"Onslaught" (1996/11/01)
"Sins of the Father!" Avengers 401 (August 1996)
"An Enemy Among Us!" Fantastic Four 415 (August 1996)
"Invasion" X-Men 55 (August 1996)
"Even the Brave Can Fall!"Green Goblin 12 (September 1996)
"End of the Line" Avengers 402 (September 1996)
"Twilight of the Gods" X-Men 56 (September 1996)
"Unfinished Business" Fantastic Four 416 (September 1996)
"A Voice as Deep as Thunder" Uncanny X-Men 336 (September 1996)
"With Great Power..." Onslaught: Marvel Universe (October 1996)

Reader Rating: Below Average; Thunderbolts Interest: High

Summary: The dark sides of Professor X and Magneto merge and attain consciousness. The creature dubs itself Onslaught, then captures Franklin Richards and X-Man, and uses their power in its plan to destroy all humanity. The Fantastic Four, The Avengers and the X-Men give their all to stop the monster.

Significant appearances from (deep breath): the Beast, the Black Panther, the Black Widow, Cable, Crystal, Cyclops, Dr. Doom, the Falcon, Gambit, Giant-Man, the Green Goblin (Phil Urich), Hawkeye, the Hulk, the Human Torch, Iceman, the Inhumans, the Invisible Woman, Iron Man, Jean Grey, Magneto, Mr. Fantastic, Namor the Sub-Mariner, Professor X, Quicksilver, Franklin Richards, Rogue, the Scarlet Witch, the Sentinels, Storm, Thor, Phil Urich as the Green Goblin, the Vision, the Wasp, the Watcher, and Wolverine.

Continuity: A Marvel Era ends with the apparent deaths of the Fantastic Four and The Avengers, paving the way for the Thunderbolts. These installments (of a much larger series) trace Hawkeye’s involvement in the story, with a brief detour to see Phil Urich's Green Goblin mask destoyed in a battle with Sentinels.

Comments: The "Onslaught" epic is a case-study in everything I hate about comics in the 1990’s. The uncut version sprawls across several issues of multiple titles. The page layouts are hard to follow and there is insufficient text to fill in the gaps. The art is plagued with pictures much larger than their content is worth, and the continuity over the series is woefully sloppy. (If anyone can explain how events get from the end of "Voice" to the beginning of "Power", please let me know.) There are so many characters that a few of them – notably the Black Widow – get misplaced in the shuffle.

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This page was revised on December 4, 2008