Dark Avengers #3

Background

Morgana Le Fay has traveled to the present day to exact her revenge on Dr. Doom for his betrayal. To honor his agreement with Doom, Norman Osborn has brought his Avengers to Latveria to save him from his crazed ex-lover. Despite the fact that the Sentry ripped her head off, she reappeared moments later. As payback she caused the Sentry to explode. The Avengers must now fight off a horde of demons and a psychotic witch in order to save one of the most evil people on the planet. To further complicate matter, the Avengers' roster primarily consists of former villains masquerading as heroes.

Story Details

Avengers Tower, days ago: Osborn meets with the Sentry, his new "neighbor". He is aware of Sentry's mental problems and offers to help him. He explains that he understands the Sentry better than anyone as he has to fight off the voices in his head as well. After a very inspirational speech, Norman has him convinced that there is no "Void" as long as he (Sentry) says so. He then offers him a place on the new Avengers team.

690 A.D. (same approximate time): Morgana uses her mystic powers to peer into the future and watches Norman's interaction with Sentry. She laughs at those who would come to Doom's aid when she chooses to attack. Nothing but "madmen, thieves, murderers, deviants and a god of war". She then sees her death at the hands of Sentry and makes preparations to counter that.

Latveria, now: The Avengers are fighting Morgana's demon horde as well as a mind-controled Venom III/Spider-Man. Osborn calls Victoria Hand and requests all the data they have on Morgana Le Fay. He instructs her to not send backup as regular agents would not have a chance.

During the battle, Ares is turned to stone, eliminating both of their heavy hitters. Bullseye/Hawkeye picks up the slack and fires ten arrows into Morgana, effectively killing her again. Her disappearance coincides with that of the demon horde she summoned given the Avengers a short break.

When Morgana reappears, her influence on Venom returns and he tries to eat Bullseye. Iron Patriot removes Doom from the battlefield to have a private chat with him. Doom explains that she has mystically frozen his armor, making it impossible to move. He continues by stating that she has corrupted the timestream as part of her revenge, explaining her ability to reappear after her many deaths. He states that the only way to stop this is to go back to her time and stop her before she starts.

After much convincing, Doom allows Osborn to access his timecube through his armor. They travel back in time to Morgana's castle in the year 690 A.D. Miraculously her spell on Doom's armor is broken allowing him to move ... and gain his revenge on her.

General Comments

Osborn gave one of the best speeches I have ever read. I know he's manipulating Sentry. However there is a hint of sincerity. Even though we know his lying, it does make sense in a weird way.

The many resurrections of Morgana Le Fay is explained - in a way. Prior knowledge of her demise and "corrupting the time stream" is believable enough for me. Not the greatest explanation, but it is acceptable.

How Doom was able to break or counter Morgana's spell on his armor is not stated. At the end of the issue, he's standing on his own, ready to throw down. A caption box explaining that her spell may have been broken when they traveled through time would have been nice. Or any plausible explanation would have helped.

Overall Rating

4 webs. Despite the few problems, this is a very good story. One plot point was resolved (more or less) and others were introduced. Hopefully they will be explained next issue.