AVENGERS #355

"WHEN COME THE GATHERERS...!"
Writer: Bob Harras | Penciler: Steve Epting | Letterer: Bill Oakley
Editor: Ralph Macchio | Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco
join in congratulating Tom Palmer on his 100th issue
embellishing the adventures of the mighty Avengers!

The Plot: On another version of Earth, Swordsman, Magdalene, and their teammates, the Gatherers -- Cassandra and Sloth -- appear in a ruined New York just as Captain America dies outside Avengers Mansion. The Gatherers find more dead Avengers and one final living soul on Earth -- T'Challa, the Coal Tiger. The Gatherers return with the Tiger to Proctor.

On the real Earth, Black Knight has found matching energy signatures between Marissa Darrow's apartment, the Avengers emergency systems, and the skycar -- proving that someone has been in all three places. The Knight and Vision have prepared a countermeasure for further such tampering, and Black Widow orders them to implement it immediately. Meanwhile, Proctor stabilizes the dying Coal Tiger, then orders the Gatherers to Avengers Mansion to find his counterpart in the main dimension. The Gatherers teleport into the mansion at night, but are confronted by the Avengers, alerted by Black Knight's new system.

A battle breaks out, but the Gatherers prove too much for the Avengers to handle. The heroes are defeated, but left alive per Proctor's order. The Gatherers get the information they needed and depart for Wakanda to find T'Challa, the Black Panther.

AVENGERS #352, #353, & #354

"SON OF DARKNESS" | "TO WAKE THE DEAD" | "THE CONQUEROR WORM"
Writer: Len Kaminski | Penciler: M.C. Wyman
Inkers: Tom Palmer (#352), Ariane Lenshoek (#353-354), Steve Alexandrov (#354)
Letterers: Rick Parker (#352), Chris Eliopoulos (#353), Bill Oakley (#354)
Colorists: Tom Palmer (#352), Ariane Lenshoek & Rob Tokar (#353), Mike Thomas (#354)
Editor: Ralph Macchio | Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

The Plot: (Issue 352) The Grim Reaper appeals to the dark god Lloigoroth for supernatural powers, and they are granted him. Soon after, the Reaper causes an airliner to crash, killing everyone aboard. He leaves a calling card in the form of a large stone skull beside the wreckage. The Avengers are summoned to investigate, and take the plane's "black box" back their mansion. Meanwhile, the Grim Reaper next tranports a subway train into another dimension. He then appears at Avengers Mansion and tells the heroes to come to the caverns where he first died. The Avengers travel there and descend underground, battling supernatural creatures conjured by the Reaper. The Reaper himself appears again and transports the Avengers to another realm.

(Issue 353) In a Hades-like world, the Avengers battle the souls of those killed by the Grim Reaper. As the heroes search for their enemy, the Reaper gloats over several living humans he has captured. The Avengers soon find the Reaper's hideout, while within, the Reaper uses his magic powers to turn his prisoners into a new Legion of the Unliving, composed of super-villains who died battling the Avengers. The Avengers enter the Reaper's home, but are attacked by the Legion, and seemingly defeated in the darkness.

(Issue 354) The Grim Reaper watches as his Legion battles the Avengers. The heroes all appear to have met their matches in the various villains, but Vision slips away and confronts the Reaper in his inner sanctum. There, Vision, reminds the Reaper that the Avengers did not kill him -- the Reaper took his own life when he realized how much evil he had done. When the Reaper is forced to acknowledge this, he loses his control over the villains' souls. They attack him, and then Lloigoroth appears, telling the Reaper he is disappointed. Lloigoroth consumes the Reaper, and the Avengers are transported back to their home dimension. They emerge from the caves and return to their Quinjet.

AVENGERS #351

The mighty assemblers learn the awful pain of...
"RETRIBUTION!"
Writer: Bob Harras | Guest Penciler: Kevin West | Guest Inker: Bud LaRosa
Colorist: Gina Going | Letterers: Oakley & (sic)
Editor: Ralph Macchio | Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

The Plot: As Hercules threatens to kill Raza, the remaining Starjammers, Avengers, and Cyclops and Professor X arrive in the hangar. Ch'od attacks Hercules, bursting through an exterior wall in the process, then he and Raza escape while Hercules lays stunned. Quicksilver and Lockjaw fetch the Inhumans' royal physician from the Moon to tend to the Black Knight, while a group of Avengers, joined by Corsair and Binary, sets out to find Ch'od and Raza. Hepzibah remains behind as a willing hostage of the Avengers.

Hercules, Thor, Vision, and Sersi catch up with Ch'od and Raza in an alleyway and attack. Corsair and Binary arrive, and Binary goes to reason with Raza. Back at Avengers Mansion, the royal physician and the Starjammers medic, Sikorsky, tend to the Black Knight. Meanwhile, Raza confides in Binary that the Kree promised to give him his son, and shows her the boy's medallion. Binary claims the medallion is a Kree memory implant device, which created for Raza the memory of a son he never had. At the mansion, Black Knight is stabliized and expected to make a full recovery. But later in the night, Hepizbah sneaks into his room to finish him off. She is interrupted by Black Widow and Crystal, and then by the returning Avengers and Starjammers.

With no one quite certain what Hepzibah was up to, and with Raza's actions explained, the Avengers let the Starjammers go. Aboard their ship, Raza tells Hepzibah that he really does have a son, and that Binary lied to the Avengers for him in order that he might go free and search for the young man.

AVENGERS #350

"REPERCUSSIONS"
Writer: Bob Harras | Penciler: Steve Epting | Inker: Tom Palmer
Colorists: Tom Palmber & Sarra Mossoff | Letterer: Bill Oakley
Editor: Ralph Macchio | Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

The Plot: On a remote planet called Seti Tatola IV, a former Kree admiral meets with Raza and Hepzibah of the Starjammers. He convinces them to travel to Earth and kill the Black Knight as revenge for the assassination of the Supreme Intelligence. On Earth, Professor X and Cyclops of the X-Men, as well as Quicksilver and Doctor Valerie Cooper from the U.S. govenment's X-Factor, visit the Avengers. Xavier warns the group that Magneto's Acolytes are back in action, and they may be targeting Luna, daughter of Quicksilver and Crystal. Meanwhile, in space, the Starjammers elude Shi'ar patrols and set course for Earth, with Hepizabah and Raza having convinced the rest that they need to check on Carol Danvers.

Absent from the X-Men meeting is Black Knight, who skipped it for a workout session. Afterward, he heads to the roof, where he bumps into Sersi and the two witness the arrival of the Starjammer. Soon, the Avengers, their guests, and the Starjammers gather in a reception room -- but Raza slips away and sneaks up on the Black Knight, repairing the Avengers' skycar in their hangar. Raza attacks and duels the Knight, until the nursemaid Marilla enters with Luna. Raza grabs Luna and holds her hostage, until the Knight lunges at him. Raza runs the Avenger through. Seconds later, the remaining Avengers respond to the sound of battle, arriving to find Black Knight seemlingly dead.