AVENGERS #358

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

The Plot: On the planet Polemachus, a noble named Anskar searches for the world's monarch, Arkon. Meanwhile, Arkon has appeared on Earth with his consort, Thundra, and a girl named Astra. The group is in a standoff with police when the Avengers arrive. A fight breaks out, but in the end Arkon and the heroes reach a ceasefire and return to Avengers Mansion. There, Arkon explains that the sky of Polemachus has gone red, and that his people demand a sacrifice to appease the gods. Astra was chosen, but Thundra convinced Arkon that killing her was not right, and the group fled to Earth.

Just then, Arkon, Thundra, Astra, and the Avengers are all teleported to Polemachus by Anskar. He imprisons the Avengers in a force field and appeals to Arkon to kill Astra. Though Astra is willing to play her part, Vision convinces Arkon to allow the Avengers time to repair Polemachus, as they have done before. Anskar disagrees, but tells Arkon he will give the Avengers twenty-four hours and then sacrifice Astra himself.

Continuity Notes: Swordsman is staying in a room at Avengers Mansion. He doesn't appear to be a prisoner, which seems a bit odd. Even though he may have begun to doubt Proctor, he was still trying to kill the heroes just a couple issues back! Marilla brings Swordsman some food and briefly recaps the history of his counterpart on the Avengers' Earth. Swordsman finds her story laughable, but Vision offers to show him that history -- however he is summoned to the meeting with Arkon before he can do so.

Arkon explains what the deal is with Polemachus, including mentioning that both the Avengers and the X-Men have saved his world in the past:

Proctor and his crew put in an appearance, with Magdalene stating that he's been in his quarters for days as he determines his next move. He now tells her that he's sending her and Sloth on a mission to "gather" the individual who will help them rescue the Swordsman -- though, via a psychic rapport with Cassandra, he reveals that this being will actually kill the Swordsman for him.

Assemble: No. ("Avengers Assemble!" count: 4 in 25 issues to date.)

My Thoughts: I don't really know much about Arkon. I'm pretty sure I've only ever read one story where he played a prominent role, UNCANNY X-MEN ANNUAL #3, which is referenced (though not footnoted) in this issue. Beyond that, I saw that story's semi-adaptation in the X-MEN cartoon series from the nineties, and I've encountered Arkon in cameo appearances in various stories here and there. So I have pretty much no affection/attachment/what-have-you for the character. I know a bit more about Thundra, though, having read some MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE stories that featured her, and having seen her in Jerry Orday's fill-in arc during the Kurt Busiek George Pérez AVENGERS run of the late nineties.

All this is my way of saying that I come into this tale a blank slate, so to speak, regarding the shared history of the Avengers and Arkon & Company. But it turns out that's okay! Bob Harras does a fine job of introducing Arkon, Thundra, and Polemachus, letting readers know that Arkon has encounted the Avengers before, but also making clear that he's unfamiliar with nearly every member of this particular line-up.

And then we're off and running. We've got a good old-fashioned misunderstanding fight, during which our cover scene occurs, some backstory for the guest-stars, a cliffhanger for next issue's conclusion, and in the middle of all that, the "Gatherers" storylne continues to unfold via check-ins with the Swordsman and with Proctor, Magdalene, and the rest. I like this sort of storytelling style. Harras has a long-term epic he wants to unfold -- "The Gathering" -- but he's not going to devote every issue to them. So we have the Avengers engaging in other adventures while the Gatherers do their thing via sub-plot pages in the meantime.

I'm curious how long this will last. I know that the "Gathering" stuff ends with issue 375, as that is where the eponymous Omnibus concludes. And I know that the Gatherers will battle the Avengers in a number of issues between now and then. But will they remain "supporting characters" through all of this? I ask, because I can't recall that I've ever seen it done this way in an ongoing comic before. Typically when a writer has a storyline for a villain (or group of villains), he will check in on them periodically, but usually only over a few issues in the leadup to their next story. Then they drop off the map until it's time to use them again. The idea of seeing the Gatherers on a regular basis, like cast members with their own parallel storyline, is unusual to me -- but it's something I wish there was more of in serialized comics!

The more I read of this run, the more I feel Bob Harras missed his true calling. He was a very successful editor; don't get me wrong. Shepherded the X-Men through the salad days of the nineties, and (in my own personal opinon) kept the quality -- of at least the two core books -- fairly high through most of it. Only person in history to be editor-in-chief of both Marvel and DC. Etc. But I find myself wishing he had stepped away from his editorial career to become a full-time writer, instead! At least based on this AVENGERS run, I think he would've been really good at it.