AVENGERS #369

"BLOODTIES: THE FINALE: OF KITH AND KIN"
A tale of the Mighty Avengers & the Uncanny X-Men brought to you by:
Writer: Bob Harras | Pencilers: Steve Epting & Jan Duursema
Inker: Tom Palmer | Colorist: Mike Rockwitz | Letterer: Bill Oakley
Editor: Ralph Macchio | Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

The Plot: The SHIELD helicarrier approaches Genosha, with Nick Fury in command and the Avengers aboard. Meanwhile, a force field has sprung up around Genosha, created by Exodus's psionic powers. In the sewers beneath Hammer Bay, Exodus takes Luna from Fabian Cortez, then kills him. He then stuns the heroes present - Quicksilver, Crystal, Scarlet Witch, and Jean grey -- and departs. Above, in the city, the Avengers and X-Men link up and join forces. Storm and War Machine investigate the force field and determine it is psionic in nature.

Just then, Professor X telepathically summons both teams to his aid, for beneath the city, he, Beast, U.S. Agent, and their allies are hopelessly overrun by Genoshan Magistrates. The combined X-Men and Avengers burst in and turn the tide, then begin to mop up. Meanwhile, Exodus begins to shrink the field over Genosha. The Avengers aboard the helicarrier realize that he plans to crush Genosha with the field. Exodus emerges from beneath the city with Quicksilver, Crystal, Jean, and the Scarlet Witch in his thrall, then he mentally influences the mutates of Genosha to attack and kill all humans present.

The X-Men and Avengers divvy their forces to both hold back the mutates and attack Exodus. The Unforgiven appear to attack the group dealing with the mutates, while the team against Exodus is pushed back by his psychic power. The force field continues contracting, while Exodus prepares to kill Luna. Professor X blasts him with a mental bolt, allowing the Black Knight to sneak up and stun him with his neural sword.

In the aftermath of the battle, the force field dissipates and Xavier appeals to the Genoshans to lay down their arms, then chides Exodus for overextending his powers in battle. Exodus blasts Quicksilver and then takes off in retreat. Black Knight performs CPR, saving Quicksilver's life. The next morning, as the helicarrier makes it final approach with relief supplies, Captain America and Professor Xavier dwell on all they have been through.

Continuity Notes: Narration recalls that the last time the Avengers and X-Men met, they fought over Magneto's rights in the aftermath of his trial. This happened in the X-MEN VS. AVENGERS limited series, though there is no footnote. The page does, however, footnote the X-Men's "X-Tinction Agenda" event as the last time the X-Men visited Genosha.

Black Knight again wonders why Exodus seems familiar to him, but there is no further discussion on the topic.

In a cross-title continuity error, when we first encounter Professor X, Beast, and U.S. Agent in this issue, they are exactly where we left them in UNCANNY X-MEN #307, only now Gyrich is with them. This follows a similar sloppy moment in that UNCANNY issue, where Philip Moreau and Jenny Ransome were with the trio. It was quite explicit in X-MEN #26 that Xavier and Beast ditched Gyrich, Ransom, Moreau, and U.S. Agent in AVENGERS #368, and that only the Agent managed to follow them -- something which carried into AVENGERS WEST COAST #101. But somehow, over the subsequent two chapters, that group has been joined first by Philip and Jenny, then by Gyrich, with no comment as to how the latter three found them.

Black Widow speaks with Nick Fury about the Avengers' encounter with his troops in X-MEN #30, which Fury assures her comes with no hard feelings.

Assemble: Yes, as the Avengers and X-Men dramatically arrive, via a 2-page spread, to help Xavier, Beast, and the rest, Black Knight shouts the battlecry. Not so corny anymore, is it Dane?! ("Avengers Assemble!" count: 8 in 37 issues to date.)

(Later, when U.S. Agent exlaims, "Let's rock n' roll," Beast says he had been hoping for "Avengers assemble" instead.)

My Thoughts: "Bloodties" is a good story, though as noted last time, it's really more of an Avengers tale (save for the fact that Exodus gets way more spotlight and development here than in the X-titles of the period). But even though that's the case, it also feels almost like a sort of interruption. I mean, the buildup feels organic enough, again as I mentioned last week, with seeds laid in issues of both AVENGERS and X-MEN during the prior year or so. And it's not the obtrusive sort of crossover that forces an ongoing series to sideline or change plans to accommodate it.

But at the same time, it feels out of place, in a way, amid the Gatherers stories, the Kree stories, and the various sub-plots. More than perhaps any other tale so far from this creative team, this feels like a true Avengers epic -- and I know I just said that about the Kree saga that ended with issue 366, but there I was speaking mainly in terms of scope -- the Avengers saved the world. Here, the stakes are smaller -- one island nation rather than the entire planet -- but the action feels more "four color comic booky", and the villain is a genuine super-powered powerhouse rather than a ragtag group of non-powered commandoes.

And because of that, it almost seems like it doesn't fit. It's like the Avengers of old have stumbled into the pages of the newer, more extreme AVENGERS series of the nineties. So yes, it does read like a bit of an interruption, even as it's a pretty good action/adventure story. But we'll be back to the Gatherers soon enough, so perhaps this works as a little, more classic-styled diversion before we get there. (And admittedly, it does appear to resolve the love triangle, as it looks by the end of the battle as if Crystal has chosen Quicksilver over the Black Knight -- but we'll find out for sure in upcoming issues.)

Next week, we'll step away from the AVENGERS series proper for the AVENGERS STRIKEFILE one-shot, and then the week after that we'll hit issues 370 and 371, a fill-in two-parter, in one go before Proctor and company rear their heads again (along with Harras, Epting, and Palmer, of course) in issue 372.