—Starfox... We will find Nebula and bring her to justice!
Appearing in "Fifth Column"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Skrull Empire (Main story and flashback)
- Skrull Imperial Starfleet
- General Zedrao
- Major Syrro (First appearance)
- Prince Dezan / "Dutch" (First appearance) (Main story and flashback)
- Raksor (Main story and flashback)
- Baryn (Death)
- Floyd Donahue (Impersonates Humphrey Bogart ala Casablanca)
- Rocco (Skrull) (First appearance)
- Louie (First appearance)
- Eddie (First appearance)
- Dorrek VII (Mentioned)
- Skrull Imperial Starfleet
- ⏴ Firelord (Pyreus Kril) ⏵
- ⏴ Fantastic Four ⏵
Antagonists:
- Zabyk ⏵ (First appearance) (Main story and flashback)
- Myrn (First appearance) (Main story and flashback)
- A Skrull (Impersonates Thor (Odinson))
- Skrulls (Impersonates Rigellians)
Other Characters:
- Beyonder (Mentioned)
- Nebula (Only in recap)
- Thanos (Only in recap)
- Galactus (Only in recap)
- Odin (Mentioned)
- Goliath (Hank Pym) (Mentioned)
- Good Lord (Yahweh) (Invoked)
Races and Species:
- Skrulls
- Titanians (Main story and recap)
- Humans
- Human-Olympian Hybrids
- Xandarians
- Luphomoids (Only in recap)
- Kree (Mentioned)
- Frogs (Mentioned)
- Rats (Mentioned)
- Taa-ans (Only in recap)
- Mudworms (Mentioned)
Locations:
- Prime Marvel Universe
- Andromeda Galaxy
- Klarr (First appearance) (planet under Skrull control)
- Tarnax (Only in flashback)
- Tarnax IV (Only in flashback) (Destruction)
- Power Asteroid
- Kral System (Mentioned)
- Kral IV (Mentioned)
- Earth, Sol, Milky Way (Referenced)
- Earth Orbit (Mentioned)
- Dark Nebula (Invoked)
- Heaven (Invoked)
- Andromeda Galaxy
- Sub-Space
Items:
- Captain America's Uniform and Shield
- Wasp's Suit and Wings
- Captain Marvel's Suit
- Ebony Blade
- Fantastic Four Uniforms
- Inhibitor Mask (First appearance)
- Hyperwave Bomb (First appearance)
- Power Stones (Mentioned)
- Bio-Sensor (First appearance)
Vehicles:
- Skrull Saucers
- Sanctuary
- Starfox's Titanian starship
- The Big Casino (First appearance) (A Skrull Zepellin)
- Skrull Biplane (First appearance)
- Spirit of Coolidge (First appearance)
Events:
- World War I (Mentioned)
Synopsis for "Fifth Column"
In search of Nebula, the Avengers and the Skrulls visit the planet Kral, on which Skrulls have taken the form of 1930s American gangsters, where they encounter Prince Dezan, the late Skrull emperor's brother, until recently an imprisoned exile. He has been freed for his knowledge of those who now menace the Skrulls, his one-time fellow rebels, Zabyk and Myrn, who intend to unleash a powerful secret weapon, the Hyperwave bomb. The Avengers ultimately join forces with the Fantastic Four, also on Kral on a separate mission, but neither group can prevent Zabyk from firing the dreaded weapon. To everyone's surprise, however, the bomb affects only the Skrulls, robbing them all of their shapechanging powers.
Solicit Synopsis
Notes
- Breakdowns by Byrne, finishes by Baker.
- This issue crosses over with Fantastic Four Annual #19.
- This issue follows the events detailed in Avengers #259 and Avengers #260.
- The Skrulls lose their shape-changing ability after Zabyk sets off a device.
Trivia
- The covers of this annual and Fantastic Four Annual #19 show the same scene (the surprise meeting of the Avengers with the Fantastic Four aboard the Skrull satellite) but from the point of view of the team whose annual it is.
- Eight pages of John Byrne's pencils or breakdowns are shared between the two annuals but with inks, lettering, and colors completed by the separate annual's own creative team.