New Avengers (ES) Vol 1 26

The Zodiac Cartel is holding a meeting trying to figure out what happened to the LMDs that recently cribbed their gimmick, when their Scorpio suddenly drops his over-the-top French accent to reveal that he's not Jacques LaPoint, but an LMD Jake Fury in diguise, and he's led the entire LMD Zodiac to their base to ambush and kill them. The original Zodiac is quickly slaughtered, but Taurus slips away. He swallows his pride and actually goes to the West Coast Avengers for help, though secretly planning to rebuild his own Zodiac once he gets the Avengers to dispatch the LMDs. He leverages his insight into the astrology-driven minds of the Zodiac to be instrumental in predicting the rival team's movements. Moon Knight's own astrological pinnings lead him to vouch for Van Lunt since the Moon's in Taurus, but he plans to keep a close eye on the villain. Soon, the Avengers intercept the Zodiac at a Breeder's Auction in Wichita. During the battle, Sagittarius is killed by a stray arrow from Hawkeye, leading the rest of the Zodiac to flee. Even though it was an LMD, Clint is shaken by the kill, a reaction that makes Mockingbird more anxious about her secret involvement in the death of Phantom Rider. Later, at Zodiac's hideout, Scorpio ruminates on his relationship to the Zodiac Key. He recalls things that he had previously forgotten, that he was the original holder of the Key, and as such every time he died the Key re-animated him in an artificial body based on a SHIELD LMD, but each new Jake thought he was becoming Scorpio for the first time. Now, he uses the Key to create another new LMD, a new Sagittarius that's a dead ringer for Hawkeye.

Appearing in "Hearts and Minds!"

Reprint of the 1st story from
Defenders #137

Featured Characters:

Defenders

Supporting Characters:

Aragorn

Antagonists:

Shafik Wazzan

Other Characters:

Six-Fingered Hand
(Mentioned)
Doctor Strange (Stephen Strange)
(Mentioned)
Valkyrior
(Mentioned)
Odin
(Referenced)
Northrop Frye
(Topical Reference)

Races and Species:

Locations:

Sol
- Earth
  - North America
    - United States of America
      - Wyoming
        Rocky Mountains
- Saturn
  (Vision or hallucination)
  - Titan
    (Vision or hallucination)
    - Shao-Lom Monastery
      (Vision or hallucination)

Items:

Synopsis for "Hearts and Minds!"

Reprint of the 1st story from
Defenders #137

The Defenders are confronted by the newly giant form of Gargoyle, who is under the control of Shafik Wazzan, who believes they are demons. Cloud tries to smother the wizard in cloud-form, but he changes Cloud back into his human form. Valkyrie’s enchanted sword, Dragonfang, is able to hurt the Gargoyle, but she hesitates out of concern for him and is sent flying by the back of his hand.

Suddenly, Moondragon creates a psychic link with Gargoyle and tells him to direct his mystic bolts at the headband that restrains her mental powers; only then will she be powerful enough to free him from the wizard’s control. Gargoyle is reluctant to do so for fear of possibly unleashing a greater evil, so Moondragon allows him to look into her mind and soul to prove she is not evil.

Meanwhile, Beast recognizes that the wizard is a Gnostic and speaks to him in his own tongue to try to convince him that they are not demons. Angel drags the wizard into the sky and tries to take the crystal with the pentagram he has been using to control Gargoyle, but to no avail.

Gargoyle sends a fist crashing down on the Defenders, but Valkyrie manages to hold his fist from descending and instructs the Beast to use Dragonfang to cut off Gargoyle’s hand. Finally, Moondragon directs Valkyrie to attack the Gargoyle, while Angel sends Dragonfang plunging towards the wizard as Cloud strikes the sword with lightning. The resulting glare of light blinds the wizard, and he asks Gargoyle to restore his sight. Gargoyle gives the wizard true sight, enabling him to see the Defenders as they truly are. The wizard realizes that the Defenders are not demons, except for Valkyrie and Moondragon, whose true selves send him running in fear. The wizard leaves the pentagram, freeing Gargoyle from his control. A weakened Gargoyle warns the Defenders to “beware Moondragon” before passing out.

Appearing in "Superioribus 32"

Featured Characters:

Superioribus

Supporting Characters:

Policeman

Antagonists:

El supermaleante
Tauro

Other Characters:

Reader

Locations:

Earth-TRN1046
- Barcelona
  - Police station

Synopsis for "Superioribus 32"

Taurus attacks the police station. Superioribus finds Taurus' costume so outlandish that he laughs uncontrolably - which gives Taurus a chance to defeat Superioribus.

Links and References

References

New Avengers (ES) Vol 1 26

Appearing in "What Is Scorpio?"

Synopsis for "What Is Scorpio?"