Avengers 25, Avengers World 2, Mighty Avengers 5

Avengers 25
Hickman (w) and Larroca (a) and F. Martin (c)

At this present moment, Maria Hill and SHIELD, investigating an explosion in New York, find a couple hundred dead bodies including, among them, Hank Pym's. The comic zooms us to several hours previous when AIM, led by Scientist Supreme Andrew Forson and Minister Superia, was busy opening up portals to the multiverse, powered by energy harvested from the Negative Zone. As they open one of the portals, they're surprised to find the Avengers coming out of it. It's an old school team made up of Thor, Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk, Wasp, and Ant-Man, many of whom don their old school costumes. The group seems a little confused particularly when Forson tells them they're on Earth. They back out through the portal again and are next seen flying over New York. They talk briefly about their failed attempts to save Earth and we get a little flashback and see that their Earth (these are clearly parallel universe Avengers) was destroyed by an incursion but they were pulled off of it in time. They decide to continue their mission on this Earth, starting again, as it were. Unfortunately for this Earth, it seems like maybe these Avengers have a different way of helping and the last footage SHIELD has of them is Thor bringing his hammer down on a crowded street and shorting all the electronics and, presumably, some of the people. Some time later, Maria Hill calls the Avengers to the helicarrier to give their whereabouts for the last couple hours.

There was a fear in me that this was maybe going to go All-New X-Men on me but it was never a particularly substantial fear. Hickman has enough Avengers to play with, he doesn't need to duplicate more or bring more from the past here. Frankly, in this day and age, I'm pretty sure no one has to resort to that but hey, I guess I don't run things. Anyway, one of the things that's been impressive to me about the way that Marvel NOW and subsequent relaunches have gone is their uniformity across certain books. Sometimes it doesn't quite work but the focus on AIM as the villains, which has played across AVENGERS, NEW AVENGERS, AVENGERS WORLD (as we'll see in a moment) and SECRET AVENGERS particularly, but has not been limited to those titles. There's a lot going on with AIM right now and it's making a real impact on the books, maybe more so than something like, say, an event or crossover might demonstrate. Should be interesting to see the Avengers of today take on the Avengers of yesterday (and also of evil) as this story pushes forward but keep an eye on everything AIM is up to as well. Something big is brewing.

Avengers World 2
Hickman and Spencer (w) and Caselli (a) and F. Martin (c)

Smasher, Cannonball, and Sunspot have been captured by AIM as they went to investigate the strange growth of AIM Island. Cannonball and Sunspot both sustained serious injuries but are being treated by AIM while Smasher, seemingly unharmed, tries to break out of her containment field. Forson allows Smasher to be released and hopes that he can convince her to support what's happening on the island. He tells her that she's free to go whenever she pleases but that he'd like to show her something first. Once she's convinced her friends are okay and she's free to go, she consents to follow Forson, who shows her around one of the rapidly growing forests on the island and tells her that this truly is a new AIM, not bogged down by the old ways and the greed that followed but hoping to improve the future. She's still suspicious but she allows Forson to keep talking until one of the exotic bugs bites her. She begins to transform, the transformation changing her costume into something yellow and wrapping itself around her while Jude the Entropic Man approaches. Forson tells her that she will be the messenger, that she will deliver their message to the people with "low vision" who will try to strike at AIM out of fear. Their message is "everything dies."

Another nice issue for AVENGERS WORLD as more problems with AIM come into focus. AIM Island is growing both out and up, with all sorts of crazy developments that Bruce Banner says are way beyond anything the rest of the Earth seems capable of yet. Now they've captured three Avengers and turned one of them to their side, seemingly. It's a little like the earlier issues of AVENGERS, which focused on giving us an understanding of some of our newer members, like Smasher. This issue jumps back and forth between the present and everything Smasher's dealing with now to Smasher's past with the lessons of her grandfather and his stories and the bond she shared with him. It's a very nice story and one worth exploring and it gives the main story a little more of a drive. It'll be interesting if this book can sustain its pace and give us a look at some of the characters we won't see in a particularly personal way over in AVENGERS while AVENGERS tells the bigger stories, or at least the ones the require a bigger team. Cool stuff, hopefully it will keep pushing.

