1988 - Anatomy of a Cover - Avengers #295 by John Buscema and Tom Palmer

1988: The Dreadful Druid part V: The Doctor Is Out!

By Jef Willemsen (clarmindcontrol.blogspot.com)

The Avengers were rapidly approaching their 300th issue, but thanks to their new chairman ánd their new writer they wouldn't be around to enjoy that special anniversary. Leave it to Walt Simonson and Doctor Druid to take Earth's mightiest right over the edge...

The beginning of the end

Frankly, it's not like it was that hard to do. Simonson made sure the team suffered a steady stream of tragedies ever since he came on board back in #291. As a result, the number of Avengers left on active duty had been reduced to four: Thor, She Hulk, a severely handicapped Black Knight and their new leader Druid, who'd used his mental powers to convince the others he'd be best suited to take the reigns when Walt almost had Monica Rambeau die of sheer incompetence.

"In this moment of crisis, I see the fury of Dr. Druid unleashed!" 

To be fair, Doctor Druid is never written as either an outright villain or an infiltrator out to destroy the team from the inside. Instead, and that's the truly tragic part of this whole enterprise, he genuinely believes his cause is just. In no small part because of a series of prophetic visions in which a gorgeous blonde woman adoringly assures him he's the last, best hope of all that is. All that praise and adulation feeds Druid's sizable ego. He falls for her charms even as she eggs him on to do what's right and he feels that includes making sure he's leading the Avengers when the fat hits the fire.

But, just who is this blonde lady? Well, that takes some 'splainin...

"But... you look different somehow..." 

Why is she blue and dressed like Kang?

And here's where Simonson lost me when I first read these issues in the late 80s. Try and follow along: Time travel invariably leads to the creation of alternate timelines and time travelers like Kang the Conqueror have hundreds, if not thousands of rogue copies of themselves navigating the timestream. Invariably, some of these alternate Kangs get defeated or killed by others who don the armor and effectively become a version of Kang. Eventually, a fair number of these Kangs met up and formed an organisation called the Council of Crosstime Kangs. One of the latest Kangs admitted to the council was a female who claimed to be Nebula, the alleged granddaughter of Thanos. For convenience's sake, let's call her "Nebula Kang" for now.

With me so far? Good.

During her time on the Council, Nebula Kang learned that roughly 20 years in the future a period of 15 years was covered by an impenetrable Time Bubble. The Council believed a Celestial was building a superweapon inside it, which was all the power hungry Nebula Kang needed to hear. She wanted that weapon. Bad.

And that's where the Avengers come in. The Kangs also observed that eventually a team of Avengers would penetrate the bubble. Nebula Kang then figured she had to control the heroes and, rather logically, decided that the mind bending Doctor Druid would be an ideal stooge.

You're still with me? Well, that makes one of us.

All kidding aside, it gets even more complex when ultimately it is revealed Nebula Kang isn't *that* Nebula at all. It's actually an alternate version of Ravonna Lexus Renslayer, the princess that Kang tried to court back in a 1966 issue of Avengers. She first refused his love because he'd invaded her father's kingdom but soon realized she loved his raw machismo after all. She wound up sacrificing her life to save his in Avengers I#24.

"Perhaps... ' twas never meant... to be...!" 

Oh Ravonna, if only the same could be said for this storyline... 

Through the continued visions, Ravonna had Druid firmly in her grasp as she groomed him to have the Avengers enter the Time Bubble. An added wrinkle to her whole plan was the fact that she never bothered to learn which Avengers were actually destined to enter the Time Bubble. Even by 1988, there were close to 30 members, odds are you get the wrong bunch or even the wrong team. After all, you also had the West Coast Avengers by then. The odds don't favor this particular anemic East Coast line-up. And things get trickier when Ravonna wanted to get rid of Thor because Druid had proved unable to mentally coerce him.

That's why she planned for him to have a little "accident" in Avengers I#295. Using the Council's temporal technology, she captured a weaponized, technological T-Rex from an alternative future and set it loose on Washington D.C. She then made sure Dr. Druid knew about it.

"Less and less do I trust Druid's supposed psychic powers." 

When you're part of a team designed to come together to fight the threats too big for anyone to face alone... Yet your leader insists you go solo anyway, despite the fact it was serious enough for him to have a vision over, you know you're in trouble. And Thor did indeed have a devil of a time against the mechanized monstrosity. Especially when it proved more sturdy than expected. 

"AKREEEE!" 

On a sidenote, yours truly initially believed this metal monster was Walt Simonson's way of spoofing Robosaurus, the fire breathing star of many a monster truck rally. However, Avengers I#295 predates the debut of the actual Robosaurus by about 6 months. Chances are the dinosaurs loving creator might have slightly been inspired by Grimlock, the similarly shaped and mannered Dinobots leader from the Transformers cartoon. 

