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Avengers #317

May 1990
Fabian Nicieza, Paul Ryan

Avengers #317 cover

Story Name:

Business as Usual


Synopsis

Avengers #317 synopsis by T Vernon
Rating: 4 stars
At Avengers HQ, Edwin Jarvis has lost contact with the Avengers who have set out into space to battle Nebula on her own ship. He tries to contact team member Quasar as being experienced in space but when he sees the size of Nebula’s ship—and the hint of one even larger behind it, he nearly panics, doubly wishing for the arrival of Quasar….

Meanwhile aboard Nebula’s ship, the Stranger has crashed his way onto the bridge, searching for Nebula. The Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Sersi, Vision, Spider-Man, Starfox) are stunned but Spidey is able to point the giant cosmic being to where she is tied up. Stranger picks her up but she is still under the effects of Starfox’s ability to excite the pleasure center of the brain. Spidey jumps up to remind the Stranger who he is but Stranger just ignores them all and departs with his prisoner for his own ship. The Avengers stand confused by this. Cap asks Sersi if she could read Stranger’s mind but she is terrified at what that could do to her brain; Cap informs her that they will have to learn the extent and limits of her powers later. Cap decides they will head over to the Stranger’s ship and are overwhelmed with its massive size; Cap calms down a nervous Spider-Man but as they are about to leave, a huge robot called Blockade comes over from the Stranger’s ship to stand in the hull’s breach and prevent the Avengers from crossing over to the larger ship. The Stranger contacts them by astral projection advising them to heed the robot’s warning but Cap says they will not leave until they learn what he is planning to do with Nebula. He informs them that Nebula stole from him. While he was away from his ship, Nebula and her sidekick Gunthar found a way to evade the security defenses and enter his ship. They located a special room and, despite Gunthar’s warnings not to mess with the Stranger, she cut her way through the sophisticated electronic lock and they entered the massive hold. And she stole the Infinity Union. This, the Stranger explains, is a combination of three devices of such enormous power that it can channel all forms of ambient energy into the user, which, in Nebula’s hands, could spell the end of the universe….

Back on Nebula’s ship, Iron Man and Starfox are questioning Gunthar about Nebula’s plans and they learn about the Infinity Union. The baddie reveals that Neb’s ultimate plan is to create ultimate entropy, the death of all there is; he also reveals that the device has been booby-trapped so that if anyone other than Nebula touches it, it will result in the annihilation of this entire sector of space. Iron Man races off to warn the others aboard the Stranger’s ship…

…where the Stranger is contemplating the unconscious Nebula whose mind is still blocked by Starfox’s manipulation of her brain so he is unable to scan it for the whereabouts of his stolen property. Stranger can guess what she wants the Infinity Union for as the recent blips in the universe hint at her scheme but does she realize that the power needed to temporarily eradicate the universe would have been absorbed by the Infinity Union? He increases the power of his psychic probes to try to locate it, causing severe distress to Sersi and Spider-Man, whose Spider-Sense goes mad. Cap determines that no one should have possession of the deadly device and so their goal is to locate and destroy it, moreso when Iron Man arrives with the warning. The Avengers fan out to search the ship. Spidey, still trying to get used to battling cosmic menaces, locates the Infinity Union with his Spider-Sense. Recalling Shellhead’s warning but worried that the Stranger or Nebula might find it, Spidey shoots a web toward it—and it activates, blasting Spidey across the room….

Meanwhile, Quasar arrives at the Avengers Mansion construction site, looking for any of his teammates. He locates Jarvis in the communications room; Jarvis fills him in on the Nebula situation, showing him her and Stranger’s ships near the moon. Quasar is shocked—and then the screen explodes, hurling them across the room….


 

Review / Commentaries


Avengers #317 Review by (November 1, 2024)
Comments: Part four of five parts. The Infinity Union appears only in this issue and the next; you’d think Thanos would be interested in his daughter possessing yet another Infinity doohickey. Only appearance of Blockade. Quasar is coming from issues #8-10 of his own book. Spidey met the Stranger in MARVEL TEAM-UP #55 which he describes as Mike Tyson versus Billy Barty (Heavyweight boxing champion, 1966- versus diminutive (3 ft 9 in) actor Billy Barty, 1924-2000). Spidey also favors Nathan’s Hot Dogs, a famous New York City treat; he also jokes about the Teamsters Union, a powerful labor organization in the USA, and reveals himself a fan of GILLIGAN’S ISLAND (1964-1967), a notoriously silly sitcom. And Thor says “you’re” when he means “your” though it’s more likely a lettering problem.  

Review: When one fantabulous cosmic menace is destroyed just wait…another will be along in a few minutes. And here we thought when the original magical McGuffin had its plug pulled, we could rest easier. Nump. The Infinity Union is compared to the Ultimate Nullifier, placing it in the category of “big sci-fi thingies which have the power to do whatever the writer wants it to do.” And that’s what it does. The issue is pretty cool, involving a Big Cosmic Guy who treats the humans as real beings who deserve an explanation. There’s a lot of spectacle and enough to boggle the mind of Spider-Man, as a way of convincing the reader of how amazing it all is. And it is cool.   



> Avengers comic book info and issue index

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Holy smokes, Batman!
(The Boy Wonder)

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

Characters

Listed in alphabetical order. All stories.

Captain America
Captain America

(Steven Rogers)
Iron Man
Iron Man

(Anthony Stark)
Jarvis
Jarvis

(Edwin Jarvis)
Quasar
Quasar

(Wendell Vaughn)
Spider-Man
Spider-Man

(Peter Parker)
Starfox
Starfox

(Eros)
Thor
Thor

(Odinson)


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