Back in the Andromeda Galaxy, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch try to free Captain Marvel, but he's trapped within a sphere of negative energy by the Skrulls until the Omni-Wave Projector is complete. Princess Anelle is quite skeptical about her father's schemes and the many Skrulls who have died because of him, but Emperor Dorrek is so miffed he muses he'd kill her if only she weren't "the sole offspring of an emperor!" It was Mar-Vell's use of the Omni-Wave Projector to call the Avengers that cast Rick into the Negative Zone, but Mar-Vell now smashes the device; he explains to the Scarlet Witch that the Omni-Wave Projector is only a communication device, provided the user is Kree - it's only in the hands of a non-Kree brain that it becomes deadly.
Rick is being dragged towards the explosive center of the Negative Zone but by concentrating reopens the portal to the Supreme Intelligence and confronts the being, demanding answers. While the Supreme Intelligence talks around the problem, Ronan is spying on them and sends Kree soldiers to kill the Supreme Intelligence and Rick. The Supreme Intelligence tells Rick to focus again on the super heroes of his youth (as he did in Avengers #92) and as he does so, the heroes Captain America, Blazing Skull, the Fin, the Sub-Mariner, the Vision, the Angel and the Human Torch are brought to life to defend Rick. Although Rick calls Cap and Namor "real" the other heroes are dismissed here as mere comic book creations brought to life (but later Marvel Comics would establish all of them as having existed in the Marvel Universe's past).
As the heroes eventually fade, the Supreme Intelligence directs Rick to use his power in a different manner, immobilizing every member of the Kree and Skrull races, bringing the war to a sudden halt. The Avengers on the Skrull throneworld and those battling the Skrull armada witness the effects; likewise frozen in his tracks is H. Warren Craddock, who is exposed as a Skrull and then killed by an angry mob. Rick still doesn't understand how he has the power to do these things, but the Supreme Intelligence explains he's unleashed Rick's dormant potential. "For untold eons, Skrull and Kree hae stalked the cosmic corridors like twin races of malevolent gods--never knowing each of their star-spanning clans has reached--a dead end. Live a billion billion years, neither will ever advance one more rung up the ladder of evolution. Now, they can but snarl at each other across the sea of space, hating both each other--and the human race--which they subconsciously sense to be their ultimate superiors!"
These ideas are similar to those which we learned of in Captain Marvel #16. Rick falls unconscious from the strain placed upon him, but the Supreme Intelligence summons all of the affected heroes (Avengers and Captain Marvel) and tells the unfrozen Captain Marvel that he and Rick must once again be merged in order to save Rick's life. Mar-Vell doesn't want to share his life with another person again, but unwilling to see Rick die, agrees; once more, they are bound together by the Nega-Bands. The Supreme Intelligence now reclaims leadership over the Kree, declaring that it hopes "this time, to be more deserving of his name!" The Supreme Intelligence sends everyone back to Earth, where they're met by Nick Fury and the real H. Warren Craddock. They determine the Skrull who impersonated Craddock and inflamed the public against aliens was the missing fourth Skrull who hadn't become a cow way back in Fantastic Four #2. It's only then that the assembled heroes realize Goliath is missing.
Thoughts: A fair bit happens in this issue and not much of it has to do with the Avengers, who take a serious backseat to the affairs of the Skrulls & Kree. In fact, despite all the emphasis given to Vision's feelings for the Scarlet Witch in earlier issues, their reunion at the climax of the war is left unremarked upon.
It's a strange kind of ending to a story which seemed to be steadily escalating, with the fleets of starships only just being introduced in the previous issue, but considering the backdrop against which this story was set - the immensely unpopular Vietnam War - it makes sense that the solution to the war isn't found in punches or ray beams.
Poor Captain Marvel had precious little to do in this story - in issue #89 he fled from the Avengers like a criminal, then spent almost every issue afterward being confined by someone (first the Kree, then the Skrulls) and only in #96 finally began fighting back. All he gets to do in the finale is bond again with Rick Jones, but this time his reluctance at doing so shows off his emotional side. It's strange way to test the waters and see if people wanted more Captain Marvel stories - essentially shoving him in the background of the story instead of the foreground - but I guess it paid off because Captain Marvel got his comic back!
Next: Mar-Vell is back in his own book! Captain Marvel #22!
No comments:
Post a Comment