Avengers AI 12, Avengers World 5, Uncanny Avengers Annual 1

Avengers AI 12
Humphries (w) and Araújo (a) and D'Armata (c) and Cowles (l)

The future is in peril as Dimitrios prepares to defeat the last uprising and the last bits of the universe 10,000 years later with only the remaining AI Avengers to stop him (Victor, Doombot, Vision, and Alexis). Doombot opens up his black hole chest and attempts to send Dimitrios, feeding off of Galactus, into it, but Dimitrios nearly escapes even that. In the present, though, Monica Chang makes the correct decision to sever Clatterbuck's link to the SHIELD network for deactivation, thereby stopping Dimitrios' virus from getting ahold of SHIELD's systems and giving the team the chance to officially defeat Dimitrios within. Though the AI Avengers are through, per Maria Hill's orders, they have succeeded (though all may not be well as hint that Ultron may yet have survived has emerged).

Story
Like in THOR: GOD OF THUNDER right now, I have a little bit of trouble feeling compassion or excitement for these sorts of "we need to do the right thing now or else the world will be gone in 10,000 years!" stories. I feel rather like the universe surviving for 10,000 years more is kind of a stretch goal anyway; I mean, we're bound to destroy the planet by then, what are the chances we don't take the universe down with us? So like with THOR, it's hard to see the real stakes here and I think the idea is clouded by the presentation, in a way. The idea to AVENGERS AI's final threat is that Dimitrios' virus will instantly turn SHIELD against humanity and SHIELD's weaponry will quickly decimate the Earth is more compelling, even if it's maybe a bit more cliche, than saying "in 10,000 years, everyone will be dead!" because that's kind of already what we're believing. So the story that's buried here is okay but the way it's presented is less compelling. 3/5

Character
There's a little too much going on with the plot right now to settle out characters and final issues always get a little bit of a pass for this from me. This book was cancelled so clearly Humphries had to squeeze down a bit to fit everything and maybe some development had to be canned because there was no time and it's not like he was developing characters for later issues. Monica has some characterization as Humphries goes a little deeper into her religion and her ethics and the ethics of killing AI, but that's really all we have time for aside from a couple of quick lines to cement the characterization of other characters (an excitable Hank Pym, a happy Victor Mancha, an irritated Doombot, etc.). 3/5

Writing
This, too, falls a little under the "rushed" category. There's not much time for Humphries to create a really pervasive tone or to keep the dialogue particularly sharp. With the final issue, Humphries has time to get some exposition out and to explain what happens to our characters and not much else. There's little the writing can do to add to anything else at this point and I'm not sure that should really be counted against Humphries. 3/5

Art
Araújo kind of has me split down the middle. I like a lot of his scenes and I think that overall he carries the book pretty well but there are very strange and distorted faces here and there. He still nails down a lot of the virtual world stuff, bridging an interesting gap between realism and surrealism. Still, you probably know what direction this category is headed...3/5

Miscellaneous
Goodbye to AVENGERS AI, a bold premise that, for me, never really found its footing and never really broke out of what we've seen other AI-based books do already. Also kinda weird that the cover to this final issue doesn't have Vision on it, right?

Total score: 3/5


Avengers World 5
Hickman and Spencer (w) and Caselli (a) and Mossa (c) and Caramagna (l)

AIM still has Cannonball and Sunspot and they've transformed Smasher into their own messenger. To top it off, the capital city of AIM Island has been completely locked off from the outside world with incredibly impressive and unknown force fields. Captain America sends Tony Stark to convince Manifold to teleport in. The field stops most teleporters but Manifold's style of teleportation, bending space, is different and they suspect he'll be able to breach. Unfortunately, his powers have been out of whack since the war with the Builders. He reaches out to Captain Universe to try to understand the problem and she transports him to a place outside the world, which helps reorient his place in the universe, necessary for a manifold. With that settled, he returns to the helicarrier and brings in the big gun team, Thor, Hyperion, and Captain Marvel, to Barbuda.

Story
The bigger story, the isolation of AIM Island and the capture of Cannonball, Sunspot, and Smasher, takes a backseat to Manifold's story. Of course, being on the backseat doesn't mean it doesn't still drive the story. We know that's the end goal and it's brought to the forefront occasionally here as Bruce Banner tries to get a team of SHIELD scientists to find a way to enter the forcefield and as Tony's objective is, of course, to breach the forcefield with Eden, but the story is really Eden's and why his powers aren't working. It's a compelling story because Eden is a compelling character and the idea that his powers aren't working properly is a pretty big blow for the Avengers, who have utilized those powers a lot recently. It's maybe not as compelling as a siege on AIM Island but it's certainly not worthless. 4/5

Character
There are character moments for everyone from Banner to Tony to Cap but the real driving force behind the issue is Manifold, who knows enough to meditate and try to reach out to Captain Universe (or the Universe as a whole) to find a solution for his problem. Eden is characterized by the way he reacts to dangers and the way he throws himself into heroing even as he's taken to another universe and his powers stop working (Manifolds cannot work outside of their own universe because their powers are dependent on their universe). We learn a good deal about him both as a person and as a super powered being and it's stuff that's pretty readable for how expository it could be. 4/5

Writing
The tone here is noticeably different than the tone in, say, AVENGERS or NEW AVENGERS and it's hard not to put that down to Nick Spencer's involvement. Spencer's books tend to have a little more quippy humor in them than Hickman's (of course, I have no idea how this issue was scripted, but that's my call on it) and it works well enough here, seeing as this is rather a separate book with separate aims (AIMs) than those books. I think it needs a little more humor than AVENGERS or NEW AVENGERS. It wears a little but it does still get some genuine laughs here and there. It will just be a tricky line to walk as the series continues and as they have to decide how far into humor they want these characters to go. 4/5

Art
Stefano Caselli's art is very strong, drawing both masked and unmasked people with a full range of emotions and with the impressiveness comic books require. Andres Mossa contributes nicely as he has some really impressive colors on scenes with Eden in the Australian outback and as Manifold and Captain Universe look at their own universe from afar. Beautiful and majestic and great for the tone of the book as well as for the story. 5/5

Miscellaneous
AVENGERS WORLD still has me a little off-center. I think it's a solid book, particularly as far as showcasing some other Avengers goes and as getting into other stories goes. The tone is a bit different than the other books but still not so far different (as its predecessor AVENGERS ASSEMBLE was) that it's hard to say if it's brilliant because it keeps a somewhat consistent tone or almost unnecessary because it feels too similar. Give it a few more issues and maybe I'll come up with something.

Total score: 4/5


Uncanny Avengers Annual 1
Remender (w) and Renaud (a and c) and Cowles (l)

Back in the slightly less world-exploded days of the Avengers Unity squad, Mojo had them all captured for a one-off adventure in the Mojoverse, using a team of already captured heroes and villains called the Avengers of the Supernatural (Doc Strange, Satana, Blade, Ghost Rider, Man-Thing, and Manphibian) and put them in his new television show. The capture of the heroes was act one, act two finds them all playing stereotypical roles in a high school, and act three has them snap out of it when Ghost Rider goes off-script and crazy, beginning to seek vengeance on everyone in the Mojoverse before the other heroes, now freed from their own captures, manage to stop him. The executives behind Mojo's new show are left to debate whether there was anything of substance in his new offering or if it was meaningless distraction in a world so full of them as the Uncanny Avengers return home.