Mighty Avengers 5
Ewing (w) and Land and Leisten (a) and D'Armata (c)

While Spider-Man chews out Luke Cage and Jessica Jones for being unorganized and tries to make himself leader of the team, Spectrum leads Ronin, Falcon, Power Man, and White Tiger to the fallen Attilan, where Ronin suspects Deathwalkers are trying to find Inhuman artifacts for their own devious purposes. They talk their way inside where Cortex Inc.'s Barbara McDevitt, newly made Inhuman, is already searching and has already been set upon by the Hellhound of the Deathwalkers. Her new power, though, is to create limited time fields and she trapped the Hellhound in one mid-pounce while she continued working. She releases it as the Mighty Avengers arrive and they have to work together to fight it, even after it takes Ronin out of the fight. Spectrum avoids Barbara's powers with her own light powers and is able to shut her down while Power Man and White Tiger (Falcon waited outside) combine to stop the Hellhound. Ronin, meanwhile, took the artifact and left. Back at the Gem Theater, She-Hulk shows up to "mediate" the issue between Spider-Man, Cage, and Jessica as it quickly turned into punching. Spider-Man ends up leaving, deciding that Cage can keep his stupid team.

We're only five issues into this new Avengers title but, if things keep going the way they're looking, MIGHTY AVENGERS has quickly become my least favorite of the bunch. There are a lot of little bits and pieces that I'm not in favor of but it can kind of all be summed up as "it seems like this book is just trying too hard." The weirdest thing is that I don't even know what it's trying too hard to do. It's reminding me a bit of FEARLESS DEFENDERS but with very slightly bigger toys to play with. Everybody quips and the book wants to have this fun feel to it but it seems to come out forced at every turn. Everyone, like back in FEARLESS DEFENDERS, gets their own little introduction caption that wants to pal around with the audience. There are also weird questions that aren't being asked, like the strange identity of Ronin or, perhaps more aptly since that one actually is meant to be a mystery for whatever purpose, the question that every other book in the universe has asked so many times, to the point where I'm almost glad this book isn't asking it but it suddenly comes off as glaringly odd that it's not being mentioned: who is this Spider-Man? This is Cage and Jessica's first run in with the Superior Spider-Man after spending years on a team with him and there's no questioning the giant jerk he's become, a jerkiness that doesn't even try to hide itself like it so often does in different (some might say better) books. If I'm remembering correctly (it's hard to keep some of this stuff straight), Jessica and Luke even know that Spider-Man is Peter Parker and they know and like Peter so it's not like some mysterious, faceless entity behind that mask who has suddenly changed, it's a friend of theirs who has become the world's biggest jerk. Sure, I'm a little sick of every book having to do the "boy, he's acting strange" dance but you can sort of see why they do it after reading this book. Definitely not my favorite book out there and I don't know that that's going to change without a major tonal shift.

Infinity 5, Avengers 22

Infinity 5
Hickman (w) and Opeña and Weaver (a) and Ponsor (c)

Thor and the Avengers have shown that the Builders can be broken and that message has resonated through the universe, giving the conquered worlds the inspiration they need to fight again. Though there are casualties throughout the universe, the resistance is overwhelmingly a success and many worlds realize the Avengers are to thank and, as a result, become "Avengers worlds." Cap and co are heartened by this but soon receive news from Gladiator that Earth is besieged by Thanos, so their celebration is cut short. Back on Earth, everything is coming up Thanos. His Black Order has secured Wakanda's Necropolis and the world-ending weapon therein, which they're able to activate by scouring the memories of the totally-still-alive Black Bolt (score! Except for the activation codes, that's a bummer). Meanwhile, the Ebony Maw has found Thane, son of Thanos, and immobilized him, delivering him unto Thanos. The Illuminati return to their world to find Wakanda in flames and the Necropolis invaded. Help is on the way, but will it come too late?

