Avengers: The Gathering Omnibus

by Bob Harras, Bob Harras (Writer)

One of the most shocking stories in Avengers history! When the Swordsman returns from the dead with the mysterious Magdalene by his side, a sprawling saga begins - and at its heart stands the shadowy Proctor! What is his great secret? Who are his mysterious Gatherers? And what do they want with the Vision, the Black Knight and the Eternal known as Sersi? Meanwhile, the Avengers deal with Kree terrorists, the Legion of the Unliving and a traitor in their midst - as the Black Knight finds himself torn between Sersi and his teammate Crystal! And can the X-Men help the Avengers stop a mutant/human civil war before Proctor begins his final gathering? Collecting AVENGERS (1963) #343-344 and #348-375, AVENGERS ANNUAL #22, AVENGERS STRIKEFILE, X-MEN (1991) #26, AVENGERS WEST COAST #101, UNCANNY X-MEN (1981) #307, BLACK KNIGHT: EXODUS and AVENGERS ANNIVERSARY MAGAZINE.

Genres: Marvel, Comics, Science Fiction, Fiction, Adventure, Action

1152 pages, Hardcover

First published March 30, 2021

About the author

Robert "Bob" Harras (born January 11, 1959) is an American comics writer and editor, who was editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics from 1995 to 2000 and currently serves as editor-in-chief of DC Comics.

Reviews

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this storyline when I first read it and have been periodically trying to collect it over the years so I could reread it in its entirety again. Thankfully, Marvel released it in a collected (omnibus) format. The overall storyline is good; I enjoyed most of the stories in this collection. I loved Epting's artwork; the "other" artists were pretty "meh" for me (I had forgotten that the artists alternated every other issue because of how the series was published bi-weekly for a time). The character development was pretty good for most of the characters.

This compilation also includes various "magazine articles" that were published during this run. Some of the articles were about Bob Harras' taking over the reigns as the new writer for the Avengers and Steve Epting doing the pencils. Other articles talked about it being the 30th anniversaries of both the Avenges and X-Men and what Marvel was doing to celebrate these momentous events. As much as I enjoyed these articles and the background they gave to this overall storyline, I would have enjoyed some other "Easter Eggs" that were “more current” and involved the people who were involved with the Avengers during that time sharing their current opinions about the series or reminiscing about different moments. In any case, I did enjoy the insights into what took place that were given. One thing the various Marvel magazines make clear is that Bob Harras wanted to tell “a different story” involving the Avengers. He wanted to focus on the characters, on telling a “good story,” and he wanted to use characters who did not have their own books so that they could grow and develop in this series. The core of this team revolved around the Black Knight, Black Widow, Crystal Maximoff, Hercules, Sersi, and the Vision. Thor (Eric Masterson) was a member of this team for a short while but then had to leave due to events in the main Thor comic followed by the beginning of his own series (which probably goes back to Harras wanting to use characters who did not have their own ongoing series or who were not a part of another team in another comic).

Most of the “shorter story arcs” were good, although there were a couple of stinkers. I did not mind the “break” involving members of the Kree military trying to destroy the Earth with a Nega-bomb; in light of Operation: Galactic Storm having recently occurred, it made perfect sense that members of the Kree military would seek revenge for the death of the Supreme Intelligence and the loss of their Empire as soon as possible. This story was told “in the middle” of the Gatherers overall storyline. I have usually enjoyed stories involving Arkon and Thundra, and “their arc” in this run was fun to read. The Avengers/X-Men crossover event “Bloodlines” was okay; a part of me wished it was a little longer (maybe a couple more issues), but it was still okay being told in five issues. It just really felt like some moments were truncated because there was not enough space available to really expand upon a particular moment. Maybe if they had made all of the issues “double-sized issues” it would have worked better because of how it felt like certain points could have been fleshed out better. Overall, though, it was when the story focused on the Gatherers that it was probably at its best point.

The “biggest stinker” involved the Avengers fighting with the Grim Reaper; that was a weird three-issue arc, and the “power/villain” behind the Grim Reaper was a giant hand that had eyeballs at the end of each digit and a mouth in the middle of its palm; not only that, but it looked like it was attached to a larger body of some sort (because the hand was always shown attached to an arm that was apparently crossing from one dimension into “our” (616’s) dimension). I really disliked this “shorter story arc,” and I hated the artwork as well. It was a stupid story, a disturbing story, and it never should have been told (in my opinion), especially as it messed up the flow of the overall narrative and was never mentioned again. The Annual’s story involving the “creation” of the Blood Wraith was a giant meh for me; I have never been particularly fond of that character, anyway, so his “origin story” could have been left out as far as I was concerned. At some point, Hank Pym “rejoins” the team before officially rejoining the team, so there is a “short story” involving him as well that starts out interesting but then becomes meh. He has some kind of “episode” or something in which it looks like ants are putting him on trial for how he “abused their trust” and forced ants to perform dangerous tasks and even died on his behalf (something I doubt most readers ever thought about). So it starts out interesting but then gets goofy and has a weak ending.

