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Avengers #35: Review

Aug 2020
Jason Aaron, Javier Garron

Story Name:

The age of Khonshu: part 3 - You don't beat the devil by being an angel

Review & Comments

Rating:
4 stars

Avengers #35 Review by (August 22, 2020)
The cover has Thor fighting Moon Knight, but the Asgardian is nowhere inside.

Blade's back in this title for the 1st time since he didn't actually quit in #32. I'm guessing he later *did* leave to have his apps in the Strikeforce series, and now is back from there. But Boy-Thing didn't accompany him in Strikeforce or here, so it remains to be seen if he's been ditched.

She-Hulk's obviously not dead here, as she is in the Empyre series. So does this mean the Age Of Khonshu story precedes Empyre? I guess we'll have to wait for the Immortal She-Hulk 1-shot to see what her post-Empyre status is.

The Marvel Fandom Wiki now calls the baby Brandy Selby which presumably means the Brandy sticks and is joined to Selby, her mother's surname.





 

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Avengers #35 Synopsis by Rob Johnson
Moon Knight has stolen the powers of Dr Strange, Ghost Rider, Iron Fist and Thor for the Moon God Khonshu to protect Earth's future from Mephisto.

This issue begins with a flashback to 1 Million BC. Khonshu has empowered the 1st caveman Moon Knight, and he and Khonshu's followers oppose the Avengers 1 Million BC (Odin, Agamotto (the 1st Sorcerer Supreme), Lady Phoenix (possessed by the Phoenix Force) and the 1st each of Black PantherGhost Rider and Iron Fist and the 2nd Starbrand (the 1st was a dinosaur)).

Now Khonshu boasts to his current followers that he saw the Celestial Progenitor fall to Earth and infect it (as seen in our 1st story arc). He saw the Starbrand comet try to burn the infection out (that's new to us). He saw the Asgardians arrive. But he is bitter that the  prehistoric Avengers didn't include him or his Moon Knight. And he gloats that he now has the hammer Mjolnir that Odin wielded.

A priest reports that the creation of pyramids on ley lines is proceeding apace as is the recruitment of mummified dead as soldiers. But there are still pockets of resistance to the Moon God's rule in Washington, Moscow, Krakoa and Atlantis. However a special Moon Train has been prepared to lead the Washington superheroes into a trap, and the priest hopes the Fist Of Khonshu (Moon Knight)  will help them. But the God is still missing the powers of Black Panther, Phoenix and Starbrand to complete the 1M BC set. Panther is a prisoner being tortured for his secrets and the Phoenix is unavailable, but MK is seeking the new baby Starbrand.

Last issue Khonshu and his Fist killed the Mephisto of this reality, but they knew that alternate-reality Mephisto's are also involved. 1 such arrives now for vengeance, a pirate Mephisto with pistols that fire soul-piercing rounds.

But we look instead at the Moon Train which is being paralleled by Blade and Captain America on motorbikes. They expect a trap but the prize is worth it. Jennifer Walters is standing on the railway line in human form, but she thinks angry thoughts to turn into She-Hulk and stop the train, enabling the other 2 to bust in through windows. Cap gives the mummies and warriors a chance to surrender, and then tells Blade no killing as they attack. She-Hulk breathes gamma-breath. They link up and then the occupants of their target carriage give in without a fight.

There they find the 3 sarcophagi they're after, and inside there are Dr Strange and Iron Fist in comas but Robbie Reyes is awake. They ask about Thor and he tells them that the Thunder God is buried in the sky (we know from #33 that he's deep in the middle of a pile of moons). As the 3 rescuers pick up the 3 rescued to take them to Dr Jane Foster at McCarthy Medical, Robbie adds that Moon Knight stole his Spirit Of Vengeance as well as his Hell Charger car. (If this is a trap I don't know when it will be sprung.)

Elsewhere Captain Marvel and Iron Man have been hiding/guarding the baby with the Starbrand (IM has her in a papoose on his chest). Last issue they were attacked by mummies, which they now easily dispose of. Tony Stark is freaked out that the team became minders for baby Starbrand while he was stuck in the past. A baby with such power is a disaster waiting to happen. But Carol Danvers points out that's why they *have* to keep an eye on her, and especially not let Khonshu get hold of her. She also mentions that he met the 1M BC Avengers in that past trip, and there was a Starbrand with them way back then so the 'Brand is intimately connected with the team. Tony doesn't want to think about that adventure so he changes the subject to naming the child, and suggests Brandy Star.

But Captain Marvel can't respond because she's been grabbed by hellfire chains which drag her into the boot of the Hell Charger where lives a tentacled demon. Moon Knight has arrived and when he gave the stolen powers to Khonshu he kept Ghost Rider's for himself. Iron Man starts to fight him but Marc Spector tells him that if they don't get the Starbrand then Mephisto will win. This stops Stark dead in his tracks. CM breaks free of the Hell Charger and sees the 2 talking. MK knows that Tony met Mephisto in the deep past, and on the way back he saw a horrible future which included an infinity of devils (#31). Stark is about to hand him the baby when Marvel takes IM and child away. Tony tells Carol to take the baby as far away as possible (which I guess involves space travel).

Back in his HQ Khonshu uses Mjolnir to defeat a Mephisto in spiked armour. He adds the body to a large pile. Remember that another thing that happened last issue was that Black Panther broke free of his chains and his captors/torturers. Now T'Challa has battled his way to this chamber to confront the Moon God.



Javier Garron
Javier Garron
Jason Keith
Matteo Scalera (Cover Penciler)
Matteo Scalera (Cover Inker)
Rachelle Rosenberg (Cover Colorist)
Letterer: Cory Petit.
Editor: Tom Brevoort. Editor-in-chief: C. B. Cebulski.

Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Black Panther
Black Panther

(T'Challa)
Blade
Blade

(Eric Brooks)
Captain America
Captain America

(Steve Rogers)
Captain Marvel
Captain Marvel

(Carol Danvers)
Doctor Strange
Doctor Strange

(Stephen Strange)
Iron Fist
Iron Fist

(Danny Rand)
Iron Man
Iron Man

(Tony Stark)
She-Hulk
She-Hulk

(Jennifer Walters)

Plus: Ghost Rider (Robbie Reyes), Khonshu.

> Avengers: Book info and issue index

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