I really can't say enough about the pacing of this series. Every issue has felt like it's been worthwhile. You can't say that about too many events these days, yet every one of these seemed to have a structure to them and a piece of the story that was necessary for the whole event. Even insofar as it spanned to Avengers and New Avengers. Perhaps the scale of the story helped that; a story this big was bound to need this many parts, as it really is kind of two events wrapped into one (the Builders in the universe and Thanos on Earth). Still, I don't see that as a coincidence or a fault of the series by any means. It feels instead like really great planning and great execution. It's been a story worth telling and it's been told right. Every issue of Infinity, I've gone into the next wary that there won't be enough story to sustain. Now we enter the last issue with almost too much to tell. Of course, there are two Avengers issues between now and then (one reviewed NEXT) to help push the story along which will certainly help alleviate the burden on Infinity 6 (not to mention a post-Infinty New Avengers issue to wrap up the whole event for good, presumably). Really looking forward to seeing how this goes. There are plenty of events (one ending this week, in fact) that I cannot say that about.

Avengers 22
Hickman (w) and Yu and Alanguilan (a) and Gho w/ Curiel (c)

The Avengers have beaten the Builders back and earned the respect and admiration of the universe in the process, putting them in a rather unfamiliar place as they head back home. It's a good place to be in, though, especially as they'll need help when they get back home in defeating Thanos and his army. We see a little bit of what's going on within the Avengers' ranks as we discover a relationship between Cannonball and Smasher, met with confusion by Sunspot. We also see Manifold, who has played a huge role and is undoubtedly the unsung hero of this whole event, trying to come to terms with what's happened recently. It's easily the biggest event he's been involved in and he's having some trouble making sense of it. The Captains America and Marvel try to downplay it a bit, attempting to remove any sense of fate or faith or destiny attached to it, though Thor comes in and does exactly the opposite, which seems to calm Manifold a bit. Meanwhile, a strike team hits Titan to knock out any reserve troop Thanos might have. There's not too much waiting in the wings but it serves to let Thanos know that they're coming, a message they're not afraid to send.

It's hard not to assign action-adventure tropes to stories like these and a couple, in particular, shine through that make me a little worried about the fate of some of these characters. The Avengers, for their part, have not really lost much of anyone in their time in space, a tremendous outcome considering how total the threat was. Now they return home and will all be very clearly on the front lines. There are no more guerrilla style attacks, no more plotting and quick strikes. This is going to be a straight assault (though, admittedly, with a sneak-attack part of the plan) and it could very well cost the Avengers. It seems events don't happen without some death being attached to them so be prepared. The tropes I was hinting at, by the by, were the idea of the relationship that's developed here, the idea of the two best pals (I've been predicting a Sunspot or Cannonball death since the start of this event and the relationship between Cannonball and Smasher seems only to strengthen that argument), and the idea of the young, tired secret weapon who questions the meaning of it all. Okay, that one's a little more specific. I guess my fear for Eden is that he had so many lines this issue. It's like watching Lost or the The Walking Dead; the moment someone has above average lines, you know they're about to go down. Of all of those mentioned, Eden's the one I want to lose least so this one strikes a particular fear-chord (that's a thing, right? Fear-chords?). Nice to see a little bit more character from the smaller characters here (though I'm still constantly surprised to see Shang-Chi there, maybe we should highlight him some more?) but it comes with the distinct fear that at least one or two of them (or maybe more) are being built up to be killed next time out.

Avengers 5, Avengers Assemble Annual 1

Avengers 5
Hickman (w) and Kubert (a) and Martin (c)

As I had speculated last week, Hickman didn't stay with the arc he'd established (the idea of the organic bombs that AIM was tracking down) but did stay with the examination of a new character. After last week's time with Hyperion, this week we see Smasher, Isabel Dare, as he becomes Smasher and as she fights for the Shi'ar who gave her power. The Shi'ar, we learn, has an extensive guard unit comprised of all sorts of different types of soldiers, one of which is Smasher-type. The easiest comparison I can make is to Nova of the Nova Corps. When a Shi'ar planet fell, one Smasher present on that planet was sent to Earth to warn them, but did not survive the full journey. However, his "synthetic tri-plated spectra-form" (his sweet glasses) is an organic construct. They land on Earth, where Izzy finds them and eventually puts them on, transforming her into a Smasher, with flight, stronger exo-skeleton, and laser eyes, not to mention a database in her head, not totally unlike Iron Man's armor or, as I said, Nova's helmet.

