Ghaur recruits three apparent mutants—Coal, Spike, and String—to steal the Horn of Doom from Namorita. And I won’t spend any more time on these characters, since the quickly disappear and are never seen again in the Marvel universe! #marvel #newmutants

I always enjoy seeing how different artists draw Warlock, but this rendering seems exactly how Arthur Adams draws Warlock. Like, identical. Also, Warlock has the same expression every time his face is shown. Make of that what you will. #marvel #newmutants

“Part of this magic includes a sacrifice, to Set, of an entire race of people.” This is the first we’re hearing of Ghaur’s plans to sacrifice the Atlanteans! So the storyline is less Atlantis Attacks, and more Atlantis Gets Manipulated and Sacrificed! #marvel #newmutants

[New Mutants Annual #5, Oct. 1989] Hmm, Rob Liefeld on New Mutants?? This should be interesting. [#cmro M7826]

It’s sometimes fun to throw a bunch of heroes into a story to see what happens, but the artwork and nonsensical characterizations really drag this story down! #marvel #avengers

The unidentified armored character is someone who Krang recognizes but is surprised to see, and they have a personal history. By now it should be obvious who this character is! #marvel #avengers

Character continuity problem #3: “In my light-form, I may not be able to attack them directly…” Captain Marvel recently got her powers back, and she no longer has a light-form. She is now completely solid and can’t pass through things (or people). #marvel #avengers

Character continuity problem #2: In Tigra’s last appearance in WCA she was fully in feline form, and shrunken down in a cage until they could figure out how to cure her. But now she’s human-sized and fully functional. Want to bet that she’ll be feral next time?? #marvel #avengers

And now we’re getting into continuity errors with individual characters: At this point in time, everyone believes that the Hulk is dead, and he’s been hiding out in Las Vegas as Mr. Fixit. But the Hulk shows up somehow, and no one blinks an eye or says anything. #marvel #avengers

“Nuff said!” I understood that reference! #marvel #avengers

Some of the action shots in this issue are dynamic and interesting, but in general it’s hard to get into the action. There are four battles in four different locations, and they’re too haphazard to follow all of them on more than a cursory level. #marvel #avengers

This page shows eighteen Avengers having a meeting, with four joining later. Then twenty Avengers go on the mission, with two unnamed silhouettes staying behind. By process of elimination, the two staying behind are Quasar and the Thing, but it’s not very clear. #marvel #avengers

I get that they want to sell issues by including everyone, but this page is rife with continuity errors. Why didn’t Johnny or Ms. Marvel come along with the Fantastic Four? How did the West Coast Avengers convince U.S. Agent to stay home? And there’s more.… #marvel #avengers

And who is this mysterious armored character who looks like he just stepped out of TRON?? He assisted from the shadows in the Spectacular Spider-Man annual, but most readers should be able to figure out who he is. #marvel #avengers

I understand that all of the Avengers are now one giant roster across all teams, but it’s still strange that the Human Torch is meeting with the Avengers after he just joined the West Coast Avengers. And Sersi never officially joined the Avengers prior to this! #marvel #avengers

As Atlantis starts the assault on the surface world, all of the targets are located on the East Coast, which is very considerate for all the New York–based superheroes! #marvel #avengers

Sometimes it’s difficult to tell who the bad guys are, but there are subtle clues.… #marvel #avengers

We are already halfway through the Atlantis Attacks storyline, and Ghaur has finally given Attuma the order to attack the surface world! Everything so far has happened in secret—an infiltration attempt, some snake-men experiments, and building the Serpent Crown. #marvel #avengers

This seems way too big to be a Serpent Crown! Shouldn’t it fit on your head!? This looks more like a serpent statue than a crown. Then again I’m not a power-mad Deviant trying to summon an Elder God, so what do I know?? #marvel #avengers

[Avengers Annual #18, Oct. 1989] Things are getting serious if even the Hulk is leaving Vegas to join the battle! [#cmro M7825]

This week’s logo continues the Atlantis Attacks event, and the snake men are taking over! The Punisher and Moon Knight meet for the first time and uncover a laboratory of snake men; Cloak saves Dagger from more snake men; and Doctor Strange battles a snake god! #marvel #cmro #mda

Considering that this is a Daredevil issue, there actually isn’t a lot of Daredevil action in this story! He just provides the moral compass for the story…the cynical, bitter, defeated moral compass. #marvel #daredevil

While Doctor Strange is battling the snake god, Viper shoves Tyrannus into the pentagram, where he has no protection against the creature he summoned. I guess that’s the end of Tyrannus! #marvel #daredevil

I can’t tell if Tyrannus’s spell worked or not: It didn’t summon Set himself, but it did summon some sort of snake god! His head is a snake, his arms are snakes…you get the idea! Doctor Strange also said it’s some creature from Dormammu, and he should know. #marvel #daredevil

Tyrannus has used his snake-men to build a little pyramid, and now he’s planning to summon Set all on his own! He just needs a teensy weensy little human sacrifice, which Madame Viper will personally (and involuntarily) provide! #marvel #daredevil

