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Cover: John Byrne & Terry Austin

The Avengers #187

Name: The Avengers #187
Brand: Marvel
Availability: InStock

Sep 1979 · Marvel · 0.40 USD

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“The Call of the Mountain Thing!”

★ 1st appearance — Baron Gregor Russoff

About this Issue

Avengers #187 is the capstone of the three-part 'Nights of Wundagore' arc and the definitive Bronze Age text establishing the Darkhold's cosmological history: through a three-page monologue by the Elder God Chthon, writers Gruenwald, Grant, and Michelinie weave together threads from Werewolf by Night, Modred the Mystic, and the Scarlet Witch's earliest appearances into a single, unified mythology that would underpin decades of Marvel horror and chaos-magic storytelling. The issue also formally marks both Scarlet Witch and Wonder Man rejoining the Avengers as full members, while Django Maximoff's death in its pages provides an emotional anchor to the twins' origin story. Its fictional architecture—Chthon imbuing the infant Wanda with chaos magic at the moment of her birth on Wundagore Mountain—became so foundational that the MCU adapted it directly in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, bringing Mount Wundagore itself to the screen.

In "The Call of the Mountain Thing!", the Avengers find themselves crash-landed in the mysterious nation of Transia, where they’re ambushed by Modred, the dark sorcerer of Wundagore, and the magically possessed Scarlet Witch. With the fate of their team hanging in the balance, the heroes must rely on their strength and unity to break free from her spell. Written by Mark Gruenwald, Steven Grant, and David Michelinie, with dynamic art by John Byrne and cover by Byrne and Terry Austin, this 1979 issue delivers a thrilling clash of magic and might.

writer Mark Gruenwald · writer Steven Grant · writer David Michelinie · artist John Byrne · inker Dan Green · colorist George Roussos · letterer Jim Novak · cover John Byrne, Terry Austin

ComicBooks.com Value

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Raw (Fine) $3

CGC 9.8 · 133 in census $116

CGC 9.6 · 138 in census $52*

CGC 9.4 · 69 in census $40*

CGC 9.2 · 30 in census $34

CGC 9.0 · 24 in census $23*

CGC 8.5 · 21 in census $20*

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CGC 8.0 · 19 in census $20*

CGC 7.5 · 13 in census $20*

CGC 7.0 · 6 in census $20*

CGC 6.5 · 10 in census $20*

CGC 6.0 · 6 in census $20*

CGC 5.5 · 2 in census $20*

CGC 5.0 · 1 in census $20*

CGC 4.5 · 2 in census $20*

CGC 4.0 · 2 in census $20*

CGC 3.5 none in existence

CGC 3.0 none in existence

CGC 2.5 none in existence

CGC 2.0 · 1 in census $20*

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CGC 9.6 $118.99 CGC 9.6 · Newsstand $161.49 CGC 9.6 $300

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History

The story carries a three-way plotting credit—Mark Gruenwald, Steven Grant, and David Michelinie—with Michelinie handling the full script; John Byrne penciled and co-designed the cover (inked by Dan Green), under editor Roger Stern and EIC Jim Shooter. The Avengers: Nights of Wundagore trade paperback later reprinted an essay by Gruenwald detailing the research behind Avengers #185–187, including the creative decision to establish Magneto as the true father of Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch—a retcon quietly embedded in the arc's flashback sequences that would not be made fully explicit in-story for years. The issue went on sale June 19, 1979, with a September 1979 cover date.

Trivia · 8 facts

Title: 'The Call of the Mountain Thing!' — concluding chapter of the 'Nights of Wundagore' three-parter (Avengers #185–187).
Creators: Plot by Mark Gruenwald, Steven Grant & David Michelinie; script by Michelinie; pencils by John Byrne; inks by Dan Green; colors by George Roussos; letters by Jim Novak; editor Roger Stern; EIC Jim Shooter.
The issue delivers the first comprehensive in-universe origin of the Darkhold: Chthon (an Elder God previously introduced in Marvel Chillers #1, 1975) explains on-panel how he inscribed the book as a gateway back to Earth before fleeing to his own dimension, and traces its passage through Morgan Le Fay, Cagliostro, Taboo, and Gregor Russoff.
The flashback establishes that Chthon infused the newborn Wanda Maximoff with chaos magic on the night of her birth at Wundagore—retroactively explaining why her hex power had periodically ebbed throughout her published history, as Chthon deliberately weakened it to push her toward sorcery and make her a suitable host vessel.
Both Scarlet Witch (rejoining after her possession is broken) and Wonder Man formally join the active Avengers roster in this issue.
Django Maximoff, the Romany shaman who raised Wanda and Pietro, dies of a heart attack during the climactic battle; it is his carved wooden marionette of Wanda—acting as a soul-vessel—that allows the Avengers to expel Chthon from her body.
The Wundagore Knight's 'Atomic Steed' discovered by Beast on the mountainside is later taken to Avengers Mansion, where it is subsequently used by the Black Knight.
Reprinted in: Avengers: Nights of Wundagore TPB (2009), Essential Avengers Vol. 9 (2013, black-and-white), Marvel Universe by John Byrne Omnibus (2016), Marvel Horror Omnibus (2019), Avengers Epic Collection #10: The Yesterday Quest (2023), Marvel Masterworks: The Avengers Vol. 18 (2018), and Darkhold: The Saga of the Book of Sins TPB (2024).