Avengers Annual 16 The Day Death Died!
Published: January 16, 1987
Writer: Tom Defalco Penciler: Butch Guice, John Romita, Keith Pollard, Ron Frenz
Cover Artist: Bob Layton
As a result of the Contest of Champions, the Grandmaster had restored the Collector's life at the cost of his own. Once within the realm of Death, however, he schemed to conquer the final adversary. Now, after having pitted the West Coast Avengers against their eastern counterparts in Death's domain, he has distracted, then defeated Death itself. (As seen in Contest of Champions and West Coast Avengers Annual #2)
Bored with life, the Grandmaster has created five life-bombs which will cause a new "big bang," replacing the present universe with one of his own design. When the Avengers challenge him to a final game, he pits them against a new Legion of the Unliving composed of their deceased friends and foes.
Thor, Hawkeye, and Dr. Pym battle the Executioner, the Swordsman, and Nighthawk in a fiery netherworld, where Dr. Pym is impaled on a stalagmite by Nighthawk and killed, while Thor defeats the Executioner but is killed preventing the life-bomb from exploding, leaving Hawkeye the only survivor of his group after he tricks the Swordsman using his trick arrows, electrocuting him.
Meanwhile, Captain Marvel, Moon Knight, Tigra, and the She-Hulk face Drax the Destroyer, Death Adder, the original Green Goblin, and the Kree Captain Mar-Vell in a tropical setting. Tigra defeats Death Adder but is poisoned by him in the process, Moon Knight is killed by the Green Goblin, and She-Hulk has her back broken by Drax the Destroyer. Captain Marvel succeeds in defusing their bomb but her energy form is drained by the villains while She-Hulk and Tigra die on the beach below.
The Silver Surfer and Korvac fight to their mutual destruction in space.
In a misty alien wasteland Iron Man, Mockingbird, Dr. Druid, and the Black Knight face Dracula, Terrax, the second Red Guardian, and the original Black Knight. Iron Man defeats Terrax at the cost of his armor, while Mockingbird overcomes the Red Guardian. The two Black Knights are too evenly matched for either to win, while Dr. Druid and Mockingbird are both killed by Dracula, the latter distracting Iron Man from defusing their bomb, which detonates.
In an Arctic waste Captain America, Wonder Man, and the Wasp combat Hyperion, Baron Blood, and Bucky. Hyperion kills Wonder Man by driving him through the planet into a nearby sun, while Captain America beats Baron Blood. The Wasp, suffering due to the extreme cold, is crushed to death by Bucky, who Cap defeats before destroying their bomb.
Incredibly, only Cap and Hawkeye have survived the contest. Rather than undergo a second round with their late comrades added to the ranks of their foes, Hawkeye proposes a simple game of chance which the Grandmaster cannot resist playing. He proffers two arrows, daring the alien gamesman to guess which one has an arrowhead attached.
When the Grandmaster loses, Death frees herself and exiles him from her realm, then returns all the Avengers to life on Earth. Captain America is astounded to learn that Hawkeye has cheated on the wager, by palming the arrowhead attached to the shaft the Grandmaster chose.
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