This specifically doesn't count; and yet, here we are!

I did check a couple stores and more than a few bins, to see if I lucked into another iteration of Avengers #23: Bendis had one in 2012, Hickman in 2014 that looks like the new issue of 'Infinity,', and course there were stacks of variants and spin-offs: West Coast, New, Academy, Savage, Spotlight, Uncanny...the point is just that comics numbering is largely a nightmare and probably a hindrance to new readers. But, we've got one more issue, partly because I think I've bought it more than once and keep forgetting! From 1994, Avengers Annual #23, "Strangers on an Astral Plane" Written by Roy Thomas, art by John Buscema.

Yes, it's a riff on the Hitchcock classic Strangers on a Train, albeit in a bit more forced way. Pluto and Loki bump into each other, on a distant astral plane: Pluto was currently forbidden by Zeus from leaving Hades, while Loki was trapped in Mephisto's hell, yet they seem to be out for a little constitutional. And, Loki suggests, maybe they can help each other out: Loki could bump off Hercules, while Pluto wacked Thor. They would be able to look innocent; or at least set up alibis ahead of time. Back at Avengers' Mansion, it's two of the main activities we usually see there: training and brooding! Hercules and Captain America are both distracted and gloomy today. There's probably a board for it somewhere, like you see at daycares or animal sanctuaries.

In Hades, Loki frees the Titan Typhon, who should just be happy to get away from the torture, but wanted revenge against Herc and the Avengers for beating him way back in Avengers #50; also by Roy and John! Loki also frees some other Titans, partly because they jumped him, but also because Hercules would probably have back-up. He maybe didn't have to worry; since when the Titans attack Herc at a fancy restaurant, Herc refrains from calling the Avengers, but his ID card is activated in the fight. The Avengers don't arrive in time, as the Titans escape with the captured Herc, for a quick trip back to Hades, to dip Herc in the waters of the river Lethe, which brings forgetfulness! (This memory loss for Herc was a plot point in the MST3K favorite Hercules Unchained! Although I don't recall if the Lethe was mentioned by name.) Not remembering otherwise, Hercules is easily convinced that Typhon was his pal, and they all had been wrongly sent to Hades by Zeus, which is close enough to crap Zeus actually had done to Herc that it seems true. Sneaking up Mount Olympus, Typhon recovers his axe from a mystic brazier which then goes out, reducing the Olympic pantheon to mere intangible wisps.

The Avengers currently had Thunderstrike on the roster, and while he wasn't as adept at transporting to other realms as Thor, he's able to (eventually) get the team to Olympus: the team had figured Typhon might want to kill Hercules in front of Zeus, and Cap recognizes this as being not unlike Typhon's last appearance. While the Avengers fight the other Titans, it's down to Cap--who was at a low point, the "Fighting Chance" storyline where the Super-Soldier Serum was breaking down in his system. Cap goads Herc with comments about his dead wife and kids, which led to Herc having to complete his Twelve Labors to redeem himself, and in remembering, Herc diverts a river, washing Cap headfirst into a wall. Herc goes after him, intent on maybe showing him how he strangled the Nemean Lion, but the water of Olympus returns his memories. Hercules then rescues Cap, and together they start in on Typhon; with Cap passing his axe to the other Avengers to relight the brazier; even though Typhon reverts to a more horrible tentacled version in the fight.

With the Titans defeated and Zeus and the other Olympians restored, Typhon is questioned but refuses to talk; and Pluto has been chilling with his wife Persephone, innocent as a baby lamb. Still, now Pluto has to make arrangements to re-imprison the Titans...and kill Thor. That would be in Thor Annual #19, which I'm pretty sure wasn't the best. Also this issue: Giant-Man and Vision in "Master of his own Density," story and art by Al Milgrom. An AI "Glitch" that looks like a more articulate Kremzeek tries to take over the Vision. In a training session, Giant-Man realizes the Vision was getting dumber every time he tried to change his density, until Glitch takes over. But Glitch may end up in his own trap...

I went back to add the Pluto/Persephone panel, since it was a very Buscema panel, and great! And I did like to see Herc's concern and honestly, affection, for Cap: like Thor, Herc seems to just like Cap more than the other Avengers usually do. Read more!

