Seller's remorse, paid for multiple times.

I was going to say a few years ago, but I guess it was more like 25 or so, when I lived in Missoula I spent a few weekends selling comics in the park. I would just load up my car with a few boxes, head out, and set up a little sign and table and everything. I had remarkably few customers, but it was a pleasant way to while away an afternoon reading comics. Some of the few I recall selling were today's books, which a girl bought because of the shiny covers! I didn't pay full price when I got them, and I don't think I paid full price the four or five times I've bought them since...from 1993, Avengers #363, "A Gathering of Hate" Written by Bob Harras, pencils by Steve Epting, inks by Tom Palmer. I was pretty sure I sold Avengers #366 as well, but we had already blogged that one, so maybe not.

The Avengers had been fighting the Gatherers for some issues now, and today their prisoner, an alternate-earth Vision, leads them to their hidden mountain hideout. Hercules gives the alt-Vision a thump upside the head for his lip, which doesn't sit well with Captain America, but I don't think he had been there the whole time: the Gatherers' plot had been going for over a year at that point, and their usual method was to kill their own alternate-reality counterparts and take their places. Although the team had taken their lumps earlier, this time they were prepared, starting with some seriously ugly headgear to protect them from Cassandra's psionic attacks. Herc roughs up "overgrown porcine miscreant" Sloth, while Black Knight was prepared for a rematch with Magdalene. While the team is able to rescue their captured Vision--now with new brighter colors!--they are then faced by the Gatherers' leader, Proctor. Who always reminds me of X-Men bad guy Exodus: I think they both debuted about the same time, and were both guys with long black hair and glowy eyes, but that was about it. Except maybe Epting/Palmer drew Exodus in a crossover maybe, maybe that's what does it.

Proctor is furious when he sees the Black Knight, as he can see in the Knight's eyes that he had "melded" with his Eternal teammate Sersi. Vision dryly chimes in that Proctor claimed to be Sersi's husband, which sets him on a tirade about being her soulmate and how she had to die. The Knight is thrown aside, and Cap picks the wrong time to critique his battlefield performance, and the Knight turns on him! Although briefly taken aback, the Black Widow stuns the Knight, and Proctor tells him that's just the beginning of his madness, if Sersi isn't killed. He claimed Sersi had killed his timeline's Avengers and destroyed that earth, the sole survivor being (presumably, besides himself and that Sersi) Ute, a Watcher. Our world's usual Watcher Uatu makes a brief appearance, to shed a tear for his brain-damaged colleague, and to suggest if power corrupts Proctor is a sterling example of it.

Although Proctor had killed the Gatherers' Vision to shut him up, Hercules calls him out for attempting to murder one of their own, a version of the Swordsman. He and Magdalene were a couple, or getting there, but Proctor wanted him gone since he couldn't stand to lose the only woman "to make me forget my pain" since Sersi. Proctor starts his base's self-destruct, then controls the Black Knight into stabbing him with his energy sword: I'm not sure why, it wasn't fatal or anything. While the Avengers (and Magdalene, I believe) escape, the Watcher warns them Proctor's danger is not over. Meanwhile, back in New York, Henry Pym has two jobs: stabilize the injured alt-Swordsman in stasis, and maybe check if Sersi is insane. She seems reasonable enough, but when some homicide detectives show up with some questions, they end up at the bottom of the river, seemingly turned to stone! Admittedly, that looks bad.

I just bought another dollar copy of this in the last month or so, but I know my box of Avengers comics is handy. Let's see...Huh, I was sure I was going to find at least one other copy of this. Maybe I'm not as organized as I thought, but even that wasn't very organized.