#Governor Gorth

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers #259: DUTY OVER ALL!

September, 1985

On the side of... THE SKRULLS!

That cover text is accurate but its more like ‘on the side of some Skrulls against other Skrulls and also Nebula is a jerk.’

I do like that power squat from that boss looking Skrull though.

Is it the most comfortable thing to do? No. Will he topple over immediately if there’s any space turbulence? Definitely. But is it presenting a powerful statement to the Avengers? Also definitely.

Hm. The Gruenwald Squadron Supreme series starts this month of September, 1985. In another world, maybe I’m a Squadron Supreme liveblogger. I’d be done by this point if I were.

Anyway.

Last times on Avengers: when Vision tried to take over the world, he got Captain Marvel out of the way by sending her to check on Thanos’ abandoned ship, Sanctuary II. A harmless errand that would take her several hours and keep her out of communication in transit.

Obviously, the one day Captain Marvel is sent on a wild goose chase to Sanctuary II is when some mercenaries working for Nebula come to retrieve the ship for her and Monica Marvel winds up kidnapped to another galaxy and forced to pretend she wants to work for Nebula.

Nebula sends her on a suicide mission to reconnoiter a Skrull space base and to make sure its a suicide mission, Nebula shoots an anti-matter torpedo at the base while Monica is in it. Rude.

This time on Avengers:

I guess Monica is completely, really dead forever.

Except Nebula isn’t some fool who goes ‘we never found the bodies so they’re totally dead forever.’ This character who I’ve only just met in context of the Avengers but know from the movies is a smart cookie.

One anti-matter torpedo wasn’t enough to totally obliterate the armada here so some of them probably escaped.

Levan suggested that maybe Captain Marvel escaped too and Nebula tells him ‘if your horniness gets in my way so help me i’ll do you a murder you sad sack’ with a little ‘but what have you done for me lately’ by asking him if he’s of further use to her now that he and Gunthar have helped retrieve Sanctuary II as former Thanos minions.

Levan: “Nebula, let me assure you that you have all my support... my undying support... in this galaxy or any other!”

Gunthar: “I concur, Commander. Only a fool would do otherwise.”

Nebula: “Indeed.”

And then since there’s no kill like overkill, Nebula decides to blow up the planetoid so if there were any survivors that managed to flee, they have nothing to return to.

Yeah, Sanctuary II can blow up planetoids.

All it needs to do is carve a tunnel from the surface to the core with a big ol’ coherent energy beam, drop another anti-matter torpedo, and BAM no more Skrull base.

Its hard to tell how much time passes in comic panels but I’d estimate that took less than five minutes.

Eat shit, Freeza.

While asking for trouble from dragon ball fans is all well and good, over on Earth and one week later, Firelord has trouble of his own.

Firelord: “To think that my cosmic flame would be put to so mundane a task -- as waste disposal!”

When Hercules castigated Firelord for tantruming around, he castigated him all the way into community service.

Damn, I already thought Hercules was awesome, Marvel. You spoil me.

Burning toxic waste isn’t an easy fix because then you just get noxious fumes and noxious byproducts but Firelord’s fire is from the power cosmic so he burned it hot enough to break down any noxious substances.

All that’s left is some slag that Hercules crushes into a ball to dispose of.

A very impressed guy: “Mr. Firelord, that was utterly fantastic! Why, you’ve saved the state millions of dollars in toxic waste clean-up!”

Hercules: “You see, Firelord? You are well on your way -- to making restitution for all the damages you caused in the city! Just a few more such tasks, and your debt shall be repaid in full! In the future, you must take more care in your behavior amongst mortals! I know ‘tis not easy. Why, in my youth, I myself was known to act a bit rashly on occasion!”

To repeat myself, Hercules rocks.

Also, I’m just going to assume that something like this happens off-panel every time heroes cause property damage. Either Tony Stark sighs and pays it off or heroes work off the damages using their powers.

Meanwhile, over at Avengers Mansion, Captain America finds She-Hulk and Wyatt Wingfoot leaving to go on a double date with the Mr. and Mrs. Fantastic.

Apparently the Fantastic Four moved into Avengers Mansion because the Baxter Building was destroyed in Fantastic Four #279 byyy -wiki- Kristoff Vernard launching it into space and blowing it up. Rude kid.