I have to wonder how many Punisher fans stuck around after this issue, if any.

It's a little weird for that lot, I think. From 1993, Quasar #42, "The White Room" Written by Mark Gruenwald, pencils by Andy Smith, inks by Ralph Cabrera.

Quasar was still dead, after Infinity War, and Thanos had released a copy of Marvel Boy--now calling himself Blue Marvel to serve as a pawn. (I don't know that Gruenwald had a great handle on Thanos; and I'm not 100% sure what Thanos allegedly even wanted Blue Marvel to do. In fact, that maybe was the Magus's duplicate Thanos.) Blue Marvel had quantum bands like Quasar, but was childish, petulant, and just an all-around jerk. I'm not sure I've ever read old Marvel Boy comics--there weren't a lot of them--but I wonder, was he a jerk in those? I know he'd eventually be updated into "the Uranian," and be more alien and weird than just a brat. Anyway, Blue Marvel had fought Captain Marvel (Monica Rambeau) and here fights Hercules, Black Knight, and the Eric Masterson Thor. He does manage to get a shot in on Thor, knocking his helmet crooked so he couldn't see out of it, predating the classic Black Canary twists the Flash's mask from JLA: Year One. He then nearly gets choked out by Captain Marvel, and has to quantum-jump away.

Meanwhile, Quasar himself was in the White Room, seated at a long table, with various other Protectors of the Universe from the past. The other Protectors did not seem to have a concensus on what exactly the White Room was: heaven? A trophy room? Purgatory? Storage? Not particularly spirtually inclined, Quasar believes this to be "a crazy hallucination in the dimension of manifestations," which he had visited in an earlier issue, and was where abstract beings took shapes to appear in this universe. The other Protectors think, there might have been somebody else in that seat before him...

Then, we get to our big guest-star, the Punisher, gunning down some nobodies. He is approached by Blue Marvel, who's impressed that he kills people, without powers, and wants to learn from him. Frank isn't interested, so Blue Marvel tries a more battle-ready 90's look, with a helmet and guns. And in another subplot, on the planet Scadam--from the computer game tie-in Questprobe--Kayla Ballantine, Quasar's girlfriend, destroys the malevolent Black Fleet with the Star Brand. 

Back in the White Room, Quasar is arguing against reincarnation, claiming it didn't make sense from an administrative viewpoint: it would take too much energy to figure out what souls should be brought back as what. He's then approached by the spirit of his original mentor, Eon; who wants Quasar to kill him, saying that would free him...and lessen his own guilt. Quasar doesn't seem to be buying it, and wants to free himself without killing. Next, he's visited by the "Angel of Vengeance," who appears as a more-chiseled version of himself; Quasar's pretty sure that's still Eon, and isn't into vengeance anyway.

On earth, the Punisher finds himself surrounded by a SWAT team--either they had staked out the nobodies he killed, or Blue Marvel delayed him too long, but Frank was kicking himself. Blue Marvel opts to prove himself to the Punisher, by using his bands to just wreck the cops, in about three panels. Frank isn't impressed, and tells him if any cops were killed, he'd be coming for him next. He turns his back on him, and Blue Marvel considers killing him, but is interrupted by Thanos, who tells him someone was trying to free Quasar: stop that. Teleported to the White Room, Blue Marvel blasts the "Angel of Vengeance" apart, then turns his gun on Quasar...to be continued?

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After three times, it's time to clean out the basement.

Some readers may remember reviled Avengers storyline "the Crossing," which included a mysterious time portal in the basement of Avengers Mansion. If you go further back, in Avengers Annual #9, there was a leftover robot, Arsenal, that Howard Stark put into storage when he lived there. And in the future, we find...another time portal? The same one? From 1999, A-Next #7, "After the Fall!" Plot and words by Tom DeFalco, plot and pencils by Ron Frenz, finishes by Al Milgrom.

This was set in the same future as Spider-Girl, which ran for over a hundred issues, but this only lasted twelve. Set after the Avengers had disappeared, a new team forms, with Ant-Man's daughter Stinger, Thunderstrike's son um...Thunderstrike, and Juggernaut's kid J-2. They also had mysterious armored Iron Man-type Mainframe, but some of the team weren't sure they could trust him. While a mysterious woman tasks newly created villain Ion Man with killing Dr. Cassandra Lang, Stinger's secret identity; Mainframe also has business with Cassandra, to reveal the truth about himself. So he's there when Ion Man attacks, and is destroyed; with Stinger cheesed Mainframe sent a robot double to talk to her. But another Mainframe shows up...and gets destroyed...and another...

