This issue has a ton of characters, but only one on the cover. I guess they ran out of time or couldn’t find an artist? They should have hyped this issue more. It’s a good one.
Marvel Two-in-One is over, so there’s no regular place to find updates about Project Pegasus, so why not use it here?
We know there’s a Cosmic Cube there, and it draws the attention of MODOK (who “created” the Cube—but in this issue, we learn he actually just “discovered” it and didn’t create it), a rebel AIM group (who want to steal the Cube and who are not part of the AIM group led by MODOK), The Shaper of Worlds (who has a long history with it), and Wundarr, who now goes by Aquarian (who the Cube changed from being a satire of Superman to a satire of Jesus Christ).
Incidentally, we learn that MODOK (Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing) used to be MODOC, in which the “Killing” was replaced by “Computation.”
Much less menacing.
It’s a big annual with basically nonstop action. At one point, Captain America’s shield is turned into a crab.
By the time it’s all over, we learn that The Shaper is actually a Cosmic Cube, manifesting in the form of Shaper, which means he can tame and soothe the Cube when it starts to get out of control. Shaper-Cube was created by The Skrulls.
It’s an interesting idea that Cubes are basically some kind of entity that can be created using a discoverable methodology that has been found by skrulls, Kree, and others. Question why Earth’s super-smart guys can’t create one, but whatever.
Lots of exposition about the meaning of Cubes.