“Yesterday’s” Comic> Avengers #94

“Execute the death sentence? So…execute the execution? Does that mean stop…” “Just kill them already!”

Avengers #94

Marvel Comics (December, 1971; as featured in the comiXology version of the “Kree/Skrull War” trade)

“More Than Inhuman”

WRITER: Roy Thomas

ARTIST: Neal Adams (chapter 2 penciled by John Buscema)

INKER: Tom Palmer

LETTERER: Sam Rosen

EDITOR: Stan Lee

Vision manages to track the Super-Skrull’s ship as it attacks the Inhumans’ refuge for some unknown reason. Failing in that task, the Super-Skrull takes Mar-Vell, Wanda, and Pietro to the Kree homeworld in the hopes of finding favor with the Emperor, who is too much of a paranoid jerk to treat him as anything other than an enemy, even above the pleas of his daughter. The Emperor puts Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch in a life-or-death situation to force Mar-Vell to build an Omniwave device for him. Back on Earth, Craddock decides to take in the Avengers as part of his anti-alien extremism, using the SHIELD Mandroids to attack Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, a returned Vision, and the slowly de-powering Goliath when Triton of the Inhumans appears at Avengers’ Mansion in the midst of the battle.

What they got right: The half of the story with the Skrulls and our heroes was interesting. It provides more for Mar-Vell to be involved in and moves the plot.

What they got wrong: I really don’t care about the McCarthy wanna-be Craddock at this point. I’d rather see the time devoted to the actual Kree/Skrull war…which still hasn’t happened since this was more like Kree versus Kree and the ones captured by the Avengers serve no story purpose beyond “this happened last issue and they know the Fantastic Four and Ben’s a jerk”. There’s also an odd bit of dialog…throughout the issue, really, but especially one scene in which Vision first tries to stop Super-Skrull from attacking the Refuge about it not mattering if the “hand was alien, green” or Protestant”. Why “Protestant”?

What I think overall: I still don’t know why this arc is called the Kree/Skrull War when most of the attacks thus far has been on Earth, the anti-alien nut is a distraction to the plot, and outside of the parts with the Super-Skrull and the Emperor and his daughter I really wasn’t interested in what was going on.