Avengers Annual #11
In Honor’s Name!
Prologue
For his failure to conquer the planet Earth for his people, the alien known as Nebluon is locked into his human form and banished to Earth with only half his power as punishment.[1] When asking his masters for mercy, Nebulon’s leader suggests that he die with honor, but the menace is too cowardly to end his own life. Unwilling to accept his fate, Nebulon seeks the aid of his one time foe, Doctor Strange, Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme. He teleports to Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum in New York City. There, Strange’s servant Wong tells Nebulon that the Doctor is not home. Realizing his efforts were futile, Nebulon teleports away.
Now
Sometime later, Thor is traveling across the Himalayan mountain range where he spots Nebulon sulking on one of the snowy peaks. He approaches Nebulon and learns of his exile on Earth. Feeling sorry for the alien, the thunder god suggests that Nebulon find new purpose in his life by joining the Avengers to atone for his past crimes. This interest Nebulon who accompanies Thor back to New York City. They are unaware that they are being observed by a woman who resembles Nebulon. After the two men have left, this mystery woman teleports away.
At Avengers Mansion, the remaining members of the team — Captain America, the Wasp, and Iron Man — are waiting for Thor’s return so they can begin their scheduled meeting. Thor soon arrives with Nebulon and petitions for his membership on the team. This is met with resistance from Iron Man who scolds Thor for not keeping up to date on their records, pointing out that Nebulon has threatened the world on more than on occasion. Still, Thor argues for Nebulon and just as the other Avengers are coming around on the idea they are suddenly ambushed by the Defenders — the Beast, Silver Surfer, Valkyrie, and the Gargoyle — who have come to believe the Avengers are being manipulated by Nebulon for some nefarious purpose.
When the Avengers refuse to hand over Nebulon, the Silver Surfer brands them enemies and begins to attack. As a battle breaks out between the Avengers and the Defenders, the mysterious woman watches from her ship in Earth’s orbit and begins to cry.
Earlier
Valkyrie, finally in her own body has returned to Earth to reunite with her fellow Defenders.[2] She arrives at the Defenders brownstone headquarters where she is greeted by the Gargoyle, Beast, and Wong. They are surprised to see that she is much larger than the last time she saw them, and she explains that she is finally in her true Asgardian form for the first time in years.
This reunion is interrupted by the appearance of the woman who has been stalking Nebulon since his exile on Earth. She introduces herself as Supernella and says that she is a bounty hunter seeking to bring Nebulon to justice. At first, the Beast is suspicious of this new comer, but Supernella uses her mental powers to convince the heroes to assist her. However, the Beast suggests the recruit others to help them. With Doctor Strange and the Sub-Mariner already occupied, he suggests they call in the Silver Surfer.[3] Using her powers, Supernella uses Valkyrie’s mind to lock in on the Surfer and teleport him to their location.
After the Silver Surfer is brought up to speed, the Defenders then went to Avengers Mansion, leading to a clash between the two hero teams.
Now
After a brief clash, the Avengers and the Defenders try to convince each other to cease fighting. However, the Avengers don’t trust Supernella’s claims that Nebulon is a threat, while the Defenders don’t trust that Nebulon isn’t up to something. Refusing to have others fight for him, Nebulon tries to fight for himself.[4] However, by this time, the Avengers are convinced that Supernella is somehow manipulating the Defenders and they make a tactical retreat. Nebulon decides that the best place for them to hide is in the Himalayan Mountains where he was found by Thor and teleports the team away.
Unfortunately, the team isn’t given much time to come up with a new plan as the Defenders are teleported to their location moments after their arrival. A new battle breaks out as Supernella monitors things from her ship in space. As the battle rages, neither the Avengers nor the Defenders refuse to give up the fight. Soon everyone begins to fall until only the Beast and Captain America are left standing. Knowing that Hank is under some kind of mental control, Cap takes a gamble and stops fighting. The Beast nearly beats his friend nearly to death, but the fact that he cannot commit murder causes the Beast to break free from Supernella’s control.
