Synopsis / Summary / Plot
Warlock and the Infinity Watch #19 Synopsis by
Rob Johnson
In Avengers Mansion various heroes (including the Infinity Watch's guest Maxam) chase Pip The Troll of the Watch but he always manages to teleport away until Wolverine grabs him by the throat and threatens him with his claws. Pip knows that if he teleports he'll only take Logan with him so he surrenders. They give him and his 'superhero uniform' a long bath to get rid of the stink of both of them while some other heroes distract Drax, another Watch member and Pip's friend. Pip swears revenge.
Meanwhile half the Galaxy away Galactus and his Herald Morg pause before he consumes another planet because he has sensed something amiss in the universe. But it's source is hidden from him. He is of course detecting the effects of the Goddess, Adam Warlock's discarded good feminine side, who has started her Infinity Crusade to cleanse the universe of evil. And in another part of the Galaxy the Celestials have also sensed the Goddess but can't tell if her designs conflict with their own mysterious plans. Death is also concerned about the Goddess. She uses the Infinity Well to discern her true intentions and laughs.
Adam himself has just returned to Monster Island after rescuing Thanos and the Reality Gem (in Warlock Chronicles #2) from where Goddess had sent them. But he found the rest of the Infinity Watch missing from their castle. Their landlord Mole Man shows up to complain about them continually wrecking the place, but he doesn't know where they've gone. Only that Mr Fantastic was with them, which he finds particularly disturbing since Reed Richards is his enemy who he suspects of plotting against him. Furthermore when is Warlock going to tell the world that his country of Subterrania is an ally of the Watch? Adam suggest they table the matter until the current crisis is over, but Moley demands to know *what* crisis this is. He angrily follows Adam into his room but then backs out when he discovers that the interior is now a featureless infinite void containing only the Orb Of Eternity.
Back in Avengers Mansion the assembled heroes continue to consider what to do about the Goddess. But they have to eat so cucumber sandwiches have been provided, which is another thing that annoys Pip. MrF, Iron Man and Vision talk to Maxam about his amnesia. Vizh also initially had amnesia when Ultron-5 created him so Maxam wonders if he too is an android. But IM checks and he isn't.
As seen at the end of WC#2 Thanos has been watching the events on Monster Island and in Avengers Mansion. He feels Maxam merits further study but for now must try to discover more about the Goddess. He knows she's using Cosmic Containment Units (Cosmic Cubes) but he also knows that Warlock's evil side Magus found them an unreliable tool (in the Infinity War event). So he suspects that they can't be her only weapon. To learn more he'd have to investigate Paradise Omega, the planet she created on the far side of the Sun. But his probes can't breach the planet's defences and he further suspects she's hiding something important there. So he leaves the AI of his base with the instruction to ready Dreadnaught-666 and enters his mammoth spacecraft to go to the Solar System, 1st stop Monster Island (where he'll meet up with Adam Warlock in IC#3).
We now see that the other Watch members Gamora and Moondragon are some of the heroes who have joined Goddess on Omega. Silver Surfer is patrolling the space around the planet when Goddess' spokeswoman Moondragon mentally contacts him to go further out. On the planet Gamora is questioning the wisdom of Goddess imposing her will on alien races rather than trying to make them allies. Moondragon doesn't tolerate *any* heresy and mind-blasts Gamora into submission. Gamora promises never to doubt again (but will she?).
Surfer's wider patrol takes him to Titan, moon of Saturn, where he pops in to recruit Mentor and Eros, expecting them to see the rightness of Goddess' crusade as he does. But he finds them and the other Titanians in a catatonic state. Before he can wonder if this is Goddess' doing, Moondragon calls him back to Omega (where he will rebel in IC#3).
Finally our attention returns to Pip who's having no luck persuading anyone to send out for pizza. He's even more determined to make everyone recognise him as a true hero. (And this too will unfold in IC#3.)