At any rate, while Thor fights for his life, She Hulk figures the others need to fly out and help him. But Druid has a unique way to make sure she follows the leader.

"You want to listen to me. Believe me Jennifer, this is all for the best." 

It gets worse.

"Relax Dane! We shall save the universe! Whether you want to or not.
The Avengers are mine!" 

Admittedly, that looks bad. But Druid really wasn't himself by this point. Essentially Nebula's puppet, he did all he could to please his beloved. So, when the Knight actually managed to launch the Quinjet and escape Druid's mental sway, she was less than pleased. Black Knight traveled to DC and helped Thor defeat the digi-dinosaur by ripping it beyond repair with his ebony blade. The two Avengers then headed back to Hydrobase to take down Doctor Druid. 

One Asgardian thundergod and an armored knight with a mystical blade versus a paunchy soothsayer in a bedsheet... Ya'd think, right?

" When they  awaken, they will be real Avengers at last.
Completely obedient!" 

By then, "Nebula" had fully manifested herself in the timeline, which only served to further cement her control over Druid. She even supplied him with "mindbenders", devices that added even more mind control. While She-Hulk and Black Knight were kept in check with one, Thor turned out to need three. Even though everyone was in their thrall, Druid and "Nebula" insisted on keeping things as regular as possible.

"YOU, my slaves, you are the key."

And so they were, as issue #297 proved. "Nebula" had Druid and his Avengers board a Quinjet prepared for interdimensional travel and away they went. But as soon as they approached the Time Bubble and there weren't any easy ways in, questions and doubt set in. All Nebula knew was that only Avengers were destined to enter the bubble. Since she wasn't an official member, she bet on that technicality and had Druid orchestrate the quickest signing in ceremony in the team's history....

"Beloved, that's it! Dane's future is a void!"

And. after using his not too reliable precognitive powers, Druid mystically concluded Black Knight was the one without a future. You'd think that even Nebula would have questioned his foresight after he failed to foresee minor hick-up like, say, a teammate's wife turning into a giant sea serpent snacking on ships.

But no, Druid went ahead and mentally coerced his teammates to toss Dane out the Quinjet airlock as they were cruising right outside the time bubble. The Black Knight was rescued by a couple of Crosstime Kangs who were following their wayward member. Those Kangs used a handy gizmo to free Thor from his mindbenders. The Asgardian attacked, which soon led to She-Hulk freeing herself as well.

That all led to this regrettably unforgettable confrontation.

"Doc, thou just hast to be kidding!"

Right around that time, the Time Bubble is approached by a near infinite number of alternate Avengers quinjets from a myriad of realities. They're all desperate to pierce the barrier and this particular assemblage of heroes falls short. That's why as soon as the bubble opens, "Nebula" makes a run for it.

The lovesick Dr. Druid can do nothing but follow suit.

"Beloved!"

And with that, the era of Dr. Druid reached its end in November of 1988. He apparently vanished inside the Time Bubble. Now free of his mental domination, the three Avengers returned home to Hydrobase. Thoroughly demoralized and sickened by what happened to them, She-Hulk quit the team. Thor and Black Knight made an off panel attempt to find new members but readily give up as soon as no reservists or fresh recruits appear available. 

"I can't believe they've all gone."

But gone they were, only for Steve Rogers to show up an issue or so before #300 to assemble a new team. Just like Gruenwald had wanted Roger Stern to do before all the unpleasantness began. The new Cap-centric lineup came together during the Inferno crossover and of course included Thor. The other roster picks were a bit more... eccentric. Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman joined, though they never even bothered to change out of their FF costumes. Another new recruit was the aptly named Forgotten One, an obscure character from Jack Kirby's late 1970s Eternals series. That couldn't have been the big plan Mark Gruenwald had in mind, could it?

And as for Doctor Druid... Considering what he'd done, it's surprising the Avengers didn't revoke his membership or voted him out in absentia. Then again, the entire east coast branch of the team was in absentia. Druid was left in comics limbo for close to two years until Roy and Dann Thomas came by to rescue him from obscurity in October 1990's Avengers Spotlight I#37. They decided to make ol' Druid a hero for the 90s.

"The reincarnation of Doctor Druid"

In a dutifully crafted but too dull to fully recap, the Thomases reveal Druid and "Nebula" have been surviving in a small, paradise like pocket of the Time Bubble, blissfully unaware of who or what they were until Druid's psychic powers ultimately reminds him of his past deeds. That leads to pages of poorly colored flashbacks, a fight with Nebula involving anti-time, a visit to 1961, a slight retooling of his origin to make him an official precursor to Doctor Strange, more meandering mystical mumbo jumbo before we end up with a rejuvenated Druid and a bad pun.

"Who knows, maybe this time I'll even keep my hair!"

