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Avengers #304

Jun 1989
Danny Fingeroth, Rich Buckler

Avengers #304 cover

Story Name:

…Yearning to Breathe Free


Synopsis

Avengers #304 synopsis by T Vernon
Rating: 4.5 stars
As Ellis Island in New York Harbor is being renovated into a museum of immigration, three Avengers show up for a visit in civilian dress: Steve Rogers, Thor, and Gilgamesh. On the tour, they find a young workman following them and mocking the exhibit: as a Native American, he says European immigrants were those who stole his ancestors’ lands. As they converse with him, the youth suddenly sees someone coming after him and he flees. Thomas Fireheart tells the Avengers to stay out of this and transforms into Puma, giving pursuit to the boy. The three heroes don’t care for this and change into Captain America, Thor, and Gilgamesh and attempt to stop him. Puma informs them that the boy, Charles Little Sky, possesses great power and his tribal shaman dispatched Puma to bring Charles home before disaster could strike; the boy denies this, claiming they just want to force all tribal members to remain on the reservation. So Puma pushes a giant scaffolding over on the heroes; while they are busy catching it, Puma seizes Charles and suddenly great power is unleashed, giant yellow swirls creating a portal in the air. And out of the portal emerge the U-Foes: Vector, Vapor, X-Ray, and Ironclad who were trapped in the Crossroads during their last encounter with the Hulk. A sudden attack from the bad guys quickly overpowers the heroes and Puma, who was inclined to stay out of the battle and recapture Charles, sees that he will have to join the Avengers’ side. So he attacks Ironclad to keep them occupied; they revive and there is a fantastic battle, mostly the Avengers finding mean to overcome the U-Foes' formidable powers—and they do. The battle over, Puma demands to leave with Charles; the Avengers insist the boy make his own decision. When Thor tries to stop Charles from leaving, he opens a portal and vanishes through it. Puma and Thor accuse each other of having messed everything up so that the boy escaped. Puma departs, angry. Cap points out that Charles Little Sky, Native American, has just becomes an immigrant to another dimension, entering via Ellis Island….


 

Review / Commentaries


Avengers #304 Review by (August 3, 2024)
Comments: Title comes from the poem by Emma Lazareth inscribed on the base of the Statue of Liberty. First appearance of Charles Little Sky who would become the hero Portal in DARKHAWK #5-6. The U-Foes were trapped in the Crossroads in INCREDIBLE HULK #304-305. Ellis Island opened as a museum in September 1990. The letters page includes one from future Comics 101 scribe Scott Tipton and one from future comics writer Eugene Ramos.

Review: Okay, the Avengers versus U-Foes battle is the highlight of the issue as fighting baddies with specialized powers forces writers to do their most creative thinking. But the Puma vs. Avengers bickering allows character to come into play, coming to a head in the final argument wherein Thor and Puma each make the case that the other guy screwed everything up. Not to mention enough material on the plight of the Indian to cause concern but not enough to actually form a theme. And a nice showcase for the little-seen Puma, a better Indian superhero than Red Wolf. But really, it was the U-Foes that made the issue.



> Avengers comic book info and issue index

Elektra

Excelsioring your collection:
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Holy smokes, Batman!
(The Boy Wonder)

Rich Buckler
Tom Palmer
Christie Scheele
Kieron Dwyer (Cover Penciler)
Peter Paul Prinz (Cover Inker)
Unknown (Cover Colorist)
Additional Credits
Letterer: Bill Oakley.
Editor: Howard Mackie. Editor-in-chief: Tom DeFalco.

Characters

Listed in alphabetical order. All stories.

Captain America
Captain America

(Steven Rogers)
Thor
Thor

(Odinson)
Plus: Ironclad (Michael Steel), Puma (Thomas Fireheart), U-Foes, Vapor (Ann Darnell), Vector (Simon Utrecht), X-Ray (Jimmy Darnell).

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