Appearing in "Lonely as a Cloud--!"
Featured Characters:
- New Defenders
- Beast (Henry "Hank" McCoy)
- Angel (Warren Worthington III)
- Iceman (Bobby Drake)
- Cloud (Leaves) (Origin revealed)
- Candace "Candy" Southern
- Andromeda (Joins)
- Gargoyle (Isaac Christians)
- Valkyrie (Brunnhilde)
Supporting Characters:
- Seraph (Sonya Tolsky)
- Interloper
- Carol Faber ⏵ (First full appearance) (Comatose)
- Danny Milligan ⏵ (First appearance) (Comatose)
Other Characters:
- Dr. Strange (Stephen Strange) (Mentioned)
- General Argyle Fist (Mentioned)
- Prince Namor the Sub-Mariner (Namor McKenzie) (Mentioned)
- Krang (Mentioned)
- Tony (Mentioned)
- Hotspur (Mentioned)
- Vera Cantor
- Secret Empire (Mentioned)
- Russian Army Troops
- Hospital Administrator (Unnamed)
Races and Species:
Locations:
- Earth
- North America
- United States of America
- New York State
- New York City
- Manhattan
- Greenwich Village
- Erlins' Diner
- Manhattan
- New York City
- West Virginia
- Norbrook Community Hospital (First appearance)
- New Mexico
- New York State
- United States of America
- Asia
- Russia
- Shore of the Bering Strait
- Soviet Tracking Station
- Siberia (Mentioned)
- Shore of the Bering Strait
- Russia
- Atlantic Ocean (Only in flashback)
- Atlantis (Only in flashback)
- North America
Items:
- Angel's Suit
- Dragonfang
- Beast Signal Watch (First appearance)
Vehicles:
- Angel's plane
Synopsis for "Lonely as a Cloud--!"
Seraph says that Cloud must go with her to learn the secret of their past. The Defenders are suspicious of her intentions, but Cloud wants to go and wants the others to come with them. Andromeda offers to go, and the rest of the Defenders soon agree as well.
As Seraph and Cloud prepare for the journey, Candy Southern asks who Andromeda is. Andromeda explains that she is Group Commander of the Armed Forces in the empire of Atlantis. She is able to breathe on land and appear as a surface-dweller by using a gas mask created by the evil Warlord Krang. Andromeda became frustrated with the male-dominated society of Atlantis, where she was denied honors and promotions she was due because she was a woman. Hearing tales of Prince Namor’s adventures with the Defenders — in which males and females fought as equals — she decided to leave Atlantis and came to New York in search of the group.[1] Befriended by a jogger named Tony, she pretended to be a human woman named “Andrea” and used her ship’s devices to create an I.D. and credit cards based on Tony’s, leaving behind a giant pearl as payment.
Needing a replacement for Moondragon, the Defenders welcome Andromeda to their ranks. The next day, Beast has lunch with his old girlfriend, Vera, in an effort to repair their relationship. Beast gives Vera a special “Beast Signal Watch,” telling her to activate it whenever she is lonely, and he will hear it with his “Beast-Hearing.” As Beast departs for the Defenders’ next mission, Vera activates the signal and cries.
The Defenders take Seraph and Cloud in one of Angel’s private jets, but Cloud suddenly starts to experience pain and lashes out with lightning bolts. Beast is stunned, and the blinded Angel — aided by Gargoyle and shielded by Iceman — is forced to fly the plane. Cloud calms down and Seraph explains that they just flew over the area where the Secret Empire discovered her, which may have caused her pain.
In Siberia, a mysterious man called the Interloper walks through a Russian tracking station, where all of the soldiers are too afraid to look at him. Finding a map that shows the location of his quarry in New Mexico, he departs and starts walking through the ocean towards his destination.
At Norbrook Community Hospital in West Virginia, the Defenders arrive in search of Cloud’s past. Seraph uses her power to instill ecstasy in an administrator so they can gain access to the room of Carol Faber and Danny Milligan, who have been in a coma since their car ran off the road. Cloud remembers that she was once a cloud-like being who had come to earth because of some danger. She sought to contact Carol and Danny and began to change shape and take both of their their forms, when she suddenly experienced great pain and lost her memory. That was when the Secret Empire found her and implanted her with false memories.
In order to help Cloud remember the danger that brought her to earth, the Defenders bring her to the location of the auto accident, but it only increases her pain. Cloud appears to die, so the Defenders decide to bring Cloud back to where she was before the pain began, and Gargoyle flies her into the sky. Cloud revives and her full memory is restored, which causes her to transform into a huge thundercloud. With a flash of lightning, the Defenders disappear.
Notes
- Barras is credited with inking assistance.