Avengers #356
Death in a Gathering Place
In his native Wakanda, the Black Panther has come to Warrior Falls to reflect on his role as ruler. His thoughts are interrupted when a man comes rushing out of the jungle asking for help. When this stranger passes out in T’Challa’s arms he is shocked to discover that they share the same face. However, this is merely a ruse to distract the Black Panther. He is ambushed moments later by the Gatherers — Swordsman, Magdalene, Sloth, and Cassandra — a group of super-humans from other realities who have come to kill him so that his counterpart, the Coal Tiger, can exist in this reality.[1] When T’Challa tries to fight back, Cassandra unleashes her powerful eye-beams, knocking him out.
However, before they can eliminate the Black Panther, his fellow Avengers — Thor, Hercules, Sersi, and Vision — arrive via the teleportation abilities of Lockjaw of the Inhumans. The battle won’t be an easy one, as the Avengers are still weakened from the lingering effects of Cassandra’s previous telekinetic attack upon them. As Herc, Thor, and Sersi fight with the Gatherers, the Vision goes to check on the Black Panther. There he discovers the Coal Tiger and is similarly shocked to discover he looks identical to T’Challa.
Back at Avengers Headquarters, the Black Knight (Dane Whitman) and Black Widow (Natasha Romanov) are assessing the damage caused by the Gatherers. Dane wishes he could have went with the others, however Natasha points out that they are still weak from Cassandra’s attack on top of Dane’s injuries sustained from an earlier attack by the Starjammer’s Raza.[2] Dane suddenly becomes dizzy and is steadied by the Widow. This is seen by the Avengers butler Jarvis and Marilla — nanny to Crystal’s daughter Luna — and they step in to help the two Avengers to bed for some much needed rest.
In Wakanda, the Avengers are fairing poorly against the Gatherers. However, this group is facing dissention in the ranks from Swordsman, who is beginning to realize that everything is not on the up-and-up after learning that they must kill this reality’s Black Panther. Also, the Coal Tiger has finally woken up and tries to warn his counterpart that the Gatherers are evil. As he explains that this group come from other realities, Magdalene tries to attack but is impeded by the Vision. As the Panther and Vision clash with her, Coal Tiger tries to flee the scene. He runs into the other Gatherers who have just finished defeating the Avengers.
This is all being observed by Proctor from his citadel and he wonders how the others react if they knew the truth about his masterplan. Putting this aside this quandary to focus on his goals, he heads down into the bowels of his hideout to confer with his old friend.[3]
By this time, the Gatherers are preparing to erase the Black Panther from existence so Coal Tiger can live. The Swordsman, who has been increasingly confused by all of this, struggles with his own morality. Seeing this, Coal Tiger pleads with Swordsman — as one Avenger to another — to stop this as it is wrong. This gets through to him and the Swordsman tries to stop Cassandra from disintegrating the Black Panther. His interruption gives the Avengers time to recover and resume their attack. As the tide of battle begins turning, Thor finally arrives with the Wakandan army. With their plans falling apart, the Gatherers try to make their escape.
The Black Panther and Coal Tiger thank the Swordsman for doing the right thing. However, as he tries to flee with his fellow Gatherers, the Vision grabs him as they still need answers. With some help from Hercules, they manage to pull Swordsman back moments before the portal closes. In the aftermath of the battle, the Coal Tiger dies, leaving the Avengers as confused as ever. However, the Vision points out that now that they have Swordsman as their prisoner they can learn who they are finally facing up against.
Recurring Characters
Avengers (Thor, Hercules, Vision, Black Knight, Black Widow, Sersi Crystal), Gatherers (Proctor, Coal Tiger, Cassandra, Sloth, Magdalene, Swordsman), Black Panther, Marilla, Lockjaw, Edwin Jarvis
Continuity Notes
The Gatherers all come from other realities. Coal Tiger from Reality-355, Swordsman from Reality-921, Magdalene from Reality-9201, and Cassandra from Reality-92101 per Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #2, 3 and 5. As of this writing in May, 2022, Sloth’s reality is unknown.
Raza was hired by the Kree to try and assassinate Dane. Although Whitman survived the encounter he was seriously wounded. See Avengers #350-351.
This mysterious benefactor is revealed to be Ute, a Watcher from another reality being forced to help Proctor. See Avengers #363.