The Black Knight/Exodus storyline was okay. It provided the origin story for Exodus and explained why he looked so familiar to Dane Whitman when Dane “first” encountered him at Genosha. It was a goofy “time-travel” story in that Exodus was a former friend of Dane’s (Dane’s descendant) while Dane was stuck in the Crusades in the past; so, somehow, that encounter “back then” was a blending of some kind of Dane’s “past self” and “future” self, I guess. Otherwise it really does not make much sense that he would recognize Exodus. Granted, I’m not that familiar with Dane Whitman, other than what I have read when he’s been involved with the Avengers, so maybe his “past lives” have been explained elsewhere.

One observation that Mark Gruenwald made that I would have to agree with after thinking about it is this: the Avengers really do not have very many “memorable enemies” they face on a regular basis, per se. The ones who are best known are Ultron and Kang the Conqueror. Both of these individuals have some kind of “personal investment” with (or personal vendetta against) the Avengers and are able to give the whole team a run for its money. I would say the Squadron Supreme could also fall into this category (when they have “once again” been brainwashed). Otherwise, there are not very many memorable villains who can give the Avengers a hard time. Sure, there is the Masters of Evil or the Lethal Legion, but the motivations for those groups tend to be less clear (Baron Zemo II probably had the “best motivation” when he put together the group that stormed Avengers Mansion in the Under Siege storyline). So I would agree that Harras did a great job putting together a group of opponents that were able to give the Avengers a tough time and had a “valid reason” for doing so.

I thought it was an interesting concept to have the Gatherers be a group of disparate survivors of other realities whose worlds had been destroyed coming together for survival under Proctor’s guidance. We eventually discover these individuals are actually former Avengers themselves, and the only way they can survive in the 616-reality is by replacing their “Prime” counterpart in this reality. There are Gatherers who have trouble surviving in the “Prime reality” and others who have no problems; this is because the “Prime” counterparts for individuals like the Swordsman are either dead or “do not exist” in the “Prime” reality. Proctor has lead his followers to believe that the reason their worlds died was because of one individual, and if that one individual can be killed in the “Prime reality,” they will have saved all other existing realities (which, now that I think about it, is a different take than what Jason Aaron did when he did a bad copy of DC’s Crisis on Infinite Earths story when Aaron was writing the Avengers and the New Avengers comics a few years ago).

There are two teams of Gatherers, which I had forgotten was the case. There is an initial team consisting of Magdalene, the Swordsman, Sloth, Cassandra, and Proctor. A character called Coal Tiger is also introduced , but he dies “shortly thereafter” because he refuses to kill his “Prime counterpart,” this reality’s Black Panther. His comments also lead the Swordsman to “defect” and assist the Avengers from this point on. Another Vision is introduced, as is Tabula Rasa (who has aided Proctor in his quest at other times, apparently). The second team consists of Proctor, Jocasta, Sliver (reminiscent of a female Wolverine), Korg, Tarkas, and Rik (apparent Rick Jones). The Swordsman is captured by the Avengers and Magdalene leaves Proctor’s group when she discovers the Swordsman is still alive. Proctor kills the alternate Vision, and I guess the rest of the first team is killed in action (because Tabula, Sloth, and Cassandra are never seen again after issue 363) because Proctor creates a new team to assist him.

That is probably one of the “weaker points” about “the Gatherers” storyline: Harras creates characters who play an important role and then disappear with no explanation as to why they disappeared. The reader has to assume that Sloth, Cassandra, and Tabula must have been killed because Proctor never relies upon them again in his quest to kill Sersi, who in his reality rejected his advances and he blames for destroying his world/reality. He actually travels from reality to reality and either captures or kills every Sersi he can find; in the final issue of the storyline, it is said he has “hundreds” of Sersis captured and floating in suspended animation (I assume it is suspended animation, as there would be no sense in keeping their corpses, unless he is just that twisted of an individual). As powerful as these three individuals are, it does not make any sense for him to stop relying upon them unless they were dead. With the disappearance of his “original team,” he has to create a new team of Gatherers to assist him on his mad quest. At the end of the storyline, the “new” Gatherers also disappear with nary a comment as to whether or not they are dead, alive in the 616-universe, or sent back to their “home reality” (where they probably died afterwards).

