Avengers #118: Review

Dec 1973

Steve Englehart, Bob Brown

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Story Name:

To The Death!

Review & Comments

Rating:

Avengers #118 Review by Peter Silvestro (February 15, 2010)

Chapter 11 of the epic Avengers/Defenders crossover; story continued from DEFENDERS #10; story concludes in DEFENDERS #11. Frank Giacoia was also an inker in this issue.

Avengers #118 Review by Rob Johnson (September 16, 2013)

Dormammu at last makes it clear he never intended to cure Loki's blindness, and traps his ally in a cage. Loki uses an ability not seen since Journey into Mystery #108 to become an insect to escape. Coincidentally Loki gets cured of blindness when the Eye sends Dormammu's energy into him. But the Watcher says that Dormammu will eventually regenerate. Dormammu does indeed regenerate, and will reappear in Dr Strange (1974) #6, which will lead into a crossover with the Avengers as Dormammu tries to get revenge on Wanda. The final chapter of the Avengers/Defenders War will be in Def#11 where the Defenders use the Eye to find where Black Knight's spirit has gone. And there's an epilogue in our next issue where we learn what happens to Loki.

Every hero active in the Marvel Universe at the time is shown battling the transformed monsters. Plus Dracula and Thanos. Fantastic Four have Medusa instead of Invisible Girl because this is after FF#132 where Medusa took Sue's place after Sue and Reed broke up for a while. It is strange that every normal human we see has been transformed into a monster, but not the heroes. Dr Strange casts a spell to protect the Avengers & Defenders, but not anybody else. The only exception we see is that Val de Fontaine of SHIELD becomes a monster, while Nick Fury and Dum-Dum Dugan don't. Fury here sports an injury acquired in Captain America #165. Dormammu uses the rampaging Mindless Ones as a defence. They 1st appeared in Strange Tales #127. In later years it will come to seem like everyone and his dog can control them. Because it's the Avengers' book, the Defenders get defeated before *they* do. But then all the Avengers except Iron Man, Scarlet Witch and Thor get trapped in a quicksand. The 2 males then get reduced to their alter egos, leaving Wanda alone to win the day. But at the end Strange casts a spell to make everyone forget the revealed secret identities. (But presumably Stark and Blake remember because they learnt each other's id in #113.) Vision is unaccountably paralysed when he's fallen in the quicksand. I believe this is an early hint of the revelation in Giant-Size Avengers #3 that he was made from the WWII android Human Torch, who was once buried alive.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Avengers #118 Synopsis by Peter Silvestro

This story follows on from DEFENDERS (1972) #10

Dormammu uses the completed Evil Eye to merge his dimension with ours, mutating humans into rampaging monsters. As SHIELD and Earth's other heroes battle the monsters, the Avengers and the Defenders enter the Dark Dimension to defeat Dormammu and Loki. After defeating the Mindless Ones, the heroes come face to face with their foes and battle is joined. With the power of the Evil Eye, Dormammu manages to defeat all the heroes except the Scarlet Witch; a betrayed Loki turns on Dormammu, giving the Witch the opportunity to use her hex power. Dormammu is absorbed into the Evil Eye and destroyed, and the eye's discharge of power drives Loki insane. The heroes are congratulated by the Watcher and sent home with the Evil Eye.

This story will continue in DEFENDERS (1972) #11

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