AVENGERS #370 & #371

"DELTA FORCE" | "GODLINGS AND GLADIATORS"
Writer: Glenn Herdling
Issue 370: Layouts: Geoff Isherwood | Finishes: Al Milgrom & Kevin Yates
Issue 371: Breakdowns: Mike Gustovich | Finishes: Tom Palmer
Letterer: Bill Oakley | Colorist: Chris Matthys
Editor: Ralph Macchio | Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

The Plot: (Issue 370) Sersi falls from the sky and smashes into the Pentagon, where she speaks with the Deviant warlord, Kro, who now works for the U.S. government. Sersi explains that the Avengers (minus Vision and Black Widow) were summoned by a distress signal to Lemuria under the South Pacific Ocean, where they were promptly captured by Deviant shock troops led by Brother Karygmax. Karygmax cut off Sersi's arm, but the shock allowed her to break free of the mental control device he had placed on her (and the other Avengers') head. Sersi flew to find help and wound up with Kro. Kro then recruits several Deviants, living among the humans, to join his and Sersi's "Delta Force". The group heads to Lemuria, but they are promptly ambushed by more Deviant forces, as the Deviants' true leader reveals himself: the high priest Ghuar.

(Issue 371) In the Deviants' arena, Giant-Man and the Black Knight are forced to battle two of Kro's team, Ransak and Karkas. Meanwhile Ghuar is attacked by Kro, but turns Dragona and Tzabaoth, two more of Kro's team, against him. Back in the arena, the final two members of Kro's force, Enigmo and Red Bull, arrive to stop the battle. Giant-Man and Black Knight are freed from the Deviants' mind control, and the heroes go in search of Ghuar. Elsewhere, Guar gloats over the imprisoned Captain America, Hercules, Crystal, and Sersi, who he merges with Varua of the Young Gods to create a physical Uni-Mind. Ghuar wears the Uni-Mind, which gives him the power of everyone inside it, and challenges Black Knight and his allies. But the Uni-Mind is destroyed in short order, as Sersi reveals that she and Black Knight are joined in a sort of mini-Uni-Mind, which makes it impossible for her to participate in another Uni-Mind.

Though the Avengers and Kro's Delta Force are victorious, Ghuar declares Lemuria's indepdendence, and the heroes leave without further battle.

Continuity Notes: When issue 370 opens, the Avengers are said to be repairing damage to their mansion "wrought by the Genoshans." A footnote points to the prior issue for these events. This is presumably the explosion caused by one sole Genoshan mutate; the one who had been disguised as Luna.

Black Widow notes that the West Coast Avengers would normally handle an issue in Lemuria due to its location, but the team recently disbanded. Black Knight takes a passive-aggressive jab at Captain America in response to this statement. (Though Cap matches the Knight's pettiness in issue 371's finale, as he suggests that the Knight probably wanted to stay in Lemuria and execute Ghuar rather than leave.)

The group assembled by Kro consists of the Deviants called Dragona, Enigmo, Karkas, Ransak the Reject, Red Bull, and Kro's own twin children, Deb and Don Ritter, who can merge into one being called Tzabaoth.

When Karkas and Ransak are recruited, they are in the company of Sersi's fellow Eternal, Kingo, shooting a movie with him. But for whatever reason, Kingo is not invited to lend his own considerable skill to the rescue mission.

Assemble: In issue 370, Vision says that "...we must assemble the others," but that's it. ("Avengers Assemble!" count: 9 in 38 issues to date.)

My Thoughts: Yeesh. I mean, I know everybody has their own favorite lesser-utilzied characters in the Marvel Universe, but was anybody -- anybody on the face of the Earth, save perhaps Glenn Herdling -- really clamoring for an AVENGERS issue to read as a "back door pilot" for a Deviants series? Aside from Sersi, the Avengers themselves appear in a total of seven out of issue 370's twenty-three pages. The issue is basically a really bad homage to GIANT-SIZE X-MEN #1, as Kro and Sersi travel around, recruiting a bunch of Z-list Marvel characters to save the Avengers. It's painful to read.

And there can be no mistake that Herdling intends this story to set up some kind of return engagement by Kro and the Delta Force. The characters say as much on the final page, with Kro promising his team that "...Delta Force will reckon with Ghuar sooner than you think.") This is followed by the final panel, where the two mystery figures state that "...very soon, a war will erupt between the followers of Ghuar and the strike force of Kro." Thankfully, if it even ever happened, that isn't something I'm going to have to read as part of this AVENGERS retrospective!

It's really too bad one of the coolest Epting/Palmer covers out of their entire run, issue 371, which looks like a movie poster to me, is tied to such a dreadful story! Fortunately, next week, Harras and Epting will return in full force as the Gatherers saga begins its grand finale.