Nice of the Avengers to put them up. Although, they do have plenty of room.

In a funny bit, Wyatt Wingfoot eyes Cap, figures him to be roughly the same size as himself, and wonders where he buys shirts.

Inside the mansion, Cap gets his mail from Jarvis which includes “the usual requests for autographs, some charity solicitations, and a half-dozen pleas for you to endorse certain political parties.”

Cap is a popular guy.

He also receives a bill for some airfare he charged to his Avengers’ card because the airline became aware that the government is reconsidering the Avengers’ privileges and they’d rather the money now before it gets tied up in that whole thing.

Cap also asks Jarvis about Captain Marvel since she’s been missing two weeks now. There’s no news and its not good news because the Sanctuary II that she was checking on has gone missing too.

Captain Steve America heads to find Wasp and finds that in her spare time, she’s been making Black Knight cooler.

ATOMIC STEED.

What a deep cut. I can’t believe Beast just shoved that into storage and forgot about it.

Black Knight could go and ask for his horse back from Valkyrie but she needs the iconography more than he does. Plus, an atomic steed requires less shoveling.

Now, an atomic steed is all well and good because Black Knight has that sort of mix between super advanced technology and weirdo throwback traditions and magic.

I just don’t know if I’ll be as into it when he trades his super cursed sword for a lightsaber and stops shaving. Sure, he’ll be wearing a jacket over armor and that’s good fun but part of Black Knight’s charm, like Hawkeye, is kicking people’s butts with medieval weaponry.

Its apparently also what made Hawkman and Hawkgirl so popular when they were first introduced. That they’d just grab random weapons off a museum wall and go hit people with them.

Unfortunately, Black Knight can’t just tool around on an atomic steed all day.

The message Monica was trying to send from the Skrull base finally gets through the jamming delay and sets off a priority alarm. Or Starfox does when he gets the message. Six of one...

Captain Monica barely manages any message beyond telling the Avengers the Sanctuary II was stolen by alien mercenaries and that she’s at a Skrull base in the Andromeda Galaxy when an anti-matter torpedo rudely cuts off the message.

Wasp: “Starfox, do you have enough to locate that carrier wave’s point of origin?”

Starfox: “Yes... does this mean what I hope it does?”

Wasp: “I should say so! There’s an Avenger to be accounted for!”

Captain America: “One way or another we’re going to find her!”

Yeah! Bring back Captain Marvel!

She’s needed on the set of Marvels!

Anyway.

The Avengers take their special space capable Quinjet out into space with special guest Firelord because even though he’s paid off all the damages, he wants to pay back Hercules by helping him out on this adventure. Pluuuus, the Andromeda Galaxy is where Firelord is from and he hasn’t seen his home since he became a herald.

I can’t believe Firelord is asking the Avengers to swing by on their way back.

I assume. Galaxies are big. What are the odds they’ll just happen to pass by his homeworld?

The special space capable Avengers Quinjet may be able to go out into space but that doesn’t mean it can go to another galaxy. In a timely fashion anyway.

But it really just needs to get them to their actual intergalactic ride.

Starfox: “Behold... the swiftest starship produced by the science of my homeworld of Titan -- sent Earthward by my doting father Mentor.”

Wonder how that conversation went, considering Mentor’s annoyance when Starfox borrowed the computer to look for the best places to hang out.

I sincerely doubt that doting.

“Meanwhile, on one of the many Skrull colony worlds in the Andromeda Galaxy...”

Governor Gorth!

He’s the Skrull governor of planet A Skrull Colony World.

Name your locations if its going to be important, geez.

Anyway, Governor Gorth is informed that Commander Nebula is here to see him so Gorth gets his business face on. And his business bod.

Because Skrulls are shapeshifters he can just shapeshift himself to look more imposing and buff.

Which probably makes a super mushroom noise.

Nebula isn’t impressed by his buff bod or buff attitude. When he insists that she call him Emperor Gorth, she has Levan shoot the buff out of his sails.

Gorth: “See here, you promised to make me emperor! It’s only fair that I look imperial!”

Nebula: “Save the shape-shifting for your underlings, Skrull -- it doesn’t impress me! You’re nothing without my backing!”

