Avengers #353
To Wake the Dead
With the power of the demon Lloigoroth, the Grim Reaper has successfully banished the Avengers — the Black Knight, Vision, Hercules, Crystal, and Sersi — to the dark abyss between life and death. They land in the domain of the Unquiet Dead, skeletal wraiths with a hunger for human flesh. Although the Avengers are able to smash the ghouls to bits, they are able to reform their bodies and attack anew. Ultimately, Hercules manages to dispatch their foes by grabbing their chains and whipping them off into the horizon. After learning how the Grim Reaper obtained his new power from a severed skull, the Avengers press on to find a way out of this realm of the damned.
Their trek is being observed by the Grim Reaper who is pleased that everything is according to plan. He anticipates that he will finally get his revenge against the Avengers once and for all.[1] He then goes to a chamber where he has imprisoned passengers he kidnapped from a New York subway train. Intending to use these victims as vessels for his revenge, he begins casting an incantation that will make them the host bodies for the vengeful spirits that will help him destroy the Avengers.
Meanwhile, the Avengers find that they are getting nowhere and decide to double back to see where the Unquiet Dead had originated from. The Vision flies into the air to see if there is anything he can see from the sky and points his teammates to a structure he saw off in the distance. When they arrive at the location they come across a run down cathedral with legions of the Unquiet Dead surrounding the building.
Inside, the Grim Reaper has wrapped his prisoners in ecto-plasmic sacks to facilitate the transfer the souls he intends to use. When the process is complete, the sacks split open and the zombified corpses of Baron Zemo, the criminal Black Knight, the Red Guardian, Nebulon the Celestial Man, the vampire Amenhotep, Inferno, Count Nefaria, the Star-Stalker, and Necrodamus the Sorcerer.[2]
By this time, the Avengers have entered the cathedral and follow the path deep into the bowels of the building. As it becomes too dark to see, the group has to use discarded bones as make-shift torches to light their way. As they enter the catacombs, they find themselves ambushed by the Grim Reaper’s Legion of the Unliving. Although these foes a rotting corpses they are able to take a lot of punishment and can feed off the energy powers of Sersi and the Vision. Soon, each Avenger is overpowered and until only the Black Knight is left standing. Soon he too drops his torch plunging them all into darkness. When he calls out “Avengers Assemble” there is nobody around to answer respond to his battle cry.
Recurring Characters
Avengers (Hercules, Vision, Black Knight, Sersi, Crystal), Unquiet Dead, Legion of the Unliving (Grim Reaper, Baron Zemo, Black Knight, “Red Guardian”, Nebulon, Amenhotep, Inferno, Count Nefaria, Necrodamus, Star Stalker)
Continuity Notes
The whole situation with the Grim Reaper is actually quite complex. Let me break it down for you:
The origin of the Grim Reaper actually starts with his brother, Simon Williams, who was transformed into Wonder Man by Baron Zemo circa Avengers #9. However, the process was apparently fatal and he seemingly died.
Blaming the Avengers for the death of his brother, Eric Williams became the Grim Reaper in Avengers #52 and clashed with the team many times.
Following this, Simon’s brain engrams were used to create the Vision as explained in Avengers #56-57 and 134-135. Simon Williams also came back to life himself in Avengers #150.
After the creation of the Vision and the resurrection of Wonder Man, the Grim Reaper had attempted to restore his brother in one fashion or the other on top of trying to kill the Avengers. See Avengers #78-79, 102, 106-108, and 160.
His last attempt at doing so was to transfer the minds of Wonder Man and Vision into a specially prepared corpse to bring back the “original” Simon Williams. However, after seeing how Simon and Vision treated each other like brothers and his own mother’s acceptance of the android into the family, Eric committed suicide. See Vision and the Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #1-2 and West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #2.
The Grim Reaper was reanimated on a few occasions in Vision and the Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #12, Web of Spider-Man #46, and more recently in Avengers West Coast #65-68.
These are not actually the reanimated forms of the dead. As explained in the Legion of the Unliving profile in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #6, these are not the spirits of the dead individuals, but facsimiles pretending to be the dead. Not all of the characters referenced here were actually dead at the time and some of the facts about them made by the Grim Reaper were actually inaccurate. Such as…:
Baron Zemo aka Heinrich Zemo Is referred to as the “original” Baron. This is revealed to be inaccurate. Heinrich actually comes from a long line of Baron Zemos. The earliest recorded one being Harbin Zemo from the 1400s, as seen in Avengers/Thunderbolts #1. Heinrich was the Baron Zemo of World War II, first appearing in Avengers #4. Surviving into the Modern Age, he died in battle against Captain America in Avengers #15. At the time of this story, Heinrich is very much dead.
The Black Knight aka Nathan Garrett: Is also incorrectly referred to as the “original” Black Knight. This title dates back to the time of Camelot. The earliest named Knight was Sir Reginald, brother to King Arthur, the 6th Black Knight was revealed in New Excalibur #12. Nathan Garrett was the first present day Black Knight, took on the mantle in Tales to Astonish #52 and died in Avengers #48. He too was very dead at the time of this story.
The Red Guardian aka Alexi Shostakov: Another one incorrectly referred to as the “first” of his kind. The earliest known Red Guardian was actually Aleksey Lebedev who was active during World War II, as seen in Namor the Sub-Mariner Annual #1. Shostakov is the first modern day Red Guaridan, first seen in Avengers #43. He seemingly died in the following issue. In reality, he faked his death and will turn up alive again in Daredevil (vol. 2) #64.
Nebulon first appeared in Defenders #13. He did indeed die in Avengers Annual #11. Although he anomalously appears in Savage Hulk #1, he has remained dead. As of this writing (May, 2022) his spirit was seen trapped in hell in Immortal Hulk/Sub-Mariner/Silver Surfer/Doctor Strange/Defenders: Best Defense #1.
Amenhotep: An ancient vampire trapped in the Egyptian pyramids by Kang the Conqueror. He “first” appeared and died in Avengers #129. He has yet to return from the dead as of this writing (May, 2022). Vampires: The Marvel Undead #1 reveals that he was one Khufor, an Egyptian ruler who was once saved by Dynaman in Daring Mystery Comics #6.
Inferno aka Joseph Conroy: He was transformed into Inferno when knocked into a vat of molten metal with a chunk of uru metal. He presumably died after walking into a river. See Avengers #192-193.
Count Nefaria: A long time Avengers foe since issue #13, Nefaria had begin to rapidly age and died fighting Iron Man in Iron Man #114-116. He will return from the dead in Iron Man Annual 1999
Star Stalker, aka Veranus: Died battling the Avengers and (as of this writing) is still dead. See Avengers #123-124.
Necrodamus: Frequently got his ass banished to Limbo since first appearing in Defenders #1. His last defeat was in Fantastic Four #324. The dwarfish sorcerer will appear again in Spirits of Vengeance #1-5.
Errors
The Black Knight that is supposedly reanimated here is identified as Nathan Garrett, the first present day Black Knight. However, he is drawn wearing the suit of armor worn by Sir Percy of Scandia, the “first” Black Knight of 6th Century Camelot.