This two-part crossover between the Avengers and Ultraforce, the premier team of Malibu Comics—which by this point had been bought by Marvel Comics—is negligible as far as story relevance is concerned, and ambiguous in terms of how it fits into recent continuity. However, it is notable for some great art by George Pérez (co-creator of Ultraforce) in the second installment and the wrap-around covers for both. (Unfortunately they do not line up perfectly, even in the hard copies, needing a little space between them, as I tried to do above.)
Basically, the Grandmaster and Loki (with Eternal and former Avenger Sersi involved as well) are fighting over a seventh Infinity Gem, and hold a new Contest of Champions between the two teams to determine who gets it. The Avengers fight for the Grandmaster while Ultraforce fights for Loki, with the Black Knight, who disappeared with Sersi in Avengers #375 and had since traveled to the Ultraverse (Earth-93060), held captive as the prize for the winning team.
Captain America—with no sign of the super-soldier degeneration that has plagued him since Captain America #422, much less the exoskeleton he started wearing in issue #438—is set against the Ultraforce’s leader Hardcase, an actor who had been transformed by otherworldly energy into an “organic nanotech being” with enhanced strength, speed, and invulnerability (among other powers). Loki has told the members of Ultraforce that the Avengers are an invading force, so when Hardcase sees a man dressed in the American flag beating up some police officers, he thinks he had found his first “Invader.” (Don’t worry, dear reader: As we see at the bottom of the page, this “Cap” was none other than Loki, who brings the real Cap in to take his place just before Hardcase gets to him.)
And he really gets to him, putting a confused Cap on the defensive against a much stronger foe.
Cap plays a bit of ricochet with his shield, hoping to settle Hardcase down long enough to convince him not to play along with Loki and the Grandmaster’s plans.
Hardcase gives Cap a chance to acknowledge the “Invader” joke before the former realizes the artificiality of their surroundings and accuses Cap of being in on the ruse before starting the fight anew.
Cap uses his shield to deflect Hardcase’s blows before putting some distance between them…
…and then putts the shield down as a call for a truce, realizing the battle is futile and hoping his foe will agree, especially if Cap can convince him their real enemy is Loki (not to mention the Grandmaster).
When their contest is over, Loki wins by technicality, but Sersi, who has been possessed by the seventh Infinity Gem all along, betrays them both. All seven Infinity Gems combine to form an entity named Nemesis, who in the second issue creates a new universe (Earth-32659 for those keeping track) containing modified (or “sketch”) versions of the Avengers, only to have them join with Ultraforce and the Earth-616 Avengers in a grand battle against her.
Below we see the new Black Knight contact Cap only to get a familiar rebuke…
…and later we have a double-page spread of all the heroes in the fight that only George Pérez could draw.
In the end, it is left to the Earth-616 Black Knight to use the corrupted Ebony Blade that has begun to possess his mind to separate the Infinity Gems and destroy Nemesis, but at the cost of his own life. Cap doesn’t like it, but he accepts it, and Dane says goodbye to his two great loves before making the ultimate sacrifice.
Nemesis’s destruction leads to a reboot of the Ultraverse, speeding through creation up to the moment it was destroyed, with all the members of Ultraforce—and the Black Knight—good as new with no memory of what occurred. The Avengers, safely home on Earth-616, have no clear memories of the event either, but Cap will travel to Earth-93060 one more time in Prime/Captain America #1.
ISSUE DETAILS
Avengers/Ultraforce #1, October 1995: Glenn Herdling (writer), Angel Medina and M.C. Wyman (pencils), Keith Aiken, Steve Alexandrov, Hector Collazo, and Don Hudson (inks), Chris DeFelippo and Malibu Color (colors), Janice Chiang (letters). (More details at Marvel Database.)
Ultraforce/Avengers #1, October 1995: Warren Ellis (writer), George Pérez and Larry Welch (pencils), many people (inks and colors), Todd Klein (letters). (More details at Marvel Database.)
Not yet collected.
ALSO THIS MONTH: Captain America #444 and Skrull Kill Krew #2 (October 1995)
THE VIRTUES OF CAPTAIN AMERICA 
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