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The Avengers #308

Oct 1989
John Byrne, Paul Ryan

The Avengers #308 cover

Story Name:

Journey


Synopsis

The Avengers #308 synopsis by T Vernon
Rating: 4 stars
In an odd golden craft supplied by the Lava Men, the Avengers (Captain America, Black Panther, She-Hulk, Thor, Sub-Mariner, Quasar) are rushing to get help for the gravely injured Gilgamesh. He appears to be dead but he is an Eternal and that race is nearly immortal….

Back at Avengers Island, Invisible Woman is slowly lowering the Island which she had been supporting in the air with her force field, until Mr. Fantastic tells her it can be safely dropped into place. The West Coast Avengers (Wasp, Wonder Man, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Tigra, Hank Pym) prepare to depart, saying their farewells to Jarvis who tells them that his injured eye is healing nicely and he may soon get rid of the “diabolical looking” patch over it. The Avengers arrive after all the others have left; their odd craft reveals that it was literally made up of the bodies of the golden Lava Men. They rush Gilgamesh to their medical lab where the instruments tell them he is neither alive nor dead. Cap has an idea where to go for aid….

In Greece, an elderly shepherd is startled to see his sheep vanishing into what appears to be an invisible doorway; he locates it and is yanked through into Olympia, home of the Eternals. The shepherd is terrorized by the prankster Sprite, until he is halted by Ikaris who rebukes Sprite and apologizes to the old man; Makkari rounds up his sheep and they send him back to his own world—but not before Sprite gives one last mocking gesture, frightening the old man away. Ikaris again rebukes Sprite for his unwelcome clowning while the trickster responds by condemning Ikaris’ lack of a sense of humor. Ikaris senses that there is a flavor of death hanging over the city since the majority of their fellow Eternals merged into the Unimind and departed. Thena and Phastos agree, wondering if there is some imminent danger to the Eternals and ponder whether to strengthen the city’s defenses. Sprite overhears and heads to the central machines to adapt them—with humor….

A Quinjet lands on a Manhattan penthouse patio; Cap greets Sersi, Eternal and former Avenger, who is happy to see him—until she spots Gilgamesh. Sersi is shocked as she has never seen an Eternal in this condition before. She tells the Avengers they must take Gil home to Olympia. They fly out to Greece but there is no Olympia there, just a smoking crater in the ground….

Meanwhile in a suburban neighborhood in Cresskill, New Jersy, a house suddenly explodes. Professor Harker emerges from the rubble, saying, “That was almost it….”


 

Review / Commentaries


The Avengers #308 Review by (August 31, 2024)
Comments: Part one of three parts. The Avengers’ previous encounter with the Eternals was in issues #246-248, ending with the departure of the Unimind. Black Panther and Quasar vanish from the story at midpoint without explanation. Professor Harker was first seen in issue #306. T. Fine contributed to the inks.  

Review: What is wrong with Gilgamesh? Do we care? He is a recent addition to the team but comes off as a more boring version of Thor or Hercules. But then the Eternals should have been kept as a separate continuity and not folded into Earth-616 as they are redundant: with the Greek gods especially, and most other pantheons. The West Coast Avengers don’t do anything either while Reed and Sue just wrap up a loose end from last issue. So the entire issue is the Avengers showing loyalty to their new teammate by trying to get him help but are at a stalemate. The writing and art aren’t bad, it’s just that not much is going on and what is happening centers on a character who isn’t very interesting.



> The Avengers comic book info and issue index

Elektra

Excelsioring your collection:
KOTOBUKIYA BLACK PANTHER MOVIE BLACK PANTHER ARTFX STATUE
Holy smokes, Batman!
(The Boy Wonder)

Main/1st Story Full Credits

Paul Ryan
Tom Palmer
Christie Scheele
Paul Ryan (Cover Penciler)
Tom Palmer (Cover Inker)
Unknown (Cover Colorist)
Additional Credits
Letterer: Bill Oakley.
Editor: Howard Mackie. Editor-in-chief: Tom DeFalco.

Characters

All stories. Listed in alphabetical order.

Black Panther
Black Panther

(T'Challa)
Captain America
Captain America

(Steven Rogers)
Invisible Woman
Invisible Woman

(Sue Storm)
Jarvis
Jarvis

(Edwin Jarvis)
Mr. Fantastic
Mr. Fantastic

(Reed Richards)
Quasar
Quasar

(Wendell Vaughn)
She-Hulk
She-Hulk

(Jennifer Walters)
Sub-Mariner
Sub-Mariner

(Namor McKenzie)
Thor
Thor

(Odinson)
Plus: Lava Men, Phastos, Sprite, Thena.

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