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The Avengers #388

Jul 1995
Bob Harras, Mike Deodato Jr.

The Avengers #388 cover

Story Name:

Into the Breach


Synopsis

The Avengers #388 synopsis by Peter Silvestro
Rating: 4.5 stars

Story continued from CAPTAIN AMERICA #441.

A.I.M.'s base on Boca Caliente: the boy and his dog (from issue #387) discover Captain America and MODOK trapped in the silo as the energy of a Cosmic Cube shoots up through the Earth destroying the complex—and the entire island....

The Avengers reassemble, fighting hurricane force winds, and see MODOK, resurrected to try to contain the energy spikes, ascending the beam into the hole the Cube has torn in the fabric of reality—and reality faces being completely lost....

Elsewhere, the Red Skull rises from the wreckage and goes to meet his destiny....

Captain America also emerges from the ruined complex to learn that the boy who tried to rescue him is an Adaptoid and the dog, an illusion, vanishing. The Adaptoid explains how it was created to watch over the islanders in case of invasion and it came to see the “possibility of the infinite” in them and it envied them. That infinite almost became reality but now it is all threatened. Superia appears, offering Cap the full antidote to his fatal malady in exchange for a favor to be redeemed later. Cap refuses, slapping the hypo out of her hand. It is caught by the Red Skull who injects himself with it to prevent Cap's fate from happening to him. Skull then blasts Superia and teleports out of there....

Falcon joins the Avengers in effecting the evacuation of the islanders from the deadly maelstrom. Soon Free Spirit and Jack Flag arrive to help. Snapdragon unmasks to reveal herself to be Diamondback and lends a hand as well (after being told not to try to find Cap)....

Cap, whose paralysis has returned, determines to close the breach and save the island; the Adaptoid wishes to accompany him so Cap hauls the legless android with him up an endless weakened staircase. The Adaptoid suggests that it sacrifice its own existence to adapt into the containing wall and lose its sentience, perhaps touching the infinite or even the divine... Cap plunges from the heights but is caught by Falcon and Giant-Man. “Cap saved us all!” No, says Cap, “All I did was help someone find his dream....”   


 

Review / Commentaries


The Avengers #388 Review by (July 15, 2017)
Comments: “Taking A.I.M. Part 4 of 4.” Uhh, who is that woman who seems to be the Red Skull's servant who was never seen before? Superia doesn't return until NEW AVENGERS (2010 series) #9-13 in 2011. Meanwhile, Red Skull reappears in CAPTAIN AMERICA #444, a few months after this. Bob Harras and Terry Kavanugh are credited as co-plotters.

Review: Apocalyptic climax to the story arc switches gears and introduces a warm human element—for a non-human. Yep, in the end it's all about an android that wanted to be human and he got his wish, by sacrificing his life for others. This is either one of the most underrated of great moments in comics history—or a ridiculous pile of nonsense that verges on self-parody, pulled out of the writer's hat at the last minute. I kinda incline toward the former but your mileage may vary. Nevertheless, a satisfying wrap-up to a forgotten epic with a lot of opportunities for the artists to shine.


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Main/1st Story Full Credits

Mike Deodato Jr.
Tom Palmer
Mike Thomas
Mike Deodato Jr. (Cover Penciler)
Tom Palmer (Cover Inker)
Unknown (Cover Colorist)




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