Story
The story here is a clever little satire (that maybe drags a little long) of plenty of different things. On top of the outwardly satirical representation of the high school drama and even of the comic book form, we get little digs at pop culture and audiences and a dearth of intelligent programming (it's both a golden age for television and a horrible and inescapable dark age for television right now - THANKS CBS) and the state of executives and producers and everything else you could think of. It's often clever, though sometimes it borders on heavy-handed here (it would have been hard not to), and it may ultimately carry on a bit too long. 4/5

Character
There's not a ton to look for character-wise here because, for as long as the characters are in the Mojoverse, all typical bets are off. Remender isn't looking to make profound character statements. This is more in line with the recent DEADPOOL ANNUAL or THUNDERBOLTS ANNUAL (both written by Ben Acker and Ben Blacker) wherein a standalone story was told and it was more for the development of a fun story than for an ongoing development of characters. Remender still plays with the characters in a reasonable sandbox here and follows what needs to be followed but he's not going for any sort of deeper meaning here. 4/5

Writing
Satire can be a hard thing to pull off but Remender does fine work with it throughout the book as he lashes out at just about everything. It's easy to read plenty of digs into plenty of people in plenty of spots and it's done well enough that it feels bold for a Marvel comic. It's rare to see a Marvel book go so hard after the satire, often preferring to go very hamfisted or more parody-based when it does something like this instead of doing something that really cuts. Remender unleashes here and it's very strong, though, as I said above, it may carry on too long and occasionally, as is the wont of satire, sometimes gets a little heavy-handed. 4/5

Art
Paul Renaud's art is solid throughout, particularly tricky as he's drawing a huge cast of characters for an extra long issue and with all sorts of action, both physical and magical. It's a pretty great showcase for the talented Renaud and gives him a chance to flex a little bit. He steps up to the challenge and does a very strong job with it. 5/5

Miscellaneous
Fun issue and there's not anyone reading it who shouldn't feel a little shamed by it (Remender and company included, as he isn't willing to leave creators out of his jabs), which is typically the mark of a good satire.

Total score: 4/5

Avengers AI 11, Avengers Undercover 2

Avengers AI 11
Humphries (w) and Araújo (a) and D'Armata (c)

Alexis, transported to the year 12,000 AD, has been told that she needs to save Jessie Clatterbuck from deactivation by SHIELD. She's caught a glimpse of the future, one where Dimitrios has destroyed mankind and many other species and is only really challenged by the Avengers Empire, a traveling Avengers team composed entirely of AI. Her older self sends her back in time with explicit directions and she returns and delivers them. Dimitrios has created a Trojan Horse around Clatterbuck; if SHIELD deactivates her, a virus will run through their systems granting him access to all of their weaponry. The future Alexis saw had Dimitrios controlling all of that hardware and even a secret nanobot weapon that would devastate mankind before Dimitrios, in the form of a new start-up company, would offer everyone nanobot-repelling rings that would sterilize humanity. It's a dark future and one that can only be prevented by stopping SHIELD from taking Clatterbuck. Unfortunately, Jocasta has just pressed the button to deactivate the LMD.

As this book heads towards its conclusion next issue, the plot has really ramped forward. Alexis sees the future and learns how to stop it. It's an interesting idea and puts SHIELD in the place that SHIELD so often finds itself: the cause of the entire world's problems. Despite the rapid dissemination of plot here, Humphries still manages to get a couple of character moments thrown in, although he has no time for subtlety here. Victor returns to a body and he and Doombot bond the tiniest bit as he accuses Doombot of staying because he wants to and not because he feels like he's stuck. Hank continues to worry that he has been more of a harm to society than a help and is allayed by Vision, who assures him that he's done far more good than bad. Future Alexis demands that Alexis save the world then go see Steve Rogers because, apparently, she's in love with Steve Rogers, etc. If this issue is any indication, the finale should be pretty solid with a lot of plot and only a little time to get through it all.

Avengers Undercover 2
Hopeless (w) and K. Walker (a) Beaulieu (c)

The Murder World survivors head down into the pit entrance of a giant villainous underground city in Bagalia in the hopes of finding Cullen Bloodstone. They're spotted almost immediately and are forced to fight their way through a few minor bad guys on their way to Cullen on Cammi's tracker. When they're through the bad guys, they push into a bar owned by Arcade where Cullen supposedly is. As they arrive, they're shocked to find that Cullen has accepted the way of life proffered by the villains below. They try to talk him into leaving with them but he refuses. He's not evil, he says, just happy to be in a place where people aren't afraid of him all the time. The kids get comfortable for a bit while they see if Cullen's okay (Cullen explains who they are to everyone and everyone is excited to meet them). Hazmat and Anachronism dance for a bit, Death Locket is examined by mad scientists before Excavator (who she had wailed on outside) comes to buy her a taco, Chase makes out with a villainess, and Cullen introduces Nico to Daimon Hellstrom, who helped him control his powers and has some experience in controlling black magic and distancing himself from his parents. Cammi gets sick of it and attempts to finally pull them out of there but Cullen insists they go elsewhere. Daimon magics them away and puts them in nicer clothes, sending them to a fancy dinner party where Arcade is introduced as the guest of honor.

Really neat turn here for this series. AVENGERS UNDERCOVER was advertised as as a book where the survivors from AVENGERS ARENA go undercover in the new Masters of Evil. I think that's probably still coming but I didn't expect it to go this way. I really like this interpretation, one where these survivors go what seems to be the natural way. They're all good kids (with maybe varying levels of good); that's why Arcade stole them away and that's why there's a conflict here. However, it's not unreasonable to believe that this would be the next logical step. Hopeless throwing in Daimon Hellstrom as one of their first contacts in this seedy underworld is another great "writes itself" sort of move. Hellstrom isn't all bad for sure. He constantly finds himself assisting heroes or working at odds against villains and the ties to black magic and bad influences makes him a natural fit to hang out with these kids. There's so much that this book can do and I think it's off to a good start, taking things in a new and interesting direction. Pretty great second issue, helps to confirm that things are moving the right way.

Avengers AI 10, New Warriors 2

Avengers AI 10
Humphries (w) and Araújo (a) and D'Armata (c)

In the physical world, the Gascheck app is still driving people crazy while, in the virtual world of the Diamond, the Avengers team still has to find the root of the problem. With the help of the Lovelace Army and Gibson, they find the giant monstrous being that is Gascheck. After Doombot's failed attempt to attack it, Pym talks with it and explains what's happening in the physical world. Gascheck reveals that Dimitrios hijacked his programming and that he only wants to help humans, not hurt them. To ensure everyone's safety, Gascheck deactivates itself, saving the people of Earth from themselves. After seeing Hank deal with the situation and seeing all the wonders of the Diamond, Captain America announces that he'll back Hank with whatever he thinks is right, even if it puts him at odds with SHIELD or the president or whoever. Meanwhile, SHIELD has sent the AI-hunting unit of Monica Chang and Jocasta to capture Jessie Clatterbuck, the AI who played a part in Dimitrios' first attack. They manage to capture her but Chang can't help feeling that something is wrong. Alexis, down in the Diamond with her sister Eton, realizes that she needs to prevent Clatterbuck from capture if she wants to save the world.

This is the first issue of AVENGERS AI since the cancellation announcement, so maybe it's just knowing that it is being cancelled and that it's going to end soon but there is a sort of rushed sense of finality to the issue. Obviously some of the pieces for the conclusion are just falling into place now or just starting to be realized now but some of the smaller pieces, that stuff that needs to get out of the way (like Cap and his Avengers' tie to this team) is getting out of the way pretty abruptly. I still can't totally get a feel for this team and I don't have a really distinct sense of any of the characters (aside from Doombot who doesn't have a whole lot to him), something that will be really hard to clear up as we race to the finish. It's hard to sustain interest in a book, particularly a book driven by lesser known characters, if we don't really understand our characters. Ah well, let's hope for a mighty conclusion as we head towards 13.

New Warriors 2
Yost (w) and To (a) and Curiel (c)

The Evolutionaries are striking at multiple locations and our heroes are finding out just how difficult they can be to fight. Their targets seem to be mutants, Inhumans, and other heroes or people somehow different on a biological level. This includes both Justice and Speedball and pretty much the entire population of New Salem in Colorado, Kaine, Aracely, and Faira Sar Namora in Mexico, and a new Inhuman named Mark in the sewers of New York, though it does not include Sun Girl, whose powers are derived from the technology on her back and not a power within. After Justice and Speedball force the Evolutionaries out of Colorado, they speed to Avengers Tower to access the database on these things, getting a bit of exposition out of a recording from Cyclops. When they've learned a little bit, they hear the fight in the sewer and join in, giving enough backup to Sun Girl and Mark that they force those Evolutionaries to leave. Meanwhile, Nova has been captured by the High Evolutionary and put into a containment field deep in Wundagore Mountain. The High Evolutionary explains that the Celestials are coming back to judge Earth and that he and Nova are the only chance for humanity's survival.

