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

On one hand, I like it that Crystal didn't find out immediately that Luna was missing. It kept us in suspense awhile longer since we readers knew something the characters didn't. On the other hand, I like your approach as it's much more dramatic and keeps the characters moving.

Avengers 369 (December 1993)
“Of Kith and Kin”

Well, as far as crossover resolutions go, at least this one is coherent. There’s a clear bad guy or two, the stakes are very high, and clear tension exists between the two teams of super-heroes. On that level, the story accomplishes what it set out to do.

The idea that the villain we thought we’ve been facing is just a pawn for a larger threat is, of course, an old one, and Harras even used it the Brethren/Collector arc. Here, Cortez, the leader or the mutates, gives way to Exodus, a badass-looking character (or at least as badass-looking as the ’90s allowed, with long, flowing dark hair and what looks like wrought-iron wings). Exodus shows he’s a badass by killing Cortez and threatening Luna, and proving that he can’t be defeated until all of our heroes come together. They distract him long enough for Dane to give in once again to his bloodthirstiness. But wait, Dane was only using his photonic sword on “stun,” apparently, so Exodus lives to fight another day. So does Pietro, at whom Exodus takes a futile parting shot.

So, basically, this is a competently told story but one with little significance. Pietro and Crystal appear to be on the verge of reconciling, and Dane agrees that he and Crystal are just friends. Charles begins to question the hypocrisy of remaining a closeted mutant. So there is at least some sense that a few of the characters have changed. But we have to go through an awful lot of cliched fight scenes to get there.

The artwork varies in quality as both Epting and Jan Duursema do the pencils. I’m not going to try to figure out who did what, but the mutate’s face at the bottom of Page 8 is the very definition of wonky. On the next page, we’ve got the Avengers charging in as if they are ready to mop the floor with the X-Men. Turn the page and everybody’s as calm as day. What happened? Did the Avengers’ anti-aggression medication kick in?

And it is indeed a padded affair with a lot of speeches and posturing and obligatory character moments from most of the insanely large cast. Recent Avengers stalwarts such as Vision and Hank Pym are relegated to guest-shots, observing things from the SHIELD heli-carrier, and Herc seems to have disappeared altogether (except for one panel) to make way for another Avengers powerhouse, War Machine.

I guess I shouldn’t mind the comings and goings of characters as it does add some variety, but so little has been done with most of the regular Avengers during this run. In this one issue, I feel I’ve gotten to know the X-Men better than the titular heroes.

Since it's a crossover, we’ve got X-number of characters (pun intended) who clutter up the book with little to contribute. I don’t know what Gyrich and US Agent offered in the previous chapters, other than recruiting Prof. X, but they are useless here. I don’t know Renee, the character who gets wounded. The previous issue told us who Trish Tilby is, but she’s another X-Men supporting character I know little about.

Reading this book felt like being invited to a party where the host abandons me to the company of people I don’t know and who are too busy to introduce themselves.

So, it’s not the worst crossover ending imaginable. However, it feels like the writer and the characters are going through the motions.

I wouldn't call the whole family drama with Crystal, Pietro and Luna "going through the motions". I think there's a lot of feeling in their scenes, and it almost saves the whole sorry mess of a story. The panel where Crystal finally gets Luna back always brings a tear to my eye.

Of course, it would have been better if the villain had been Magneto instead of Exodus, as originally planned. I don't know the particulars of why there was the last-minute change, but it was so last-minute that a version of the 369 cover with Magneto has circulated widely.

And at the time, Jan Duursema was doing a lot of really bad Image-style fill-in pencils for both of the Big Two (I think she had just become a mother for the first time, so she needed the money.) So the worst panels are probably all hers.

I appreciate your feelings towards the Maximoff family scenes, Fanfie, and I wish I could share your enthusiasm for them. However, they seem kind of shoehorned into the action story.

Luna, of course, does nothing but act terrified (not that I would expect her to act any other way). Her only line, IIRC, is "Unca Dane." (I didn't even know she could speak.)

Pietro acts as impulsive as always, and it nearly gets him killed. It is nice, though, that he wants to hold his baby at the end. This is the first time I think I've seen him have any scenes with his daughter let alone display any affection toward her.

Crystal has few scenes that really stand out to me. She expresses shock when Pietro is nearly killed, but what else would she do?

So, in short, there wasn't the big family reunion I could have hoped for and none of these characters really do anything surprising or unexpected. Everything is too understated in their reunion.

There are more scenes with them in 372-375. More I won't say, so as not to spoil anything.

Of course, we have to get through 370-371 first. Sigh. Another bad fill-in arc by a different creative team. As I said before, I'm not going to force myself to re-read it like I did Fear the Reaper, because I re-read it a couple years ago as research for an Eternals fanfic that never got written, and the pain still hasn't entirely subsided.