Clearly I haven’t been keeping up on recent issues, because I didn’t realize that everyone believes that Doctor Strange is dead. I also didn’t realize that he and Daredevil are friends, so clearly there’s a lot I don’t know! #marvel #daredevil

Maybe I’m just making excuses for the artists, but I enjoy seeing the snake-men look different in each of these chapters. It adds a little variety! Maybe it’s different art styles, or maybe they’re actually different varieties of snakes. You don’t know! #marvel #daredevil

If you haven’t kept track of the Atlantis Attacks storyline, here’s a quick one-paragraph summary to bring you up to speed! It starts out with Atlanteans and Lemurians, but it has quickly devolved to snakes snakes snakes! #marvel #daredevil

[Daredevil Annual #5, Sep. 1989] With Spider-Man out of commission, Daredevil is being tagged in to fight Tyrannus, with an assist from Doctor Strange! [#cmro M7824]

Spider-Man ends the issue hypnotized by Tyrannus and completely under his control, and surrounded by hordes of snake-men! Things look pretty bad for our hero, but the story continues in the Daredevil annual! #marvel #spiderman

Spider-Man discovers that the test subjects are being transformed into snake-men. Of course it’s not a surprise to us, since we just read the Punisher annual, but apparently Spider-Man skipped that issue. #marvel #spiderman

Cloak arrives to rescue Dagger, but Tyrannus is waiting for him with an army of snake-men! So yeah, it’s snakes all over again. #marvel #spiderman

Dr. Tyrone has captured Dagger, and he reveals to her that he’s actually Tyrannus! So there is a tenuous connection to the previous Spider-Man appearance, but just barely. This Atlantis Attacks storyline seems more about Ghaur and less about Atlantis. #marvel #spiderman

Ghaur wants to capture Dagger so she can be a bride for the elder god Set. Wait, didn’t he just say that She-Hulk should be Set’s bride!? Has he never seen a woman before?? I’m beginning to think he’s not considering these women’s wishes! #marvel #spiderman

This is the first time I remember seeing Spider-Man’s eyes squinting, but I could be wrong. For now, I’ll credit artist David Ross with coming up with this now-commonplace visual. If there’s an earlier example of this distinct visual, let me know! #marvel #spiderman #marvelfirsts

Dr. Tyrone has an injection that will free drug addicts from any addiction or withdrawal symptoms. But last issue the injections were turning people into snake-men, so I guess caveat emptor?? #marvel #spiderman

Spider-Man is investigating the Save Our Society organization from last issue, but he’s focusing on their leader, Dr. Tyrone, who is advertising a miracle cure for drug addiction. Knowing what happened last issue, this doesn’t look good! #marvel #spiderman

[Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #9, Sep. 1989] Spider-Man investigates the underworld of Manhattan and has a surprising encounter with Cloak and Dagger. [#cmro M7823]

Really, I’m surprised about how enjoyable this little team-up issue is! Two characters who are competent, honest, and work together well?? I’m excited to see Moon Knight and the Punisher team up again! #marvel #punisher

“I am the god of hellfire--and I bring you--” Madame Viper injects the Punisher with the snake serum, and it kind of makes him go crazy, but doesn’t turn him into a snake. Advantages of being a main character, I guess. #marvel #punisher

The central plot involves Madame Viper and some scientists developing an injection which turns men into snake-men, which leads to some fun character designs. But unless those snake-men turn into a crown, I don’t see the connection to Atlantis Attacks at all! #marvel #punisher

It’s just so much fun hearing Moon Knight and the Punisher talking shop, with the Punisher asking so many questions about Moon Knight’s operations. These two make a really fun team-up! #marvel #punisher

This first-time meeting between Moon Knight and the Punisher is absolutely refreshing! They immediately trust each other, work together, and freely share information. After decades of superheroes meeting and seeing each other as enemies, this is just charming! #marvel #punisher

The Punisher and Moon Knight canonically meet for the first time. Interesting. #marvel #punisher

Now I remember why I don’t like the Punisher. #marvel #punisher

“That man just ate a gerbil! Why does it set off all my emergency alarm bells?” If I had to guess, it’s probably because that man just ate a gerbil! #marvel #punisher

[The Punisher Annual #2, Sep. 1989] I’m still wary of the Punisher as a comic, but I’ll give it a chance in Moon Knight’s honor! [#cmro M7822]

This week’s logo covers the beginning of the Atlantis Attacks crossover storyline, as Ghaur begins to reassemble the Serpent Crown, Llyra frees Tyrannus from the Abomination’s body, and an Atlantean assault force tries (and fails) to invade the surface world! #marvel #cmro #mda

There’s not much else to say about this issue and this battle with Abomination. Do you like punching? This story has a lot of it. The end. #marvel #spiderman

She-Hulk is knocked out during the battle, and Ghaur flies in and brands her with the Mark of Set! He intends for her to be Set’s bride, although I have no idea how he decided that, or why. I’m still wondering if all these setups will pay off. #marvel #spiderman