Avengers #350 — Nick Peron

Apr 16

Apr 16 Avengers #350

Reprecussions

On the distant world of Seti Tatola IV, Hepzibah and Raza of the Starjammers meet with a potential client. This man turns out to be the former Kree solider named Galen Kor. Kor wishes to hire Raza to assassinate the Black Knight for his part in killing the Kree Supreme Intelligence.[1] At first, the pair — allies of the Shi’ar Empress Lilandra — refuse to do so since Earth is off limits, and besides the point the Kree were their enemies until the end of the war. However, Galen Kor entices Hepzabah with money. He eventually convinces Raza to take the job, offering to reveal where he can find his long lost son, who was believed to have died in the slave pens of former Emperor D’Ken.[2]

Meanwhile, on Earth, Professor X and Cyclops of the X-Men have come to Avengers Headquarters with a warning for the group. They tell of their recent battle with Magneto and how he now leads a group of worshipers called the Acolytes.[3] Xavier fears that, despite the apparent demise of Magneto, the Acolytes might target Luna the daughter of Quicksilver and Crystal, as well as the granddaughter of Magneto due to the fact that she is a normal human and therefor an afront to their extremist ideals about mutants.[4] Quicksilver thanks Xavier for the warning and excuses himself while he has a private discussion with his estranged wife.[5] Charles is also pleased to see Carol Danvers, aka Binary, and sensing that she is thinking about Lilandra, decides to talk to her in private as well.[6]

By this time, Raza and Hepzibah have returned to the Starjammer and convinced their captain, Corsair, to take them back to Earth under the auspices of checking in on their ally Binary. Ch’od suspects that Raza and Hepzibah almost blows their cover. Luckily, Ch’od’s suspicion is merely the idea that Raza might have feelings for the Danvers woman. Later, Hepzibah warns Raza not to be so sloppy with the others, but he assures her that he will carry out their job before anyone is the wiser.

Back on Earth, Thor and Hercules go down to the training room to find out why Black Knight wasn’t present in the meeting with Xavier. Dane wasn’t particularly interested in participating. When Thor makes an off hand comment about how much a dick Crystal’s husband is, Dane gets upset and storms out, leaving his comrades to wonder what they said to touch his nerves like that. On his way to the locker room, Whitman runs into the couple any way and brushes them off to get away. Going up to the roof to get his thoughts together, Whitman reminds himself that Crystal is trying to repair her marriage and he shouldn’t get in the way of it. He is surprised to find Sersi on the roof meditation. When she asks him what’s wrong, he instead talks about the guilt he feels over killing the Kree Supreme Intelligence since the action made Captain America quit the team.[7] Sersi tells him to stop living in the past and let it go so he can enjoy the future and then kisses him. Dane is shocked to learn that Sersi is interested in him. However, before they can discuss things further, the Starjammers arrive on the roof.

The Starjammers are welcomed by the Avengers, and there is happy reunion between Corsair and his son Cyclops. However, things take a serious tone as the two X-Men have a lot to catch Corsair on since they last saw him.[8] As everyone is making small talk, Luna’s nanny Marilla comes to put the baby to bed. After she makes an off hand comment about the Black Knight working in the repair bay, Raza slips away to carry out his mission. Sneaking downstairs through a ventilation shaft, Raza ambushes Dane as he works. Raza tries to explain that it is nothing personal but the Knight is not about to go down without a fight.

The battle ends up causing enough noise to draw the Avengers to investigate. Unfortunately, Marilla arrives with Luna to investigate the noise first. Raza snatches Luna from her nanny’s hands and makes the Black Knight an offer — his life in exchange for Luna’s. When Dane rushes for Luna, Raza runs him through with his knife. Moments later, the Avengers arrive and Hercules vows that if Raza has killed his friend, he will die next.

Recurring Characters

Avengers (Thor, Hercules, Vision, Black Knight, Black Widow, Sersi, Crystal), Starjammers (Corsair, Hepzibah, Ch’od, Raza, Binary, Cr’reee), Professor X, Cyclops, Quicksilver, Luna Maximoff, Marilla, Val Cooper, Edwin Jarvis, Galen Kor

