We open with Maya, who arrived at the end of last issue, having put a love spell on Adam Warlock. Moondragon tries to break it the old-fashioned way.
When that doesn’t work, they turn to Doctor Strange–who is out of commission and has delegated his duties to Doctor Druid–see current issues of Secret Defenders. Lots of classic comedy in the Jim Starlin style. People tend to think of him for what he’s best known for–big, philosophical arcs featuring cosmic entities–and forget he created Drax watching TV.
Because of the spell, when Abyss comes in and takes Maya back, Warlock is pissed and goes after her. The story then shifts to tell us Abyss’ origin and get into the character–he was clearly intended as a “big deal” (but never did amount to one–maybe due to the fact that Jim Starlin left Marvel during this arc).
The Watch team attack Abyss, with Maxam at their side, but he wins–and takes the Soul Gem. This is an opportunity for us to peek at all the souls trapped in the gem.
In the battle, we learn that Maxam came from the future–but has had his mind wiped.
Then the Watch get free and defeat Abyss.
Fun stuff.
Jim Starlin is done. That’s too bad. Worse, he leaves during a major arc that he’d been seeding for quite a while. Pat Oliffe comes aboard as series penciller. He’s been doing fill-ins to now, and created the letter page banner.
He’s a good fit for this series.