up to Marilla, but she and Lockjaw get payback by leaving the kitchen in a huff. A pregnant pause, and Jarvis fully regains his composure and easily takes command of the staff. This cheers him up to no end.

In the dining room, the foreplay between Herc & Taylor is disrupted by a cryptic comment by Taylor herself. I took it at the time to mean that perhaps she had just been diagnosed with cancer or something, but, as I said in my review of issue 349, the truth about Taylor would prove to be far less compelling.

On the other side of the table, Sersi initially appears apologetic to Dane, but she quickly and cleverly gets her hooks right back into him, much to Crystal's chagrin.

And at the head of the table, the Black Widow stands up to propose a toast.

"Some months ago, Captain America and I expressed concern over the future of the Avengers. The team had been drifting for far too long with no cohesiveness, no heart...no soul. To BE an Avenger seemed to mean less day by day.

"But that was then, and things have changed. Tonight, I ask you to join me in celebrating a REVERSAL of that sad trend.

"This lineup has been together for months, and in that timewe have FORGED a team worthy of the name..."

Suddenly, the Widow turns her head and exclaims, "WHO...?"

At first, it appears that she might have been distracted by something going on upstairs. Namely, that one of the Acolytes (the fanatical, human-hating Magneto worshippers that the X-Men warned the Avengers about in issue 350) has just finished scanning a sleeping baby Luna to confirm that she is an ordinary human with no powers, latent or otherwise. Marilla and Lockjaw stumble into this grim situation, but the Acolyte zaps them with a memory-wipe. She is then teleported far away, to the Acolyte base Haven.

Then, we finally find out who interrupted the dinner party downstairs. None other than Uatu the Watcher! The one who constantly breaks his race's vow of non-interference with the affairs of Earthlings. He doesn't break it as flagrantly as he did back in the "Collection Obession" storyline which inaugurated the Epting/Harras/Palmer Avengers run, but still...

After glaring at the Avengers for what seems like an eternity (with Sersi's facial expression making it perfectly clear that, unlike her teammates, she is taking this all in stride,) Uatu telepathically whispers a single word, "BEWARE!" before zapping his way through the closed window and out of the mansion (at least he was considerate enough not to do any collateral damage.)

The Avengers are understandably disturbed by what has just occured. Except, of course, for Sersi, who does her best to defuse the situation, declaring,

"If that was a warning, we've certainly had them before. We should be thankful to old Uatu. After all, forewarned is forearmed. Let's not let that old fuddy-dud spoil tonight. I second your toast, Natasha...to us, Avengers, and better times ahead."

Wishful thinking, because at that very moment, a pair of plainclothes policemen discover a dead body at a downtown pier. It is the body of Sersi's would-be Romeo from a little while ago...and he's the sixth victim in as many months...

What's left to say?

Stay tuned.