Epting’s artwork is probably some of the best in the series, in my opinion. I loved his work (especially some of the costume changes). His art in this run did a great job of showing power, movement, and expression. In many ways, it reminded me of John Buscema’s run (from #255-300, which I also loved). He was able to show a lot of action in each panel, and he was able to have multiple characters in each panel as well as different perspectives, all of which were beautifully done. I will say this; I thought it was pretty hysterical, however, when there were many panels of characters looking like they were “grimacing” (in order to express “the seriousness of a situation” or something, I assume?). I was just, “whaaaa . . .?” when I saw it. In any case, I loved the comics with Epting’s art. One other thing I thought he did a great job with involved facial expressions (other than the “gritting of teeth” and “grimacing”). There were moments of joy, of sadness, of frustration, of contentment, of peace, of tranquility, of anger, and other emotions that Epting did a great job depicting, be it panels that showed just the face itself or the various expression on each face when more than one person was in the frame.

I also liked the character development, overall, that took place amidst this team of Avengers. Hercules shaves his beard, so that was an interesting look for him. I am sure he grew it back at some point, but I do not remember when it would have taken place. Harras said he specifically wanted to focus on character development, that he felt character-driven stories were the best kind of stories, and with a team of “unknowns” who had no other book, he could have fun developing these individuals in the pages of the Avengers comic. I would say he did a great job of doing so, overall. Captain America left the book early on in Harras’s run (shortly after the events of Galactic Storm) but would return maybe ten or so issues later. I would say that Black Widow seemed to have the least character development even though she was the acting chairperson at the time. Hercules was so-so with his development; I enjoyed his interactions with Thor when Eric Masterson was on the team, so while he was “the muscle” of and for the team, his character’s development arc was also not as memorable. Personally, I think removing Thor from the line-up was a mistake, in retrospect, as it seemed to me some of the best moments for Hercules also involved Eric Masterson as Thor. Sersi, Dane Whitman (the Black Knight), and Crystal probably had “the best character development” in this run, and that was probably because of the relationships that developed between Dane and Sersi and Dane and Crystal. Crystal was married to Pietro Maximoff, but it was a strained relationship heading for divorce. I cannot say what caused the “initial spark” between Dane and Crystal, but something developed between them over the course of the series to the point that they are ready to have an affair and then Sersi forces a connection upon Dane Whitman called the “Gann Josin” in hopes that it would help stave off her growing madness. It seems like something happens that encourages Dane to back off, and then Pietro reenters the picture to create another “triangle” to muddle things up. To me, Dane being with Sersi made more sense than Dane and Crystal, but whatever. Vision was probably so-so in his character development; most of his “development” revolved around his continuing journey to “redevelop” the feelings and emotions that he once had. At times, it seems like he is close to regaining that which he lost, but in other ways, his journey reminds me of that of Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation and how “frustrating” that could be. I understand the author does not want to “cheapen the moment” if and when the Vision would have developed emotions, but sometimes it felt like “get over it!” as I was reading. And then there were moments when it seemed like the Vision was on the verge of rediscovery and developing emotions, but then he “turned his back” and “lost the faith” or something. Overall, it was fine. It just felt like that was what the Vision focused on and “obsessed about” throughout this run, so I am not sure how much development there was to his character, overall. The introduction of Deathcry into the series was fun; she keeps hitting on Vision and trying to find out how she can “push his buttons” and get a sexual response out of him. So her emotional vivacity and continual stream of innuendoes directed at the Vision made for interesting contrasts from the Vision regarding how he reacts to Deathcry’s behavior and advances. I also enjoyed the interactions between Marilla (Luna’s Inhuman nanny and somewhat-assistant to Crystal) and Jarvis. Some of those moments were priceless. So while it might not sound like the character development was “that good” or helped drive the plots, I would say it is more my doing a poor job of explaining it, as I felt the characters developed over the course of the stories and gelled fairly well over time as a team.

Even though there are six “core members” of this team, it does expand in size by the end of Harras’s run. As I said, Cap returns after being gone for maybe ten issues. Hank Pym also rejoins the team. He is a Reserve Avenger and starts out with medical examinations and tests of injured team members, but he then starts to join the team on various missions, which was pretty cool to see. Magdalene and Swordsman become members, aiding at points in the battle against the Kree and Proctor where they can. Then Deathcry enters the picture; she has been sent as an emissary by the Shi’ar to warn the Avengers of some kind of danger posed by the Kree, and she ends up sticking around for quite some time after the Kree threat is over. Eric Masterson even returns to the fold, but as Thunderstrike, and participates in the final battle against Proctor. It is funny because of how Vision is not present at the final battle; he is sent off to investigate some anomaly with Magdalene, Swordsman, and Deathcry, and thereby misses out on the climactic final battle.

I am not sure why, but I never saw Dane Whitman as being Proctor’s template when I first read the storyline until the “big reveal.” I still do not know if I would have figured it out before the “big reveal” if I had never read the storyline before “today.” Proctor was just different enough in appearance and behavior that I do not think I would have figured it out. The only thing that might have clued me in was his “obsession” with and focusing on Sersi like he did.