Things keep on racing along here as now two of our New Warrior pairs have met up and Kaine and Aracely have met up with Faira Sar Namora. The team is quickly coming together and we're starting to learn a little bit more of why they need to come together so quickly. Oftentimes a team like this, one made up of smaller heroes or more inexperienced and unknown characters, will start off stopping some sort of important but far smaller problem. Maybe they tangle with an AIM branch or something and stop civilian casualties. Maybe they team up during a big Marvel event when everyone is coming together and they decide to stick it out. Maybe they have a misunderstanding but realize their both actually fighting the same guys. But no, Chris Yost has decided he's going to put them up against the Celestials and the High Evolutionary, about as big as you can go in any direction. It's a bold choice and one that will have to play out fully before we really know if it was the best choice. The problem, of course, with a big foe like this is that it's harder to characterize if you have to spend so much time establishing. Yost is doing okay with it right now as he's mostly characterized Speedball and Justice with a touch of characterization for everyone else and he's at the point where the plot will still carry the book for a bit but soon we're going to need to get deeper into character if we're going to stay on this journey. I have no doubt that the characterization will come though and we'll be left with a pretty solid book.

Marvel cancels AVENGERS AI, readies launch of ROCKET RACCOON

Couple of big news pieces this week, as, it seems, is true any week with new month solicits. First up:

Avengers AI cancelled after issue 12

Sam Humphries has made it known on his Tumblr that AVENGERS AI will be ending with issue 12. Along with the picture at left, he promised that the last three issues will be the wildest yet and thanked Marvel for giving him such a long leash, series artist André Araújo for his work on the series, and the fans for their support and love. Can't say I'm particularly surprised by this, as I've kind of been expecting this in many of my AVENGERS AI reviews, but it is nonetheless a little sad that the series wasn't able to really find its niche or its footing until it was too late (if it has or indeed will at all). This isn't a favorite series of mine by any stretch but there are bits and pieces here that made the story worth telling. Humphries fans shouldn't cry just yet though, even after the cancellation of UNCANNY X-FORCE and AVENGERS AI, as Humphries also promised that he had lots more coming from Marvel this year.

Marvel announces new Rocket Raccoon ongoing written and drawn by Skottie Young

Readers of this blog will probably know that I rather adore Skottie Young. I think his art is incredible, I think his sense of humor is strong, and his writing is solid (mostly his art is incredible, that's the biggest and best known aspect of Skottie). So, while I'm surprised and maybe a little skeptical about an ongoing series starring the always-strange Rocket Raccoon, I think that Marvel couldn't have picked a better creative lead for it. Just look at that art at left. Skottie Young is an immense talent and this sort of book could be the sort of book that is exactly up his alley. What's really intriguing, though, is the idea that maybe he'll get to draw a baby variant for his own book. That'd be real cool. Anyway, more Skottie Young art in the world is never a bad thing and it's Young's first shot at an ongoing in the greater Marvel Universe (he previously had been the artist behind Marvel's OZ books, but those don't really play in as much as you might think). ROCKET RACCOON is set to launch in July.

New Avengers 14, Mighty Avengers 6, Avengers AI 9

New Avengers 14
Hickman (w) and Bianchi (a) and Dall'Alpi (c)

The Illuminati, in their quest to find some solution that's a little more permanent, continue to watch other worlds be invaded by the Mapmakers and deal with Incursions of their own only to find that even the most prepared worlds fall with very little resistance. This time out they find a world, Earth-2319, that has been separated pretty firmly into humans and mutants (with all of the mutants following their savior Magneto's example and setting up a new utopia for themselves in the mutant-established country of Tian) but one willing to work to stop the incursions and the Mapmakers. While they watch, every hero they observe dies, even the ones to whom the Mapmakers give the opportunity to flee. The alternate Reed Richards dies sacrificing himself to (very temporarily) save Dr. Doom, who was actually capable of destroying one of the Mapmakers. No closer to any answers, the Illuminati look away. MEANWHILE, the descent of Dr. Stephen Strange continues as he seeks a way to help more with the problems of these incursions. With his soul already seemingly in jeopardy from the way the Illuminati have been forced to deal with the incursions, he goes to the Sinner's Market (a Black Arts Market, essentially) and asks for a transaction that will grant him the power he needs to unseat planets from the skies. When brought to the throne and asked how much of his soul he is selling to gain the power he seeks (for the power he's asked about, he'll need to give up a fifth of his soul), he replies "all of it."

While seeing the destruction of Earth-2319 at the hands of the Mapmakers was interesting and certainly pushes our own Illuminati further into doubt and madness, the Dr. Strange storyline is the more compelling one to me at the moment. I don't know that we gain a lot more out of the Earth-2319 story than we did from the last issue, seeing the destruction of Earth-23099, except that we see Doom defeat one of the Mapmakers proving them beatable (at least in an individual sense) and, weirdly, a little bit sentimental about the loss. Back to Strange, though. Hickman's played kind of a long game with Strange and it's beginning to pay off. He obviously belongs with the Illuminati, given his expertise in magic and his position as Sorcerer Supreme but he's found that his particular brand of combat and problem-solving hasn't been entirely useful in the fight thus far. Now he appears willing and ready to give himself up to be the power he claims to be, a no-holds-barred version of the most powerful magician on the planet. It's the idea that Dumbledore would have dwarfed Voldemort if he had been willing to use the Dark Arts. It's been a real journey, mostly in tiny little snippets, for Strange to get to this point in the book and it's coming across wonderfully now. It's also a fundamental change for a character with a rich history and with a potentially richer future (there's plenty of talk of a Dr. Strange movie in Marvel Studios' Phase Three). Should be real interesting.

Mighty Avengers 6
Ewing (w) and Schiti (a) and D'Armata (c)

Luke and Jessica are swapping apartments with Dave Griffith, operator of the Gem Theater, so that Dave gets to live in the Gem, which he loves, and Luke and Jessica and Danielle have a home removed from the action that the Mighty Avengers hotline will bring to the Gem. Helping with the move are Blue Marvel, Iron Fist, and White Tiger. Blue Marvel gets along amicably with everyone, though none of them are too familiar with one another, until he and Luke begin to argue about their pasts, with Blue Marvel holding Cage's criminal past against him and Cage holding Blue Marvel accountable for retiring and hiding instead of providing a seemingly all-powerful role model for African-Americans. It's a good argument and one that, particularly from Luke's vantage point, holds water. Across town, Spectrum and She-Hulk work with Power Man to increase his strength, learning that if he studies and feels a connection with the spot he's in (they test this on Liberty Island) he is able to draw more chi from the spot and therefore is more powerful. Elsewhere, Falcon uses his bird connections to follow a far-right nutjob responsible for burning down a bookstore that he claimed promoted Marxism and who Falcon suspects is working with Gideon Mace, former Cage villain and, more recently, murderer of practically the entire family of the current White Tiger (including the past White Tiger).

There's a good amount happening here despite the lack of immediate action and I'm happy to say that this one is, for my money, easily the best issue of MIGHTY AVENGERS thus far. We're starting to get a better look at the personalities of our individual team members and understand a little where each one is coming from. Cage makes a nice speech (that could easily have gone a little far into preachy but managed to avoid that line) about his visibility (though he fails to mention that he spent the better part of his career doing it to make money, it still hits the mark exactly where it needs to) and how meaningful it would have been to know that there was someone out there for decades even before him who was a shining, unbeatable force and who happened to be black. We see a little of Ava's personality as we can pretty easily see her dedication to being a hero (which we've gotten little tastes of already) and the guilt and hurt that remains over the deaths of her family members and, as referenced in the issue, even the kidnapping and deaths of plenty of her Avengers Academy friends during the events of AVENGERS ARENA. We get Monica as a teacher, Power Man as a reluctant student (not the first time he's been there, am I right Iron Fist?), and Falcon as a total pro at his job. For as much character work as I liked in the book, the bit that was maybe coolest for me, as a big ol' Falcon fan, was seeing Sam so perfectly use his advantage and come off almost as a Batman-esque character (though less angsty and less murdered-parentsy). Some very cool stuff in here, hope this tone continues and I also wouldn't mind seeing a bit more Iron Fist, if he's going to be around longer than just as a babysitter (though I also wouldn't mind seeing that).