Meanwhile, Thunderstrike has a conversation with Edwin Jarvis, regarding the mysterious visions (small-v) in the basement, and the last days of the original team. A decade earlier, Captain America had gathered the team, to face "a menace that threatens our entire world," a threat that many or most of them might not survive. (It's a pretty full roster, but notably missing Thor.) Iron Man declined telling Jarvis what they were going to face, saying it had to remain classified, but he had made arrangements to make sure there would always be Avengers. The team goes into the basement portal...and not all of them would return. Hawkeye appeared badly hurt, Wasp and Hercules seem shell-shocked, and the Vision, Iron Man, and Scarlet Witch are likewise traumatized. Iron Man tells Jarvis, they were all that would be returning; but despite appearances, the Avengers had succeeded. While a new team would briefly form, Iron Man and Scarlet Witch would continue working on the portal, until eventually the Witch disappeared. Tony tells Jarvis that was also according to plan, and to please pack his stuff, he was leaving forever.

Atop a pile of his own fallen bodies, Mainframe manages to launch Ion Man's energy into space, then collapses: he finally tells Stinger he was only a program, "based on the encephalograms of Tony Stark." But he had burned through all his bodies there, and was crashing...Kinda feels like she should have maybe guessed that earlier. Still, some interesting mysteries set up here; but I'm not sure it was wrapped up in this series.

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At least they didn't give him the one-finger salute.

An unusual feeling: I think I just read this issue for the first time! From 1993, Thor #457, "Final Gauntlet!" Plot and script by Tom DeFalco, plot and pencils by Ron Frenz, finishes by Al Milgrom.

Going to look it up here: Eric Masterson had been Thor since about #432, although he had been in the book longer than that. I'm 60% sure I fell off the book around then, partly because I wasn't enjoying the book as much as when Walt Simonson was on it, despite inertia keeping me on for a long time! But DeFalco and Frenz's deliberately retro style was feeling dated to me and wearing thin. But the end was near, as this issue finds Eric trying to free Thor from his imprisonment within him, which of course involves an elaborate machine, and a life-or-death trial: admittedly, that's just as on point for the Asgardians as it was for DeFalco and Frenz, sure. While Sif frets, leaving it open if it's for Eric or Thor; Odin warns Eric he will have to face the gauntlet of the Grim Guardian. Alliteration, great.

Within his mind, Eric appears in his Thor form, guided by...ugh..."Sparky, the Lightning Kid!" He's supposed to be his avatar, a version of Eric as a young boy, and he looks like Alfred E. Neuman in a Thor helmet. This proves Eric's inner strength and fortitude; I would've goddamn killed myself already...He then has to face off against the usual array of old foes, from the Absorbing Man to Thanos. Despite knowing they aren't real but can still hurt him, he still gets shaken when he accidentally kills Annihilus, again. I don't know if Eric remembers, but didn't Thanos turn him into glass and shatter him? Yet he's pretty blase about running into him again. He also gets the raspberry from Spider-Man, Captain America, and Captain Marvel. (Monica!) Then, he's nearly torn apart in the dark by the half-dozen or so love interests he had in the book, none of which ever went goddamn anywhere. I could see Eric not feeling worthy of his fellow heroes, but did he really think those women were all "tearing at him"? In a bad way? (Eric later says he won't miss his "daily chew-out by Captain America," and was Cap tough on him? Maybe in the same way a drill sergeant might be, but excessively so? Then again, Cap was going through his own jazz and probably facing his own mortality; and he would've previously seen Thor as someone who would defend the earth and the Avengers when he was gone. He may have been driven to get Eric to Thor's level, maybe.)

Eric then catches some chin music from third-stringer Shatterfist, who he had only met once on a time-travel adventure, but who said he'd met Eric before: Sparky implores Eric to think about that. He can't die yet...can he? Finally, Eric faces the masked Grim Guardian, which is of course himself. Citing old Star Trek, Eric is able to win a fight he figures most Asgardians would lose, to control himself with his conscience. Eric briefly toys with the notion of saying he couldn't find Thor, but frees the Thunder God, who may have had a speech prepared.

