Avengers #345

Mar 1992

Bob Harras, Steve Epting

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Story Name:

Storm Warnings

Synopsis

Avengers #345 synopsis by Peter Silvestro

Rating:

Follows WONDER MAN #7

A massive solar flare caused by the opening of a stargate near the sun has destroyed the STARCORE space station. A team of Avengers (Quasar, Sersi, Vision, and new Thor Eric Masterson) is dispatched to search for survivors. They locate the station’s lifepod with the refugees but another stargate opens up and hundreds of Shi’ar ships emerge, heading for the first stargate. Seeing the Earth heroes as a threat, the lead Shi’ar ship opens fire. The super-powered Avengers aassault the ship and capture it….

Later, Captain America presides over a meeting of all the Avengers. The captive Shi’ar are shrunk by Hank Pym and contained along with Captain Atlas and Dr. Minerva. Since the use of the stargates in our solar system is threatening to cause the sun to go nova, Cap proposes a diplomatic mission to the Kree and Shi’ar to negotiate an end to the war. Cap divides the heroes into three teams: one to visit the Kree, one to go to the Shi’ar, and the third to remain on Earth. Hawkeye rebels against being assigned to Earth and uses Hank’s chemical to become Goliath once more. Cap then swaps him with a disgruntled USAgent. Quasar guides the ships on their journey and encounters the cosmic being Her.

Epilogue: Lilandra, the Shi’ar empress, is having moral qualms about their course of action—but her evil sister Deathbird arrives with a grim suggestion….

Continued in IRON MAN #278

Review / Commentaries

Avengers #345 Review by Peter Silvestro (February 8, 2014)

Review: After the intro revealing the threat to Earth to give the heroes (and the reader) a personal stake in the outcome of this war, it mainly settles into “Avengers get ready for action” rather than action itself. It’s a necessary issue, outlining the rest of the epic but a bit slow moving. The epic as a whole? One of the best multi-comic crossovers, marked by a complex story, tight plotting, strong characterization, and consistent quality. And it actually tries to mean something in the end!

Comments: Part 5 of Operation Galactic Storm. The teams are a) Kree: Captain America, Iron Man, Crystal, Hercules, Black Knight, Sersi; b) Shi’ar: Thor, Wonder Man, Vision, Scarlet Witch, Captain Marvel, Starfox, Living Lightning; c) Earth: She-Hulk, Falcon, Mockingbird, Spider-Woman, Hank Pym, Wasp, Gilgamesh, Hawkeye. Hawkeye and USAgent are then swapped.

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