Gorth: “A-all right! It’s true!”

Skrulls tend to get more consistently drawn with human proportions these days. Which is weird scrawny bobblehead goblin Skrull erasure maybe. I dunno. They just used to look more alien, in a way.

Although, the way comics be, its very likely that they were leaning into racist imagery. I know the shapeshifting reptilian alien thing does.

Anyway, now that Nebula has shown her employer who is boss, she takes him out onto the balcony to show him the Sanctuary II, a weapon to surpass Metal Gear that will make this backwater colony world the new Skrull throneworld.

Hundreds of parsecs away, which are after all a unit of distance and not time, the ship Starfox borrowed from daddy arrives through subspace to the system where that Skrull base was.

Black Knight: “I still can hardly believe this... until now, I’d thought of sub-space as nothing more than an abstract concept!”

Starfox: “I’d always considered it a convenient intergalactic shortcut, myself!”

Starfox: ‘oh you and your primitive earth science’

They don’t find the base (because Nebula blew it up) but they do find an angry Skrull armada that demands they shut down their engines and surrender.

Starfox gets nettled by this suggestion and wants to tell the Skrulls where they can stick it but Cap(tain America) suggests that they play along since its apparently rare for Skrulls to make requests without shooting first.

Really?

Huh. Not great, the Skrulls.

Starfox space radios that he’ll comply and Captain Marvel pops out of the space radio, jubilant that they got her message.

Out-of-touch Black Knight strikes again, this time with the thought “They sure make Captains a darned sight prettier than they used to!”

Wait, I don’t even know if he knew Captain Marvel. Oh well.

Monica tells them that she has a lot to tell them but it’d be better to hear it from the Skrulls, over in the armada.

So Starfox’s dad’s ship docks with the Skrull command saucer and Captain Monica Marvel takes the Avengers and their plus one Firelord to meet General Zedrao, leader of the Skrull armada.

His officers are uneasy about this because: 1) Avengers on board, 2) a former herald of Galactus!

But he tells them to hush.

General Zedrao: “Your presence has caused great controversy among my staff, Avengers. They wanted me to destroy your ship outright... and they had good reason. You and all who ally themselves with you have been branded enemies of the Skrull Empire. But we must now put old animosities aside... a great threat looms before us!”

Assuming correctly that the Avengers aren’t up to date on space politics, General Zedrao decides to summarize the whole situation to them.

Very kind of him.

So, the problems all started when Galactus at the Skrull homeworld several months ago.

With the head basically chopped off the empire, the whole thing descends into chaos and rebellion. Apparently every single planetary governor stood up and declared themselves the obvious new leader and raised armies to attack any other fool who said the same thing.

General Zedrao: “The weaker worlds fell immediately. Alliances were forged and broken on an hourly basis. In a few days, more Skrulls died at Skrull hands than had perished in the death-throes of Throneworld.”

I’d say this goes to show that a clear line of succession is necessary but having the entire capital of the empire get destroyed in one day is kind of an unprecedented situation.

Rome wouldn’t have fared well if Rome blew up. Not that Rome had a clear line of succession a lot of the time either.

Funny thing is that there actually is a Skrull princess who survived the disaster. But its Veranke and she’s both stupid and a religious zealot and nobody was gonna come running to her as their first choice.

She had some wild ideas about Earth being the promised new homeworld of the Skrulls and her tilting at windmills wiped out a significant fraction of the very little power the Skrulls had left after the Galactus incident and several other disasters.

So, yeah, Veranke doesn’t exist yet and even if she did nobody would rally behind her until things got desperate.

Anyway, during this chaos, a mercenary army made of outcasts from a thousand worlds was organized by Nebula.

Her army conquered every world it set its sights on uuuuuntil it ran into Zedrao’s base.

Zedrao is a pretty cool dude, actually. Even though he has a whole ass armada and an impregnable base, he refused to participate in all of this civil warring. He just holed up in his base, presumably to wait until it blew over and there was a new government.

Try as she might, Nebula couldn’t best the base’s defenses and left, presumably shaking her fist and saying NEXT TIME GADGET NEXT TIIIIME.

But she did come back to throw Monica to her death against the base but whooops Monica broke a hole in the defenses and fried most of the armada’s communications gear and overall just made a mess.

