The Avengers #343

Name: The Avengers #343
Brand: Marvel
Availability: InStock

Jan 1992 · Marvel · 1.00 USD; 1.25 CAD; 0.65 GBP

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“First Night”

★ 1st appearance — Magdalene

About this Issue

Avengers #343 is the opening chapter of the Gatherers Saga, a multiverse-spanning storyline that would define the Harras/Epting run and run for roughly eighteen installments across nearly two years. The issue simultaneously introduces the Gatherers as a villainous faction, delivers the first appearances of Magdalene and the alternate-reality Swordsman (Philip Javert), and marks the formal Avengers membership of both Crystal and Eric Masterson's Thor — reshaping the team's roster at the start of a new era. It also debuts the Black Knight's photon sword, a science-based replacement for the cursed Ebony Blade that Dane Whitman would carry through the entire saga and beyond.

In "First Night," Crystal and Thor—now known as Eric Masterson—settle into the Avengers Mansion, but their quiet start is interrupted by a distress call from Four Freedoms Plaza. The Avengers rush in, only to find themselves caught in a deadly ambush, setting off a tense confrontation with a long-absent foe: the Swordsman. Written by Bob Harras and illustrated by Steve Epting, with inks by Tom Palmer and colors by the same, this issue blends domestic shifts with sudden peril. The cover, by Steve Epting and Tom Palmer, captures the moment of tension with sharp, dynamic detail.

writer Bob Harras · artist Steve Epting · inker, colorist Tom Palmer · letterer Bill Oakley · cover Steve Epting, Tom Palmer

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (NM) $3

CGC 9.8 · 33 in census $55

CGC 9.6 · 16 in census $33

CGC 9.4 · 11 in census $26

CGC 9.2 · 1 in census $24*

CGC 9.0 · 1 in census $23*

CGC 8.5 · 1 in census $20*

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CGC 8.0 · 2 in census $20

CGC 7.5 · 1 in census $20*

CGC 7.0 · 1 in census $20*

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Raw / ungraded $4.61 Newsstand $6.49 Raw / ungraded $9.2 Raw / ungraded $9.66 Raw / ungraded $9.99 Raw / ungraded $10.97 Raw / ungraded $11

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History

Writer Bob Harras, who had previously worked alongside Ralph Macchio as an assistant editor before moving into writing, brought a deliberate long-form, character-driven approach to Avengers — sources note he expressly wanted to tell 'a different story' with Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Penciller Steve Epting, whose work on the title would eventually span roughly fifty issues, joined Harras during a bi-weekly story arc that preceded #343; by this issue the Harras/Epting/Palmer team was fully consolidated, with inker Tom Palmer providing the visual consistency that readers and critics would later cite as one of the run's distinguishing strengths. Editor Ralph Macchio oversaw the issue under editor-in-chief Tom DeFalco.

Trivia · 8 facts

First appearance of Magdalene (Earth-9201), an armored, superhuman warrior and former Avenger of her destroyed alternate reality, created by Bob Harras, Steve Epting, and Tom Palmer.
First appearance of the alternate-reality Swordsman, Philip Javert (Earth-921 per Marvel Database; also identified as Earth-374 in some sources — see Flagged), a displaced counterpart to the long-dead Jacques Duquesne who believes the Avengers abandoned him to die.
First appearance of Marilla, Crystal's nanny who accompanies Luna to Avengers Mansion.
First appearance of the Gatherers as a faction — the multiversal strike force assembled by the villain Proctor from the wreckage of alternate-Earth Avengers teams.
Crystal (Crystalia Amaquelin Maximoff) and Thor (Eric Masterson) formally join the Avengers roster in this issue.
Debut of the Black Knight's photon sword, a technologically engineered blade Dane Whitman designed as a non-cursed alternative to the Ebony Blade, first used in combat against the Swordsman.
Written by Bob Harras, pencilled by Steve Epting, inked and colored by Tom Palmer, lettered by Bill Oakley, edited by Ralph Macchio; cover date January 1992, on-sale November 1991.
The story is titled 'First Night' and is labeled Part 1 of 18 of the Gatherers Saga; the issue was later collected in the Avengers: The Gathering Omnibus (2020) and Avengers Epic Collection: The Collection Obsession, among other reprints.