Well Doc, there's good news and bad news. Yes, you'll hang on to your hair and you're even going to lead another team of heroes Roy & Dann Thomas salvaged Druid to make him the leader of the shortlived Secret Defenders series. However, after that book folded, Warren Ellis took note of the character so by the Summer of 1995, Druid's body would be burning in a dumpster, courtesy of Ellis' extreme take on Daimon Hellstrom. No worries, Anthony got better. Remember, he's a doctor ánd a druid. 

Just not a very good one. 

1988: The Dreadful Druid part IV: The Doctor Is Out... Of His Mind

By Jef Willemsen (clarmindcontrol.blogspot.com)

Remember the old saying "if it ain't broke, don't fix it?" Well, Marvel's editors sure didn't when they broke up the Avengers in late 1988 just to "fix" them. Walt Simonson was brought in and he picked Dr. Druid as the tool for the job. Marvel was so pleased, they took out an ad.

They were Earth's mightiest heroes. Nothing lasts forever"

The end begins in Avengers I#291, but before we get into the story... Let's consider the ad for a moment. This line up never actually served together. Thor was absent for most of their tenure, Namor was basically an estranged member and his wife Marrina was active as an Avengers associate at best. Still, longtime Thor-scribe Simonson started out with this lineup that by all accounts was nothing to sneeze at. Thor, She-Hulk and Namor were powerhouses, Captain Marvel was virtually unbeatable living energy, Doctor Druid was the next best thing to Doctor Strange, Black Knight covered both science and mysticism and Marrina well... She was a real good swimmer.

Anyway, remember them as they were because they'll never be this close again. Walt wasted no time and began tearing at the team's seams in the first few pages by revealing Doctor Druid was having bad dreams.

"I feel as though the heart has been cut out of me!"

Truer words were seldom spoken, Doc. To fans of Roger Stern's Avengers, reading Simonson's debut must have been the way Druid felt when he woke from his nightmare. Something felt off, even though everything looked fine and familiar. After all, Avengers I#291 still sported the comforting, reliable art duo of John Buscema and Tom Palmer. Yet, even without reading the in house ad, you could tell an ill wind had begun to blow.

"What evidence have I of the impending doom that seems to haunt my sleeping hours?
A moment's meditation will restore my calm and refresh my spirit."

That's right, the first thing this self proclaimed savior of mankind does after waking up from a potentially prophetic dream is take another restorative nap. And it's during his REM-cycle that the Doc is having the most problems. His dreams are being invaded and manipulated by Nebula, a mysterious woman who adores him and assures Druid he's the biggest hero there is... All of this clearly feeds the Doc's already considerable ego. 

Now, on to the actual deconstruction of the team. Though Simonson started on a positive note by having Edwin Jarvis return as butler, things took a turn for the worse when the Avengers attended a New York City gala and Marrina suddenly went wild. 

"My love!"

For unknown reasons, except for the obvious, plotdriven ones, Marrina was overcome by berserker rages, eating goldfish and slamming her hubby the Subby before transforming into a massive sea serpent. Now known as a/the Leviathan, she began to literally terrorize the seven seas. Namor went after his spouse and for the next two weeks, the Avengers simply sat back as reports of Leviathan's destructive attacks continued to come in. Simonson cleverly tied Druid's ominous dreams to Ralph Macchio's previously established storyline that focused on Captain Marvel's apparent incompetence as leader. Monica continued to doubt herself and had Druid order her around like a little girl. 

"If this is truly the beginning of those events, perhaps someone else might be better suited for the chairmanship here."

The issue ended with the Avengers catching up with Namor just as the Leviathan was getting ready to charge Florida. The heroes tried to stop Marrina, but Namor refused to let them hurt his wife and even fought off his fellow Avengers. The ensuing melee helped prevent the Leviathan from decimating the entire Florida coast. Namor escaped to chase after what has become of his wife while Simonson made sure we knew the internal struggle for power over the Avengers was alive and well.

"A good suggestion, Dr. Druid.
Should I ever decide to step down as the Avengers' chairperson...
There will be a ready candidate at hand."

... Ya can't even consider this foreshadowing anymore. But Simonson wasn't done being "subtle". While piloting the Quinjet, Druid got another vision, courtesy of Nebula. It only helped convince him he's to be the one, true savior of all.

"... You, my lord and master... You are the leader they have been waiting for"

All this subliminal deification only fed Druid's conviction that he indeed was the man who would be king. That's why he openly started questioning Captain Marvel's stance on the Leviathan. As a former Monster Hunter, Druid was the first to suggest the rational, though all but popular, option of killing Marrina for the greater good of mankind. Monica was vehemently opposed to this and found herself backed by Thor who rallied the team by declaring he'd agree with the Avengers chairman.

Monica Rambeau decided not to opt for lethal force, which led to the Leviathan attacking the US navy, sinking several battleships in the process. The Avengers tried to help, but the military got understandably steamed when they learned the team had kept the fact Leviathan was Namor's wife a secret.

