Hello and welcome to another week in the hallowed halls of comic book history. You know, if you take a long look at Marvel’s Bronze Age, you’d be hard pressed to find another era where it started out being absolutely flooded with horror comics, but then team books, such as X-Men and Avengers really took off into the stratosphere. Sure, you had some crime and horror books in the 1950s, then the early 1960s came along and The Fantastic Four, Avengers, and others were spawned, but the depth of the stories when compared to the Bronze Age, isn’t even close. Epic stories, like this one, are a prime example.
So far, we’ve seen the emergence of a new, frightening enemy named Korvac. After some luck and help from the Guardians of the Galaxy, the team managed to thwart a plan, forcing him to retreat. They then had t0 stop the insidious Ultron, as well! Now they’ve been caught in the web of The Collector himself! Let us now dive in and see the conclusion to this tale!
Now, in the presence of the Collector, Thor, Iron Man, Hawkeye, and Wasp immediately try to stop him. He outwits them at every turn at first, subduing Iron Man, Thor, and then Wasp. Hawkeye is the only one left, but his innate ability to dodge attacks, then get off a trick shot with an impact arrow, knocks out the Collector for a few seconds, which is enough time for the rest of the team to recover and stop him. They demand that he tells them why he attacked them, and he laughs at them initially, but being one of the cosmic elders of the universe, he feels as if he’s going to die soon, so he tells them his origin. He tells them about how he has been collecting specimens for centuries, and that he was content t0 sit on the sidelines for a while, until he realized that another powerful being had risen, and he needed to act. Just as he lets the others out of their enclosures, back on Earth, Korvac has figured out that his wife’s father, the Collector, has plans to stop him. Korvac lashes out with a powerful blast, and incinerates the Collector right in front of the Avengers!
As the team combs the ship of the Collector looking for clues, they realize that his computer’s memory banks have been turned to dust, as well. The team heads back to their headquarters to figure out who is responsible for these deaths. They don’t really get anywhere, and even end up fighting amongst themselves. Quicksilver leaves the team after a squabble with Vision, over the fact that Jocasta wants to help out. Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell) and Ms. Marvel also show up to lend a hand. Korvac realizes that they’re going to try and get Starhawk’s help, because of his cosmic awareness. He comments that he hopes they don’t find him, because he doesn’t want to have to needlessly kill them.
Iron Man seems desperate for help, and Starhawk may be the answer to his problem. He tells Iron Man that he still believes that this threat is Korvac, but no one else is on board. He leaves to further his suspicions. Iron Man and the others continue their efforts to locate any kind of energy fluctuation. Moondragon then interrupts a fight between Hawkeye and Quicksilver. She’s appalled by Quicksilver’s disdain for the relationship between his sister and Vision. She uses her immense psychic powers to enter his mind, and remove the hatred from his brain. Hawkeye is shocked at the ease of her actions. She walks away like nothing happened. The team then figures out that a strange energy signature has been triangulated in the Forest Hills area. The team has had its privileges revoked by the government, so they can’t use a Quinjet. Iron Man then commandeers a bus to drive the team there! Once they arrive, they are greeted by what seems to be a normal couple, in a typical suburban neighborhood. They enter the home, and inspect things, finding nothing. Iron Man can’t believe that they missed on this one, but when Starhawk asks why they are all talking to someone that isn’t there (remember, a few issues ago, Korvac made himself invisible to Starhawk), the team realizes they’re in the right house.
Korvac realizes that revealing himself has also revealed his presence to the powerful entities of the universe (Odin, Mephisto, Zeus). He knows that they’ll be after him sooner than later, so he has to kill the Avengers fast. Thor and Hercules engage him, but he swats them away like fleas. A couple of the Guardians attack him as well, but they aren’t more than a minor annoyance. He bulks himself up to an enormous size and radiates energy like crazy. A few on the team realize that his wife may be his Achilles’s heel, and they try to use her to stop him. This enrages him, but also shows Korvac that something isn’t quite right. She also has cosmic powers given to her by him, but she doesn’t use them. Korvac then knows that she loves him, but believes he is wrong. In the midst of this epiphany, the Avengers that haven’t been slain use a coordinated attack to stop Korvac. He seems to have lost his invulnerability after seeing inside her mind. Carina then goes berserk, and savagely attacks the remaining Avengers. She eventually succumbs to defeat, as well, and Moondragon then tells the team that Korvac and his wife weren’t evil, but wanted the universe to be free of Eternity‘s grasp. And also, that he gave life back to the fallen Avengers. Thor remarks to Moondragon that perhaps they were in the wrong, and Korvac’s blood is on their hands.
Well, that’s it for now, and I’ll be off on vacation next week (there will be a guest spot to fill in), but after that, we’ll get a look at another great book from the past! This story was action packed and even a little thought provoking at the end, as well! See you then!
Billy Dunleavy
billy@comicattack.net
