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.

Continuity Notes: Though there are only a handful of footnotes in this issue, there's plenty of continuity in which to bask! First up -- Raza makes reference to the nega-bomb event in AVENGERS #347. In the same scene, Raza is convinced to kill Black Knight when the Kree admiral reveals that Raza's son, sentenced to the Shi'ar slave pens when he was only five years old, is still alive. I have a faint recollection that Raza's son was mentioned in a previous appearance in X-MEN, but I'm not positive. Raza spends the rest of the issue in a moral quandary over whether he's doing the right thing, but he really wants his son back. (Hepzibah, meanwhile, always the most mercenary and pragmatic Starjammer, is happy to take the assassination assignment simply on the promise of payment -- two hundred million credits.)

Professor X mentions that the X-Men first encountered the Acolytes in X-MEN #1 through 3. In the same scene, reference is made to his history with Carol Danvers -- Xavier and the X-Men took her in after she permanently lost her powers (and her emotional attachment to her life's memories) to Rogue in AVENGERS ANNUAL #10. Carol, recently recovered from her power burnout in QUASAR, asks Xavier to join her for a conversation about Lilandra's recent actions.

Hercules has shaved his beard as of this issue, with no explanation as to why. As the run moves along, he will also grow his hair longer. I initially wondered if all of this was to make him look a bit more like Kevin Sorbo from the 1990s syndicated HERCULES TV series, but that show didn't start until near the end of this run -- so maybe Steve Epting just thought Herc needed a makeover for fun.

Black Knight refuses to tell Thor and Hercules why he skipped the meeting, but his inner monologue reveals that he didn't want to see Crystal and Quicksilver together, given his burgeoning feelings for the Inhuman princess. But of course he then bumps into them in the hallway during this introspection. Moments later, on the roof, Sersi displays her own affection for the Black Knight by advocating for her hedonistic lifestyle and laying an unexpected kiss upon him.

After the Starjammers arrive, Cyclops takes his father, Corsair, aside to discuss the fates of his son, Nathan, and wife, Madelyne. In the same scene, Corsair suggests that Lilandra is unaware Xavier was recently crippled again. Given how easily the X-Men are shown to communicate with the Shi'ar in upcoming issues of their own series, it seems that perhaps they don't have their intergalactic commlink installed yet.

Black Knight mentions that he's been repairing the skycar for the past week -- and in the previous issue, two weeks passed between its crash and when the Knight finished examining it. So it's likely been at least a month since "Galactic Storm" ended.

This issue contains a backup story, "The Butler Did It!", by John Lewandowski, Kevin Kobasic, and Ariane Lenshoek. It's an inconsequential (but funny!) tale spotlighting the enmity between Jarvis and Marilla. It is evidently set prior to this issue's main story -- and probably even prior to "Galactic Storm" -- as, at one point, it features the Avengers, including Captain America and Hercules' beard, racing off to join the INFINITY WAR.

Assemble: Yet again, no use of the battlecry. ("Avengers Assemble!" count: 3 in 17 issues to date.)

My Thoughts: I've never read this issue, but being a big X-Men fan, especially of the X-Men from the early nineties era, I'm surprised to find it so steeped in X-mythology! I mean, this is apparently the place where Cyclops tells his dad what happened to Madelyne and baby Nathan, and where Professor X sees the Starjammers and Binary for the first time in years. Not to mention, this is the first hint that the Acolytes are back in action! Reading this, I assumed it was part of the lead-up to the UNCANNY X-MEN 298 - 300 storyline, the return of the Acolytes ahead of "Fatal Attractions" a couple months later, but I was shocked to find this issue is cover-dated the same month as UNCANNY #291 and X-MEN #11. Forget about "Fatal Attractions" or even it's lead-up issues -- "X-Cutioner's Song" hasn't even happened yet! So clearly Harras was planning the return of the Acolytes very well in advance. I had no idea! It's less than a year since they all "died" in X-MEN #3, and about seven months prior to their return in UNCANNY 298.

Anyway, I'm a little surprised this issue -- or at least, excerpts from it -- isn't included in any of the X-MEN books collecting this era. It may not be integral, but it does feature some nice tidbits of X-continuity.

But! Believe it or not, this is actually an AVENGERS issue, and once again, Bob Harras spends some time on his sub-plots. Crystal and Quicksilver possibly reconciling? Black Knight angsting over it and then falling into Sersi's arms? This stuff is gold! Add to that some fallout from "Galactic Storm" and an effective use of the all-too-often neglected Starjammers (seriously; Black Knight vs. Raza in a swordfight in an inspired idea), and, at the risk of repeating myself, you have another winner.

Hopefully I'm not starting to sound like a broken record at this point. It's just that this is a style (and era) of comic book writing that I really respond too. And when the artwork can equal that melodramatic soap opera, well -- I'm in comic book heaven. I can't believe I never read this run all the way through sooner.

I'm only sad Black Knight is dead now. The rest of this run just won't be the same without him.