Despite his bombast and seeming good spirits, Thor has to be traumatized as Hel, so to speak; but that would be tough for him to acknowledge, let alone articulate. Eric is his old self again, and a bit mopey; but only briefly, as Thor gives him Mjolnir! Earth was still going to need him, since Thor was going to devote himself to his "princely duties on Asgard," as well as his husbandly duties to Sif! Sif (almost) immediately says yes...but is this what any of them want? Well, it's definitely not what any of them will get. 

Also this issue: "To Love No More" Written by Tom DeFalco, art by Geof Isherwood. The Enchantress visits Heimdall, who proposes to her: he was a bit dull back then, before Idris Elba, so no sale there. They had been a couple for some time in this run, for little to no reason I can recall. Enchantress claims to be unhappy, but also seems pretty enthusiastic to eavesdrop on Thor and Sif, and sneakily swipe the jacket Eric gave Sif. This is one of those rare situations where you look at all the possible couples and want to tell them all that they could do better. Well, maybe not Heimdall, but he shot his shot, I guess.

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I feel like there's 14 standard Marvel plots jostling for position this issue...

So we've got the hero trying to keep a younger character from completely breaking bad, a secret-y government agency both hassling the hero and covering their own secrets, wacky roommate secret identity shenanigans, soap opera subplots, a very Marvel-misunderstanding plot, and eventually some bad guys! From 1994, Thunderstrike #13, "Man and Beast!" Written and plotted by Tom DeFalco, penciled and plotted by Ron Frenz, finishes by Al Milgrom.

Although he's trying to keep anyone from getting hurt, the hulking Bison is hijacking a S.H.I.E.L.D. convoy, but gets turned away by Luke Cage, who likewise seems protective of Bison. Agent DePaul, who already seems shifty as hell, tries to arrest Cage, who plays freedom of the press since he had been working for newspaper the Chicago Spectator. (Cage's solo series had come and gone by this point.) Meanwhile, in Manhattan, Eric Masterson has a new roommate, whom he knows as space warrior Stellaris. Eric seems unsure what to do with her, but she seems to have a sense of humor. Luke revisits his old digs, the revamped and rennovated Gem Theater (part of the Times Square update, turning the area into a glossy tourist trap) while at Avengers Mansion, Black Widow and Thunderstrike meet with Agent DePaul. He had planted a bug on Cage, and wanted Thunderstrike to "secure" him for questioning. DePaul's stylish partner 'slips' while handing 'Strike the tracker, letting him catch a glimpse of a folder labeled "Operation Sinkhole." Neither the Widow nor Thunderstrike buy DePaul's story, but Natasha can't get in touch with Nick Fury for the real story, either because he was unavailable, or ducking them. 

Next: a couple pages of subplots, as Eric's ex-wife might be moving to L.A. since her football playing new husband got traded. She isn't sure she's keen on the idea, but young Kevin is devastated. And one of Eric's other love interests, Susan Austin, was having dinner with her doctor, after getting out of a coma...I said "soap opera subplots" before getting to this!

To get the plot really moving, a mysterious shadowy figure tells a lackey that Bison has to bring him the cannister...of Inferno 42! That's a blast from the past, dating back to 1966's Tales of Suspense #75, the first appearance of Batroc! It's a mind-numbingly dangerous explosive element, that could blow up all of Manhattan, and seemingly only makes appearances whenever S.H.I.E.L.D. has to move it through the goddamn city as opposed to any time it might be useful. In the rain, Cage sees Bison gazing longingly from afar at his old girlfriend, but Cage gets jumped by Thunderstrike before he can do anything. After the required scuffle, Cage recounts Bison's tragic origin, or at least some of it: he had been an up-and-coming college basketball star, hit by a tragic injury that destroyed his hoop dreams...then he somehow gained like 700 pounds of muscle and horns, Cage kinda glosses over that part. After sharing some info with the Widow, Cage and Thunderstrike make their way to another greatest hit, the old S.H.I.E.L.D. barbershop front! Which has been abandoned and/or destroyed about a dozen times, but okay.