"While Captain Marvel fails to make the tough decisions, men die.
The Avengers must be convinced that the Leviathan,
whatever her form or origin, must be killed!"

Avengers I#293 opened with Druid using his hypnosis and mentalism to subtly guide matters along. He tricked the Sub-Mariner into believing Leviathan was now attacking Atlantean cities, which helped convince Namor that lethal force was now unavoidable. He then fooled the sea serpent with an illusory cargo ship to lure it towards a final confrontation with the Avengers. Joined by Namor, Earth's mightiest faced down the sea serpent. During the fight, Namor used the Black Knight's ebony blade to slash into their foe, which triggered the sword's blood curse.

But the outcome of the battle was never in doubt...

                                                                "Where's Captain Marvel?"

In the space of just three issues, Simonson had managed to jettison three main characters: Namor, Marrina and Monica Rambeau, while also seriously handicapping the Black Knight who was suffering the effects of the blood curse.

In Avengers I#294, we learned just where Captain Marvel had gone. During the fight against Leviathan, Monica had combined her energy form with Thor's lightning in order to hit the creature with a double whammy. That worked, but water and electricity don't really mix and Monica got herself dispersed across the ocean. It took Rambeau days and all her will to rematerialize and appear at Avengers Mansion. She'd clearly paid the price for her heroism.

"Captain Marvel yet lives. But she is in the final stages of exhaustion."

And with that, the road was clear for Druid to take command of the team. But first he made sure Monica received proper medical care while also effectively sidelining her even more by having her parents flown in. Druid then insisted on holding a meeting in Monica's hospital room to decide who should succeed her. The good doctor used his mental powers to assure his favored outcome.

 "Our new chairman must be Doctor Druid!"

And that, as they say, was that. Druid influenced the vote to make sure he became the leader of a sorely depleted Avengers squad. Now down to a foursome, with Black Knight slowly turning into a living statue because of the blood curse, the team's future appeared more insecure than ever. But it was still morning in Druid's America... thanks in no small part to Nebula's machinations.

"Our enemies are gathering and the time is coming when we must face them together as a team.
All of us!"

You just know this won't end well, and that's just what the fifth and final installment of The Dreadful Druid will show. Hardly a spoiler alert, still worth checking out, though.

1988: The Dreadful Druid part III:The Doctor is Insurrection Bound

By Jef Willemsen (clarmindcontrol.blogspot.com)

The best-laid plans of mice and men... don't mean squat if Marvel editorial changes it mind again. In late 1987, Avengers editor Mark Gruenwald wanted writer Roger Stern to alter his ongoing storylines. When Stern refused, he was fired and replaced with Ralph Macchio who did editorial's bidding. Druid turned out to be just what the doctor ordered. 

" The FIX is on!"

Working from Stern's original plot Macchio was tasked to turn the book towards the status quo preferred by Gruenwald and, more specifically, Marvel's new editor-in-chief Tom DeFalco who was far more conservative than his predecessor Jim Shooter. In Tom's mind, the readers didn't want drastic, permanent changes or new, bold directions, they merely preferred the "illusion of change".

That's why he he reportedly hated Steve Englehart's new Fantastic Four and that's also why he and Gruenwald decided Captain America had to return as Avengers chairman. To do so, Stern was to start writing the current chairperson, Monica Rambeau, as incapable. Stern refused to defame a character he'd created back in 1982 and had shepherded along for years.

That's why the unenviable character assassination job fell to Ralph Macchio, who used to write Marvel Two-in-One with Gruenwald before turning mostly to fulltime editing. Still, he did a more than passable job as he proved with Avengers I#286, appropriately titled "the fix is on". Read the opening captions, it's immediately clear Druid is not to be trusted. He's shamelessly using his astral form to eavesdrop on his teammates for... unknown reasons.

"Doctor Druid! You summoned us?! Why?" 

Why indeed... We're barely ten pages in and Macchio starts asserting Doctor Druid as a far more capable leader than Captain Marvel who at the time Druid sounded the alarm wasn't even on Hydrobase. Instead, she was visiting with FBI agent Derek Freeman, her semi-boyfriend, to see if he knew why the government was after Captain America who'd all but disappeared following the team's return from Olympus. 

Great, I'm chairwoman of the Avengers and I can't even get a line on one of my own people." 

And so it begins...Macchio would take every chance he got to either make Monica doubt herself or for others, specifically Druid, to make her look foolish or incompetent. In this case, she's told by her lover about the disappearance of the Fixer's gear. And shortly after that, the Fixer himself was freed from prison by what appeared to be the Fixer. But let's not get ahead of ourselves, during her chat with Freeman, Monica receives Druid's summons and flies off to see what's going on. And boy, is she pissed off at him...

"You're up to something, Doctor..." 