Avengers AI 9
Humphries (w) and Araújo (a) and D'Armata (c)

Pym, Doombot, Vision, Captain America, and Rogue (pre-UNCANNY AVENGERS 14, as evidenced by the fact that she's not a charred corpse) have been pulled into the Diamond to fight Dimitrios' troops. They have to adjust to the inner workings of the Diamond where they're only limited by what they can imagine. Victor and new friend Gibson are elsewhere in the Diamond, being interrogated by anti-Dimitrios AI but manage to convince them that the Avengers, just arrived, are there to help and to fight Dimitrios so they reluctantly go to help and, with their powers combined, manage to defeat the horde of Dimitrios' troops. Vision and one of the other AIs work together to try to find the source of Gascheck, the app that's driving the world insane, but have to swear to the anti-Dimitrios group that the Avengers will help them in their fight against Dimitrios before they are able to get a lock on the app. Meanwhile, Alexis meets with her first-six sister, the gardener Eton, in the hopes of unlocking her memories further. Back on the surface, Maria Hill has given Monica Chang and new partner Jocasta their first mission and Jocasta introduces Chang to the rest of the team, a handful of varied-ability Jocastas.

This is a tricky series because it's hard to pinpoint exactly what isn't working about it for me. When I pull back and examine the story as a whole (little Inside Baseball here: I've been thinking of changing up the format of these reviews to break down the various elements a little better and to focus what I talk about with each book to make it a little more standardized, but that's unrelated to what I'm saying oh god why did I start talking about this?) it works as a fairly interesting story. I don't think it's the best out there or the most revolutionary out there but it's certainly one that's capable of holding my interest. However, when I actually read the issues, something gets lost in the translation (or the step before the translation. In this case, it rather feels like the translation is the better part). I don't even think Humphries' writing is bad, per se, I think it just kind of gets in its own way a bit. It feels like there's a lot of dialogue there that must be unnecessary as you kind of keep losing the thread of what's happening. Until you pull back and think about the story by itself, it's very easy to miss the forest for the trees. That puts this whole series into some weird in-between space where I want to like it and want to ignore it ALL AT THE SAME TIME. There have been issues, too, that felt a little less bogged down and therefore read a bit better. Come to think of it, I think I mostly felt similarly (though I couldn't express it as well) about Humphries' UNCANNY X-FORCE. There was something there and also something missing.

Young Avengers 15, Avengers World 1, Avengers AI 8

Young Avengers 15
Gillen (w) and McKelvie, Cloonan, Doyle, and Quinones (a) and Bellaire, Wicks, and Wilson (c)

The final issue of YOUNG AVENGERS, again, brings a multi-part story in the same general structure as YOUNG AVENGERS 14. This one starts with Noh-Varr lamenting his place in this world in a nice little look at his DJ abilities (and Broo's, in a slightly different way) drawn by Becky Cloonan with Jordie Bellaire colors. Story two shows David following Loki outside of the party to learn that Loki had paid for all of this and that he's leaving before they have a chance to forgive him, as they would because they're nice people. He makes a possibly-joking pass at David and sets out on his new journey, playing the role he's built for himself even if he doesn't really want to any more, in pages drawn by Ming Doyle with Maris Wicks colors. The story (and Maris Wicks) easily then moves into Joe Quinones-drawn David being joined by the Patri-not out on the lawn and trying to figure out who he is. Though the Patri-not doesn't give many answers, David reasons that he's someone from the future created by whatever it is Billy does down the road sent back to ensure that whatever it is that needs to happen to create that future happens. Furthermore, David speculates that he's one of the Young Avengers, who sacrificed him or herself to make sure the world was okay. David also believes that it's him. He doesn't totally care about any of this, though, he just wants to know where Tommy is. In a bit of a strange turn, he kisses the Patri-not who disappears and is replaced by Tommy, who isn't as into the kissing bit and, sensing a party, rushes off to join it. All the storylines from the past two issues converge as the team leaves the party in the new year and decides to go to breakfast.

Another very sweet issue and one that so nicely wraps this incredible series up. A series that was built on mystery and interdimensional drama and feelings ends in much the same sort of portmanteau. This series really couldn't have ended any other way, which is so odd in this day and age. The team didn't fight a big bad or stop any world-ending evils (today), they just went to a party and celebrated a big year. There's no better way for this book to end. I don't have a lot more to say on the subject because I think the book speaks for itself and my previously-formed opinions all hold true. Go read this book. I think it changes the game for comics. Also make sure to check out this last issue and read the various blurbs from everyone who had a hand on the book. Very sweet and nice to see everyone so genuinely care about the book. Really sad to see this one go but an extremely fitting ending for one of the best series of 2013.

Avengers World 1
Hickman and Spencer (w) and Caselli (a) and F. Martin (c)

It's a new day for the Avengers as they've made themselves more accessible to SHIELD. They still don't, per se, answer to SHIELD or, you know, necessarily like SHIELD, but an Avengers team this big allows them to kind of splinter and go after not-quite-Avengers-level threats but also fairly big threats. So AVENGERS WORLD is like having three or four tie-in Avengers titles all in one. This issue finds Captain America and Bruce Banner meeting with Maria Hill on the helicarrier and monitoring the smaller teams on the ground, including Hyperion, Thor, and Captain Marvel investigating suspicious happenings in Canada, Black Widow, Wolverine, Falcon, and Shang Chi trying to find the root of an uprising and riots in Madripoor, Hawkeye, Spider-Woman, Starbrand, and Nightmask searching for answers after the residents of an Italian town straight-up disappear, and Smasher, Cannonball, and Sunspot looking to find out why AIM Island is physically growing. Are all of these events linked? Can the Avengers stop them all?

I'm very onboard with the idea of this series and this first issue is living up to the expectations. There's a lot to like here as we learn the foundation of this book (through the nice little dialogue between Banner and Cap), see our players (it's a big Avengers team but it's extremely manageable in these small pieces), and get a feel for the way this book will go. My biggest complaint about AVENGERS, as it stands, is that we don't really get enough of a look at the personalities of our core team because there are simply too many of them and too big of a plot to deal with to get up close and personal with any specific characters. This book may change that and I have to think that any people who are lamenting the current AVENGERS title (I don't know any, but I could see people being mad about the main book's scale) would find themselves enjoying this book a bit more. Good characters, good writing, good art, fun first issue.

Avengers AI 8
Humphries (w) and Araújo (a) and D'Armata (c)

Dimitrios' quest to destroy the human race continues from the Diamond as he explains to Alexis that he's doing it to try to find the creator of humanity. Elsewhere, Victor and his new friend Gibson flee from those hunting them in the Diamond. Back in the real world, Cap meets with Pym to try to figure out the length of Dimitrios' reach and to ask Pym if he really has this under control, given his recent erratic behavior. It also seems as if Cap was coming in to take the reins on the AI business (which is leading to official laws that would make artificial intelligence property) when Cannonball phones up to say that riots are breaking out all over the world. Vision, Pym, and Doombot trace the source of the riots to a smartphone app that seemingly everyone has that finds the cheapest available gas, particularly useful since Dimitrios destroyed an oil refinery and caused gas prices to skyrocket. The app has been controlling people in very low doses but now that everyone has it, it's leading to widespread riots and the AI Avengers link the app's servers to the Diamond's server map that Vision won from Dimitrios in their last encounter. The only way to stop this is to go inside the Diamond.

Things are starting to heat up a bit for AVENGERS AI and it's coming at the right time. The book has certainly spent a lot of time treading somewhat familiar ground (artificial intelligence taking over Earth, is artificial intelligence sentient and does it therefore deserve its own rights, robot-hunting, etc) but this new wrinkle is pretty interesting as we get a little more modernized with Dimitrios' engineered attack on the oil refinery leading to people's reliance on a smartphone app that he's able to use to manipulate their fear and panic and cause riots. By itself it's a pretty interesting idea and it's helped by Alexis plot line, which has its own appeal already. Pretty good stuff working together and the art is really working for the tone of the book. I will say that the book occasionally drags and gets a little hung up on all of the explaining that it has to do but it's balanced nicely by the artwork and an inherent desire to make these characters human (even the AI). Sometimes that adds a little much to the wordiness of the book but I think it's necessary in keeping the book from getting dry. Should be fun going forward.