I also enjoyed seeing the various iterations of Avengers teams from other realities. Most of the time the other team members were already dead, but it was still interesting to see the possible make-ups of who was an Avenger in each reality. I also liked how the Coal Tiger's comments about "once an Avenger, always an Avenger!" helped Swordsman break free from Proctor's control and allowed Swordsman to regain control of his own life. That was pretty cool, and I thought it was also a believable moment.

The "Bloodties" crossover event was okay. To be honest, it really felt forced to me. I know the two teams (the Avengers and the X-Men) are said to not always have had a "happy association" (for whatever reasons) and that this was an attempt to show the two team could work together for good and a common cause/goal. However, it still felt forced to me. It felt too short, too rushed, and too "hacked together" in terms of each issue of the crossover being both "its own chapter" and a continuation of the overall story. That is why I think it should have run for a few more issues or each issue should have been double-sized. Plus, some of the issues feel like they are nothing but dialogue and little action (which feels funny to say because of the fact it is only five issues long), and some of the "action panels" feel compressed because of the number of "talking balloons" in the panels.

I have probably blathered on enough about this omnibus. I really enjoyed reading this story arc back in the day, and I enjoyed rereading it again and “rediscovering” everything I had forgotten about it. I am glad that I took the time to revisit it. I could see myself rereading it again at some point in time.

[Troy-David Phillips · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is actually a difficult one dor me to really qualify. It is fairly well-written and the plot is paced as well as it can be. There are several sub-plots to be resolved, and considering the large number of issues, it is no surprise that there are sometimes story-lags. The art swings between quite-good and flat & un-inspired. But again the demands of monthly publishing sometimes tax a creative team heavily.

[Paul Cocker · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I originally lost interest in the Avengers by the ’90s, the cover of Avengers: The Gathering Omnibus was too drenched in that era’s vibes to resist. I chipped away at it over a month, and I’m glad I did. Between the edgy costumes, X-Men-style melodrama, and Steve Epting’s art—which feels like Curt Swan inked by Art Thibert or Whilce Portacio—I was all in. 

Bob Harras builds a mystery around Proctor and his multiverse-hopping Gatherers, weaving it through several arcs. It’s a slow build but pays off well. Harras focuses on lesser-used characters like Black Knight, Sersi, and Crystal, and their messy triangle drives the emotional weight of the run. Sersi especially takes center stage. And it's a little tragic—Hercules is here, but he’s treated like a farm league player on a team already full of farm league players. He barely gets a moment.

Epting anchors the book visually. His clean, expressive style gives it a classic feel while embracing the era’s grit. Even with some rotating artists, Epting’s consistency over 20+ issues is impressive—everyone’s always grimacing, but it works.

Not everything lands. The Grim Reaper arc with the eyeball-hand demon is a total misfire. The Bloodties crossover with the X-Men is interesting but too compressed. And some supporting characters vanish without resolution.

Still, seeing the alternate-universe Avengers, watching Swordsman’s redemption, and unraveling Proctor’s obsession makes this a memorable ride. Harras clearly wanted to do something different, and even when it stumbles, it’s trying something bold.

It’s not a definitive Avengers run, but The Gathering is a nostalgic, character-driven saga that captures the weird charm of ’90s comics. I’ll be keeping this one on the shelf.

[October Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I typically recognize when my nostalgia is factoring into a review, but I can promise you that is not the case here. When I think of The Avengers, The Gathering is what comes to mind. Bob Harras wrote the Avengers as a family, with thoroughly fleshed out relationships and characters. He ignored the more well-known options and chose instead to use "second-tier" characters not featured in other books. The result was that Harras was solely in charge of character development, and there were real stakes in his stories. Sersi's fate was in question throughout the entire run, the Black Knight was the most nuanced he's ever been written, and point-of-view character Crystal grounded a team full of eccentric personalities. The unpredictable love triangle he crafted with these three characters is to this day my favorite love story in comics.. Simply can not recommend enough.

[Andrew Seaton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one. I came in knowing nothing about several Avengers in these pages (Sergei, Black Knight, Crystal), but left in love with them all. This is definitely a book that finishes strong.

Knocking it a little for the “non-gathering” portion of the book in the middle, which I had to force myself through. But the Harras/Epting work is top notch. Give this book a shot if you’re interested in learning about some lesser known Avengers.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the Avengers story when I started reading the book, and it set the tone for all the rest of my comics readership. The twists! The romance! The intrigue! The bomber jackets! This was an Era where they were much closer to X-Men as far as moral complexity, and it still holds up!

[Davide Pappalardo · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good 90’s run, better than The Crossing (of course). Far from perfect and a little bit dated and naive, but one could say it still is better than some of today’s stuff.