Savage Avengers is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics. The first volume of the series features a team-up between sword and sorcery character Conan the Barbarian and various Marvel superheroes such as Wolverine, the Punisher, Venom, Elektra, and Doctor Voodoo. Written by Gerry Duggan with art by Mike Deodato, a preview of the series first appeared in the May 2019 Free Comic Book Day issue of Marvel's Avengers.
The first volume's plot revolves around Conan the Barbarian teaming up with modern-day superheroes to take down the Hand, who have teamed up with ancient sorcerer Kulan Gath to summon a mysterious, powerful entity known as the Marrow God.
A second volume later debuted in July 2022, written by David Pepose with art by Carlos Magno. This volume features a new team consisting of Conan, Agent Anti-Venom, Black Knight, Cloak and Dagger, Elektra, and Weapon H. The team is transported to the Hyborian Age, where they work to defeat Gath for good. Issues four, six, and nine of the series' run were dedicated in memory of George Pérez, Mike Pasciullo, and Carlos Pacheco, respectively.
Fictional team biography
Prologue Savage Avengers #0 reprints the plot of Uncanny X-Men #190 and #191, originally written by Chris Claremont and illustrated by John Romita Jr.
Kulan Gath, a sorcerer from Conan's Hyborian Age, appears in modern-day Manhattan and surrounds it with a magical barrier, which begins transforming New York into a Hyborian kingdom and its denizens into barbaric versions of themselves. After a large-scale conflict with various heroes that spans both issues, Doctor Strange determines the best course of action to be to return to the past, preventing Gath from taking power in the first place. The heroes, affected by changes to the timeline, largely forget about the adventure.
In new material presented in Issue #0 that bookends the reprinted issues, Doctor Strange awakens in the present day on the beaches of Krakoa, where he is confronted by Cable, who warns him humans aren't welcome on the mutant-only island. Strange begins to seek out Magik to aid him in a new plight.
Volume 1
The series begins after the events of Avengers: No Road Home, in which a time-displaced Conan assisted the Avengers in battling Nyx, Goddess of Night.
Finding himself transported to the Savage Land, the barbarian infiltrates a temple known as the City of Sickles and begins fighting ninjas of the Hand, attracting the attention of Wolverine. After a brief skirmish, they set aside their differences to discuss their goals in the Savage Land: Conan seeks treasure in the form of a mystical amulet, while Wolverine is searching for a friend who was taken captive by cultists and brought to the City of Sickles.
Exploring the mysterious city further, Conan finds a sleeping Kulan Gath, who bears the third Eye of Agamotto. Elsewhere, a captured Doctor Voodoo is brought to the City of Sickles' cult leader, who reveals the cult's ultimate plan: to sacrifice the blood of warriors to bring forth a deity of death, the Marrow God Jhoatun Lau. Wolverine arrives too late to stop the sacrifice, and Voodoo's throat is slit by the Sickle Priest. Defeated by an overwhelming number of Hand ninja, Wolverine is captured and prepared by the cult to serve as the next sacrifice.
Several coffins are delivered to the complex, prompting Wolverine to ask why the cult needs corpses. The Sickle Priest elaborates further on the group's plan to acquire the blood of warriors, hoping to draw the Punisher into the conflict by exhuming the corpses of his family.Savage Avengers #1. Marvel Comics.
A World War II-era flashback reveals the backstory of the Sickle Priest, formerly known as Luftwaffe pilot Johann Richter, an acolyte of the Red Skull. Shot down over the Savage Land, Richter fights his way through the treacherous terrain and finds Kulan Gath, who grants him power in exchange for his servitude.
In the present day, Wolverine breaks free of his captors as the Sickle Priest teleports away to safety. Apologizing to the now-dead Doctor Voodoo, Logan performs a crude blood transfusion and attempts to resuscitate the dead hero, who awakens as more Hand operatives arrive. In Gath's quarters, Conan attempts to retrieve the Eye of Agamotto, but fails when Gath awakens. Recognizing Conan from previous encounters, Gath announces his intent to sacrifice the barbarian as part of the cult's plan to summon Jhoatun Lau, but is distracted when Conan hurls a jar containing an imprisoned symbiote at the sorcerer, escaping with the amulet in hand as a nearby Venom is drawn by the noise of the symbiote battling Gath.
The Sickle Priest reconvenes with Kulan Gath and the two discuss a solution to overcoming Wolverine's healing factor to make him a suitable sacrifice, unaware that a nearby Conan is eavesdropping on the conversation. In another part of the temple, the Punisher opens fire on more members of the Hand, enraged by the theft of his family's bodies. A disguised Elektra Natchios reveals herself to Castle, and the two head deeper into the temple, finding evidence of Wolverine's presence. Elektra separates from Punisher to free Wolverine, returning as Gath offers to use necromancy to revive Castle's dead family members in exchange for the return of his amulet. Wolverine attempts to bluff Gath by claiming the amulet had been destroyed, but Conan ruins the plan by returning with the amulet. Fatally impaling Conan, Gath retakes the amulet and begins the ritual as the formerly-imprisoned symbiote bonds with Conan, healing his wounds and imbuing his sword with more power. Enraged, Conan begins slaughtering more Hand members, accidentally triggering the final sacrifices needed to summon the Marrow God in the process.