Deep underground, they are confronted by DePaul in a Mandroid suit, furious that Thunderstrike is too incompetent to be a decent scapegoat. And they were followed by Bison, and Frenz/DeFalco Thor baddies Mongoose and Quicksand! 

Aside from the S.H.I.E.L.D. callbacks, Cage is wearing a number somewhat closer to his classic apparel, including his tiara um, metal headband...thing. Whatever that was.

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As sometimes happens around here, we saw the next issue like nine years back; but today we have from 1988, Thor #392, "Quicksand Kills!" Written by Tom DeFalco, breakdowns by Ron Frenz, finishes by Al Milgrom.

With Asgard under siege and the Rainbow Bridge destroyed, the only way to get to earth is apparently shot out of a cannon: Hogun the Grim lands in Central Park and lands hard. Concussed, he sees the cops as demons (well...) cowards with unmanly weapons (that's a little...well...) and a Plymouth as an armored chariot (okay, that one's way off) before Daredevil arrives to give him the what-for. Meanwhile, in his secret identity of Sigurd Jarlson, Thor visits his construction worker pal Jerry Sapristi. (His identity wasn't that secret: Jerry knew there was something else to Sigurd, while his kids had figured out he was Thor.) With their current job a bit wrecked by a Thor/Spidey/Mongoose fight the previous issue, Jerry thought he maybe had a new job lined up with architect Eric Masterson. Eric had been injured earlier, and while he had a doting assistant and lively son, Thor still has a sense that pain and anguish was in his future. I don't think Thor had that kind of insight very often, but we know why, so all right.

Jerry and Sigurd go with Eric to a nuclear power plant, since Eric was going to bid for the contract on building an office building there. There's a brief moment with his flirty rival Jackie Lukus, before the plant is attacked by Quicksand! While a bystander calls her a "mutie freak," she had been altered in a nuclear accident, and seemingly wanted revenge on nuclear reactors? That seems like it would just make more sand people. Thor throws down with her, not once comparing her to Sandman--wait, had he ever faced Sandman? I flipped through covers going back to Journey Into Mystery, but one didn't jump out. I was momentarily certain there was one with Sandy in his green Frightful Four outfit. Threatening Eric and Jackie, Quicksand is able to get a momentary advantage over Thor, blasting sand down his throat! Is this the end of--wait, we saw the next issue already, sorry. Read more!

Callback! It's taken years, but we finally have our Player-2 Avengers team; or if you prefer, the boys from The Terminatrix Objective. War Machine has gotten more than a couple figures since our 'callback' picture, and USAgent could do with an upgrade, but today we've got the brand-new Thunderstrike!

I don't know if the screaming head suits him, although it reminds me of Quasar #48, possibly because that's one of the only issues with him I had when they were coming out. I could be wrong, but does his head look like Triple H? Along with his titular mace, Thunderstrike also came with a BaF Mr. Fixit head and an alternate left fist; but his regular left is a perfect drinking hand! Not sure he has any up-down neck movement, though.

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Today, future superheroes vs. a Nazi earth--no, not ours!

I always remember the cover for this issue from a slightly sexist joke in an old Wizard, so I kind of felt obligated to grab it out of the quarter bin. From 1999, A-Next #11, "Crucible!" Story and words by Tom DeFalco, story and pencils by Ron Frenz, finishes by Al Milgrom.

It's the next generation of Avengers, featuring stalwarts like American Dream, Stinger, and for some reason, Juggernaut's illegitimate kid; versus a Nazi dimension's evil Avengers, the Thunder Guard. Stinger and Thunderstrike are a bit shaken, since evil versions of their dads are there: Pincer and Stormtrooper. While Cassie beats the tar out of her dad's double, Kevin had lost his father, and finds Stormtrooper had gone bad when he lost his son. They have a bit of a cry together, although I don't think it excuses anything he did...

Somehow, even though this is a Nazi earth, their version of Doctor Doom is in charge. Presumably, he didn't advertise his gypsy heritage. He also had Baron Zemo and Reed Richards as his underlings: I'm sure Doom would have no problem with a Richards that knew his place. And American Dream ends up with the shield of the fallen Captain America of Nazi-world, while the MC2 Captain America stayed behind to continue the fight. Thunderstrike also stays behind, to learn about his alt-dad.