It always returns to this run...which is fantastic. Except for those fill ins.

Dev, nice to see you weigh in on these critiques.

Avengers 370-371 (January-February 1994)
"Delta Force" / "Godlings and Gladiators"

It was awful nice of Marvel to give amateurs such as writer Glenn Herdling and artist Geof Isherwood (on 370 only) their big breaks on the Avengers. At least I assume they were amateurs because I'm not otherwise familiar with their work, and the quality of these issues is, well, amateurish.

The story begins well enough with Sersi, having lost an arm, crashing into the basement of the Pentagon, where we find the Deviant known as Kro trying to better his life and the life of other Deviants by taking a civilian job (!). There is the obligatory recap in which Sersi explains that she and most of her fellow Avengers were lured into a trap in the underwater society of Lemuria, and that only she escaped, sans arm (temporarily, as she is easily able to transmute matter to reconstitute it), to seek Kro's help.

As I've mentioned before, I'm not a fan of Kirby's Eternals, so I have had limited exposure to Kro and the other characters in this issue. Like most of the issues during this run, Marvel seems to assume readers are already familiar with these characters. The issue did not do a very good job of introducing him or the Eternals/Deviants relationship so that readers might know why Sersi was seeking Kro out.

The rest of 370 is devoted to Kro recruiting other Deviants who live on the surface world. He does so in a manner reminiscent of Prof. X's recruitment of the New X-Men back in Giant-Size X-Men # 1. (Kro even has a bald head and wears a suit.) I don't know how many members of "Delta Force" have appeared before (Karkas looks familiar), and I don't much care. What it all amounts to is that the Avengers are once again relegated to guest appearances in their own book, which is turned over to a bunch of new characters, who--judging by the manner in which they are introduced--must have been intended to spin off into their own series. As such, this story reminds me of the "Assignment: Earth" episode of Star Trek, which was similarly intended as a pilot for a new (unsold) television series.

Not only is it grating that the Avengers once again get sidelined in their own comic, but Herdling isn't very imaginative in introducing these new characters. We've got Dragona rescuing a Deviant baby who is about to be thrown to its death by its own father, Tzabaoth dealing with a college rapist (who, natch, looks like a stereotypical jock), and Red Bull saving the day for his host-child's parents against a group of "banditos." (I did enjoy Karkas and Ransak's turn as actors, though.) All of this feels like something an artist friend and I would have put together when we were 19 years old and feeling our way into the medium of comics story telling. We weren't ready to unleash our stories upon the world then, either.

With 371, things pick up a bit when Mike Gustovich does another guest shot as penciller and Palmer returns on inks. We've also got Hank Pym and the Black Knight playing major roles. In addition, Herdling makes good use of Dane's gann josin connection to Sersi in bringing about the story's resolution. But it ends too soon and conveniently with the villain, Lord Gaur, kicking the Avengers out of Lemuria. Captain America even thinks this is a good idea in order to prevent Lemurian society from falling into chaos (like that would necessarily be a bad thing, given what we see of Lemuria.) We even close with two villains giving an evil laugh, which is meant to terrify us, I suppose. I ceased being terrified of evil laughs long before I was 19.

So, yeah, it's another substandard fill-in and a very frustrating one since the Avengers--the characters I bought the book for--are not the focus. Instead I'm expected to care about a bunch of one-off characters but given no reason to do so.

Avengers #369

Following a pointless opening page, we get a villain who could be interchangeable with any other over powerful villain. I think that's something I've even typed before during this run, so there were/are a lot of them around.
The art looks rougher than usual, which added to it's Image tendencies doesn't look good. One villain is superseded by another as the team stand back and do nothing while they posture. That's bad enough usually, but when there's a child at stake, it's particularly annoying. "...we have to hold back." If only to get past the next plot point.
Our new villain looks strong, may be able to fly, can disintegrate people and control their minds. Utterly boring, in other words.

Epting isn't the only pencilled, and I'm wondering if this is why everyone seems to be shouting, even when they aren't saying anything.

A shouty Professor X interrupts a several page sequence where the teams meet. Not much happens at about 4 panels a page. The group shot on page 17 is particularly poor.

Are there two Gambits? One is left behind with Iceman. Yet. there he appears in the rescuing the Professor too. Oh, I think it was supposed to be someone called Revanche there instead.

The Magistrates remind me of the Brethren from many issues ago. They appear in numbers, but have no goal other than to give the main characters something to talk over the action. There's little threat, and none of the atmosphere of the first Genoshan story, even as parallels are made to the Mutates captivity.

Another absence of threat is in the interruption to the action scenes. The main villain postures, while a core of very powerful characters once again stand and do nothing at all.