Which was when Nebula lobbed an anti-matter torpedo at the base.

When the torpedo was spotted, the Skrulls tried to evacuate but there Just Wasn’t Enough Time.

So Captain Marvel flew out into space, turned human so she could go pew pew with her energy blasts to redirect the torpedo into one of the orbital generators, and managed to turn back to light in time to nyoom from the explosion.

Afterward, she and General Zedrao talked and decided the best thing to do was to sacrifice the base to convince Nebula the attack worked.

Even though it hadn’t hit on target, the matter/anti-matter explosion still released a bunch of radiation which damaged the armada and it wouldn’t have been a good idea to tangle with the Sanctuary II.

So the armada blew up its own base and then escaped into sub-space.

Its been regrouping and repairing over the week it took the Avengers to get Monica’s message and now its in fighting shape again.

And thaaaaats the story.

Firelord is the first to react, saying that ain’t no way he joining forces with “vermin” like the Skrulls. And also saying that Monica Marvel must be addled by her week among them to suggest it.

Hercules: “Choose your words with care when you speak to an Avenger, Firelord!”

Hercules didn’t ask to be this guy’s babysitter but that’s how things shook out.

Monica agrees that that Skrulls might be unappealing (right in the same room with a bunch of Skrulls, wow rude) but that Nebula must be stopped.

Which Starfox with goofy face agrees because Nebula has the Sanctuary II which Thanos built to rival an entire armada.

Where was he getting his resources? Oh. Right. Pillaging.

But Black Knight tries to ask the real question here.

Black Knight: “Excuse me, but there’s an important question that needs to be answered! Should we really get involved in this? After all, we’re supposed to be the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes... we can’t start policing the whole blasted universe!”

I mean, he’s got a point.

Interfering in space politics is a thorny prospect.

Although nobody here knows about the Illuminati because it hasn’t been written yet, the Illuminati going up to space and trying to intimidate the Skrulls into not attacking again really bit Earth in the ass several several years down the line.

But if the Avengers interfere in this Skrull civil war, are they going to get involved in every big space political mess?

Yes. Yes they will. Or the X-Men. Or the Guardians of the Galaxy, generally featuring several people from Earth or derived from people from Earth.

So this is very much a bad precedent.

On the other hand as Captain Marvel suggests, Nebula is likely to come after the Milky Way after she conquers Andromeda. Zedrao even points out that a big chunk of her mercenary army are from planets in the Milky Way so Nebula is going to look that way sooner or later.

Black Knight: “The old domino theory... if we don’t stop the first one from falling, they all will, huh?”

Captain America: “That’s not always true, Dane, but this time it may be!”

Hahah, I mean. That’s how that line of thought gets you.

It’s funny that Dane, who has been missing for several years, still manages to be disdainful of domino theory.

Anyway, Cap points out that ultimately, its Wasp’s decision since she is the chairwoman.

And she decides that yes, they need to stop Nebula.

Meanwhile, over on the Sanctuary II, Nebula is giving Governor Emperor-Aspirant Gorth the grand tour.

But the grand tour is interrupted by Levan calling on the tv phone to tell Nebula that deep probes have detected the Skrull armada.

In a surprisingly governor-like move, Gorth insists that Nebula lure the armada away from Planet Untitled to spare it the ravages of war but Nebula still has no patience for Gorth acting like just because he’s her employer, he’s her boss and this time shoots him dead, not just deflated.

Nebula: “Prepare a propaganda statement, Levan, saying that Emperor Gorth died in battle with the enemy. Then have all stations made battle-ready! And make certain that everyone knows... we will take no prisoners!”

You are a mean one, Miss Nebula.

And you’re missing out on some shenanigans!

You’re above a planet of the Skrulls! Grab one that you can bully into line and have them pretend to be Gorth! Shapeshifting! Use it!

Follow @essential-avengers​ because I said pretty please. And like and reblog but only if you choose to.

[marveldailyart]

Nebula kills Emperor Gorth (formerly Governor Gorth), the ruler she put into power, and uses his death to rally the other Skrulls to fight against the fleet of spaceship that are going to try to stop her! #marvel #avengers https://instagr.am/p/CWQ-4yIvr-y/