Avengers #270Issue(s): Avengers #270 Review/plot: Hercules has an idea for what to do about the protestors, and he's not at all happy when the Wasp rejects it. The protests really get out of hand when someone in the crowd starts telling a story about how Namor killed her husband, but Derek Freeman of the FBI has been on the lookout for Karla Sofen, aka Moonstone, and his team quickly identifies her as the woman instigating the crowd. While the other Avengers try to quell the crowd... ...and deal with the damage caused by Moonstone, the Wasp spots her and pursues her into the sewer. When Moonstone emerges alone claiming that she took care of the Wasp, the Black Knight, already rattled by the way his sword reacts to her power, gets enraged and knocks Moonstone out. The Wasp turns out to be ok, though. Moonstone is put into a police truck, but it turns out that her captors are actually the Absorbing Man and Titania, and they've got a proposition for her. As Absorbing Man points out (not shown above), whatever Moonstone was attempting to accomplish in this issue doesn't seem to have been very strategic, and she was also a little uncharacteristically panicked while fighting the Avengers. I do like her playing the role of an instigator, and i think the point here may be that while Moonstone is formidable on her own, her skills are even more valuable as part of a larger team. The issue ends with a lawyer, Mr. Costello, agreeing to help Sub-Mariner face some of his formal accusers, a group of insurance investors that want to sue Namor for the property damage he's caused over the years (estimated at two billion dollars). Namor demands a speedy trial so that he can make his case to the public. But then Namor's Atlantean cousin, Byrrah, arrives at Avengers mansion to tell him that Attuma has captured Marrina and is holding her as bait. Namor waves off help from the other Avengers and leaves with Byrrah (the Black Knight was trying to convince Namor to take the Avengers along, but Hercules knows all about honor). Just continued great super-heroics from a super creative team, and obviously building towards the legendary Masters of Evil saga. One panel with the protestors looks like a creator portrait. I guess that's Roger Stern and his wife? Parents for Sub-Mariner? Students? Surely not rodents... Quality Rating: B+ Chronological Placement Considerations: The Avengers return from Limbo towards the beginning of this issue. Namor leaves the Avengers to investigate the information from Byrrah at the end of this issue, kicking off a crossover with Alpha Flight. The MCP places a number of Avengers appearances during this issue before that last page. References:
Crossover: Avengers: Under Siege Continuity Insert? N My Reprint: N/A Inbound References (4): showCharacters Appearing: Absorbing Man, Black Knight (Dane Whitman), Byrrah, Captain America, Captain Marvel (Monica Rambeau), Derek Freeman, Hercules, Jarvis, Leslie Farrington, Michael Costello, Moonstone (Karla Sofen), Sub-Mariner, Titania, Wasp CommentsWalt and Louise Simonson? Posted by: Mark Drummond | November 28, 2013 1:43 AM The insurance guy, Leslie Farrington, was previously shown as one of the suspects for the Imperial Hydra in Strange Tales 137-139. Posted by: Michael | November 28, 2013 9:29 AM Thanks Michael. Cool move on Roger Stern's part. Posted by: fnord12 | November 28, 2013 11:35 AM Fun issue, and I count the beginning of the Masters of Evil storyline to this issue. It's the first time we see recruiting going on. I think OHOTMU #8 already ruined the surprise for me, but it certainly increased the anticipation. Great characterization of Hercules. His attitudes to many things are very untypical for heroic characters, and does a lot to distinguish him from Thor and the other super strong characters. One thing I really like is that Stern is acknowledging that Sub-Mariner has a very tortured past, and he doesn't neglect it simply because he's now on the team. It's clear Stern thought about all the implications and story potential of giving him membership. In the short less than a year he's on the team, Sub-Mariner seems more in place as an Avenger than he ever did as a Defender. Posted by: Chris | November 28, 2013 1:43 PM such a great touch with the WWII veterans remembering Sub--Mariner and vouching for him. Stern really wove such a deep tapestry, and it's still a shame that he was taken off of this title. Posted by: Uncle Sauce | November 30, 2013 8:49 AM I just read this recently. I liked that Moonstone is cocky enough to think that she can just manipulate any situation she gets into and doesn't necessarily have an exit strategy. She's become an interesting character over the years, not a mastermind villain per se, but one that's always trying to play all the angles. On top of that she's got a considerable amout of raw power as well. I don't think there are too many female villains in comics with that combination of traits. Posted by: JP | May 14, 2015 6:31 AM FNORD - when you wrote "Parents for Sub-Mariner? Students? Surely not rodents..." I looked up a list of words that end in "ents" - One possibility is "Agents of Sub-Mariner." Posted by: clyde | May 26, 2015 3:25 PM Moonstone is a comapratively "realistic" sociopath: she's charismatic manipulative, and intelligent, but ultimately too impulsive and narcissistic to really make anything work in the long-term. This gets played up quite a bit in the Busiek and Nicieza Thunderbolts. Posted by: Omar Karindu | October 15, 2015 5:50 PM "....while Moonstone is formidable on a team, her skills are even more valuable as part of a larger team." Don't you mean "formidable on her own" or something like that? Posted by: EHH | February 14, 2016 6:52 PM Comments are now closed. |
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