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Avengers #291: Review

May 1988
Walt Simonson, John Buscema

Story Name:

Shadows of the Future Past

Review & Comments

Rating:
4 stars

Avengers #291 Review by (April 26, 2024)
Comments: Part one of three parts. First appearance of Kang-Nebula; it is revealed in AVENGERS: TERMINATRIX OBJECTIVE that Kang-Nebula is really Terminatrix/Ravonna. Jarvis returns to his job with the Avengers after having been seriously injured in issue #276. Kang’s battle with Immortus was in issues #258-259. The mayor is the real-life Ed Koch, in office 1978-1989. Donald Trump is mentioned.  

Review: No one could have seen this coming: Namor’s bride Marrina, a sweet young thing, turns into a giant monster laying waste to the ocean. And Spidey thought he had a challenge with Curt Connors. Fairly amusing epic with a lot of comical stuff at Hydrobase and the swanky soiree before it all goes crazy. And Dr. Druid, no one’s favorite Avenger, is up to something that will come to fruition in the next story arc along with the already confusing Kang stuff.





 

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Avengers #291 Synopsis by T Vernon
Doctor Druid has a recurring dream of walking through a mystical land and meeting a beautiful blonde woman who takes him into her arms and makes love to him; she then places a crown on his head and bows before him—and then he wakes up knowing that disaster is imminent. He hears a noise outside and looks through the window to see She-Hulk and Black Knight cleaning up the debris of their last adventure. After some amusing banter, Druid goes out on the beach to brood. Meanwhile, Captain Marvel arrives and, to help Jen and Dane, she blasts large pieces of debris into small bits—which just makes Jen’s job harder. CM flies off, wondering why everything she does lately goes wrong. Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner, and his bride Marrina arrive, acting like newlyweds; the clean-up done, the underwater couple goes for a swim. Thor arrives to invite the others to a breakfast prepared by the newly returned Jarvis. Later, CM returns with invitations to a swanky black-tie affair that night….

The Avengers arrive at the affair in formalwear, greeted by the Mayor and fawned over by the media. A lot of amusing encounters take place with the guests and the press. Dr. Druid sees a woman who may be the one from his dreams and accosts her but he’s wrong. Marrina takes a goldfish out of an aquarium and munches on it; Namor gently steers her away—and then she goes berserk, transforming into a monster, smashing the aquarium, and gobbling all the fish. She runs outside and Namor seizes her but she clobbers him mightily. The rest of the Avengers rush to the scene. As she continues to transform, Marrina dives into the river and swims off, sideswiping a ship and kicking up a lot of water in her wake; Namor pursues. Shulkie and Thor keep the ship from capsizing while Captain Marvel goes underwater, attempting to track Namor and Marrina but failing. Druid suggests they return to the Hydrobase to ponder their course of action….

Somewhen else, Kang returns from where he was hiding from Immortus to his ruined lab, only to have another Kang start shooting at him; he dodges the energy blasts and, scooping up a weapon of his own, kills his assailant. He unmasks him to find a child (“Kanglet”) and he is then killed by a female Kang (Kang-Nebula) who retreats to the Council of Kangs….

Two weeks later in the Atlantic Ocean, ships are being destroyed and land swamped with huge waves, all caused by a giant serpent-like monster, similar to the Biblical Leviathan. Captain Marvel and the others can find no sign of Namor or Marrina. She and Dr. Druid hear a news report of the monster and Druid suggests CM check it out but he doesn’t mention the premonitions of trouble he has been receiving. CM returns, having seen the monster, and she assembles the Avengers to go after it. The serpent is a mile long and heavily armored, destroying a small island as it goes. She-Hulk joins Black Knight on his Atomic Horse and Thor and CM fly alongside them at the monster but Namor appears before them to tell them that the Leviathan is his bride Marrina—now heading towards Miami….



John Buscema
John Buscema
Christie Scheele
John Buscema (Cover Penciler)
Tom Palmer (Cover Inker)
? (Cover Colorist)
Letterer: Bill Oakley.
Editor: Mark Gruenwald. Editor-in-chief: Tom DeFalco.

Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Black Knight
Black Knight

(Dane Whitman)
Doctor Druid
Doctor Druid

(Doctor Droom)
Jarvis
Jarvis

(Edwin Jarvis)
Kang
Kang

(Kang the Conqueror)
She-Hulk
She-Hulk

(Jennifer Walters)
Thor
Thor

(Odinson)

Plus: Captain Marvel (Monica Rambeau), Kang-Nebula (Ravonna), Marrina.

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