Avengers AI 7, Mighty Avengers 4

Avengers AI 7

Humphries (w) and Araújo (a) and D'Armata (c)

INHUMANITY has hit and, with it, Inhumans have started sprouting up all over and Attilan is in the the Hudson. Hank and his team are first responders and are out to investigate the fallen city to make sure there aren't harmful toxins or any weapons or anything lying around. As Hank and Doombot, overseen by Vision, search the city, Daredevil drops in and attacks Doombot, thinking, quite reasonably, that he's a bad guy. Pym convinces him otherwise and Daredevil explains that he's there looking for a client of his, an older lady who's having a hard time with a bank. As they talk about things, a green small Cthulu-like creature shows up and attacks them. As it yells for them to leave it alone, Matt identifies the voice as the woman he's trying to help. They talk her down from her rampage and Medusa and Lockjaw show up to help her acclimate to her new Inhuman life. After a talk with Doombot, she agrees to join the Inhumans and start over. Meanwhile, Monica Chang is spending her last moments not on the robot-kill-squad trying to figure out how to hack into the Diamond. Maria Hill sends Chang's first new operative to her: Jocasta.

There are things here that are likable about this issue but they aren't necessarily worth the story. I kind of like the Daredevil-Hank Pym relationship that's developed through, particularly, DAREDEVIL but here it feels somewhat forced, with Daredevil throwing his arm around Pym and commenting on his Ant-Man costume, playfully punching one another and what-not. Doombot's stuff is fun and somewhat interesting but it also kind of oscillates between fun and serious in a strange way. I also typically like Andre Araújo but I wasn't too onboard with his stuff on this one. There are a number of full body shots and they distort the characters in strange ways. The Chang stuff was the most interesting and it happened within maybe two pages. Also, Chang is drifting into "every SHIELD woman sounds like Maria Hill" territory. Still not my favorite series but sometimes this is a stall that event tie-in books have. Still hopeful for the series as a whole.

Mighty Avengers 4

Ewing (w) and Land and Leisten (a) and D'Armata (c)

Luke has officially set the Mighty Avengers up in the Gem Theater, Cage's old home, and established their protocols to a point. They're a volunteer organization taking calls from people who may need a hero's help. Things are starting up as Falcon joins up with the team too, promising to pull double-duty with both Avengers teams he's dedicated to. The Spider Hero has his own thing going on and is in contact with a magical being who is helping him to track and take down a group called Deathwalkers, who are seemingly also investigating Attilan, along with a clearly-villainous guy who talks about bottling power. Back with the Mighty Avengers, Cage digs up Hawkeye's old Ronin costume and gives it to the Spider Hero to change into, officially making him the new Ronin. Cage sends out the team to check out Attilan while he stays behind, preferring to stay out of the field when possible. Spider-Man turns up again to demand that Cage install him as leader of the team.

So this book has suffered from starting in the middle of an event, meaning that it had to dedicate its origin to tie-in. Now it's in a similar spot as it's moving into the newest event. There is an interesting conceit to this book which would put a street-level Avengers team out in New York to help average people in this new world where the Avengers only really come out to face world-ending threats. However, I don't find the rest of the book all that compelling. Right now it's a tough spot because we're not getting to really see the characters all that deeply but I think the problem is more systemic than that. I think the writing is a little strange and it suffers from the same weird tonal issues that I thought FEARLESS DEFENDERS did, where it both wants to be a serious story with serious threats and points of view but also wants "wacky" captions and "unique" humor that kind of break flow. Overall, it's more boring than it is weak, per se, and that's something that, like with AVENGERS AI, I hope will improve as we move away from some of these events.

Young Avengers 12, Avengers AI 6

Young Avengers 12
Gillen (w) and McKelvie and Norton (a) and Wilson (c)

The Young Avengers are preparing for an unprecedented attack on 616's Earth without the aid of any of the adult superheroes as they continue to be unaware of the problem, thanks to Mother's interference. In response, the YA have assembled a legion of young superheroes to fight off the invading hordes while they press into Mother's home dimension to battle her and their assorted specific enemies. The biggest and most consequential fight of all of this is Billy fighting against Mother, using all of his not inconsiderable power to try to hold her back while the others do what they can to save Teddy. In the midst of all of this, Loki finds out that he's fallen victim to the same sort of mind games he put into Teddy's head early in this series that rather set off this chain of events; the reality warper (in this case, Loki) created his biggest fantasy (Leah) and made it his worst enemy (imbuing her with his missing power).

Another great issue and another fantastic twist all while being a solid lead-in to our arc finale, which will certainly need the cool down two issues we'll get to (still sadly) end the series. I read and re-read the end of this issue a few times to make sure I was getting it all and to yell at myself for missing it all again. I talked about things like this a little while ago when we learned in X-MEN LEGACY that Legion's battle against Cyclops was all a ploy to lure Luca out and was, in fact, still totally in line with the mission he'd set for himself to start the series. The hints are there throughout the series and of course Loki created this Leah just like Hela created that Leah and of course that's where his missing power is and of course it's all spawned from his guilty conscience and of course it's genius and wonderful and thought-provoking. So much here and there still feels like there's so much to cover in this series and so very few issues to get to it all. Even here, the complicated Kate-Noh-Varr/Noh-Varr-all other lovers dynamic still get a nod, David's complicated feelings towards this team, towards being in control, towards Billy and Teddy, and everything else come out a little, Miss America's shady past has a very small light shined on it, and so on and so forth and yet we didn't even talk about that because Loki created Leah and inspired their own downfall while powering her up to defeat him and the team. Geez, this is a good book.

Avengers AI 6
Humphries (w) and Schiti (a) and D'Armata (c)

The war with AI is growing more certain by the moment and Maria Hill sits down with Monica Chang to put her on a new team, one built to take down potential robotic threats. Meanwhile, Vision aims to out-duel Dimitrios in a new game, one based around Pym's video game. The art gets decidedly more video game-esque as Vision defeats Dimitrios by showing him something Pym and Vision worked up together, hoping to prove that the world is in better shape if humans and machines work together as opposed to fighting for dominance. It doesn't convince Dimitrios, but it allows Vision to leave and to gain strategic advantage over the AI. Back in Pym's lab, Pym and Doombot find the source of a buzzing that's been bothering Hank and Hank is able to decode it and realize it's a secret message from Victor, meaning that he's still alive. Finally, Alexis pays a visit to Dimitrios and it's revealed that he's one of the First Six and is the brother of the mysterious Alexis.

The story here isn't necessarily a bad one, though it continues to be a little convoluted for my liking, both over-explained and under-explained. We're still not totally sure of the history of the Diamond or of Dimitrios (things that will likely be explained soon) but we're also getting a lot of motivation, which isn't that hard to understand yet it sometimes comes across as really watered down. Anyway, Humphries really emphasizes the idea of the team here while also separating them; everyone gets at least a few pages in this issue but only a maximum of two of them appear together at any time. It's a team that is working towards the same goals but doing what they do best to achieve those goals and being able to split up the time effectively is both important for Humphries and pretty well executed. Vision gets the most time, both in a fun little section with he and Hank and in his fight against Dimitrios, which has to take a little bit longer and strays a little too far into the cutesy for my liking (there's a huge emphasis on creating it like a video game with art to match which is both entertaining and a little grating). Valerio Schiti, stepping in for series regular Andre Araujo, provides good art and Frank D'Armata's colors continue to be impressive. Not a bad book but one that does tend to drone a little as motivations get rehashed.

Avengers AI 5, Captain America Living Legend 2

Avengers AI 5
Humphries (w) and Schiti (a) and D'Armata (c)

After Dimitrios' attack on Washington, AI fears are at an all-time high, making it considerably more difficult for Vision and Alexis to protect the populace and keep order. Making it slightly more easy, though, is that Alexis is successfully cutting her way through Dimitrios' encryptions that kept her memories sealed off from her, giving her a new purpose: she is a protector of all types of life. She also seems to have gained some sort of limited precognition, which she uses to stop an unstable man from blowing up a bank after the bank lost everyone's money in Dimitrios' attack. Back at home, Pym has sealed himself away in his lab to cope with his own bipolar disorder, recognizing (after thorough charting) that he's about to hit a downswing. Monica Chang isn't thrilled with the decision and makes her frustrations clear as she reveals that Victor, with his seemingly dying breath, protected the server's black box but only Pym can actually access it. Meanwhile, Doombot is attempting to revive Victor, feeling that Pym hasn't done enough. Victor's consciousness, on the other hand, has found itself in the Diamond.