It seems obvious that John Buscema had finished drawing Avengers I#286 before Stern was fired. Had he stayed on, a few dialogue changes would have told a very different story. Take a moment and study the art without reading the copy. Judging from the expressions on the faces of Monica and Druid, you can almost tell Macchio tried his darndest to hammer home how suddenly there was doubt, strife and borderline insurrection in the ranks.

Now, on to the story at hand... Druid had summoned the team because a call came in on Captain America's special emergency hotline. This was a service Cap had set up for concerned citizens to report matters that might require his attention. With Cap unavailable, Druid decided the call merited the Avengers' attention and he proves to be right: thanks to a watchful neighborhood kid called Bobby, the team arrived in Ohio on time to catch the Fixer in the act of trying to acquire the Awesome Android.

When Captain Marvel manages to get herself gassed by the Fixer, it's up to Druid to lead the team to victory... Which he does.

"It's worth a try, doc!" 

In the aftermath, Druid is seen helping the weakened Captain Marvel to her feet, while Monica is cursing him in a thought bubble for purposefully making her look weak. Avengers I#286 ends with the revelation that the Fixer was actually an unwitting accomplice and... Namor's lover Marrina has disappeared during the fight when she tried to stop a truck driven by the actual Fixer. 

Avengers I#287 opens with Namor chasing after Marrina and rescuing her, though the Fixer and his mysterious truck get away. Meanwhile, the Avengers have to deal with the Awesome Android again when it revives. Once again, Dr. Druid's mental powers helped save the day while Captain Marvel was made to look weak and inconsequential. 

"Please, my dear woman. You cannot do it. Still too weak".

Urgh... Talk about laying it on too thick. We get it, Ralph... Monica is a weakling who needs an older, more experienced member to back her up. Preferably a man. Even by 1987, the sexist and even racial undertones used to undermine Captain Marvel's credibility are baffling. It's no wonder Roger Stern refused to write her like this. You could argue Stern was so taken with Captain Marvel he made her a bit too wonderful and competent at times... But this is a complete 180. And we're not done. Soon after the Awesome Android is down, Druid proves yet again crucial to the story thanks to his telepathy.

"Still feel weak. But I'm leader of the Avengers, right? Better assert myself."

Urgh times two... Now Macchio has Monica reminding herself she's in charge. Still, it's once again Druid who is essential in tracking down Mentallo to one of Fixer's bases. Along the way, they encounter heavy opposition from the building's automated defenses. Yet, despite almost getting killed by giant turbines, the team manages to free and locate Mentallo who tells the Avengers his old partner has become something quite alien. 

"Interesting, Captain Marvel's been standing on the sidelines and
Druid's been running the show since we got back to Hydrobase"

Ah, another page, another dig at Monica Rambeau. What's even worse: Macchio makes sure we realize Druid is so much better at everything, it's almost embarrassing. Here, his powers figure out that the containment tube has been tampered with. Once they open it, they find... of all people... the Fixer?

Yes, in a genuinely delightful nod to continuity, we learn the true identity of the Fixer that's just escaped from prison: it's the Super-Adaptoid. Created by AIM to fight its enemies, this superpower copying android was ultimately defeated and placed in suspended animation in a subbasement of the mansion. During the Masters of Evil recent invasion, the ever curious Fixer accidentally released the android and found himself replaced.

With a dangerous villain on the loose, you'd think the Avengers would spend every waking moment tracking down this potential menace to global world peace. Well, you'd be wrong. Avengers I#288 opens with the team moving house... literally. Avengers Mansion gets relocated to Hydrobase by airlifting the brownstone out of Manhattan. How? Well, simply by attaching some sturdy cables to a couple of Chinook helicopters and away we go... 

"Please stop questioning my every move."

It's getting painful and tired at this point: not only is Namor the one overseeing the move, on the ground Druid is busy berating Captain Marvel for not hiring a film crew to record the event. Too many cooks spoil the broth and Monica is fed up with Druid's constant "helpful" suggestions. Moments later, the Avengers get a clue about the Adaptoid when the Black Knight comes in with a clipping from a small Texas newspaper (!) about escaping flying robots. Correctly deducing the Adaptoid is apparently after other robotic lifeforms, Captain Marvel splits up the team and orders the Avengers to go and check on several likely candidates for recruitment. 

But Macchio can't leave well enough alone and has Captain Marvel feel overwhelmed by even this relatively simple task. 

"Sure wish Captain America would come back to us. 

I don't know if I'm cutting it with these folks."

For heaven's sake... Can it still be considered "foreshadowing" when it's this blatantly obvious where the story is heading? It's almost an insult to the reader's intelligence. But, getting back to the star of the show: Doctor Druid was paired up with the Black Knight to visit a midwestern airforce base where the adamantium clad robot Tess-One is held. One teensy-tiny problem: the Avengers lost their security clearance a while ago when the Vision tried to take over the world. That's why the two heroes soon find themselves surrounded by soldiers who aren't exactly cooperative.

