Avengers #351
Retribution!
Raza has been caught running the Black Knight (Dane Whitman) through with his sword.[1] Now, before the shocked members of the Avengers and Starjammers, Hercules vows to kill the Shi’ar cyborg if Dane dies from his injuries. With the situation exploding out of control, the two teams are about to come to blows. Visiting Avengers Headquarters are Cyclops and Professor X of the X-Men and they caution the ‘Jammer’s leader, Corsair, to not do anything rash. However, when the freebooter is stunned by the Vision, Ch’od decides to take matters into his own hands. He tackles Hercules and Raza through a nearby wall, allowing the cyborg to escape in the confusion.
Corsair apologizes to the Avengers as he had no idea that something like this would happen. As the other Starjammers are questioned about what went down, Hepzibah — who took the job to kill Whitman from the Kree as well — pretends to know nothing.
With Dane seriously wounded, Crystal pleads with them to do something before he dies. Her husband Quicksilver quickly uses the teleporting dog Lockjaw to recruit the best doctor living among the Inhumans to treat the Black Knight’s injuries. Corsair also offers the services of Sikorski, the Starjammer’s robotic doctor to assist in any way he can. With Dane put in their care, the Avengers begin planning a mission to hunt down and bring in Raza. Both Corsair and Binary insist on coming along, even though the Avengers can’t fully trust them.[2] In order to smooth things over, Hepzibah offers to remain behind as their prisoner. Meanwhile, Dane Whitman arrives in the infirmary where Marilla — Luna’s nanny — tells Crystal to pray for the best. Deeply distraught over what happened to her teammate, Crystal fears what will happen if Dane dies, all within earshot of her husband, Quicksilver.[3]
Meanwhile, in Lower Manhattan, Raza and Ch’od continue fleeing their pursuers. Along the way, Ch’od tries to understand why Raza tried to kill the Black Knight. Raza won’t go into details, but as he gazes at a necklace given to him by the man who hired him, explains that he had something taken away from him long ago and he will do anything in order to get it back.[4] That’s when they are found by the Avengers — Thor, Hercules, the Vision, and Sersi — who quickly ambush the pair. By the time Corsair and Binary have caught up, both Raza and Ch’od have been defeated in battle. Binary tries to get Raza to confide in her as to why he attacked Whitman, but Raza tells her not to help him as he is not worth the trouble.
Back at headquarters, the Inhuman surgeon Galen and the Starjammer’s Sikorski are still operating on Dane Whitman, and the situation is grim. When Hepzibah comes down to check on the situation, the Black Widow is insulted by her lack of concern over Dane’s well being and orders her to remain in quarters.
At that same moment, Corsair has convinced the Avengers to trust that Binary can get Raza to calm down. The Vision concurs with this decision, pointing out that they could have diffused the situation by not acting with rage. Binary, meanwhile, still can’t get Raza to reveal the truth as to why he tried to kill Dane Whitman. However, when he shows off the amulet given to him by Galen Kor, she instantly recognizes it as a Kree memory implant device and uses her power to destroy it.[5] Raza reacts in rage and is almost about to cut her throat, but relents when Binary points out that he was a victim of circumstance and was being manipulated by the Kree. Finally realizing the truth, Raza breaks down into tears and surrenders.
By this time, Galen and Sikorski have come out of surgery and announce that the Black Knight will live. While Hepzibah appears to celebrate the news, the Black Widow is suspicious and suggests to Crystal that they keep a close eye on her. Sure enough, Hepzibah enters Dane’s room when she thinks nobody is looking and is about to administer a lethal poison when she is caught by Crystal and the Black Widow. However, before they can find out what she was up to the Avengers and the Starjammers return and are overjoyed to hear that Dane will live. Soon explanations are made and when Dane finally wakes up, Raza apologizes for trying to end his life. However, he warns Dane that the Kree will still seek revenge against him, something that Whitman can’t really blame them for.
Soon it comes time for the Starjammers to head home, but when they ask Binary to join them she politely declines having decided to stay on Earth and reconnect with her roots. After the Starjammers return to space, Raza meets with Hepzibah. He reveals to her that while they were tricked, Binary had lied about a Kree memory device to give plausible deniability for her friend so he could search for his missing son, rather than face punishment for murder. However, he points out that unlike himself Hepzibah’s involvement in this was motivated by greed, however he’s not sure what to do about it.[6]
Recurring Characters
Avengers (Thor, Hercules, Vision, Black Knight, Black Widow, Sersi, Crystal), Starjammers (Corsair, Hepzibah, Raza, Ch’od, Binary, Sikorski, Professor X, Cyclops, Quicksilver, Luna Maximoff, Marilla, Lockjaw, Keith Kincaid
Continuity Notes
Last issue, Raza was hired to kill the Black Knight for his part in the alleged murder of the Kree Supreme Intelligence during Operation: Galactic Storm. 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. The Supreme Intelligence isn’t actually dead however, and he will turn up alive again in Imperial Guard #1-3.
It is mentioned here that Binary had just recently recovered from injuries she sustained in Quasar #34. Here she also mentions that she is a member of both teams. Carol officially joined the team in Avengers #183, she left in issue #200. She later joined the Starjammers in Uncanny X-Men #174.
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. Further complicating things is the fact that Dane has been attracted to Crystal almost since the moment she joined the team.
Last issue, a Kree soldier named Galen Kor told Raza that his son was still alive. As explained in Classic X-Men #15, Raza and his family were put to work in a slave camp during the rule of Emperor D’Ken.
Carol Danver’s knowledge of the Kree race came after being exposed to a Psyche-Magnatron explosion with Captain Marvel back in Captain Marvel #18.
Although this story states that Raza has a son, it’s later revealed that he actually had two children. Starjammers (vol. 2) #3 reveals that he had a second son named Danok who was murdered by the Union of Intelligent Races’ Committee. As of this writing (May, 2022) Ranok’s fate has yet to be revealed.