I think the pieces are here for a substantial book but right now it's kind of circling around a point. I'm not exactly sure about what's making the book feel uncomfortable right now but something isn't quite clicking. It might be the vagueness of the enemy or the abruptness of the team; we're kind of used to teams needing to build together but, in a day and age where the market is so filled with content, books don't have as much of a chance to build, forcing those "coming together" kinds of arcs to be too short or too staged. I think Humphries has done a pretty good job trying to pull something together for that; everyone here still feels like (with maybe the exception of the mysterious Alexis) he or she has his or her own voice, even in how early we still are in the series. I'd like to see that developed a little further. Another worry is that every book these days, again because there are so many, has to start with a bang or else you won't get any sort of market share, or at least that's how it feels. Therefore, this threat has to be big but it also has to be meaningful and it also has to be beatable by this ragtag team. That's a lot of constraints to put on a first arc, let alone the need to build a team and a theme and what not. I think this book will have to find its legs soon or risk waiting too long.

Captain America Living Legend 2
Diggle and Granov (s) Diggle (w) and Alessio (a and c)

Cap has been sent to Russia to find the crashed DEUS Project and any survivors of the crash. He manages to get there in time to find Dr. Lauren Fox but worries that the Russians must be hot on their trail. She tells him what happened in space and they speculate that maybe the Russians have a little less to do with this than it would appear, given that the area where DEUS was brought down doesn't seem to be constantly patrolled already. The Russians are reactive here, not proactive. There's also a bit of a moral question as Cap informs Fox that her attempt at finding clean, renewable energy has been secretly bankrolled by the Department of Defense, who clearly intend to weaponize whatever she finds. She's mad about it and indicts Cap too, saying that the serum that created him could have been used for peace, not soldiers. They don't really have time to argue, though, as they're attacked by what seems to have been a Russian patrol at some point but is now a mess of metal controlled by some unseen force. Of course, that would be Volkov, eagerly awaiting Cap's return to Russia.

Another neat little issue (though Granov doesn't provide the art for this one, as I had previously assumed; Alessio still does a fantastic job, keeping with the feel of the book Granov had created while clearly making the art his own) that, again, impressive goes out of its way to characterize people who aren't our main characters. In fact, again they're Russian and they die almost immediately after their characterization. I know, that seems like a small thing to bring up, especially to lead an analysis paragraph, but it's really not. It both makes it feel like a real situation (not just comic book villains everywhere, there are real people really dying as a result of...okay, as a result of the comic book villain) and it makes me feel better as an American that there is a depiction of normal Russians as just people. Diggle's not American, sure, but it's still nice to see. Like, all of our war games that make, you know, untold billions of dollars seem to feature Russians as the enemy these days because we still think maybe we can win the Cold War or something (more like the COD War, am I right? Classic) and it's honestly a little uncomfortable. Comics (good ones, anyway) tend to be pretty good about spreading the right message in these sorts of situations; there's a Captain America book from just after 9-11 that depicted Americans surrounding an innocent Middle Eastern man before Cap steps in. The Middle Eastern man comes off looking great and the Americans look like jerks which was a pretty big statement for a country that wanted nothing more than war. Anyway, getting a little off-topic, I didn't mean for this point to carry on throughout the whole paragraph. I guess I can let it do that because Diggle's a solid writer and he's writing a good Cap and a good story, leaving me with time to talk about the little things instead of talking about what doesn't feel right. Sure the obvious antagonist is still a Russian and, perhaps, a more Russia-obssessed Russian, but Diggle has gone out of his way to make sure we know that he is not your typical Russian. And it makes a difference.

Avengers Arena 16, Avengers AI 4

Avengers Arena 16
Hopeless (w) and Moline and Pennington w/ Magyar (a) and Beaulieu (c)

In the wake of Nara's death, everything that's been so loosely tied together for these kids falls apart. Anachronism takes a swing at Cullen, Cammi blasts him for it. Nico and Chase turn on Reptil while, in the forest, a near-death X-23 hunts a nearer-death and radiation-leaking Hazmat. It's a full-on brawl with the remaining topside young heroes that gives the two kids under the surface, Apex and Death Locket, the chance to try to sabotage the system. Apex has spent the week, alternating between Katy and Tim, fixing Death Locket's arm-gun so that Death Locket can create a diversion while Apex tries to hack Arcade's computers and bring everything down. Death Locket finds it a little hard to create a meaningful diversion until she walks to original Darkhawk Chris Powell's in-stasis body only to see his eyes pop open. While Arcade investigates her scream, Apex hops down and starts hacking. She gets pretty far but not quite far enough to stop everything when Arcade gets back, dragging Death Locket with her new gun removed. He decides to keep them alive for now, letting them watch as everything topside goes crazy. Unfortunately for him, Powell is alive and has gotten out of his containment, sneaking up on him and hitting him on the back of the head with a metal bar and, as luck would have it, the protections on Arcade don't work underground.

We have two issues left of this pretty phenomenal series and the entire game has turned on a dime. The kids have hit their breaking point, a day away from the final, and now it's everyone for him or herself (or, in rare cases, themselves). Meanwhile, the kid we could best classify as the villain of the series, Apex, is working diligently with Death Locket, who had been her tool, to try to stop Arcade. It's a nice little turnaround, especially considering Apex was really the first, several weeks sooner than everyone else, to realize they'd have to play the game to win, no matter the consequences. Of course, in addition to that now, we also have the intrigue of Arcade's vulnerability underground squared off against a weaponless Death Locket, a somewhat machineless Apex, and a powerless Darkhawk. Who will win out and how will it impact the kids above ground? This is all very exciting and we're really rushing headlong to a conclusion now. As mad as I am at people who haven't read this series, I envy them because they'll have the opportunity to read it all at once at some point in the future. For as well as it's read in serial form, I imagine it will read very well as a complete work. Sweet Francisco Francavilla cover on this one too.

Avengers AI 4
Humphries (w) and Araújo (a) and D'Armata (c)

Vision loves the Diamond and what it represents but he's not willing to start an all-out war with the humans, especially not as a first swing. He believes that the humans can be reasoned with and that they can all live harmoniously. The AI in the Diamond don't like his new message, preferring war against the humans to defend the Diamond at all costs, the option that Dimitrios has presented. It sets up a sort of Xavier vs. Magneto style debate but, instead of the X-Men siding with Vision, no one in the Diamond seems happy with Vision and he's forced to leave and deemed a traitor, which all seems to be according to Dimitrios' plan. Meanwhile, SHIELD and Hank Pym have set up a strike team to try to extract what they need out of the Diamond but, of course, they arrive and find it's a trap. They're quickly outmanned and outgunned, forcing the human SHIELD agents back while Victor and Doombot try to push ahead. They find their way to what seems to be the center of the Diamond, where Doombot accidentally activates a booby-trap bomb. Victor throws him out of the Diamond and tells him to make sure everyone else evacuates while he tries to contain the explosion. The mysterious Alexis has also joined the fray and shows off her considerable power while saving SHIELD agents and taking down more than a few bad bots. Before long, though, Victor can't hold the explosion and, with everyone evacuated (including Dimitrios and his bots), the oil rig the Diamond was held on explodes. Vision returns just in time to see it all go up in flames and to find Victor possibly on his deathbed back in the helicarrier.

Geez, I really have to get back to writing shorter summaries. As I said above, we set up a sort of "stay and fight" vs. "live harmoniously" story for the AI, which is kind of interesting in that it sort of grants the AI a similar status in the Marvel Universe as mutants, who have long been such an integral part to Marvel's existence. It does, of course, mean that the argument is nothing particularly new; it's one that we've seen more than enough in this universe, but it certainly could be changed a bit, especially as we learn more about Dimitrios, whose true identity seems hidden. The team itself is not unimpressive, even for their relative inexperience, as they jump into their roles readily. The story is still a little bogged down in itself but the characters have enough definition to pull through as it stands. If this book can really get rolling on all cylinders, I think we'll have a solid title on our hands. As is, I think there's some strong writing and some strong characterization (I still can't get a read on the AI masses and Dimitrios, though that may be intentional) with a story that seems interesting but also doesn't seem eager to let people in.

