1987 - X-Men vs Avengers Revisited

Here's a follow up to an earlier post on the X-Men Vs Avengers miniseries:
http://marvel1980s.blogspot.com/2009/05/1987-x-men-versus-avengers.html

I finally picked a copy of the Marvel Premiere Edition of the X-Men Vs Avengers miniseries. I was reluctant to pick this hardcover up since I already owned the floppies and since I know it wasn't the story that writer Roger Stern had envisioned. Fortunately I did pick it up as it had Stern's original plot summary by issue and a few pages of script for his version of issue #4.

So for those of you who haven't picked this hardcover yet, I'll be posting Stern's plot summary, issue by issue. Roger Stern’s plot was revamped obviously as his resolution didn’t fit with the plans of the X-Office at that time as they were attempting to redeem Magneto as they prepped him to take over the X-Men and the School.

The X-Men VS. The Avengers #1

We open with the X-Men meeting secretly in Singapore with Magneto. Magneto briefly outlines the situation: he’s traced chucks of his old asteroid headquarters to three impact sites in the Southeast Asia/Australia area. Magneto tells the X-Men there could be dangerous stuff in those chunks, and he needs their help to find out if that’s the case and take appropriate action. The meeting is observed by CIA agents. As the agents are transmitting their report, they’re ambushed by a second group of spies. [These are presumable KGB agents, but at least some are in the service of the Mandarin.

 

Cut to an Air Force jet being escorted down to a landing at the Avengers’ new Hydrobase headquarters by Thor & Captain Marvel. An intelligence officer briefs the Avengers on the X-Men/Magneto connection. There’s division and in-fighting among the US intelligence community, but a consensus of factions wants to see Magneto apprehended and returned to the World Court for trial (in hopes of easing anti-mutant hysteria). However, the CIA knows that the Soviets undoubtedly have the same information on Magneto’s whereabouts that they have…and the Soviets understandable want Magneto dead. The catch is that neither the US nor the Soviets know at which one of three possible locations Magneto might be. US intelligence is asking the Avengers to find and apprehend Magneto before the Soviets track him down and kill him.

 

Cut to a remote section of Siberia, where the Crimson Dynamo rockets through a raging blizzard. The Dynamo is shot down by a blast of black energy…he crashes. As the Dynamo struggles to get to his feet, he finds himself surrounded by the Soviet Super Soldiers…they’re not happy to see him. Dynamo kowtows a little, says he knows they have an uneasy truce with the State, but appeals to them to help “in the apprehension of the terrorist-murderer Magneto!”

 

Cut to Wolverine and Dazzler stalking through the jungles of Kampuchea. They’ve been searching for days for the impact site of one of the chunks of Magneto’s asteroid. Wolverine picks up a scent and goes on ahead to check it out…as he closes in on the scent, its source seems to vanish…then it’s behind him. It’s Captain Marvel turning from energy to physical and back again to lure him away from Dazzler, who is being stalked by Doctor Druid. Battle erupts between the two mutants and the two Avengers…Avengers k.o. the mutants. Captain Marvel and Doctor Druid have the two X-Men bound and are bringing them around to consciousness for questioning when Druid sense the approach of others. He goes off to investigate…but is swiftly sent flying. And the Avengers and mutants are swiftly surrounded by a squad of elite Kampuchean army regulars led by Darkstar and Vanguard, declaring them all under arrest as enemies of the state.

Issue #2 tommorrow...