Avengers: "Revenge"

Avengers #276 (1987)

By Roger Stern, John Buscema, Tom Palmer

Background: The Masters of Evil assembled by Baron Zemo have taken over Avengers Mansion, brutally beating Hercules, imprisoning Captain Marvel and capturing Captain America, the Black Knight and Jarvis. With the help of the new Ant-Man, the Wasp is ready for a counter-attack.

So, What Happens? The Wasp's call for help is answered by Thor, who is once again ready to join the Avengers, and heard by their erstwhile ally Doctor Druid, who owes a lot to the team and decides to go and help. Elsewhere, a furious Captain Marvel finally exits the Darkforce dimension thanks to the unwitting help of the Shroud, whose powers tap the same energy creating a door out. Monica immediately flies to Janet, who's ready to launch an assault and take the Mansion back. Inside, Hyde is still beating poor Jarvis up, but the heroes cause a blackout that allows the Black Knight to finally summon the Ebony Sword. He immediately frees Cap, and together the two start pummelling Hyde, who's then finished by the Wasp and Thor once Captain Marvel digs an entrance tunnel underneath the building and the Darkforce casing. Outside, Druid mentally commands Blackout to lower the barrier and enters the building, while inside Yellowjacket warns Zemo that Thor and Captain Marvel have arrived, convincing him to order a hasty retreat without warning all of his allies. Unprepared, the Masters start falling, as Ant-Man takes down the Fixer while Thor - who's leading the attack together with Captain America - uses Mjolnir to draw the Wrecking Crew's power back through the Wrecker. However, they haven't reckoned with Goliath, who grabs Thor from behind. On the roof, Moonstone panics at the sight of Captain Marvel and tries to fly away, but in her confusion she hits a cliff head on and breaks her neck. Monica tries to help, learning that Blackout is not under her control but Zemo's. Meanwhile, the Baron - who now carries Cap's shield - has reached the roof of the Mansion and shot Doctor Druid from behind. Alone with Blackout, he orders him to send the entire mansion in the Darkforce dimension.

Notes: A descendant of the druids of Avalon, Doctor Druid was created and introduced by Stern in Avengers #225 for a two-issue arc, but back then we didn't learn anything about him. This is his first appearance since then and we discover he is something of a celebrity, with even a personal secretary. Thor sports a beard to hide the scars of injuries caused by Hela in Thor #362. Moreover, his bones are brittle due to a curse and can no longer heal, explaining his quiet and somber behaviour throughout the issue. By now he has long lost his mortal identity of doctor Donald Blake, but seemingly retains some of his medical knowledge, as the quickly diagnoses Jarvis' injuries. The Shroud is a Los Angeles-based hero/anti-hero, usually active against organized crime. For a while, he could access the Darkforce dimension, therefore creating an opening for Monica to use.

Something Silly This Way Comes: Who does cut the power to the mansion, and how? Ant-Man doesn't enter the building until a short time later, on Thor's shoulder, and the same goes for Captain Marvel.

Review: The expected counter-attack and the arrival of a combination of old and new faces produces a rewarding issue, but also one that unfortunately is a little hasty and disjointed. There is nothing majorly wrong with it, but it kind of feels like it's time for the Masters to be defeated and so everything goes the Avengers' way. Hyde, who used to be a big Thor villain, is beaten extremely easily, and the same goes for most of the Wrecking crew, cutting the Masters by half in just a couple of pages. Zemo is also very quick to betray his allies, but making them aware of Thor's presence would have given them a better chance, which in turn would have been to Zemo's advantage. In short, it's evil for evil's sake, which never produces faultless storytelling and feels a bit out of character considering how much effort had gone into Zemo's plan. 

With a major roster reshuffle clearly in sight after Hercules' injuries and Namor's departure, Thor and Doctor Druid are the heroes turning up at the hour of need. Despite his change in look, Thor is not a surprise, as he offers the same level of strength of Hercules and a lot more power thanks to the million things Mjolnir can do. Scott's embarrassment at shaking his hand is quite amusing and tells a lot about his status in the Marvel Universe, while both Zemo and the Wrecking crew are immediately worried by his arrival. His return is certainly advertised as even the cover places him right in the middle with a furious look, like he's leading the others to get their revenge. Doctor Druid however is a different animal, still rather vague so far because we know so little about him and his powers. Under another writer he will go on to become the most reviled Avenger ever, but for the moment he is quite helpful and unassuming, despite acting a little bit like a Deus Ex device against Blackout. His arrival balances some of the most ridiculous excuses ever heard from other heroes, especially the Falcon who doesn't help because... he is down with the flu. It's nice of him not wanting to infect anyone, I suppose.

As fas as the villains are concerned, Moonstone had been depicted as the smartest Master so far, but panic gets the better of her resulting in pretty bad injuries. It's quite funny that it all happens because she misreads Monica's intentions, considering she was a trained psychologist and had often been depicted as a manipulator. As a consequence of her prolonged imprisonment, Captain Marvel herself is far more emotional than usual, perhaps even a little too much for someone who had recently faced the Beyonder during the Secret Wars. She's a character who got some stick from readers and has been called Stern's pet, but I've always found her competent and level-headed, very different from the stereotypical angry black man (well, woman) behaviour that seemed to characterize most Afro-American characters in the '70s and '80s. We also get to see a lot of Yellowjacket's thoughts, giving a better insight into the otherwise rather anonymous villain. She comes across as street-smart and rational, even endearing in a way, and definitely much less bloodthirsty than the other Masters. It's not something I picked up the first or even second time I read the saga, but she might be the second most fleshed-out Master after Zemo.

Next time, it's the grand finale.

Final Verdict: A few nice moments and some glorious returns, but the story doesn't flow as well as it could have. 3.5/5