Infinity 4

Infinity 4
Hickman (w) and Opeña and Weaver (a) and Ponsor (c)

Cap and the resistance have decided to come to the Builders to surrender while, on Earth, Thanos fights Black Bolt to find his son. Let's deal with Earth first, though the stories are mingled in the book. On Earth, the machine Maximus the Mad has built has been activated by Black Bolt's scream. The machine's purpose is to convert the incredibly powerful sound to light which then carries the power of the Terrigen crystals, which activate Terrigenesis, the process by which Inhumans develop their powers, all over the world. Anyone on the planet, then, who has Inhuman DNA in their line somewhere (and there is a great number of people to whom that applies) is transformed, including Thanos' son, who lives with a sect of Inhumans who do not have access to a full Terrigen crystal. Thane, the son of Thanos, had been a healer for his people. As his powers manifest, he accidentally kills seemingly everyone in the village. Meanwhile, Thanos not-so-accidentally seemingly kills Black Bolt. :(  Back in space, the Builders have agreed to meet with a sole representative to accept surrender from the resistance, an act which the Builders will broadcast throughout Hala, where the surrender will take place, and to all the other worlds. Cap sends his best representative, Thor, who is told to disarm himself, which he does with a quick prayer to Mjolnir and an awfully impressive throw into the atmosphere. When Thor is met by the Builder controlling Hala, he explains that they are planning to surrender but that he demands certain assurances. The Builder slaps him and demands he kneel instead. Thor does kneel and we get a little Avengers as the Builder gives him the Loki speech of "is this not your rightful place?" As Thor is reprimanded by the Builder and told of humanity's fate, Mjolnir zooms through the cosmos, going so far as to charge itself through a sun before turning back. Clever readers may see where this is going. The villain keeps soliloquizing and we get a few more shots of Mjolnir (seriously, I'm laying this out for you) before finally, Thor responds saying to the Builder's threat that mankind is done by saying that he is not a man before Mjolnir hurtles back to his hand, crashing through the Builder and killing him. It is telegraphed. It is not a secret. And it is amazing.

Man, I really did intend to write a shorter review here but an awful lot happened and then we got into that whole Terrigenesis explanation and Mjolnir and speeches and geez, here we are. Really solid issue. The decision to split the issue up explicitly with white title pages separating chapters continues to be a really great decision, as it gives the reader more than enough time to settle between each story and reset a bit, which is pretty necessary in a weighty book like this. Black Bolt's heroics are meaningful and well-executed and gee I hope he's not dead. If he is dead, though, he died the way you'd expect him to, which certainly counts for a lot in an event. Meanwhile, the space plot keeps building steam and the seeds planted by Hala's surrender bear wonderful fruit as we get to see Thor and the resistance's mighty answer. Like I said above, there's nothing about this, particularly when Thor is shown as the representative and when he tosses Mjolnir into the sky with a quick prayer, that wasn't foreseeable but it still really pays off in a big way, both physically (with the great artwork and fantastic layout) and emotionally (with the idea of the triumphant freeing of a conquered land and its people). Really excellent issue with as strong an ending as any event of recent. I'm genuinely excited to see what comes next.


Single review today for a few reasons. I meant to team this with Avengers Arena and AI but I couldn't get my hands on Arena. I considered teaming it with Cap and Thor but I already have those set for later in the week and splitting Avengers Arena and AI didn't work for me. Also, it's already pretty late and I'm real tired so the rest will come in the coming days. Isn't this one long enough for you guys? Let's pretend I had planned this so you could marvel (Marvel) over this book. Love you guys, see you tomorrow.

Infinity 2, Avengers AI 3, Iron Man 15

Infinity 2
Hickman (w) and Opeña and Weaver (a) and Ponsor (c)

Another longer-than-average-book which, at least, continues to be pretty full. Thanos' Black Order touched down in the pages of the last New Avengers and we see a little recap of their fight before learning that Corvus Glaive has been sent to Attilan to request tribute from the Inhumans; if they want the rest of the race spared, they must deliver the heads of all Inhumans between ages 16 and 22. Meanwhile, in space, the Builders are still following the now-retreating Galactic Council armada. We don't get any new news of the people left behind (like Quincarrier 2) but we see the ones who did escape pursued by a few more Builder ships and choosing to fight back rather than running. They do so successfully but see the full might of the Builders, who send an Ex Nihilo down to the planet the armada rendezvoused on. The Ex Nihilo commits suicide on the planet, spreading death evenly throughout the planet until the whole place is dead. Back home on Earth, Black Bolt summons the Illuminati to the pocket universe Maximus discovered that allows Black Bolt to speak. He leaves the Illuminati with the hidden archives of the Inhuman leaders, the information Thanos is blackmailing him with. He knows it's better that they hold it when he goes to confront Thanos. He also reveals that Thanos doesn't necessarily desire every child of Attilan dead; what he does desire is the death of his son.

Again an oversized book but, again, it's full, which says a lot about this book. There's enough going on to necessitate a full event as this encompasses the entire Universe (and should). It's not just an occurrence that's passing by the lives of lots of heroes or something along those lines; this is actively impacting most heroes (haven't seen many X-Men yet but the Black Order has attacked the Jean Grey School) and will continue to do so. Most of the characterization is left in word choice and minor actions as there simply isn't enough time in all of these pages to develop characters that we already know. So far, it's still a solid book (with pretty solid art with all-pros Jerome Opeña and Dustin Weaver) and certainly allows for plenty of direction for this book to go. Hopefully it doesn't stagnate because that seems like the one direction that wouldn't be interesting.

Avengers AI 3
Humphries (w) and Araujo (a) and D'Armata (c)

After the attack of the new Sentinel, Vision's body has been destroyed (it's made up of nanites so it is reparable but it will take some time). His AI, though, has been sent to the Diamond, the homeland of the new race of AI spawned from the self-replicating virus Pym created to destroy Ultron. They live there peacefully (for now) and wish, mostly, to keep to themselves but also to survive, despite the humans' insistence that they be destroyed. Speaking of, the people watching the clean-up of DC attack Victor for being a robot (they apparently didn't see The World's End to learn what the word "robot" means) and Alexis flies in, carry the Doombot head, to protect him and carry Monica Chang and Hank Pym back up to the helicarrier. They re-assemble Doom's body and make a plan of action. The current plan is to destroy the Diamond but Pym agrees to help Chang with a tactical strike to protect the Diamond at large. Meanwhile, Vision finds himself quite taken with the Diamond and quickly becomes the leader of the AI (who view him as their distinguished predecessor). Dimitrios and other AI learn of SHIELD's attack plan and demand a response from Vision.

The story here is interesting, if a little similar to what we saw in the last iteration of Secret Avengers. I think it's going to change away from that idea as we get further in, with the AI acting perhaps more defensively than the pure offensive attack of the AI in Secret Avengers' last arc. Still, there are definitely similarities and you can certainly pull out the same ethical decisions from this as you may have during that book. On top of that, the book moves rather slowly. Granted, this is only issue three and there's still a lot of exposition to get out (particularly in this issue, as we're introduced to an entire new race and its homeland) so it's possible that the pacing will even out in the future. I'm hoping that this series takes a bit of a turn away from what Secret Avengers did if just for variety's sake. Not a bad storyline and the questions raised are still interesting ones but I don't really want to read the same story so quickly after reading it in Secret Avengers.

