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Avengers Spotlight #37

Oct 1990
?, Bob Hall

Story Name:

Interlude in a Peaceable Kingdom: Avengers Reborn Part One of Four


Synopsis

Avengers Spotlight #37 synopsis by Peter Silvestro
Rating: 3.5 stars

An amnesiac Doctor Druid and Kang-Nebula are living in an earthly paradise where the lion literally lies down with the lamb, content in the love but tormented by nightmares of a different world. They decide to merge their minds to break through to reality. First, Doctor Druid sees his way back to his visit to the dying Lama who granted him his powers and he regains his memory. He then recalls how he joined the Avengers and Nebula, murdering a Kang and taking his place, capturing the minds of Thor, She-Hulk, Black Knight, and Druid, trying to recover an ancient weapon. It all went wrong and Druid and Nebula were cast into this world of their own where they fell in love and created an Eden of their own. And so she remembers that she is evil, energizes her powers and blasts him, revealing that his love was only her manipulation. She teleports them to Lincoln, Nebraska in 1961, using her Kang powers to enclose the city in a time bubble. She demonstrates her ability to ward off any of his attacks, reminding him also that in 1961 there were no superheroes to come to his aid. Nebula plans to use her anti-time powers to turn back the clock and conquer the world. And she tosses him to Tibet to get her out of her hair…

…but Druid discovers that he is in the right place and time to meet the Lama which changed his life. Only now the Lama reveals himself as the Ancient One and states that his empowerment of Doctor Druid was a test run for when Stephen Strange arrives. Elated to learn that he is a forerunner of the mighty Sorcerer Supreme, Druid now has the confidence to combat Nebula. He rushes back to Nebraska and swipes some artifacts from a museum and undergoes a Druidic rite to draw on the power of the three Mother Goddesses of War. In the city, Nebula is busy tormenting the citizens by messing around with their ages when Druid appears, actually three Dr. Druids—one young, one middle-aged, and one old. The three team up to remove her anti-time power and use it against her so that she begins to shift in age before she disappears into time. And now the three Druids become one, the young one, in 1990 and Dr. Druid is happy to have his hair back….


 

Review / Commentaries


Avengers Spotlight #37 Review by (October 18, 2022)

Review: Or something like that. To be honest, I found this story to be overcomplicated as Kang-related tales usually are but with the added burden of retconning Doctor Druid’s history. To be even more honest, nobody cares about Doctor Druid, he’s a less interesting version of Doctor Strange, as this very comic admits. But Roy Thomas, whose hobby seems to be creating World War 2-era hero teams, decided that Druid needed a makeover so here we are. And Roy, as usual, gets a little wordy and not even his wife Dann can stop him. The art is a bit heavy for the subject and the plot is unbearably complicated but at least Druid gets his hair back and that’s something. I guess.

Comments: Story is a sequel to AVENGERS #294-297. The lion and the lamb image comes from the Bible, a loose paraphrase of Isaiah 11:6-9. The movie theaters are showing JUDGMENT AT NUREMBERG and WILD IN THE COUNTRY. Dr. Druid is next seen in QUASAR #23-25. Nebula a/k/a Ravonna a/k/a Terminatrix returns in the “Citizen Kang” story arc in CAPTAIN AMERICA ANNUAL #11. Story written by Roy Thomas and Dann Thomas.



> Avengers Spotlight comic book info and issue index

Elektra

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(The Boy Wonder)

?
Bob Hall
Winn Mortimer
Renee Witterstaetter
Steve Lightle (Cover Penciler)
Steve Lightle (Cover Inker)
? (Cover Colorist)
Additional Credits
Letterer: Rick Parker.

Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Doctor Druid
Doctor Druid

(Anthony Ludgate Druid)

Plus: Ancient One (Yao), Kang-Nebula (Ravonna).