With the battle over, Nebulon — revealing that Supernella is his wife — orders her to come to Earth and face him. She does, and also uses her powers to reveal that Nebulon had been sapping the Avengers will power with an Ennui Device which he hoped to use to restore his diminished powers. The machine is still drawing power from the Avengers and the Defenders as Nebulon and Supernella fight one another. Mustering his strength, Captain America tosses his shield at the Ennui Device’s ray, causing it to begin drawing power from Nebulon instead. Seeing that this is killing the alien, the Beast tries to stop the machine. However, he is shoved away by Supernella, who joins her husband in the Ennui ray’s beam. She has come to realize that the only honorable way to end this is for both of them to die.
The feedback from the machine causes it to explode, mortally wounding both Nebulon and Supernella. This causes the two to revert to their true forms, massive tentacled monstrosities. When the Beast asks Supernella why she sacrificed her life, her final words to him that this was the honorable thing to do. As the Avengers and Defenders mourn the loss of life, Captain America points out that the two aliens weren’t all that different from them.[5]
Recurring Characters
Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Wasp), Defenders (Silver Surfer, Beast, Valkyrie, Gargoyle), Nebulon, Wong, Aragorn
Continuity Notes
Nebulon’s previous clashes with the Defenders are referenced here. See Defenders #14, 92, and Annual #1. The name of Nebulon’s race is not mentioned here. They are identified as the Ul'lula'ns in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #11.
Valkyrie’s situation is rather complicated:
Years ago, Valkyrie’s was betrayed by the Enchantress, who trapped her essence in the Globe of Souls, as explained in Defenders #108.
For a time, the Enchantress used the Valkyrie’s soul to empower herself and others to become the Valkyrie on Earth. See Avengers #83 and Incredible Hulk #142.
Around this time, a woman named Barbara Norriss got in the middle of the Hulk, Sub-Mariner, and Doctor Strange’s battle with the Undying Ones. Barbara sacrificed her own freedom to save Strange from the demons, as seen in Incredible Hulk #126.
Later, the Defenders rescued Norriss from the Undying Ones and got involved in a battle with the Enchantress. Driven mad from her experience, Barbara was saved when the Enchantress gave her Valkyrie’s power. See Defenders #3-4.
Valkyrie lived on in Barbara’s body for some time until the Defenders learned the truth of her situation and helped free her from the Globe of Souls, as seen in Defenders #108-109.
Norriss would go on to live a normal life for a few years until she was manipulated into committing suicide by D’Spayre in Valkyrie #1.
At the time of this story, Strange and Namor were hunting the Son of Satan as seen in Defenders #109-111.
Valkyrie mentions how she and Thor were once lovers. This is a reference to the events of Thor #296-300. Long story shorty, this was one of Odin’s grand manipulations and the romance between Thor and Valkyrie was a small part of a grander scheme. It’s complicated.
This might not have been the end of Nebulon. It’s complicated:
See, in Avengers #353-354, the Grim Reaper appeared to raise an army of the undead that were based on fallen Avengers foes as part of his Legion of the Unliving. The Legion’s profile in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #6 points out that many of this iteration of the Legion featured foes that were not actually dead (such as Bucky and the original Red Guardian) and that these weren’t the original villains, but undead bodies that were reformed into simulacrums of the “dead” villains. It’s believed that the Nebulon seen here is an impostor.
In Defenders (vol. 2) #8, we catch a glimpse of a man that resembles Nebulon. That was the intent of writer Kurt Busiek, but it was never confirmed in-story. This is a learnable moment reader, the lesson being that a writer’s intention doesn’t necessarily make it part of continuity as….
Defenders: The Best Defense #1, later tells a story that shows that Nebulon is dead and his soul resides in the afterlife. That story ends with Mephisto claiming Nebulon’s soul.
Topical References
Here Captain America states that he was in suspended animation for twenty years. This measurement of time should be considered topical as the gulf of time between World War II and the Modern Age continues to grow as the Sliding Timescale pushes events forward in time.