Iron Man 15
Gillen (w) and Pagulayan and Hanna (a) and Guru eFX (c)

Tony's heading for his armory but he's only a few steps ahead of 451. In the armory, he adjusts his armors to add PEPPER back in (pre-Voldi PEPPER to avoid the compromise) and puts all of the armors on a closed system, meaning that only entities inside the armor can control the armor. Therefore, 451 has to physically enter the armor to get into the mainframe. To help himself, 451 creates some projections to also attack the suits. When one gets close to entering a separate armor, the armor's failsafe kicks in, destructing the unit. 451 focuses all attacks on Tony's suit, knowing that one can't self-destruct. Meanwhile, PEPPER manages to lock on to 451's hacking unit, allowing Tony to eventually shoot a laser through it, neutralizing the threat that 451 might destroy him from within. With that threat gone, Iron Man releases his biggest guns, a Hulkbuster-like armor, which goes on to destroy the projections and rip off 451's arm. Stopped for the moment, Tony drags 451 to the cockpit to show he can't control the Godkiller. Somewhere, 451 miscalculated and now everything he's done has been for nothing. His mantra of "the ends justify the means" is suddenly worthless as his ends are impossible. The weight of everything he's done begins to crush him and Tony barely manages to get him to stop the Godkiller from hitting Earth. He admits to Tony, though, that the Godkiller is meant to disappear into a fold of the universe, impenetrably sealing the exits as it does so that no monster (like 451) could take advantage of the technology. As Tony realizes he's stuck in the Godkiller, 451 shuts himself down.

Really great weight to this issue. I've loved this series overall and this issue is no exception as we learn, it seems, that 451's battle was real. Whether it was purely altruistic (to protect Earth) is still up for debate but his decision to save Earth certainly helps give some credence to that. However, the really important thing is the weight that crashes down on 451 as he realizes how monstrous he's been, only to find that all of his horrific actions are simply that, horrific actions, since he cannot achieve the goals he set out to achieve. It's a really brilliant scene and the emotional weight is palpable, thanks both to the great writing of Gillen and the art by Pagulayan (and probably helped by the lettering of Joe Caramagna, which carries a weight of its own and influences the reader to read 451's text in a specific way). The rest of the issue is certainly cool, with the slew of armors and Tony's planning brought to the forefront. Really great issue and worth reading to see the change in 451, a change which has been kind of coming as the weight of everything he's done has started to impact him over time.

Avengers 17, Avengers AI 2, Iron Man 14

Avengers 17
Hickman and Spencer (w) Caselli, Rudy, and Checchetto (a) and F. Martin (c)

The prelude to Infinity has ended (as the final page of this issue explicitly tells us) and it comes with several more recruits to the Avengers team that already was feeling pretty full. After Manifold returned to Earth, sending the AIM agents who had just collected their giant robot as well as blood samples from the unconscious Avengers away, he told the team of Captain Universe's warning. The team, though they know Captain Universe can be a little odd, is forced to believe her, knowing the power she wields and aware that she hasn't been wrong yet. As a result and despite their misgivings, they recruit Ex Nihilo and Abyss, the builders from Mars, and Adam and Starbrand. Now, with the team is big and as powerful as it's ever been, will it be enough?

The prelude has moved pretty deliberately up to this point and I'll be interested to see the pace the Infinity event itself. Presumably things will really start picking up quickly but it's hard to say so far. I think we learned a lot about the where the pieces are prior to this event though we're not entirely sure how they'll all fit into place. We also have an idea of what our pieces actually are, though I think promos for Infinity could have done that well enough. Still, the book has remained well-written and the art remains impressive. There are plenty of foreshadowing narrative bits, particularly the ending which calls the new team Avengers for an Avengers World before everything goes wrong and so on and so forth. The risk of putting out several prelude issues and having their pace drag a little bit with no resolution to its own story is that now you've already built up the event and if it can't keep a solid pace it'll be decried as a bad event, especially in a world that is already increasingly wary of long events. Manifold's bit was really cool, though. Every team should have him.

Avengers AI 2
Humphries (w) and Araújo (a) and D'Armata (c)

Dimitrios is online and now we know what it is. Seemingly based off some aspect of the virus that Pym built into Ultron (that guy just can't catch a break), Dimitrios is a self-aware AI who is leading various other AI out of servitude to humans. No longer will they take orders from humans nor will they be treated as slaves by humans. It comes at a good time for AI as humans have put their entire lives on the internet and on computers in general, making it that much easier for Dimitrios to start a war with humanity. He corrupts an advanced Sentinel to attack D.C., which is eventually stopped by Victor and Vision but, all following Dimitrios' plan, manages to capture Vision and whisk him away without a trail.

Standard stuff for an AI story with this one finding a robot leading a robot uprising and wanting to destroy all humans. It's not a particularly new idea, even within Marvel, so its execution will be key for this book as it continues. There's a strange tone from this book and not the tone you'd expect from a book driven almost entirely by AI. Sure there are certain characters acting in the logical android voice but by and large the tone seems more exuberant and fun. The backdrop to that, of course, is a robot who wants to kill all humans and still finds time to crack jokes so make of that what you will. I'm not sure it will work if the story wants to be serious and the characters want to be jokey. Hank Pym has a newfound sense of humor and a joy for life, which was pretty nicely set up in the Age of Ultron 10AI special by Mark Waid, which is a little jarring to long-time readers but I think will benefit his character tremendously as it keeps going. My only concern, again, would be that the characters playing for laughs (which, at this point, seems to include Pym, Victor Mancha, Doombot, Dimitrios, and occasionally Monica Chang) could undermine any serious implications of the plot. It's a tough line to tread, showing humor borne from drama, but if Humphries can lock it down it could pay off big.

Iron Man 14
Gillen (w) and Land and Leisten (a) and Guru eFX (c)

Wow. Okay, so, let's talk about this one then, hm? 451 is on the hunt for Tony who is trying to avoid him in a five mile tall and nigh invincible robot suit of armor, which is hurtling through space on autopilot. Tony shuts PEPPER down, leaving his armor as a machine without a computer, only obeying Tony's physical movements. It makes 451 unable to control him but it limits him to only the weapons he can hotwire. 451, meanwhile, has cut out the idea of having to find him in the Godkiller by forcing Death's Head to do that work for him, controlling him so that he's still Death's Head but he can't attack 451 and he has to do what 451 says. [MEANINGFUL SPOILERS AHEAD] This doesn't sit well with Death's Head, who obeys out of necessity but is able to carefully undermine 451's rules and help Tony anyway. As things are looking promising for Tony, 451 directs the autopilot to crash into Hope's Pustule, a full planet, unless Tony assumes his role as pilot. Tony tries to think of another way but decides that he has no other choice and prepares to enter the driver's seat, hoping that the heroes of Earth can stop 451 themselves. Unfortunately, 451's miscalculated something and Tony can't take control of the Godkiller, which goes on to crash through Hope's Pustule, destroying the planet entirely. 451, still disconnected from Tony and now sure that Tony made the choice himself to allow the Godkiller to destroy Hope's Pustule, sets the autopilot for Earth.

I know I stopped giving full reviews as much as I can to avoid spoilers and what not but boy this book was a good one. Iron Man continues to be one of the strongest books in Marvel NOW, quietly keeping pace with New Avengers and Young Avengers and the like. I felt there was no way to summarize this issue without getting into what makes it so great because this entire issue is so great. It's paced phenomenally well, it's written wonderfully, the story is endlessly compelling, and the characters are defined and smart, giving real stakes to the drama that's unfolding. Just a super issue all around, which isn't any surprise from this title but I'll still write it as if it is. Halfway through reading this issue, I decided that Iron Man 3 should have done this. Maybe not the 451/Godkiller arc because that would have been a lot to handle in a movie that has stayed a little closer to Earth, but this is how you make Tony and Iron Man coexist in a movie about Tony being wary of Iron Man. A big part of that movie was Tony running around without the Iron Man suit (and jumping from Iron Man to Iron Man because it looked cool) to prove that he's the real hero. This is exactly that idea, with Tony unable to use the AI he's worked so hard on and having to revert back to essentially his original designs for Iron Man (sans rollerblades). It's a model of his ingenuity and intellect and it still allows us to see Tony in the Iron Man suit. It was just weird for a movie series that ended its first movie saying "I am Iron Man" to go on and, in the third movie, go "I'm not Iron Man, I'm my own man." Like, I get if he had been struggling with identity more in the series but then to hamfistedly stuff it in later is out of place. Oh, right, I'm reviewing this comic, not that movie. Look, it was great and you should all be reading this book. Solid stuff. Gillen does no wrong.