As 14.6% of Genosha is turned into building potential, the villain appears. The characters with them are now all mind controlled (including Jean Grey). I can only image there was a crossover that fed into this moment.
This time it's Cap who tells everyone to hold back, to allow the villain a speech.

The teams split up to take on a growing cast of underlings. Despite splitting to attack simultaneous threats, Cap' team clearly stand back and watch the other team before getting on with their fight.

The Professor's plan, which was overly vague to a comedic extent, was to hope that Dane stayed conscious enough to get close to the villain, so he could zap him after the Prof had weakened him. At no point was the very mortal Dane protected by any of the others. Yet, he's strangely the most able after the group have been blasted. The old overextend the villain trick, even though they've spent the whole issue not being able to tell how powerful that villain is.

Unbelievably, both teams let the main villain go after the battle. As our as this issue was, it reaches a new low with that. No attempt was made to secure the prisoner, negate his powers or telepathically shut him down for containment. Stunningly, everyone seems just fine with this.

There's just time to make Cap look like a grade A idiot in the epilogue before the end. Dane stresses that he and Crystal are friends in front of her husband. It's a bit uneasy seeing two supposed heroes lie so blatantly. Sure, Dane seemed to have saved Pietros' life. But the circumstances of that incident were simply absurd. Still, Dane could be telling the truth. Crystal is going to be shocked when Dane tells her he preferred Pietro's lips to hers next issue.

I'm trying to think of some good points here. It was an exercise of moving a sizable cast around a few battles, allowing the villain to pontificate before delivering a simple end to the threat. The messages of Xavier's dreams and of human/mutant relations were lost in the mix, and the cardboard villain did nothing to add any depth. The art was as poor as I can recall in the run.

Avengers #370
Now with extra shouty figures! Maybe, it's when Giant Man shrinks that his heart gives out. Why he would stay tall to perform maintenance work is a mystery. A mystery that Sersi would give her right arm to solve? Probably not. But she's lost it to something. My bet is on Lockjaw

The team get scuba outfits. It's a shame that Marvel really didn't cash in on this run's Dolly Action Figure potential.

We get another exotic Marvel locale this issue; Lemuria in the South Pacific. I know as much about Deviants as I do about Eternals, but the use of them all has worked fairly well in this run for consistency .

It seems to be that it's when Harris isn't on the writing duties, that we see the team use their powers as a group. We get to see their strengths in a single panel. However, they are all defeated by the use of brain mines (I typed this as Brian mines - the device the deviants have in store for Captain Britain.). Devices where an opponent has to use one hand to get right up to an opponent and place the thing on their victim's head. In other words, no chance in the middle of the combat shown in the panel above.

The head villain brags about a carefully spun web. Villainy really isn't what it used to be. This web is basically - trigger the Avengers mission board and wait for their blustering arrival with implausibly deployed devices.

The word "arena" in a comic fills me with disappointment. But we get Sersi's escape and injury instead. Her ability to repair the damage to her arm, makes her a very powerful character. I'm reminded that she didn't need a scuba outfit to get to Lemuria with the others (neither did Herc, but only because he's too dim to notice if he's drowned.). She would make a very powerful opponent should her mental issues take hold. That's even mentioned here, showing a good grasp of the issues from a fill in writer.

The Lemurians are a lovely lot. We see signs of child sacrifice and a fear of a cultist group running things. It will be interesting to see how the Avengers pick out the bad guys in this one.
I've never seen the Delta Network before. There's not a great deal about them, although it could be another attempt to gauge response for a team book. There are certainly enough mission impossible-like hints of more adventures for them.

Enigmo seems to be the inspiration for the Legion's Konk . He gives up his wrestling career rather pointlessly here.

Marvel has always seemed very fond of wrestling. I'm wondering why when I have to read through a muddled attempted rape scene at a library. There's no conclusion to the scene. So, the perpetrator may well have been allowed to go on his way to commit further crimes. Meanwhile, his target and her brother nip off to join a super team. Another terribly thought out moment in this run.


I was about to type "see also previous handling of race issues" But the next scene has racism and suggestions of rape! I'm sure that's not what Marvel Two In One was supposed to be. Appalling.


This new character would go on to found an energy drink, hopefully losing the silly costume. Once again, the perpetrators are allowed to depart unscathed. They leave the character's distraught mother to any revenge attacks. Did no one sit down and ask a question as simple as "What are out characters for?" I guess not.

So, Kro is this lot's Prof X as they have been gathered possibly from around the world, but I wasn't really interested enough to notice. Who would have though Giant Size X-Men could have been duplicated so poorly.

Eeewww, Sersi is apparently made of ectoplasm? Let's hope it's just a poorly researched panel. She's taken down easily by a brain mine, again.