But, to no one's surprise, Doctor Druid proves to be the solution to the problem... Even though morality takes a bit of a backseat. 

"You will lower your weapons and take us to the robot, Tess-One.
That is an order."

Shortly afterwards, Druid and Black Knight take off with Tess-One safely in the storage area of their Quinjet. Homeward bound, Macchio has Druid explain that the military mind is so used to receiving orders it leaves them more susceptible to telepathic commands. Even as a kid, yours truly felt this made perfect sense. On the way back, Druid slights Captain Marvel some more when the Black Knight mentions they weren't ordered to bring Tess-One back, only for the Doctor to point out that Monica lacked foresight in this matter. After all, they couldn't really have stayed on the base to see if if the Adaptoid would show up. 

And, as if on cue... he did, with help from his robotic recruits: Kree Sentry 459 and Machine Man. Though they attempted to fight the metal menaces off, Black Knight was quickly overcome and Druid's powers were of no particular use.

"Such parlor tricks, Doctor!"

And that's when Druid disappeared from the book for two issues. Left for dead after the fight, Captain Marvel rescued them behind the scenes and got them to a hospital. Meanwhile, the Adaptoid and his cybernetic compatriots launched a full scale attack on Hydrobase. The real purpose for the ensuing slugfest was to buy the Adaptoid enough time to access the Avengers' computers. It wanted information on the Cosmic Cube, which the Adaptoid planned to make his dream of offspring a reality. Though he was a bit surprised when the cube showed up as Kubik, its more evolved sentient form, it didn't stop the Adaptoid from copying its cosmic powers. 

Now more powerful than ever, it decided to replace everyone on Earth with a copy of itself. And that's when we catch up with Druid and Black Knight in Avengers I#290.

"I shall use the mental power which is mine 

to render this ship invisible that we may make a safe landing."

Erm, how exactly is mentalism the solution here, Doc? You can use mass hypnosis to fool living beings, but against androids it's pretty darn useless. It's what got you beat up by the Adaptoid in the first place, remember? Also, take a moment to read the clunky chunk of exposition Macchio puts in Druid's mouth when he has him explain to the Black Knight where they'd been and how they'd gotten this Quinjet. Dane knows, Doc... he was right there!

At any rate, they get attacked by androids who try to replace them. Because they're not actually alive, the Black Knight quickly chops them up with the ebony blade. This doesn't solve anything, because the loss of two of his "children" makes the Super-Adaptoid notice the heroes. He traps them inside invisible cubes along with the other Avengers who fill in Druid, the Black Knight and the readership.

At the same time, Kubik decides to contact Captain America, who once helped it when it was still a Cosmic Cube. Though Steve is now working as the Captain, after the US government stripped him of his title, he agrees to be teleported to Hydrobase to help out. Though he's quickly captured as well, Rogers cleverly questions the Supreme Adaptoid's self professed sentience. To prove a point, the Adaptoid frees Cap and lets him fight his intended replacement mano-a-mano. 

Meanwhile, Druid relies on brains over brawn...

"Supreme one, may I speak with you a moment?"

Now, while Ralph Macchio has caught considerable flack throughout this post for his portrayal of Druid and Captain Marvel, this is truly thought provoking material. By now, he shared a co-plotter/writer credit with his old writing partner Mark Gruenwald. Together, they had Druid hand the Adaptoid a cunning conundrum which served as a meditation on the age old philosophical question of free will. 

"You lack one essential... Imagination.
All you are capable of is the imitation of that which already is."

The question how a mechanical being can claim it is alive is a complex and engrossing one. It was even the central theme in The Measure of a Man, one of the most beloved episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation which aired over a year after this storyline concluded. The episode had the android Data fight a legal battle to prove he was more than a machine. It's hard not to see the parallels. Though Data was distinctly less violent than the Adaptoid...

"BAH!"

Anyhoo, that's enough praise... the fight moves from engaging philosophical dilemma to Marvel's take on Rumpelstiltskin or Mr. Mxyzptlk. In other words: they tricked the villain into defeating himself. Facing the Captain in final combat, Steve Rogers managed to best the Adaptoid by taunting him to adapt to the one thing Rogers felt a machine couldn't: death.

Never one to back down from a challenge, it ups and dies.

No. Really.

"To thine own self be true"

And with that, the Avengers' Heavy Metal storyline was over. Macchio and Gruenwald gave Kubik some interesting parting words. When you read it, tis not hard to spot this was Macchio commenting on Stern being driven out or "brought down by the arrogance of absolute power", followed by that famous Shakespeare quote about remaining true to who you are: which Stern did when he quit the book rather than compromise on his original vision for the team. 