Spider-Girl ran for a hundred and one issues, but I don't think any of the other MC2 lasted anywhere near as long: this was the second-to-last issue of this one. There are some panels that I'm pretty sure are homages to classic Avengers, but I can't quite nail them down. Read more!

Surprisingly not a riff on "The Thing," nor a jab at McFarlane's book.

This may not be 100% accurate, but there are some villains that you just expect to 'die' in an explosion or something at the end of every one of their appearances. Red Skull, perfect example. I feel like Diablo got blown up a lot, or escaped in explosions quite a bit. Maybe the Leader? But, on the other hand, there are some villains where it kinda seems like the writer is going out of their way to kill them as dead as possible. For whatever reason, they want this character as gone as they can make them. Somehow, that's what it felt like with today's book: from 1995, Thunderstrike #20, "Spawn" Written and plotted by Tom DeFalco, pencils and plot by Ron Frenz, finishes by Al Milgrom.

Avengers Black Widow and Black Panther bring Thunderstrike on a mission to an Antarctic listening station, an observation post set up by S.H.I.E.L.D. to monitor the Savage Land. Contact had been lost with the station, but the Avengers find a few survivors that had barricaded themselves in to hide from something that had arrived not from the Savage Land, but from the most recent supply plane. Exploring the station's surprisingly expansive basement, Panther and 'Strike find the culprit: Stegron, the Dinosaur Man! Who has pretty much given up on mankind and the world, and decided to take off to the Savage Land.

Stegron gives them a pretty good fight, until Thunderstrike smashes a wall and lets all the heat out. A storm was coming in, but Stegron takes off headlong into it, intent on getting to the Savage Land or dying. And it's the latter: they find him, frozen, mere feet away from a marker to the entrance. The Panther is sympathetic, suggesting Stegron was merely looking for a place to fit in; but neither of them take his body and bury it or anything. The Savage Land had itself been done away with for a few years, but this really feels like they wanted to write Stegron off for good. Maybe they felt he was silly, or that the Lizard already did his job, I don't know. Or maybe I'm reading too much into it: I guess in the first Stegron comics I read--reprinted in Marvel Treasury Edition #20--he drowns in the Hudson river or something. It does feel like a slight that his story only gets twelve pages: the rest of the issue is Eric telling his son Kevin a bedtime story about Thor, trying to work up to telling him his secret identity.
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Feeling a bit run-down today.

It's his second issue, how did he have so many damn subplots going? From 1993, Thunderstrike #2, "Family Matters!" Written and co-plotted by Tom DeFalco, penciled and co-plotted by Tom DeFalco, finishes by Al Milgrom.

Admittedly, a couple subplots are actually bleeding over from Avengers: when Thunderstrike has Black Knight examine the Bloodaxe (that would eventually lead to his demise…) he notices Crystal and the Knight's attraction, as well as Sersi "glaring" at those two. What he doesn't notice, is that the Black Knight would probably be the best person in the world to discuss a cursed, blood-crazed magic weapon with; and as such doesn't really open up about it, even though the axe was already giving him nightmares. Still, he has other things on his mind as well: Eric was going to take his son Kevin to visit his parents; so of course something is bound to come up and wreck that.

Two things, actually, both of them throwing "We're family!" around, although technically neither were! Kevin's stepdad Bobby had beat up his mom, and was acting erratically; their drive was about to be held up by the Juggernaut, who is surprisingly level-headed this month. A genetic engineering treatment for his longtime partner Black Tom Cassidy was starting to fail, so Juggs needed to pick up his medical records. Huh, this issue actually predates HIPAA, but Genetech still won't release Tom's PHI without signed authorization. Juggs figures, probably correctly, he can intimidate them into coughing it up.

Juggernaut literally walks all over Thunderstrike, although Eric does get an unseen assist, I believe from Stellaris. Seeing his son with Bobby, Eric wanted to wrap this one up quick, and is forced to use the Bloodaxe...to chop off Juggernaut's helmet, and get his attention. Eric helps him get the file, and Juggernaut pays for the damages, even chipping in some extra for the volunteer fire department that had tried to hold him off. (He was impressed!) While he wonders if this compromise was a good idea or not, Eric gets to his parents' house, where Kevin is waiting safe and sound: Bobby had dropped him off and disappeared. The issue isn't over yet, though, as later Eric sees a familiar looking signal, from the lady Sif! In another just awful costume!

