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Hey everyone, welcome back to Ye Olde School Cafe’! In this week’s edition, we’ll be digging even further into Celestial Madonna then we did in part 1. This Avengers tale is my favorite of all their epic adventures for many reasons; Kang, Immortus, Rama-Tut, The Avengers, and also the scenes which are about to unfold in part #2 right now!
So, when we last left off…. The Avengers are in Saigon trying to help Mantis figure out her true origin. She kung-fu kicks a couple of would-be muggers, then Nomad (Captain America/Steve Rogers) shows up to let his friends know he’s busy fighting the Serpent Squad and will help after he finishes them off. There is also the business of Kang and Rama-Tut fighting after they were both whisked away by Kang’s time machine. The two combatants are seen in a physical confrontation, but Tut is somehow pulled away from the fight and both men end up in some sort of royal chamber full of unknown devices. At this point, both gentlemen are introduced to Immortus, Master of Time and Limbo. In this crazy dimension, time doesn’t exist; or should I say, this realm exists outside of time. Immortus explains this to Kang while Tut is unconscious, and then the two also talk about their goals. Immortus realizes he can use Kang to attain his goals while letting Kang think he’s also getting what he wants.
After we see the Avengers bid farewell to Nomad and start on their journey to help Mantis, Kang tells Immortus of his new scheme to get rid of The Avengers. Kang looks at the equipment and understands how it works. He uses said machinery to  make carbon copies of: The Frankenstein Monster, Wonder Man, The Human Torch, Midnight (from Master of KungFu), The Ghost ( a Silver Surfer villain), and Baron Zemo (the original dead guy). At this point, Kang turns on Immortus, and captures him in one of his own devices. Kang then transports his army of dead villains and the Avengers back in time to a castle in 1974. Here he tells the heroes that they will have to fight their way through a maze underground, all while dealing with his undead legion.
The next issue focuses solely on The Avengers fighting Kang’s risen dead. It’s titled “Kang War II,” and the first page shows Kang towering over the Avengers ready to pummel them. The front cover states, “One of the Avengers pictured on this cover will perish in this very issue! But which one?” The first person we see is The Mighty Thor. He swings his enchanted hammer, but it does no good against Kang’s futuristic technology. For some insane reason, Thor thinks changing into Donald Blake will help, but no sooner does he do that when he is attacked by Frankenstein. He quickly changes back to Thor and fights the creature to a standstill. Frankenstein then seems to lose interest, and wanders off with Thor following him.
We next see police in Saigon trying to conduct an investigation on the happenings with The Avengers. They try to question a robed figure, but he easily shrugs off their attempts to subdue him. This same figure is then approached by the spirit of the Swordsman. Next, The Vision is attacked by Wonder Man and Torch. He easily thwarts both of their attacks, but realizes he’s outnumbered so he makes an escape by turning intangible and walking through a wall. Normally that would get him out of danger, but he’s followed by someone else who can become as the mist itself – The Ghost! Not far from that scene, we see Mantis walking these horrific hallways only to be greeted by Midnight. He is a master of martial arts, but she’s no chump either, and the two start a pugilistic war. Iron Man and Hawkeye run into each other, then run right into Kang, Wonder Man, Torch, and Zemo. Iron Man tells Hawkeye to flee and find the others to get help, and although he’s reluctant at first, he leaves Tony behind in certain doom. Kang blasts Iron Man from behind, then the Torch grabs him and cooks him from the inside out. Kang then pronounces Iron Man dead, and the team of zombies moves on to their next target.
Finally, The Ghost is trying to catch up with Vision, but encounters Mantis instead. He leaves her alone though, because Kang doesn’t want her harmed. As Vision walks down a passageway, he senses an eerie presence. He is then confronted by Joost Van Straaten (A.K.A. The Ghost). Vision tries to use his power beams that emit from his eyes, but they are ineffective. The two wraiths then have a bit of a war of words, but then Vision uses his intangibility to disrupt the creature, which also proves useless. The Ghost then gives Vision some of his own medicine by using his intangible powers to disrupt his android body, and he drops to the ground screaming in pain. Just as this is happening, Mantis comes around the corner to see her teammate lying on the floor ready to die!
At this point in our story I will stop, because the next issue will finish up this battle with The Legion of the Unliving, and also springboard into the next segment of this story that shows the origin of The Vision. If you don’t know it or think he’s just some lame android, then come back next week for quite a story. See you then!
Billy Dunleavy
billy@comicattack.net