But even the Delta Force's (wasn't that a Chuck Norris movie?) return was a trap. You could put a ring in Red Bull's nose and he still couldn't be led by nose as much as the plot of this issue. There's a mention of another Uni-Mind by the lead villain (who I've never seen before and therefore has no impact at all).

In summary, the only positive things about the issue were an exotic location mentioned in the early panels. We don't really get to see much of it. Also, the thread of deviants/eternals/uniminds etc is consistent with the run.

The rest of the issue fell off the edge of an abyss. Very poor writing and editing fills the rest of the pages. I pointed out most of these above, and the lack of any redeeming arguments for them means I'm not going to bother repeating them.

Hey, it was you guys who insisted on doing the fill-ins. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Avengers #371
Well, the cover is quite nice. The title carved into the arena wall is also a nice touch. But as for the story, we start off in the arena. Outside of a brutal JLA comic, both DC and Marvel have had terrible plots around such things.

Last issue the big villain said that the hybrids would be useful to his uni mind. But they seemed to have been captured and are fighting to death in an arena here.

The arena pages are utter filler. The combatants are rescued by another pair of Delta Force members, through means that we only hear a little about. The two Avengers, Dane and Hank, might as well stay brain washed for a ll the free will they get to show in this plot. Dane is conveniently stopped from delivering a killing blow, and shows super- endurance form a powerful looking punch.

He shows this again, a few pages later surviving an energy blast. The writer has him deliver a non killing speech as a sword also appears magically in his hand, probably by Sersi. This highlights many of the issues I have with sword wielding characters in super hero comics.

The creation of the uni mind is decently done. It's yet another in a long line of single, overly powerful villains. But at least we got to see the reasons why here. Like last issue, the links with uniminds and Sersi is consistent with elsewhere in the run. In fact, those links prove to be key to the solution to beat the villain. A key that had to be shown to Dane every step of the way by Sersi. It was all very single pathed.

Another link with Harris issues is that there's no real victory. It doesn't work quite as well as previous issues. As it's a fine line, it too many such endings can really ruin a book. The Avengers stopped the uni mind. But it only existed because they fell so easily to it's creator. So it's a win for the villain. We also don't get to see the Avengers try to prevent the villain taking control of Lemuria.

After all of the differing views on that in the run, it would have been good to see. But it's deliberately avoided, possibly to give Delta Force an ongoing villain. As if any villain could stand up to the stubble of Chuck Norris.

The lack of active participation of the Avengers in their own book, was a little obvious in this story, although it's probably been worse earlier in the run.

So, with a link to a Dane/ Sersi discussion next issue this story links much better with the ongoing plots of the book than previous fill ins. But the first issue of the story left a sour taste, and it's basic finale means I'm glad to move on.

Oh sure. Tell a comics reader that they don't have to read all the issues. Yeah, that'll work...


Stunned at owning metallic covers after years of avoiding such things...

-Anal Retentive Lad.

Yes, let's move on, please...to THE GRAND FINALE!!

With one final surge of energy, thothkins dragged himself over the the perilous outcropping. He could see dawn's light cast a warm glow over the summit of the mountain.

A sense of wonder overcame thothkins as he basked in it's wondrous light. A feeling admittedly lessened when he peered more closely at the McDonald's sign blighting a spot of previously unparalleled beauty.

There was only one thing to do. With a shaking fist thothkins gestured to the heavens. "Darn you Fickles!"

I hope this will be worth it...

The good thing about reviewing these fill-ins is that they give me confidence as a I writer that I can do better.

Point well taken. I'm amazed you actually found the proverbial silver lining.

Avengers 372-375 (March-June 1994)
“The Folds Gather” / “Armageddon” / “Intersecting Parallels” / “The Last Gathering”

I decided to review these four issues together because they tell a complete story, and—unlike Harras and Epting’s earlier efforts—this one is truly complete. It only took them 40 issues to get to this point: to have something meaningful to say about the Avengers and to deliver a story that builds upon the various threads they’ve established.

The good news is that Harras and Epting deliver quite a wallop. They resolve the whole Gatherers arc and expertly bind the various strands of this run together. However, the resolution leaves me with an uneasy feeling that echoes the much hated Avengers 200 among other things.

Because this review encompasses four issues, let’s break it down into sections with some convenient Rolling Stones subtitles:

19th Nervous Breakdown

It all begins with the transmuted bodies of two detectives being fished out of the river and with an overzealous detective charging Sersi with their murder. When the Avengers fail to show sufficient support for her, Sersi suffers a breakdown and destroys Avengers Mansion. Meanwhile, Dane, whose gann josin brainwaves are becoming identical to Sersi’s, literally feels her pain and tries to help. Instead, he becomes enthralled to her madness.