Sif has actually gotten two action figures in recent years, both of them in better outfits, thankfully. Still no Marvel Legends Thunderstrike, but maybe someday.
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The dramatic conclusion, just not the conclusion I was thinking of.

The art and and the B-villain added to my confusion, though: we looked at Secret Defenders #12 three years back, but today we've got Secret Defenders #10, "Revenge, part 2" Written by Ron Marz, pencils by Tom Grindberg, inks by Don Hudson.

Nebula, with her loyal henchman Geatar, is about to use the captured Silver Surfer as part of a warhead to destroy Titan: I'm not sure why she's out to blow up her (alleged) grandpa Thanos's home, except maybe to rebuild her rep as first class space criminal. Dr. Strange couldn't intervene directly, but has sent this issue's Secret Defenders, War Machine and Thunderstrike--presumably USAgent missed the callback. War Machine has to chase down the missile, leaving Thunderstrike to fight hordes of henchmen, but it turns out all right. Geatar gets blown into space and is presumed dead, but he'd be back in two issues.

Grindberg was deep into his Mignola-phase here; and I wonder if Hudson broke even on the ink costs for this one...
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Today's issue was bagged with the Code: Blue cover showing, otherwise I might not have thought to grab it. From 1995, Thunderstrike #16, featuring "Grudge Match!" Plot and script by Tom DeFalco, plot and pencils by Ron Frenz, finishes by Al Milgrom; and "Krask Force" Written by Roy Thomas, co-plotted by R.J.M. Lofficier, pencils by Larry Alexander and Grant Miehm, and inks by Charles Barnett.

The lead story was mainly about a long awaited rematch between Titania and She-Hulk. Although Titania and her man Crusher "Absorbing Man" Creel were on parole and supposedly trying to go straight, her loss against She-Hulk haunted her. Crusher reaches out to Thunderstrike, to contact She-Hulk and arrange the bout; although Thunderstrike had his own problems, like trying to keep tabs on super-powered alien Stellaris. They meet at the Delacorte Theater, but agree to let Thunderstrike use his hammer mace to transport them to Nevada, in order to lessen the property damage. Except Stellaris crashes the party, and Crusher assumes it's a trap, then all bets are off.

Stellaris makes things worse by zapping the Absorbing Man, although later he's unable to take her "too different too alien!" power. Meanwhile, while Titania was stronger than She-Hulk to begin with (at least that's what She-Hulk thinks, and may not always be the case) this time she had stacked the deck, with "sonic field enhancers" making her ten times stronger. Except she's not any smarter: She-Hulk maneuvers her into punching a rock wall and getting stuck, then punches Titania over the horizon line. Actually, that's not quite right: on the next page, Titania lands right on Thunderstrike's head! You had the whole desert to launch her, She-Hulk, c'mon.

The back-up "Double Feature" features Code: Blue, the SWAT team called in for super-powered threats in DeFalco and Frenz's books. They haven't been used as much outside of that, but the Marvel wiki mentioned them arresting Shocker and Speed Demon, and I wonder if that wasn't in Superior Foes of Spider-Man somewhere. But I mainly bought this issue because it featured the armored Daredevil on the cover, and I wanted to see how said armor fared under another artist's pencils. And...enh. The shoulder pads don't look great. Oddly, since this story features armored DD, he wasn't a lawyer at that time; but there is a ton of legalese in this story! Foggy Nelson and Code: Blue's Lt. Stone are giving a deposition, in a lawsuit against the city, brought by the law firm of Krask & Krask. (They argue that the city may have acted negligently, by sending Code: Blue instead of actual super-heroes to deal with a rampaging Doombot; and may have a point...) The depo is interrupted by the return of daddy Krask, an obscure villain from Thor #172, now an energy-being!

