She-Hulk, called out by A.R.M.O.R. to deal with the threat
from another dimension, tries to talk Lyra into surrendering peacefully, joking
that she can get her Thundra’s autograph. Mention of her mother induces Lyra to
clobber the uncomprehending Jen and the battle is on. Norman Osborn watches
remotely, seeing the chaos as furnishing a pretext for H.A.M.M.E.R. to take
over A.R.M.O.R., as he explains to Ares. Pilot Alex Erde tells H.A.M.M.E.R.
that Lyra is looking for the “greatest hero of the era,” which interests the
newly arrived Sentry. As the two She-Hulks battle it out, Jen refers to Thundra
as a hero, which enrages Lyra; in her world, “hero” is an obscene word….
Earlier, in Earth-8009, Lyra and her team of women warriors
fight a band of male berserkers called the Howlers, modelled after Wolverine.
They drive the enemy off but one of the women, Syrani, is gravely wounded. Lyra
offers to heal her using treatments recorded by Boudicca but the woman refuses,
as none of them trust Lyra, seeing her as a monster. So Syrani dies a warrior’s
death and is buried. The women come to Gateway (St. Louis), inhabited by other
male tribes: the Crawlers (after Venom), Men of Gold (Sentry), Goblinkin (Green
Goblin), and Wargods (Ares). As the women create a diversion, Lyra enters the
building housing the men’s birth cradles, which was the HQ of Origins Unlimited,
a company offering genetic treatments to give customers super-powers, leading
to the current conditions. Lyra takes the needed circuitry out of the men’s
cradle, a bit uncertain over ending the men’s ability to create young, and
departs, only to be attacked by her teammate Nella….
As Lyra pounds Jen, she denounces Thundra for fleeing to the
world of superheroes who ended up destroying her world—and reveals that Thundra
was her mother. But Jen also learns Lyra’s number one flaw: the madder she
gets, the weaker she becomes. Then Sentry arrives and tosses Shulkie into the
sky and presents himself as the greatest hero of the era. Lyra responds that
she is seeking Norman Osborn. And Iron Patriot arrives with his Avengers,
Spider-Man (Venom), Wolverine (Daken), Captain Marvel (Noh-Varr) in tow….
“Court Costs!”
Writer: Chris Claremont. Pencils: Alan Davis. Inks: Josef
Rubinstein. Colors: Paul Becton. Letters: Tom
Orzechowski
Reprinted from SOLO AVENGERS (1987 series) #14.