Sersi’s breakdown is wholly convincing, especially for anyone who has watched a loved one slide into mental deterioration. There are times when Sersi is lucid and looks back on the destruction she has wrought with despair. She feels lost and alone—cut off from her Eternals family and abandoned by her new friends. Yet she is also one of the most powerful beings on earth, and when she lashes out, it leads to terrible consequences for the Avengers and New York City. It doesn’t help that a new team of Gatherers arrive on the scene and try to take matters into their own hands.

Of course, the new Gatherers are just pawns of Proctor, the Big Badass Villain, who, like any card-carrying BBV, has been manipulating Sersi’s madness as well as pretty much everything else in this arc. We finally get to know Proctor’s back story, including that he was his own world’s Dane Whitman. This comes as little surprise—the clues have been there all along—but it is handled quite well in the story. It also gives the “real” Dane a more active role in the story and a higher stake than just being Sersi’s pawn.

Ain’t Too Proud to Beg

Speaking of Dane, the best parts of this story involve the resolution of his love for Crystal. Here, Pietro is put to good use as we see sides of our favorite bitter mutant that we’ve likely never seen before. First, Pietro picks up on the glances between his wife and the Black Knight. Then he confronts Crystal, who, admirably, confesses her feelings for Dane. Then Pietro, in one of the best scenes in the arc, confronts the Black Knight. However, they do not engage in a Marvel-style slugfest, as one might expect. Instead, Pietro talks to Dane—man to man, Avenger to Avenger—and pleads with him to step aside to give Pietro’s fragile family a chance.

It would be difficult for most men to do what Pietro does here. It must have been a hundred times harder for him, since he has spent his life acting quickly and thinking later, if at all. Yet Pietro must finally come to terms with the fact that he is not in control of Crystal’s feelings—he can’t be. In effect, he confesses his helplessness to his rival and appeals to him as an Avenger and a friend. It is a beautifully sublime scene and one of the most mature exchanges I think I’ve ever seen in a Marvel comic.

That said, I could have done without the scene in the next issue when Pietro hesitates for just a second before rescuing the Black Knight from Proctor. This cheap method of adding tension to an already tense scene was wholly unnecessary and cast Pietro back into the role of a cad. It would have been much more effective if he had saved the Black Knight first and then questioned his own actions. That way, we could see that Pietro still harbors some resentment but doesn’t have to deliberate about doing the right thing.

The Last Time

In addition to these character scenes, the plot is also tightly paced and there are few wasted scenes or characters. The Vision and the Avengers’ three guests (Deathcry, Magdalene, and an inexplicably recovered Swordsman) are quickly written out, and Captain America doesn’t have much to do (he seems either sick or injured after surviving the collapse of the mansion). Sidelining these characters allowed Harras to focus on his major protagonists of this arc—Sersi, Dane, Crystal, and Pietro—and major antagonist, Proctor. This focus gives the story line much greater cohesion than previous efforts have shown. Not much time is even spent on the new Gatherers, although a considerable amount of effort must have been spent on designing their new costumes (which are very eye-catching) and identities (one of whom is clearly an analogue to the Thing).

Harras even writes in a few humorous scenes, such as Hercules pretending to know what Sprite is doing to the transmuted detectives (“What does thou take us for—Philistines?”) and one of the revived detectives’ rejoinder to Herc’s admonition about smoking (“After what I’ve been through? Please!”).

The plot builds to the inevitable showdown with Proctor. Since Dane and Proctor are analogues, they naturally engage in a swordfight which is well executed and even makes good use of the Black Knight’s cursed Ebony Blade. When Dane is overpowered and threatened, Sersi gets a chance to redeem herself. Ironically, however, it is not she who defeats Proctor; it is Crystal and Thunderstrike (a nice echo of the teamwork she and Hercules displayed in liberating Eric from Ares back in 349). Instead, Sersi delivers the coup de grace by slaying Proctor with the Ebony Blade.

This scene is thoroughly consistent with how Sersi has been portrayed before, and, though Sersi once again violates the cardinal rule that super-heroes do not kill, her actions fit the needs of the story. We’ve been complaining in these reviews about the lack of decisive endings in these stories. Perhaps Harras was saving up all of his decisiveness for this moment.

Emotional Rescue

But the story isn’t quite over yet. Sersi knows her mental state has been compromised by Proctor’s meddling. Her only salvation lies in going to live in another dimension conveniently opened for her by the dying Watcher Ute. Then, in another surprise twist, Dane decides to accompany her.

Taken on its own merits, I think this resolution works quite nicely. After all, it builds upon and naturally resolves the plot threads that have been building for the last three years. Also, there is a sense that both Dane and Sersi have changed: She learns to care about a mortal, and he learns to stop running away from his problems. Not only have both characters changed, but their transformation leads them to leave the Avengers and earth—a bittersweet ending, but one that wholly fits the needs of the story.