The assembled heroes attempt to kill the eldritch being, but their weapons seem to have no effect, with Wolverine becoming trapped in the creature's body. Opening a portal to Shanghai, Kulan Gath and Jhoatun Lau disappear through it, unknowingly taking Conan with them. Back in the Savage Land, the Punisher calls out to the corpses of his family, who have been possessed by the demonic Xholtan Skin-Walkers. Saving Castle from his possessed family members, Doctor Voodoo explains that the skin-walkers magically bind those who speak to them, necessitating the temporary removal of Castle's mouth via magic. Recovering from the ordeal, Castle joins Elektra and Voodoo in Shanghai, where Jhoatun Lau has grown in size. Venom, who has been transformed into a symbiote dragon after being in proximity to the Marrow God, attacks as Wolverine frees himself from the creature's stomach.
Conan uses his sword's newfound symbiotic power to kill the still-growing god, aided by Elektra, Venom and Wolverine. Victorious against the creature, the symbiote seemingly dies, weakened by healing Conan's continuous wounds throughout the battle.
Volume 2 Conan breaks into a Cult of Set while Agent Anti-Venom and Elektra find out about the madbomb that the Set cultists planned to unleash. The battle is crashed by a member of the Deathlok army who plans to erase Conan for crimes against the timestream. A man tries to mug Clayton Cortez only to find out the hard way that is Weapon H. Black Knight was in a nearby bar until he head to leave to break up the fight. After beating up some villains, Cloak and Dagger soon find themselves drawn to the fight between Conan and Deathlok alongside Agent Anti-Venom, Black Knight, Elektra, and Weapon H. Deathlok gives them a hard time until Conan strikes Deathlok's arm the same time the madbomb was activated. The injured Deathlok then opens a time portal as everyone is sucked in. Being dropped in a snowy location, Conan tells Agent Anti-Venom and Dagger that they are in the Hyborian Age.Savage Avengers Vol. 2 #1. Marvel Comics.
Conan, Agent Anti-Venom, and Dagger find themselves in the middle of the Rabirian and Zingaran conflict. He finds out that there is a bounty on him. Elektra and Cloak find themselves in an area fighting opponents and the Hyborian version of Devil Dinosaur. Cloak was able to teleport it away as more opponents descend on them. Deathlok makes his way out of the ocean and gets directed to a blacksmith where he fixes his gun. At a fortress, a group of mercenaries and swashbucklers are honoring Kal-Urr the Cutthroat when it gets crashed by Black Knight and Clayton Cortez. After a brief fight, both men escape where Clayton changes his gamma frequency to assume another Weapon H form that evokes the traits of Red Hulk and Betty Ross's Red Harpy form as he flies Black Knight away. Conan, Agent Anti-Venom, and Dagger find themselves locked up in the dungeon. As Cloak and Elektra are thrown in the same cell, Deathlok arrives to attack Conan and those with him. In the nick of time, Black Knight and Weapon H (who returns to his normal Weapon H form) show up to help fight Deathlok as Cloak summons the Hyborian Devil Dinosaur. Conan's group gets away as a plan to get back to the present is made known. Word on Conan's return is made known as some cultists use their magic to summon Thulsa Doom so that they can use Conan's blood to issue in a new age of Set.Savage Avengers Vol. 2 #2. Marvel Comics.
As Conan's group arrives at the Temple of the Beast, Deathlok catches up to them as Elektra has planned. Conan's group fights Deathlok until Black Knight uses Deathlok's technology to summon a laser sword. Weapon H then siphons Deathlok's gamma battery to briefly assume a Red Hulk form. Conan's group manages to subdue Deathlok as Elektra uses her Hand tricks on Deathlok. This is crashed by Thulsa and his minions who saw Elektra's "necromancy" at work. As Conan fights Thulsa, the others fight Thulsa's minions as Elektra is confronted by the Beast of the Hand. Deathlok suddenly emits energy as he tells something to get out of his head. Conan's group finds that Thulsa's group managed to make off with Conan. At the edge of a river, Deathlok looks at his reflection in the water as it is revealed that he is an aged version of Miles Morales.Savage Avengers Vol. 2 #3. Marvel Comics.
The aged version of Miles Morales recalls some of his past life before he was turned into a Deathlok by a mysterious person who wants him to hunt Conan. Then his Deathlok protocols start reinstalling. Conan is shown strapped to an X as Thulsa Doom plans to use Conan's blood to bring about the rebirth of Set. Agent Anti-Venom, Black Knight, Cloak and Dagger, Elektra, and Weapon H are trying to find where Thulsa took Conan. As Elektra advises Weapon H to save his strength for when they find Thulsa, Dagger keeps Anti-Venom and Cloak from fighting over her. Deathlok recaps to when he opened a prototype portal that the late Doctor Octopus had created and entered it where he fought some insect-like creatures that are part of the Annihilation Wave as the Deathlok protocols are restored. Thulsa makes the final preparations to summon Set. In the nick of time, Conan's group shows up with an army of zombified Cimmerians. They fight against Thulsa's cult as Weapon H assumes a Leader-like appearance. Back in Deathlok's flashback, it was shown that Miles was brought before Annihilus as he breaks free and makes off with Annihilus' Cosmic Control Rod. This flashback disrupts the Deathlok re-installation protocols. Thulsa starts heading towards Conan and slits his throat with his sword in order to gain his blood which he uses to summon Set. Deathlok tells his computer that it's "time to put my game face on".Savage Avengers Vol. 2 #4. Marvel Comics.