Avengers #92: Review

Sep 1971

Roy Thomas, Sal Buscema

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Story Name:

All things must end

Review & Comments

Rating:

Avengers #92 Review by Rob Johnson (October 22, 2022)

The Carol Danvers, Captain America, Iron Man and Thor that appear in this issue will later be revealed to be Skrulls. In particular Danvers is Super-Skrull.

Senator Craddock and the Alien Activities Commission have obvious similarities to Senator McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee.

The other heroes Rick Jones remembers are from non-Timely/Marvel comics:- Cat-Man (Holyoke Comics), Fighting Yank (Nedor Comics), Heap (Hillman Comics), Green Lama (Prize Comics) and Fantoman (Centaur Comics).

Now the Kree/Skrull War saga picks up speed and will be a continuous narrative until the finale in #97.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Avengers #92 Synopsis by Rob Johnson

It's a few days since last issue (during which our core quartet cameoed in Amazing Adventures (Inhumans) #8 but left Thor to deal with the problem of a fake Black Bolt) and the team is relaxing when Jarvis shows them a disturbing newspaper article. During the last 2 issues the Kree Ronan The Accuser started devolving the Earth and its inhabitants back to the Stone Age, including 3 technicians at an Arctic base. We learn now that the Avengers had persuaded the techies to keep quiet in order to avoid panicking the populace. But the article shows that they've gone back on that. The President has created an Alien Activities Commission headed by Senator H Warren Craddock who is concerned that the Avengers are sheltering the Kree Captain Marvel.

Mar-Vell offers to hand himself in but Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch and Rick Jones are adamant he shouldn't. Goliath thinks it might help but Vision warns of a slippery slop leading to the detainment of androids and mutants. Avengers Mansion is outside local and even federal jurisdiction (why?) so CM is safe here. But he really wants to return to the Kree Galaxy to help fight against invading Skrulls and oppose Ronan who staged a coup against the Kree Supreme Intelligence (as we saw in the last 2 issues).

But then Carol Danvers arrives on the roof in a helicopter, thus avoiding the picketing crowd outside. Actually she nearly crashed and Marvel and Vision had to save her. Wanda is worried about Vizh but he brushes her off coldly (after nearly kissing her last issue). SHIELD planes circle above the Mansion but Nick Fury is following orders reluctantly. Carol says she's taken a leave of absence from Cape Kennedy Security Chief to help CM as he helped her in the past. She offers to hide him in a deserted farm. The others persuade him to go but Carol won't let Rick come with him. They leave in a quinjet which easily outpaces the SHIELD planes. Craddock accuses Fury of letting the alien go, which he admits to Dum Dum Dugan he *did* because he doesn't want to see a repeat of the WWII Japanese-American Relocation Centres.

Rick Jones remembers a stash of old comics he found when he was in an orphanage featuring Captain America, Sub-Mariner and the android Human Torch among other heroes. That's when he decided he wanted to *be* a superhero. But things were simpler in those old comics, and they're not so simple in the modern world. The Avengers too wonder whether they did the right thing helping Captain Marvel escape, and regret not consulting the senior Avengers Cap, Iron Man and Thor. Goliath espies a bully threatening a weaker man outside (ironically it's the bully who's spouting pro-Avengers statements). He rushes out to intervene but it was a setup to get an Avenger off the Mansion grounds so he could be served a court summons.

Next morning the 4 Avengers and Rick go to appear before the Commission. Mr Fantastic and Thing are already there as are the 3 Arctic techies. Those 3 testify about the Kree plan and that Marvel is a Kree, and that the Avengers swore them to secrecy probably to protect their Kree pal. Reed Richards can only tell them that the Kree come from another galaxy. He's never met Captain Marvel but will accept the Avengers' word that he's an ally of Earth. But Thing is more sceptical because the senior Avengers haven't vouched for him. Vision is called to the stand but only so he can be dismissed as a mere robot. However he does manage to express calmly the dangers of a witch-hunt.

At that point Rick suddenly remembers a dream he had last night of Mar-Vell and Carol Danvers approaching the farmhouse. Carol lets CM enter alone and then he is attacked by tentacles. Rick realises this wasn't a dream but a message passed through his psychic link with the hero. So he rushes out of the courtroom to go help his pal. Craddock demands he be dragged back but then adjourns the session when the teen gets away.

When the Avengers get back home they find Jarvis amidst wreckage. It seems that protesters broke in and trashed the place. Jarvis turned off the defences because he didn't want civilians hurt, and the team tell him he did the right thing. But then Captain America, Iron Man and Thor pop in to say that the 4 Avengers were wrong to side with Captain Marvel and they officially disband the team before Thor takes them away again. The 4 exit the building leaving Jarvis to tidy up.

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