However, as I alluded to above, the ending is eerily reminiscent of Avengers 200, in which Ms. Marvel similarly accompanied Marcus Immortus into Limbo. Given what the Avengers learned later—that Marcus was mentally influencing Carol’s decision—it seems odd that the Avengers don’t raise the question of whether or not Dane is truly acting of his own volition.

There’s also an eerie echo of at least a couple of other “classic” super-hero stories involving powerful women. Sersi’s execution of Proctor harkens back to Queen Projectra’s execution of Nemesis Kid in LSH 5, and her compromised mental state—which remains compromised after her manipulator has been vanquished—harkens back to Jean Grey’s descent into Dark Phoenix. Both of those stories ended with the strong female character leaving “for good”—Projectra allowed her homeworld, Orando, to remain in another dimension, cut off from the Legion, and Jean died.

Mixed Emotions

When I first read those stories, I thought their endings were bold and daring. Time and seeing them replayed through Sersi and Dane have given me a different perspective. In taking life—violating one of the cardinal rules of super-heroes, remember?—Projectra, Jean, and Seri essentially rendered themselves unfit to continue as super-heroes, so they had to be shuffled off this mortal coil and sent somewhere else. (The fact that Jeckie and Jean were later brought back does not negate the essential power or message of these stories. In fact, their returns in some ways trivialized the events of these stories.) We are left to wonder if a male super-hero would make the same choice to take life, and, if so, would be expected to remove himself from the company of other super-heroes.

What message, I wonder, are we supposed to take away from these stories? That strong, powerful super-hero women cannot be trusted to remain emotionally stable? That if given nearly unlimited power, they will be manipulated by a man and prove themselves unworthy to be heroes?

As I said, if taken on its own merits, the resolution in Avengers 375 is great. But if taken as a part of continuing narrative of super-hero stories, I’m left a bit troubled by it.

That was a great review of 372-375, He Who. I'm glad you found so many positive things about those issues.

As for the negatives you found, I think they are partly counterbalanced by Crystal's journey towards maturity. She saves the day twice -- once by snapping Dane out of the mind-meld, the second by striking down Proctor in tandem with Thunderstrike -- then reconciles with her (also maturing) husband because she knows it's the adult thing to do.

This, of course, leaves the story open to accusations of the Madonna/Whore Syndrome. But I would say that Crystal and Sersi are three-dimensional enough to transcend that.

As for Sersi's exile, it should be emphasized that she ended up in the state she did largely because of Proctor's manipulations, mental and otherwise. So if not for him, she would probably still be functional despite her level of power. I don't think the story says that women can't handle that amount of power, I think it says that no mortal of any gender can handle that amount of power. The same thing that happened to her could happen to any Eternal who dares come down from the mountain to live with humanity. That we haven't actually seen such a thing happen to a male super-being is a valid point, but that's more a failing of the comics industry overall than the creators of this story.

Finally, the echo of 200 is undeniably there, and that is unfortunate, but I think it's clear that Sersi is in full control of her faculties, and while some manipulation on her part of Dane could certainly be read into it -- perhaps the mind-meld didn't completely break -- I don't think that was the creators' conscious intention, and that's how I choose to see it.

In the end, this was a story of two constrasting women, two very powerful and very complicated women, the kind of story you didn't see often in mainstream comics back in 1991-1994, and the kind that, sadly, we don't see much of today either. If anything, the Scarlet Witch's breakdown ten years ago can be seen as a disturbing step backward. That, I believe, is why this story still holds up despite its flaws -- many of which I wasn't aware of until He Who and Thoth pointed them out -- and one of the many reasons it's so special to me.

Avengers 372

A creepy guy gives you the location of the transformed bodies of two of your colleagues. You're a detective, so obviously you allow the guy, who screams villain, to wander off into the rain. As opposed to some serious questioning. Marvel's precursor to Renee Montoya gets off to a bad start. We also get a hint of yet another possible spin off.

Two detectives turned to stone. There can be only one person responsible, and faithful Avengers readers know who. I can't wait till the Grey Gargoyle gets his, the bum.

The creepy guy from the opening scene also looks very like Proctor. I'd mentioned how he looked like Superman before. You get a good idea of just how bulky Superman would be if they drew his Kent persona in the same way (or charitably, if Kent wasn't posture impaired to deflect attention) as shown here.

Meanwhile, on a passing Quinjet, Magdalene goes as white as a sheet. A premonition. No! She's just in a scene. With Swordsman II and Deathcry! Gosh!

Deathcry taunts the others without anyone bothering to respond before switching to throw herself rather pathetically at the Vision.

