Shadow and Flame with Magik

Writer Judd Winick

Pencils Jim Calafiore

Inks Mark McKenna

Colors Transparency Digital

Letters Dave Sharpe

Avengers Forever Part Two of Two

Cover Dated October 2003

The Exiles team find themselves on an Earth where Captain America is the King Vampire, and his fellow Avengers : Wasp, Falcon and Hawkeye are also vampires.

This issue opens with Captain America reattaching his severed head back onto his neck.  This, naturally, freaks Mimic.  Luckily, Sasquatch bashes through the floor to throw off the dead captain.  Wasp convinces Cap to retreat.

There is an ad for the movie, Grind.  Whenever I read a back issue, and see an ad for a movie, I like to see if anyone escaped that film.  Adam Brody, I knew was in it.  Who I didn’t know was that Jennifer Morrison was in it.  I first saw her on How I Met Your Mother, and now on Once Upon A Time.  Might have to try to see this movie.  I am a sucker for any film that follows a set of four male friends.

Magik checks on Mimic.  I do enjoy this version of her, has a very dry sense of humor.  She also tells it like it is.

Hawkeye bit Sunfire, who I wished the Proper Marvel Universe’s Mariko was as fun as this version.  So she is slowly becoming a vampire, but since it was one of Cap’s vampires, the process is going to be much faster.

Another nice thing about this series is Morph, who is actually funny.  Which is not typical of that type of character in a comic.

Mimic wants Magik to teleport the team to England, so that Union Jack can assist them with Sunfire.  Magik doesn’t want to, as it will exhaust her.  She gets convinced to do it.  Calafoire really read the script, as the panel of the team coming through the stepping disc, you can see that Magik is exhausted.  Great job!

Union Jack has a solution, just kill her now and spare her the pain.  The team objects to this and he tells them the only other solution is to kill the vampire king.  He tells them that the only item that can do this, is the Soul Sword of Bata’s Circle.  Which of course, is exactly what Magik’s sword is.

We cut to San Francisco, where Captain America is having to recite a novel length monologue. If he is successful, he will be able to rule the world.  Due to it being so long, he doesn’t get to finish by the time Nocturne snatches his magical box.

There is a one page ad for JLAvengers, such a great miniseries.

Union Jack enters a multipage fight with Captain America.  Magik then straight up runs Cap through with her soulsword.  Once she does, she questions why Union Jack didn’t just let her do that from the beginning.

Turns out, now that Captain America is dead, this means Union Jack is now the new Vampire King, which was his plan.  He is about to attack Magik when Sunfire is cured and saves Magik.

The Tallus tells the Exiles team that their mission was a success.  Before they can go, Union Jack messes up the process and the team gets separated.

Issue ends on a funny note.  We only see where Morph and Sasquatch end up.  In Northern Canada.  The problem is that they run across a recently escaped Wolverine from the Weapon X program.  He is only growling and naked.