The Avengers #341

Name: The Avengers #341
Brand: Marvel
Availability: InStock

Nov 1991 · Marvel · 1.00 USD; 1.25 CAD; 0.65 GBP

☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join free

“Rage of Angels”

★ 1st appearance — Animus

About this Issue

Avengers #341 marks the debut of the entity who would become Animus — introduced here under the alias of the Hate-Monger — an emotionally parasitic villain whose power to feed on and amplify collective hatred gave writer Fabian Nicieza a vehicle for confronting racial tension and mob psychology through a superhero lens. Published in November 1991 as the Rodney King crisis was building into a national conversation, the issue tackled police brutality and white-supremacist organizing through the lens of the Sons of the Serpent and a videotaped beating of a teenager, making it one of the more topically direct social-commentary issues in the Avengers' run of that era. It also functions as a meaningful team-up milestone, bringing the Avengers and the New Warriors into their most substantive shared story to date and forcing both squads to grapple with whether their intervention helps or inflames a community already on edge. The letters column contains a reader request for an Avengers/Justice League crossover — a wish that, as the book itself notes, would be granted twelve years later.

In "Rage of Angels," the fallout from a racial hate crime ignites a firestorm as Rage speaks out, forcing Captain America to confront uncomfortable truths. Tensions escalate when the Sons of the Serpent issue a deadly demand—blood from Rage and the New Warriors—setting the stage for a volatile confrontation. Written by Fabian Nicieza and illustrated by Steve Epting, with Tom Palmer on inks and Christie Scheele handling colors, the issue's cover by Ron Lim and Tom Palmer captures the rising storm.

writer Fabian Nicieza · artist Steve Epting · inker Tom Palmer · colorist Christie Scheele · letterer Michael Heisler · cover Ron Lim, Tom Palmer

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (VF) $0

Flagged key issue — estimate limited by sparse sales.

Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

This exact issue on ebay

CGC 9.8 $350 1 listing

Raw / ungraded ▾ $2.29–$18.99 10 listings

Raw / ungraded $2.29 Raw / ungraded $3.38 Raw / ungraded $7.25 Raw / ungraded $8.99 Raw / ungraded $9.2 Raw / ungraded $9.66 Raw / ungraded $9.99 Raw / ungraded $10.42 Raw / ungraded $10.95 Raw / ungraded $18.99

Verified matches for The Avengers #341 · eBay asking prices, seen 21 days ago

More listings for this title

VF · Newsstand $1.99 FN/VF $2.5 VERY FINE $2.99 VF+ $2.99 VF $2.99 FN/VF $4.5 FN/VF $4.5 NM $4.6

Related listings we couldn't confirm as this exact issue · 29 total · seen 21 days ago

Sell my copy

Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.

We Buy Collections ▸

Fast, fair offers · we handle grading & shipping

History

The issue was scripted by Fabian Nicieza with pencils by Steve Epting and inks by Tom Palmer — the core creative team responsible for reshaping the Avengers title at the opening of the Bob Harras era of the series. Ralph Macchio served as editor, with Tom DeFalco as editor-in-chief. The story was conceived as a two-part arc titled 'Rage of Angels,' explicitly drawing on the Sons of the Serpent — a hate group the Avengers had last fought in issues #73–74 — to ground a contemporary story about racialized police violence in the franchise's own history. The issue was published simultaneously in direct-edition and newsstand formats, the standard dual-distribution practice for Marvel in 1991.

Trivia · 8 facts

First appearance of the entity later known as Animus, introduced here as the new Hate-Monger — a supernatural being that feeds on and amplifies hatred rather than generating it, created by Fabian Nicieza and Steve Epting.
The story is titled 'Rage of Angels' Part 1 of 2, with Part 2 concluding in Avengers #342 (December 1991).
Writer: Fabian Nicieza; Penciller: Steve Epting; Inker: Tom Palmer; Colorist: Christie Scheele; Letterer: Michael Heisler; Editor: Ralph Macchio; Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco.
Cover art by Ron Lim and Tom Palmer.
The Avengers roster in this issue is Black Widow, Captain America, Falcon, Rage, and the Vision; the New Warriors roster includes Firestar, Marvel Boy (Vance Astrovik), Namorita, Night Thrasher, and Silhouette.
First appearances of Sons of the Serpent members Leonard Kryzewski, Ethan, and Jack, per the Marvel Database's character manifest for the issue.
The letters page contains a fan letter calling for a Marvel/DC crossover between the Avengers and the Justice League — a request fulfilled with the 2003 JLA/Avengers limited series.
The Avengers' prior encounters with the Sons of the Serpent are footnoted to Avengers #73–74 (1970), contextualizing the villain group's long history within the title.