You might even reason that the Adaptoid was the perfect analogy for DeFalco's newly instituted "no real change/creativity" policy. All it could do was repeat variations of what it already knew, stuck in a perpetual, self repeating loop that would ultimately prove self defeating. 

A year or so down the line, Steve Englehart would write a final Fantastic Four storyline in which he pretty much mocked Marvel's no-change rule by putting the actual FF in stasis and replacing them with clones who acted like it was still 1962, right down to insisting they had the exact same adventures.

Ralph Macchio would bow out after #290 and make room for new regular writer Walt Simonson. He would kick the deconstruction of the team into high gear and make Druid the centerpiece of the Avengers implosion of 88 as we'll see in part IV of The Dreadful Druid: The Doctor Is Out... Of His Mind.

1987: The Dreadful Druid part II: The Doctor Is In Over His Head

By Jef Willemsen (clarmindcontrol.blogspot.com)

The year is 1987 and thanks to their newest member, Earth's mightiest were about to become Earth's most diverse heroes as well. That is, if you consider adding a balding white guy in a cape diversity. Don't worry if you don't... Doctor Druid will literally change your mind. 

Who will lead the Avengers?

A fair question. After an extended tenure as chairperson, the Wasp officially stepped down in Avengers I#279. Exhausted following the Masters of Evil's recent, devastating invasion of Avengers Mansion, Janet van Dyne was in desperate need of a break. Doctor Druid was the one who helped her decide to resign, thereby cleverly creating a slot in the roster he could fill.

"On to new business! I invited Doctor Druid to be here today"

With Jan gone, the obvious question was who would replace her. Normally, with founders like Thor and Captain America on the team, the answer would be easy. Either one of them would step up, but this time around, Cap was too wrapped up in his own affairs and Thor was secretly a cripple after the vindictive Norse goddess of death cursed him. His bones had become so brittle, the only thing keeping him going was the elaborate Asgardian armor he's wearing.

Instead, Captain Marvel gets the nomination much to her own surprise. Not to mention Druid's!

"If only new members were allowed to take office during their probationary period...
But, no matter... I shall bide my time." 

... Talk about major foreshadowing, even if writer Roger Stern wasn't planning on turning Druid into the deluded, manipulating mastermind he would turn out to be. In fact, Stern has gone on record to state his original plans for Druid were to have him be a cultured, somewhat pompous and self important elder statesman of the superhero scene. He planned to pattern him after major Charles Winchester III, the snobby surgeon played by David Ogden Stiers on the classic comedy M*A*S*H*.
Visually, there are certain undeniable similarities...

But while Winchester often found himself the butt of the joke because of his snootiness, Doctor Druid went the other way and proved to be something of a cruel practical joker. For instance, in Avengers I#279 he used his mental powers to make the unsuspecting She-Hulk believe Hydrobase was attacked by Gorgilla, a monster he'd once encountered when he was still Dr. Droom. Oh, what fun!

"No good will come of this... I just know it!"

Yeah, definitely not the kind of stunt to pull during your probationary period. And I'm not just talking about parading around the beach in bright orange speedos. Still, Druid proved to be a welcome addition to the team because of his unique abilities. For the first time, the Avengers had a member skilled in telepathy and mysticism. That added a totally new flavor to the book and the team dynamic...

All that didn't amount to a hill of beans when the Grandmaster used the Avengers and their west coast counterparts during the 1987 annuals. Over the course of the adventure, Druid had two major fights: one against Tigra and a little while later he faced Dracula. Though his fellow Avengers could sniff out Druid's illusions, she was no match for his hypnotic mind power.

As for Druid versus the undead vampire king...

*KRACK*

Druid fared slightly better in the Avengers versus X-Men limited series published that same year. He tricked the Soviet Super Soldiers into believing the X-Men were the Avengers and he even succeeded in infiltrating the mutant team when they managed to escape with Magneto, who the Avengers were tasked to bring in for trial.

"I have managed to mentally screen my presence from them so far...
But I cannot do so indefinitely."

Very true, he was discovered and taken captive in the next issue, but not before his astral form mentally contacted his teammates which led to the eventual capture of Magneto. So, Druid's earliest outings showed him to be a pretty handy guy to have around. Let's see how he did on his first proper mission with the team in their own book. In Avengers I#281, the team is called in to investigate the disappearance of Hercules, who at the time was still comatose and hospitalized after the Masters of Evil almost beat him to death. His sudden departure baffles them too, until Thor spots someone and rushes off without bothering to explain who he's chasing and why.

"The public shouldn't see the Avengers discuss internal matters...
If nothing else, it's bad form"

Lines like that clearly show what Stern was trying to do with Druid: slightly haughty and devoted to decorum, the good doctor uses his powers to hypnotize half of downtown Manhattan. It's best not to wonder why unsuspecting New Yorkers weren't bumping into the now invisible giant crate She-Hulk was lugging around. Speaking of She-Hulk, while the others discuss Thor's possible motives, she  decides to get some ice cream from a nearby street vendor... Only to get the worst possible case of blood sugar rage.

