SUFFERING FOR A CAUSE: A Midsommer Night's Foreshadowing (AVENGERS #390)

This is part of a stunt to make me read through notoriously bad Marvel crossover to raise money for the Maui Food Bank.  For every $80 I raise, I will discuss an issue, and especially generous donations will trigger bonus content.  To make your donation, go here.  Any amount will help!  And now onto the festival of fun--or tragedy....

The summer of 1995.  The Investor's Bubble is bursting, but no one's told the comic industry yet.  A number of new comics companies launch, although another company, Defiant (started by Jim Shooter after he was ousted from Valiant, which he started after he was ousted by Marvel) shuttered after two years.  Marvel, having purchased Malibu Comics, begins teasing their restructuring of the latter's Ultraverse titles.  And the Avengers...

The Avengers needed to get its sales up, leading to...shudder...'The Crossing.'

And it all begins here...with a prologue.

"Campfire Tales"
Written by Bob Harras from a story by Harras and Terry Kavanagh
Art by Mike Deodato
Inks by Tom Palmer

So a handful of Avengers from the tail end of the Harras/Epting run are hanging out at Tony Stark's cabin in the Adirondacks.  Deathcry--the Shi'ar niece of Queen Lilandra who was forced onto the Avengers by royal decree--is trying out for the next Marvel Swimsuit Edition in the pond outside, Quicksilver is behaving dickish for the entertainment of his daughter Luna, Magdalene and Hercules are...playing American Gladiator with tree trunks?  I can't tell...and Crystal is grilling treats brought to her by Swordsman and promising Lockjaw that yes, she will give him some.  It does seem like most of this opening scene is 'For Da Adults' considering the swimsuit choices; even Swordsman sports nothing but a black Speedo and Hercules is shirtless.  Hercules chases a runaway Lockjaw into a glade and meets Tuc, a Mysterious Youth With a Set of Avengers-Branded Tarot Cards.  This prompts Herc to take Tuc back with him to the campfire, where our Mysterious Youth reads their fortune.  Quicksilver is warned that there's a tragedy coming for him and Crystal, who is his soulmate.  Deathcry is warned that her homesickness may...cause trouble...I think.  Hercules is warned that there is a viper in the midst of the team.  And Marilla is told Luna loves her, which causes the Inhuman nanny to walk away depressed.  Later, when Luna is in bed, Tuc creeps into her bedroom and assures the toddler he did everything he could because 'the storm is coming'.  Oh, and Tuc claims Luna's his big sister.

(Oh, and in a two page sequence, Janet Van Dyne and Hank Pym are told that Jan is bankrupt..)

I should start off by saying I am one of those people who actually enjoyed the Bob Harras/Steve Epting run.  Yeah, it was flawed and desperately wanted to be X-Men (when your 350th anniversary issue is about your team fighting The Starjammers, that says more about you than the book you're supposed to be writing), but when it was good it was great.  And one of the things I love about this issue is the artwork--it's distinctly Deodato, but thanks to Inking God Palmer's inks, there's a visual continuity that makes the transition feel seamless.  Even though the fan service is off the chart it's overall good--if not great--storytelling that feels and looks like this series at this time.

But there are some flaws, beginning with the fact that this series is suffering from the 'Things Will Never Be The Same' Disease that affected Marvel after the initial success of the Clone Saga...and this cast is...vast.  There's so many different characters that Harras and Kavanagh want to give some time in the spotlight that somewhere the need to write an actual, you know, plot got lost.  And on top of that, they introduce a new character that is meant to be a Big Deal so we've got some spotlighting there, too.  I just never get the feeling that this is nothing more than a case of setting up the deck chairs with obtuse hints at what is about to come.  It's all...much ado about nothing.

(Yes, keeping up the pretentious Shakespeare posturing of both the comic and this article's title....)

At this point, I feel more confused than excited about what's to come--even though the last panel is sure to hype Avengers: The Crossing, a 48 page special that will 'change the Avengers forever.'

Famous last words...but at least Jan seems happy.

But before we get to that, it's time for Terry Kavanagh to start his run on everyone's favorite armor-wearing industrialist with Iron Man #319!  See you next time!

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