Back at the ranch mansion, Pietro and Crystal encounter Dane and 'Tasha, leading to an uneasy silence. It handled fairly well, but Pietro isn't an idiot and knows what's going on. He's also wearing Flash sneakers .
His conversation in the park with Crystal is refreshingly open, and has none of the tiresome usual angst. Unfortunately, it's just not Pietro, who's a rash headed git.

We've had instances of layered voyeurism in this run before. Here, Sersi watches Crystal while she is in turn watched by a shadowy group. As they are moping around on a rooftop, they could easily go on to be Avengers, as that's what they spend their spare time doing. But the dialogue firmly links them with other Earths. Worlds destroyed by Sersi. Except, it's not quite as ominous sounding here.

We get some blurb about this being the prime Earth before the final fall. They'll be part of Proctor's group. The old group, that presumably died in the exploding base, were decent characters. So hopefully these will be of an equivalent level.

Herc is involved in a whole scene. Even the character has noticed that he's just the team cart horse. He looks a lot better here than possibly any other Herc costume I can think of. The poor guy is left hanging around long enough for Hank Pym to grow a pony tail.

Dane looks as though he's on the slippery slope to Lotus Fruit addiction. His mental connection with Sersi is having a physical effect, as she summons him to dispel her own rage.

We see Hank Pym's explanation that Sersi & Whitman are becoming almost one mind (see also Akira) play out as the pair face the new Gatherers. There looks to be a Thing and a Rick Jones counterpart in this group. The battle starts well, but Whitman takes down a group of desperate survivors from dying worlds a bit too easily.

Skipping past the tiresome scene of Proctor exerting his control over his team, a returning Sersi is arrested at the mansion, by our grizzled smoking detective. She's seen the Avengers files, because you can apparently rent them out with a library card. Just ask Magdalene.

There are more pluses than minuses this issue. A fair amount of the good things are down to having some momentum in this long running plotline. There are familiar beats to previous issues, and a few cliches. But the pacing has a decent mix of action and angst.

Thanks.



Crystal comes off very well in this arc, and indeed has since she joined the Avengers. I don't see her as a Madonna character since she is clearly flawed. Presently she is torn between her feelings for two men. However, I think that makes her even more real and believable.

Likewise, Sersi comes across as well rounded. As I suggested, I think her portrayal in this arc is great and I'm only bothered by it in comparison to Avengers 200, LSH 5, and the Dark Phoenix arc.

If Sersi had merely decided to leave the Avengers (no loss of sanity if she stayed on earth) and Dane chose to accompany her wherever she went, I think that would have been a much more interesting and empowering finale than her being forced to go into another dimension.



Very true.

Well, to be fair, the last anyone had heard of these two detectives was that they were going to interview Sersi. It's likely that their colleagues knew of this.



What is it about Vizh that he's so attractive to women? (And where can I get some of that? )




I like to think there's more to Pietro than he's allowed us to see so far. I very much enjoyed the deepening of his character in this arc.

Avengers 376-377 (July-August 1994)
“The Inhuman Condition” / “Out of House and Home”

So, we’re back to fill-ins--this time, two offerings by writer Joey Cavalieri and artist Grant Miehm which spotlight Crystal and Quicksilver separately.

I would rather have had a spotlight of them together as they work out their marital difficulties. Instead, we get two lackluster tales in which the estranged Maximoffs whine about their woes, fight inconsequential villains, and experience unconvincing epiphanies. These are the sorts of fill-ins I imagine editors keep on hand just in case the creative team falls behind. They take up space and little more.

Pietro’s story is the better of the two as it explores his background in Transia and his feelings of isolation that led to his estrangement from others, including, ultimately, his sister, Wanda, to whom he was once so close to the point of being overprotective. The story also gives him a quartet of imaginative mutant villains in Pavane and his children. There is also a point to this story—that Pietro’s isolation and bitterness (mirrored by Pavane’s own isolation and bitterness)—has led to some unfortunate outcomes in his life—even if this point is delivered with all and the power and finesse of a wet noodle.

Crystal’s story is a disaster. It begins with her staring out a window and brooding. Now you know she’s an official Avenger because she broods. She, Pietro, and Vizh ought to start an Avengers Brooding Society so they can dream up new ways to make themselves miserable. Her whining is interrupted by a flashback—or is it a flashback? It’s not clear—that features the Inhuman Sporr (think an ugly version of Madrox the Multiple Man) being attacked by a technology-wielding and slogan-spouting enemy called the Janissary. It was not clear in this scene, initially, who to root for or even what these characters had to do with Crystal and the Avengers. More sloppy storytelling.

