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Avengers #94: Review

Dec 1971
Roy Thomas, Neal Adams

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Story Name:

More Than Inhuman

Review & Comments

Rating:
5 stars

Avengers #94 Review by (January 27, 2012)
The Inhumans as a group first appeared in FF#45 (although Medusa had been around since FF#36), and we saw their city in FF#47. The black force field dome called the Great Barrier was deployed in FF#48. At that time the city was only referred to as the Great Refuge. Some information was first revealed in the origin of the Inhumans backup stories in Thor #146-152. The name Attilan was first used in #146. And in #147 we learned that the Inhumans were created by the Kree by experimenting on early humans. In #146 we were also told that the Inhumans induce mutations in their children with the Terrigen Mists. Presumably this is why they have brain-waves similar to the human mutants Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. Next issue we will discover that Maximus has promised that the Inhumans will support the Kree, which explains why the Skrulls want Attilan destroyed. Triton is an amphibious member of the Inhuman royal family. Clint Barton outdoes last issue's Ant-Man for irresponsibility by discarding his super-power in the middle of a serious situation. Craddock is after the Avengers as Kree sympathisers because of their alliance with Captain Marvel. This is the 1st appearance of the SHIELD Mandroids. (The Kree Mandroid in CM#18 is no relation.) The Super-Skrull drops out of the story here. Young Avengers #11 will describe some further actions he takes at the same time as next issue, but I'll cover them in the next Comments. He will turn up next in CM#25, working for a hidden master who will turn out to be Thanos (recently introduced in Iron Man #55), beginning the long association of Captain Marvel(s) with the Eternals of Titan.

With this issue the standard comic price goes up to 20¢. This is part 6 of the Kree-Skrull War. This is another issue split into 3 parts, but this time to allow different artists to work on the book. Tom Palmer inks the lot, but Neal Adams only pencils parts 1 and 3. John Buscema returns for the middle section. Part 1 "More than Inhuman" runs through Vision's encounter with Super-Skrull over the Inhuman city. Part 2 "1971: a space odyssey" deals with the events on the Skrull homeworld. The final part "Behold the Mandroids" returns us to Earth. Again the titles are derived from SF works:- Theodore Sturgeon's "More than human", the film "2001: a space odyssey", and probably Moorcock's "Behold the man". Skrulls can shape-shift, and so could imitate the Fantastic Four's appearance. But their powers are duplicated by technology. In his initial appearances in FF#18 and #32 Super-Skrull's powers (a combination of all the FF's) were also artificial, maintained by a power-beam from the Skrull homeworld. When we saw him in exile in Thor #142 and Captain Marvel #2-3 his power seemed self-contained. That exile was because of his failure against the FF. But in CM#2-3 he dreamt of marrying Princess Anelle and thence ascending to the Skrull throne. This has now escalated into the emperor's fear of Super-Skrull as a rival. It is mentioned here that the Kree have erected a Nega-Shield around the Earth, which only the Super-Skrull could pierce. This explains why he made use of the Skrulls already on Earth, while the rest of his starship's crew remained in orbit. One of the Earthbound Skrulls, as yet unrevealed, is Craddock. Princess Anelle was introduced and named in FF#37. Her father debuted in FF#18 but is still unnamed. He won't be called Dorrek until FF#205. I believe the Skrull home was revealed as the Andromeda galaxy in passing in FF#48. The mutiplying little creatures were seen in FF#37, and will be named Druffs by the Official Handbook.




 

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Avengers #94 Synopsis by Rob Johnson

Last issue Super-Skrull abducted Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch and the Kree Captain Marvel in his flying saucer. Captain America, Goliath, Iron Man, Thor and Rick Jones are left with 3 Skrull captives, who had been disguised as cows, and then as the male members of the Fantastic Four.

The Avengers contact the FF, who suggest they have run across the 3 Skrulls the FF hypnotised into thinking they were cows in FF#2. Reed Richards mentions that there was a 4th Skrull unaccounted for.

Meanwhile Vision has flown after the Skrull craft. Phasing inside he finds the Super-Skrull telling Marvel that he is using the mutant twins' special brain-waves to guide the ship to the home of the Inhumans, who have similar brain-waves. This was the only reason he wanted them.

Super-Skrull wants to destroy the Inhumans' city because they are related to the Kree, and Vision tries to stop him. The villain fires his weapon, but the city is suddenly defended by a black force field.

Vision reasons that he can't defeat Super-Skrull, so leaves him to tell the Avengers what is going on. Even though it means the Skrull takes his love Scarlet Witch home to the Andromeda galaxy.

Super-Skrull's saucer has now docked with a larger ship, which goes through a space-time warp instantaneously to the far galaxy. He has been in exile imposed by the Skrull emperor, who feared him as a rival. He hopes to end that exile with the gift of Captain Marvel. But when the royal palace's defences open fire on his ship, Super-Skrull retaliates, and considers making the bid for power that the emperor was worried about. The emperor's daughter Anelle watches her father remote weapons specially designed to capture and subdue his enemy.

The emperor transports Super-Skrull's 3 prisoners to his presence. He recognises Captain Marvel, and hopes to get the secret of the Omni-Wave from him, which Super-Skrull failed to get by subterfuge last issue. The Omni-Wave facilitates instantaneous communication, even between galaxies. But it can also be used to send a ray-beam to the heart of the enemy.

The Convention of Fornax prevents the emperor torturing the information out of the Kree Mar-Vell. But it doesn't apply to Earthlings. He transports Wanda and Pietro into an arena where they face a savage beast. But the real problem is some small things that may be mobile plantlife. The battle against the beast causes the small flora/fauna to rapidly multiply, threatening to suffocate the mutant twins with their numbers.

Anelle is a good-hearted girl who tries to persuade her father to stop. But Marvel agrees to help the Skrulls to save his allies' lives.

Back on Earth H. Warren Craddock, head of the Alien Activities Commission, tests an alien detection device on the men who were devolved into cavemen by the Kree in #91. It reacts to the traces of Kree influence.

In Avengers Mansion Clint Barton destroys his stock of Hank Pym's growth serum, saying that his failure to stop the Skrull saucer last issue means that he isn't worthy of being Goliath. But the remaining drug in his system will give him a short time left as a giant.

Vision arrives with his news. And Nick Fury calls to warn the Avengers to make themselves scarce. But he's too late, as Craddock sends 3 SHIELD agents in armoured suits called Mandroids against them. The Mandroids have been designed and trained by Tony Stark to take on even the Avengers. (Though Stark kept some of Iron Man's abilities secret from them.)

In the middle of the battle the Inhuman Triton crawls out of a drain.


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Preview Pages
Click sample interior pages to enlarge them:




Neal Adams
Tom Palmer
?
John Romita (Cover Penciler)
Neal Adams (Cover Penciler)
Tom Palmer (Cover Inker)
? (Cover Colorist)


Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Captain America
Captain America

(Steve Rogers)
Captain Marvel
Captain Marvel

(Mar-Vell)
Iron Man
Iron Man

(Tony Stark)
Mr. Fantastic
Mr. Fantastic

(Reed Richards)
Quicksilver
Quicksilver

(Pietro Maximoff)
Scarlet Witch
Scarlet Witch

(Wanda Maximoff)
Thing
Thing

(Ben Grimm)
Thor
Thor

(Odinson)

Plus: Andromeda, Goliath (Clint Barton), Mandroids, Super-Skrull.

> Avengers: Book info and issue index

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