Turns out the friendly vendor was the Greek god Dionysus who scooped her up some elixir of frenzy. The Avengers tried to slap some sense into the now murderously furious She-Hulk, but when she remained a raging loon even after Captain Marvel's shock therapy, it was time for Druid to try his headgames on her.

                                             "This Doctor Druid is quite talented..."

I'll say. But this wasn't a fight the Avengers were supposed to win. Not yet, anyway. Turns out Hercules had been taken to Olympus by the fleet footed Hermes under orders from Zeus who blamed the Avengers for his son's injuries. That's why he sent his other children to Earth to capture the heroes in preparation for their Olympian trial. But that didn't mean ol' Dionysus couldn't have a little fun along the way.

"Hard as nails despite his rotundity"

In the end, the team is captured, brought before Zeus and quickly sentenced to suffer for all eternity (or as long as they live) in Pluto's Hades. The Avengers would probably still be there, if Zeus hadn't made the mistake of going after Namor the Sub-Mariner. Why? Well, though absent during the Mansion Siege, he was still on the roster at the time and technically counts as an active Avenger... Boy, for a god that liked to turn into a bull to impregnate women, that Zeus is quite the stickler for technicalities.

Namor is captured by Poseidon in Avengers I#282, and delivered to Hades as well. There, he quickly escapes and with a little help from the mankind loving Titan Prometheus finds out his teammates are being held in fortress Tartarus. Namor frees the Avengers who fight their way to Pluto's palace where Thor is being tortured by his old enemy Pluto. Druid does his part...

"I can still cut into their numbers"

Once they liberated Thor and pissed off Pluto, the team crossed into Olympus proper in Avengers I#283, fighting their way past a Centaur or two before Prometheus showed up again to inform them what Zeus was up to. Turns out he was still mad as heck at the heroes, especially because none of his attempts to heal Hercules were effective. Unsure what to do next, the Avengers decided to try and convince the other Greek gods of their innocence so they might try and intercede on their behalf. While Aphrodite was receptive, her brother Hephaestus was decidedly less eager to hear the heroes out. The god of blacksmiths even sent his golden girls after the Avengers. 

"... No psyches to be deceived by my mental illusions!"

Here's where Stern showed the audience that Druid was more than a Uri Geller knock-off in a bedsheet. Not only did Druid defeat the golden warriors by telekinetically tossing them in Hephaestus' nearby foundry, he even showed off his powers of levitation when the foundry was smashed and the place got flooded in liquid metal. Clearly, Druid's mental mastery was on full display and he wasn't done!

"Let your mind join mine... let me show you the way back!" 

After Aphrodite helped convince Hephaestus of the Avengers'  good intentions, the two gods make sure the team gets to Apollo's temple where Hercules is being treated. However, Ares spots the heroes and runs off to tell Zeus who arrives right in the middle of Doctor Druid's mental probe. Now, before you ask why Druid didn't try this back when Hercules was still in the hospital... Because that would have eliminated the need for this awesome story. Even in good storytelling, logic sometimes has to take a backseat. 

Avengers I#283 ends with a furious Zeus unleashing his signature lightning bolts at them. This attack seriously injures both Captain America and Doctor Druid, but as the opening pages of the next issue show: Prometheus is on the scene to take care of them. Teaming up with Zeus' wife Hera, he has Hermes take the injured off the battlefield and when they come to, they're surprised to find the Wasp there as well. Janet van Dyne had been taken during her holiday, as part of Zeus' completist kick that resulted in Namor being there. Cap and Druid literally remain on the sidelines as Prometheus tries to heal Hercules... However, that results in him reviving in a delusional, hopping mad state.

So, head injury or not...

"TRICKS! You play tricks with m-m-mind!" 

When even a brain damaged dimwit as Hercules catches on to your shtick, it's time to get a new act. Still, Druid's desperate attempts at calming the maddened Hercules in Avengers I#285 proved that he wasn't a coward, But does it make him a hero? Did he act because people's lives were in danger or did he intervene because he'd be a dead man if he sat this one out? We'll never know for sure and the point is moot anyway. 

Druid is unable to stop Hercules who stumbles out into Olympus and happens to come across the Avengers who were fighting Zeus. When the all father accidentally strikes his now ambulatory offspring, he calms down and listens to what Hercules has to say about the Avengers. After a serious attitude adjustment, Zeus extends the proverbial olive branch and the Avengers bathe in the lap of Olympian luxury for a few days, with Apollo healing Druid and Captain America in the process. Then, they're returned home and all seems right in the world...

Only it isn't, as we'll see in part III of The Dreadful Druid: The Doctor is Insurrection Bound