But the Janissary turns out to be our bad guy, and, after spouting one advertising tagline after another (the lamest character trait ever), he captures Sporr. However, one of the latter’s “binary fission” bodies escapes and makes its way from wherever Sporr lives (don’t all Inhumans live on the moon now?) to Avengers Mansion, where he just happens to find Crystal putting Luna to bed. (One wonders what might have happened if he had encountered Hercules instead.) Naturally, the effort to reach Crystal has used up whatever stores of energy Sporr had left. He passes out and nearly dies, but not after guiding Crystal to where his other bodies have been taken. In other words, these scenes get us into the meat of the story quickly, but without much thought. Never mind, it’s time for Crystal to show us what she can do.

Here Crystal—who exhibited such power and competence in earlier stories—“rashly” exerts herself to open the mountain’s hidden entrance and leaves herself weak. In other words, she’s become the Scarlet Witch, circa 1965: a female who can’t control her power and whose effort strains her to the point of nearly passing out.

Unlike Wanda in the earlier stories, Crystal does not have Pietro to lean on, so she goes it alone against Terrigene, a female geneticist and Janissary’s employer. What follows is a by-the-books battle with a by-the-books villain (sporting one of the most ridiculous costumes ever seen on a female character). There is an awful lot of talking during their clashes, even more so than usual by Marvel standards.

Following Terrigene's inevitable defeat, she inexplicably becomes Crystals’ BFF, pouring out her heart and revealing that rejection from her parents and colleagues led her to life of crime. Crystal, apparently too weak to make a citizen’s arrest (or whatever the Avengers are empowered to do), simply leaves Terrigene to wallow in her own misery. Um, last I heard, kidnapping and performing harmful experiments on a living person were serious offenses. But since the victim was an Inhuman, perhaps the laws do not apply, or perhaps Sporr declined to press charges because he was so happy to be joined together with all of his fission bodies.

In any case, Crystal’s epiphany is that treating children with love and kindness ensures that they won’t grow up to be super-villains, so she decides to spoil Luna with juice and bedtime stories. Of course, when Luna grows up feeling entitled to more than juice and stories, perhaps Crystal can blame Pietro’s side of the family.

Speaking of Crystal’s estranged hubby, Pietro has apparently taken to walking with a cane as an affectation. There are several times during his spotlight issue when he casts the cane aside and bursts into super-speed, but there is no indication that doing so causes him pain. It’s not even clear what sort of injury he has that requires the assistance of a cane. Perhaps he thinks a cane, a green trench coat, and a perpetual scowl give him a dignified air.

As mentioned above, Pietro’s story comes off as slightly better in that it builds from his isolation and longing for a home. Pietro, like Crystal, broods a lot, but his brooding takes the form of wondering how his life might have been different had he grown up in a normal neighborhood instead of being forced to live the life of a gypsy (and a mutant gypsy, at that). His ruminations take him to the “Transian District” of Manhattan’s Lower East Side, an ethnic community modeled after his homeland of Transia. Here Pietro runs afoul of a bar mob and then encounters the children of Pavane, three teenagers with powers. They take Pietro to meet their dad, who turns out to be from Pietro’s homeland and nurses a bitter grudge because the young Pietro wouldn’t let Pavane anywhere near his sister, Wanda.

I like the idea behind this story, although the delivery is weak and sloppy. For example, at first Pietro claims he does not remember Pavane, but, if Pavane’s recollections can be trusted, it’s unlikely Pietro would forget him; after all, Pietro rebuffed him several times. There is also never a moment when Pietro says, “Aha! Now I remember you!” The lack of such recognition makes it unclear if he actually does remember Pavane or if he’s just going along with this crazy guy’s ramblings.

I also think it was a miscue to cast Pavane and his children as dark-skinned. Doing so added an unnecessary and perhaps unintentional racial angle to his interactions with Pietro and Wanda. On Page 17, Wanda looks terrified to see a black guy in dark glasses approaching her. Her reaction—and Pietro’s hostility—could have better made the point Cavalieri was trying to make about their preferred isolation if they were all of the same race. Likewise, when Pietro “speechifies” Pavane and his children at the end, he comes across as the Great White Hero (with white hair, even) lecturing to the lowly, ignorant savages. The images alone say more than the writer and artist perhaps intended.

Occasional spotlight issues can help flesh out characters in a team book, and they can also offer readers a breather after a lengthy “epic” storyline. However, these two tales are simply rushed and ill thought out.

I haven't re-read those fill-ins in years.

I will say that Joey Cavalieri has a more interesting history as an editor than a writer. He was the group editor for the Marvel 2099 books, a mixed bag to be sure, but he commanded such loyalty among the creators (including Peter David) that after Cavalieri was fired by Marvel, many of them quit the 2099 books. Cavalieri landed at DC, where he's sheperded some interesting projects, including Walt Simonson's The Judas Coin, one of the few decent things to come out of DC at recent years.

He Who, your collection of Avengers Volume 1 ends at 378, correct?