Comic Browser:

The Avengers #320

Aug 1990

Fabian Nicieza, Paul Ryan

Story Name:

Underlying Currents (Part 2)

Synopsis

The Avengers #320 synopsis by T Vernon

Rating:

At the site of the terrorist hijacking of the Waterwind, the Avengers (Captain America, Sersi, Quasar, Vision, Stingray) and the Russian team the People’s Protectorate (Vostok, Perun, Fantasma, Crimson Dynamo, Red Guardian) are locked in combat over the best way to deal with the crisis when they are attacked by a war party of the last Atlanteans approaching—led by Tyrak, Orka, and U-Man—demanding they leave the area or die. The American and Russian teams decide that working together would be the best course of action. Perun starts swinging his axe while Crimson Dynamo fires blasts at their foes. Vision tries to reach into Orka to still his heart and render him unconscious but his body is too thick for him to reach it. So Vostok wraps Orka in a chunk of metal, securing him while Vision enters him bodily to pull his trick. Sersi uses her magic to turn the enemy bullets into flowers. Perun stops U-Man from shooting Sersi and Quasar in the back but the Atlantean’s gun fires, striking the Waterwind. The members of the Peace Corpse are divided. Strokov wants to stay and fight but Major Prokvitch sees the better option of finding a berth where they can effect repairs to ensure that they can still pursue the plan of threatening the United States with the sub’s nuclear arsenal….

Cap and Red Guardian debate whether to let the Waterwind go or abandon the fight with the Atlanteans. Meanwhile, Stingray decides on his own to follow and board the sub. He locates and frees the ship’s crew and starts looking for a way to contact the Avengers….

Back at the battle, Quasar is worried that he is growing tired and may accidentally kill one of his enemies. He is able to concentrate and take down several Atlanteans attacking the Quinjet. After Perun delivers an electrical attack on Tyrak, the Atlanteans retreat to their city. The two hero teams return to their ships. Red Guardian announces their plans to pursue the Waterwind and Cap agrees to join them. Stingray is reported missing; moments later he is able to call to say that he is aboard the stolen sub and they are entering a bay on Newfoundland when he is suddenly cut off….

The Waterwind enters Conception Bay, St. Johns, Newfoundland, Prokvitch rebukes Strokov for allowing the prisoners to escape; Strokov says it was to force the Major to commit to the plan. The two hero teams arrive. Prokvitch demands they be allowed to use the maritime facilities or they will start executing hostages. Cap orders them to free the prisoners and disarm the nukes. Both Vostok and Vision agree that the terrorists have only the hostages as their bargaining chip and so would not harm them. So Cap refuses the demand and Prokvich responds by shooting Stingray in the head. As the two hero team prepare to attack, they are interrupted by the arrival of Alpha Flight (Guardian (Heather McNeil), Diamond Lil, Box, Puck, Shaman) who claim jurisdiction as they are on Canadian soil….

Story #2

Changing of the Guard

Writer: Mark Gruenwald. Penciler: James Fry. Inker: Keith Williams. Colorist: Joe Rosas. Letterer: Gary Fields.

Synopsis

By T Vernon
Rating: 4 stars

At the Avengers’ new headquarters, security chief Michael O’Brien is supervising the installation of their large round conference table when he spies a light down the hall in a room that is supposed to be unoccupied. He goes to investigate and finds a Guardsman who removes his helmet to reveal his late brother Kevin, the original Guardsman. Kevin is angry that, having died in a battle with Iron Man, Michael did not avenge him. Michael explains that he tried but Iron Man convinced him that Kevin was wrong about Tony Stark trying to steal his woman. Kevin is offended that Michael would believe Tony Stark over his own brother. Suspecting an impostor, Michael grabs at Kevin’s face but Kevin judo flips him. Michael runs to where he can retrieve an assault weapon and threatens to shoot him but he becomes convinced that this really is Kevin and surrenders…and Kevin blasts him into unconsciousness….

Review / Commentaries

The Avengers #320 Review by T Vernon (November 23, 2024)

Comments: “The Crossing Line: Part 2 of 6: Vengeance!”—Cover. Atlantis was destroyed at the end of the ATLANTIS ATTACKS event, specifically in WEB OF SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #5.

Second story: Kevin O’Brien, the Guardsman, was killed IRON MAN #46.

Review: So the two hero teams were clashing over the best way to handle the terrorist incident when some Atlantean baddies stuck their oar in to create a battle-centric issue. So cool in fact that the cover shows the blue baddies running over the heroes whose faces are all hidden, probably out of shame. Cool but we also have the real villains, Peace Corpse (a pun that doesn’t work in Russian), showing some serious divisions while their sinister plot starts to unravel by means of their ride breaking down. And as if we don’t already have too many chess pieces on the board, Alpha Flight jumps in at the end to have three heroic teams bickering about the villains. Oh, and Stingray was shot in a very tense moment but he’ll be okay.

The second story is quite intense. Guardsman Kevin O’Brien was a major supporting character in Iron Man in the 1970s, he may be a bit too far back for contemporary readers to remember but with the magic of Marvel Unlimited we can now check out his backstory. Go ahead. Do it now. You’re back? Okay then, Michael’s mental anguish is almost palpable as his ghostly brother sounds more alive and active than ever. And we’re picking up a pattern for this backup series of tragedy and moral failure raked up from the good guys’ pasts. And it’s leading up to something fairly big.

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Main/1st Story Full Credits

Fabian Nicieza

Paul Ryan

Tom Palmer

Renee Witterstaetter

Paul Ryan (Cover Penciler)
Tom Palmer (Cover Inker)

Additional Credits

Letterer: Jack Morelli.
Editor: Howard Mackie. Editor-in-chief: Tom DeFalco.

All stories. Listed in alphabetical order.

Alpha Flight

Avengers

Captain America
(Steven Rogers)

Orka

Perun
(Lord of the Storm)

Puck

Quasar
(Wendell Vaughn)

Sersi

Vision

Vostok

Plus: BOX (Madison Jeffries), Crimson Dynamo (Dmitri Bukharin), Diamond Lil, Fantasma, Guardian (Heather MacNeil), Michael O'Brien, Red Guardian (Josef Petkus), Shaman, Stingray (Walter Newell), Tyrak, U-Man.

Thor

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The Avengers #320

Underlying Currents (Part 2)

Synopsis

Changing of the Guard

Synopsis

Review / Commentaries

Main/1st Story Full Credits

Additional Credits