Meanwhile, at a press conference, the mayor (a bland and generic one, but better him than Giuliani) announces the disbanding of Code: Blue; because Thor and Thunderstrike work for free, it wasn't cost-effective, etc. Then with Krask threatening to wipe out all of Wall Street's computer data, the mayor's assistant tries to call in the Avengers, and gets Hercules, who doesn't give a goat's crap what happens to computers. Over a barrel, the mayor reinstates Code: Blue; who, with Daredevil and a squad of bean-counting civil servants, force Krask onto a CD; and the Krask brothers are forced to take a settlement for a measly half a million. Aw, too bad!
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"The End" Week: Thunderstrike #24!

By this point, we've had over a hundred posts tagged "The End," so ofttimes I'm buying new last issues whenever I happen to come across one. Today's book I kind of knew what was coming, even though I hadn't read it before now! From 1995, Thunderstrike #24, "The Storm and the Sacrifice!" Script and plot by Tom DeFalco, plot and pencils by Ron Frenz, finishes by Al Milgrom.

Former replacement-Thor Eric Masterson had been doing pretty well as "the everyman Avenger" Thunderstrike for the last couple years, until he had to take up the Bloodaxe of Skurge the Executioner, in order to save the world from Seth. Now blood-crazed and insane, Thunderstrike and Thor are currently locked in battle; while on a mental plane, Eric, the spirit of Skurge, and Eric's avatar Sparky fight the evil of the Bloodaxe. (I don't know about Sparky, either.) Eric had been pretty desperate to try to use the axe, but had hoped the Avengers would be able to handle him. Skurge sees that as Eric trying to dump his responsibilities on them; spurring Eric to fight for control of his mace and turn it against the axe, sacrificing himself. Eric's last words in this world appear to be, "Hoo-boy!"

Eric is taken to Valhalla, on Thor's behest; but doesn't feel he deserves it. He requests to be released to whatever is next for him, and goes to the next life. Along with Eric's son and girlfriend, Thor mourns the loss of his friend. The letters page has a thank-you from Tom DeFalco, and an ad for Warren Ellis and Mike Deodato's revamp in Thor #491, which I think was planned as a bit of reconsolidation, trimming away some of the deadwood around Thor. (This briefly included Beta Ray Bill, and if you consider him "deadwood," be aware that you are wrong on a deep and spiritual level.) I wonder if Thunderstrike sales weren't above what would normally be cancellation level--in fact, per the Wikipedia page for Thunderstrike, DeFalco may have claimed at one point that Thunderstrike outsold Thor and the Avengers combined at the time of this issue! Although, in DeFalco's defense, you can see Thor and Captain America's current looks here, and all of a sudden it seems a little more plausible.
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I think Ravonna's wearing a Kang suit, and her regular outfit, under that...

So, we checked out Avengers: the Terminatrix Objective #2 about two, two-and-a-half years ago; and recently I found a quarter bin copy of #1. "Borderlands" Written by Mark Gruenwald, pencils by Mike Gustovich, inks by Bud LaRosa.

The Terminatrix of the title is actually Ravonna, who returned and replaced Kang, in "Citizen Kang." Unfortunately for her, she's finding that managing Kang's vast chronal empire, is a colossal pain in the ass. She has to pretend to be Kang, but isn't fooling Kang's elite team, the Anachronauts. (Who, aside from having a great name, never accomplished anything, ever.) She has to deal with the Council of Cross-Time Kangs, which is either a vast army of formidable time-traveling conquerors, or a bunch of cannon fodder, depending when you ask. And she's just discovered the creature Alioth, which claims to be "the supreme time being of the timespan prior to Kang's!"

Meanwhile, the mysterious (and previously unseen) Revelation pulls War Machine, Thunderstrike, and USAgent out of time; allegedly to help her stop Ravonna from reviving Kang. The guys huddle up and discuss it, and decide Kang's a dick, so they'll go along with this. They fight "Kang," who is quickly revealed as Ravonna; who pulls other versions of herself out of time to fight the guys and makes a good showing of it, but is having technical difficulties. Her equipment not fully functional, she ducks back to the Old West for a drink, then decides to recruit some Avengers of her own--a gambit Revelation saw coming, as she spies on Ravonna...

Ravonna seemed friendly and reasonable in her first appearance or so; but her association with Kang seems to have done a number on her better nature, and her patience. This was by no means the best Kang (or Kang-related) story ever, but at least Gruenwald was trying something a little different.
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