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Avengers #295

Sep 1988
Walt Simonson, John Buscema

Story Name:

Beggars Would Ride


Synopsis

Avengers #295 synopsis by T Vernon
Rating: 4 stars
Cyborg dinosaurs called Dinodroids are attacking a large city and a division of armored soldiers is holding them off with great difficulty. The most dreaded one, Mechanisaurus Rex, appears on the battlefield, bringing terror to the troops but then it suddenly vanishes, plucked from its time by Kang-Nebula and teleported to Washington DC in Earth-616 where it attacks everything in sight….

At Avengers Hydrobase, the new chair, Doctor Druid, calls a meeting of the reduced team (She-Hulk, Thor, Black Knight) to discuss filling their ranks. Suddenly the blonde woman (who we know is secretly Kang-Nebula) appears in his head, giving him a vision of the monster in Washington and suggesting Thor be dispatched to deal with it. He comes back to himself and tells the others he has had a vision of disaster in DC and sends Thor, giving him a communicator should he need to summon the rest of the team. As Thor departs, he ponders how little he trusts Dr. Druid and his mysterious psychic powers….

Elsewhen, Lord Kang confronts Kang-Fred and offers him membership in the Council if he reveals what he has just discovered that was not picked up by the Council’s sensors. Lord Kang tells him that the Council is seeking the most powerful weapon in the Omniverse, which is in Kang-Fred’s Earth and timeline. K-Fred responds by telling them about K-Nebula’s interest in the same time and space. Lord Kang deduces she must be after the weapon and issues orders to have her watched as she may locate the weapon for them….

Meanwhile, K-Nebula, in her blonde guise, summons Dr. Druid to her realm and warns him that Thor cannot be trusted to follow Druid’s guidance (actually because Thor was able to resist her mind-control) and so must be removed from the Avengers….

Thor arrives in Washington, DC, to discover that place really is under attack by the Mechanisaurus Rex. Thor fights it but finds it more powerful than he thought so he summons the Avengers….

At Hydrobase, She-Hulk hears the alarm and races to the Quinjet—but Dr. Druid’s mental control convinces her she doesn’t like Thor and doesn’t want to help him. She shakes off this thought so, at Kang-Nebula’s urging, Dr. Druid mentally forces Jen back into a chair and clamps her in….

With no one arriving, Thor again tries to fight the Mechanisaurus Rex and is again nearly defeated. He hits the creature several times to no avail…until he realizes the mechanical monster can repair itself, giving him an idea….

The Kangs search Kang-Nebula’s quarters and discover bits of technology from various times and places, suggesting she seduced Kangs to get these items or simply stole them so her rooms are sealed and guarded as the Kangs decide to locate the Avengers to see if she has already obtained the weapon….

Druid hypnotizes She-Hulk into not exerting her full strength to escape from the chair. Black Knight attempts to sneak past him and take a Quinjet out to aid Thor but his exoskeleton makes him clumsy so that Druid hears him and hexes him into immobility. But seated where she is, Jen can give Druid a kick in the butt so that BK is able to take off. Druid’s blonde guide appears and rebukes him for his failure to control the Avengers, confusing him by being in his real world. She draws him under her power again and teleports him to help Thor. And Shulkie and K-Neb trade barbs….

Black Knight reaches Thor and tries to hover over the monster to free Thor from its grasp. But Dane finds his body slicing through the jet and the robot’s head as though he were the Ebony Blade. Thor smashes the monster’s damaged head so that it cannot repair itself and rescues BK from the river where he has fallen. But Thor cuts himself on Dane’s flesh, indicating he is merging with his armor. Thor rushes him to the hospital…

…as Dr. Druid and the rehypnotized She-Hulk plan to set a trap for Thor on his return….


 

Review / Commentaries


Avengers #295 Review by (May 24, 2024)
Comments: Part two of four parts. Title is the second part of a noted nursery rhyme, on wishful thinking, continued from the title of the previous issue. Only appearance of the Dinodroids of Earth-88304. The letters page includes one by noted letterhack/future comics journalist Charles S. Novinskie.

Review: A lot of scheming and plotting marks this issue: Druid manipulating the Avengers, Kang-Nebs manipulating Druid, more Kangs realizing they have been manipulated by Kang-Nebs, all over a secret weapon. But none of this matters because the comic has cyborg dinosaurs! This would give the issue an automatic six stars—if I were thirteen or younger. But I’m not, so it’s only four.  



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Elektra

Excelsioring your collection:
Kotobukiya Marvel Universe: Thor The Bronze Age ARTFX Statue, Multicolor
Holy smokes, Batman!
(The Boy Wonder)

John Buscema
Tom Palmer
Paul Becton
John Buscema (Cover Penciler)
Tom Palmer (Cover Inker)
? (Cover Colorist)
Additional Credits
Letterer: Bill Oakley.
Editor: Mark Gruenwald. Editor-in-chief: Tom DeFalco.

Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Black Knight
Black Knight

(Dane Whitman)
Doctor Druid
Doctor Druid

(Anthony Ludgate Druid)
Kang
Kang

(Nathaniel Richards)
She-Hulk
She-Hulk

(Jennifer Walters)
Thor
Thor

(Odinson)

Plus: Kang-Nebula (Ravonna).