AVENGERS #349

"DEATH WAGER"
Writer: Bob Harras | Penciler: Steve Epting
Inker/Colorist: Tom Palmer | Letterer: Bill Oakley
Editor: Ralph Macchio | Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

The Plot: Black Knight, Crystal, and Hercules are testing a skycar recently received by the Avengers from Wakanda, when the craft goes out of control and crashes. The scene is observed from Mount Olympus by Hera and Ares, who make a wager over who can bring more pain and sorrow to Hercules. Two days later on Earth, Black Knight has determined that the skycar was sabotaged. Meanwhile, Hercules is invited to make a charity appearance at a children's hospital. Crystal and Thor accompany him -- but while there, Ares possesses Thor's body and attacks Hercules. Hercules eventually realizes that Ares is in control of Thor, and turns Mjolnir against him, summoning lightning, which Crystal amplifies with her power to stun both Hercules and Thor.

The lightning strike separates Ares from Thor, and Hera then reveals herself. Hercules berates his stepmother and half-brother as they teleport back to Olympus. There, Ares asks Hera why she didn't make any attempt to win their wager. As she scryes over an image of Hercules and a volunteer from the hospital, Taylor Madison, Hera says that her manipulations are subtle and far-reaching.

Continuity Notes: In the opening pages, Black Knight notes that he and Hercules spent three days in Marissa Darrow's apartment, trying to determine how she vanished, with a footnote pointing to last issue. Later, Black Knight states his suspicion that Marissa's disappearance and the skycar sabotage are both related to Swordsman and Magdalene. The former of these makes sense; Marissa was Magdalene's spitting image. But it's unclear why he believes, with nothing to clue him in, that the skycar sabotage has anything to do with the new mystery villains.