Continuity Notes

This is in reference to the Operation: Galactic Storm even that saw the Avengers get involved in a war between the Kree and the Shi’ar. While they were prevent the Shi’ar from detonating a Nega-Bomb in the Kree Galaxy, a team of Avengers learned that the Supreme Intelligence allowed the bomb to go off and appeared to execute him for his crime. See Captain America #398-400, Avengers West Coast #80-82, Quasar #32-34, Wonder Man (vol. 2) #7-9, Avengers #345-347, Iron Man #278-279, and Thor #445-446. In reality, the Supreme Intelligence faked his death and will turn up alive again in Imperial Guard #1-3.
Emperor D’Ken was a former ruler of the Shi’ar Empire before Lilandra. He was driven mad trying to harness the power of M’Kraan Crystal as seen in X-Men #107-109. Raza’s time in the Shi’ar slave pens and how he joined the Starjammers was chronicled in Classic X-Men #15. Raza’s family actually consisted of a wife and two sons, Rion and Danok. It’s later revealed in Starjammers (vol. 2) #3 that Danok was murdered by Union of Intelligent Races’ Committee. Presumably, Rion was the son taken to the slave mines.
The X-Men encountered Magneto’s Acolytes in X-Men (vol. 2) #1-3. Although Magneto seemingly died after being betrayed by Fabian Cortez, he actually survived. He resurfaces again in X-Force #24-25.
At the time of this story, Quicksilver is believed to be a mutant and the son of Magneto as per Vision and the Scarlet Witch #4. Both facts are actually wrong. Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #2 and 11 reveal that he is the son of Natalya Maximoff and an unidentified individual while Uncanny Avengers (vol. 2) #4-5 reveals that his powers actually come from genetic experiments conducted upon him by the High Evolutionary. In order to cover up his work the Evolutionary made it so future genetic tests had Pietro register as a mutant. Presumably, the claim that Magneto was his father was to further sell the lie.
Quicksilver and Crystal have been married since Fantastic Four #150. More recently, Crystal had an affair in Vision and the Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #6-12 and got caught. The pair have been trying to make their marriage work since Fantastic Four Annual #21. However, this has been made more difficult since Quicksilver joined X-Factor and Crystal the Avengers, as seen in X-Factor #71 and Avengers #336.
Carol Danvers has been on Earth recovering from injuries sustained in Quasar #34. Carol and Xavier go way back, as he helped restored her memories after they were stolen by Rogue in Avengers Annual #10.
Another reference to Galactic Storm. The death of the Supreme Intelligence prompts Cap to quit the team in Captain America #401. He will return to the team in Avengers #360.
The exchange between Corsair, Charles Xavier, and Cyclops go into quite a bit of X-Men history without getting into the details. So let’s get into the details:
- Chronologically, Corsair last saw his son Cyclops in X-Men: The Exterminated #1. Prior to that time, Cyclops had married Madeline Pryor circa Uncanny X-Men #175 and had a son, Nathan Christopher in issue #201.
- Since then, Pryor had died after learning she was a clone of Jean Grey and being manipulated by Mister Sinister and the demon N’Astirh during the Inferno event as seen in Uncanny X-Men #239-243 and X-Factor #36-39.
- Nathan, meanwhile, was infected with a technorganic virus and sent into the future to be cured as seen in X-Factor #65-68. What Cyclops doesn’t know is that his son (now an adult) had returned to the present day as Cable, first seen in New Mutants #86. Scott won’t learn the truth until X-Force #18.
- Also mentioned is Xavier’s injuries. He is referring to the fact that Chuck is in a hover chair here. Xavier’s regained the use of his legs when his mind was transferred into a cloned body back in Uncanny X-Men #167. The last time Corsair and Lilandra saw Xavier was in Uncanny X-Men #275-277. Not long after that, Xavier had his legs crushed by the Shadow King during the Muir Island Saga, see Uncanny X-Men #278-280 and X-Factor #69-70.

The Butler Did It

In the Avengers kitchen, Marilla has decided to check on what Jarvis is cooking for dinner. Once again, the food does not stand up to her strict Inhuman standards. Not only does this interrupt Jarvis — who is trying to relax by doing a crossword — but he finds her critique incredibly insulting. Having had to put up with Marilla since she first arrived, Jarvis finally loses his temper and tells her to get out of his kitchen. This sudden outburst causes Marilla to race out of the room.

She then tries to relax by watching a children’s how with Luna. When Jarvis comes to ask if they need anything, she yells “NO!” at him and then gets lost in the show. She is so distracted she doesn’t really notice it when the alarm goes off and all of the Avengers come racing through the mansion.[1]

When Luna’s show is over, Marilla leaves the living room leaving Jarvis to fluff the couch pillows. After changing Luna’s diaper, Marilla takes her for a walk in Central Park, giving Jarvis silence for a little while. However, the peace will probably be short lived after Marilla discovers that Jarvis has put a sign reading “Queen of Mean” on her back.

Recurring Characters

Marilla, Luna Maximoff, Edwin Jarvis, Avengers (Captain America, Vision, Black Widow, Black Knight, Hercules, Sersi)

Continuity Notes

A footnote here states that the Avengers are racing off to participating in Infinity War #1-6.

Topical References

Marilla watches television with Luna on an old CRT television. This should be considered topical as this technology is obsolete.
They watch a commercial for Coco-Puffs cereal. This should be considered a topical reference as that is a real world product.
They also watch an episode of Fraggle Rock. This would be considered a topical reference as this show ran from 1983 to 1987. The Fraggles were not part of the Disney acquisition of the Muppets franchise.