The story then moves back and forth in Izzy's life, going from her home life on an Iowa farm, where she helps her widowed father and dying grandfather, to the Shi'ar homeworld Chandilar. It's all interesting and builds Izzy's character pretty fast. She was an astronomer (or something of the like) in Colorado when her mother died and she decided to move back to Iowa to help out. JUST FROM THAT (which is presented in maybe one panel of dialogue) we know tons about her character. Smart, caring, responsible, space-lover, etc. Pretty neat-o writing, especially since it doesn't just come out of nowhere. It's organic in the text and there are little hints about much of it dropped before that dialogue that make more sense after that dialogue. Natural. ANYWAY, she puts on the spectra-form and becomes Smasher and flies into space. Izzy Dare is also daring. Nailed it. She finds Chandilar, learns about her Shi'ar responsibilities and comes home a month later to find her grandfather officially on his death bed. He reveals to her that he was a hero pal of Captain America and advises her to go meet with him. After looking it up briefly, I found Dan Dare is an old-school British sci-fi hero (hopefully that's the same Dan Dare we're dealing with here; couldn't figure out much by way of who owned him and licensing and what not, could be a different Dan Dare with a different background we just don't know) in the sort of Buck Rogers line. Neat.

Interspersed with all this is a story taking place on the Shi'ar galactic rim. The guard is being overrun by sentient drones and an attacking alien force and waiting for reinforcements from the superguardians (the highest branch of the imperial guard; Smasher is a member of the subguardians, like most soldiers in the guard). Smasher leads the Avengers there (with the help of Manifold) and they help turn the tide. The Shi'ar superguardian Gladiator finally shows up and congratulates and thanks the Avengers before deeming Smasher a superguardian. Exciting times for her. Why were the aliens attacking the massive Shi'ar empire in the first place? We find out at the end that they weren't attacking; they were running from something. BUM BUM BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUM. Good story, good character, fascinating book so far.

Avengers Assemble Annual 1
Gage (w) and Coker w/ Mayhew, Deodato, Ross, and De Landro (a) and Freedman (c)

I believe this is the second Avengers-related annual issue in a couple years to feature the Vision and, particularly, the Vision's readjustment to the world and to a world with Wanda in it. Last time we saw a lot of anger and he attacked Magneto, which was interesting. This time there's more sadness to Vision, which I like. Vision has always been a pretty tragic character. Created by Ultron to harm the Avengers, he ends up joining them and being a pretty integral part and finding family. However, he's still an android. He's more human than other robots but it's still possible to disassemble and reassemble him. That comes up a lot in this issue, the pain he felt at his "family" abandoning him. There's a nice bit between Captain Marvel and Vision where she tries to get to the route of the problem but he's not terribly forthcoming. Finally he reveals to Giant Man and Iron Man that he's hurt by how long it took to reassemble him after the events of House of M. It's all interesting, especially given the scope of the Universe as a whole. We had seen, in passing, Tony or someone else working on the Vision from time to time before he was officially reassembled. We also, as an audience, know exactly how busy everyone's been since House of M and we've been told in dialogue between Tony and others how difficult it is to reassemble Vision without potentially losing his personality.

There's a school of thought that would have seen all this happen, then had Vision come back and say "Boy, I sure am happy to be back! Let's get to work!" and thought nothing more of it. The Avengers worked tirelessly to restore Vision and he recognizes that and they all live happily with the results. I don't care for that school of thought because it feels too simple. Even while I say that, though, I know that if it had happened that way, I would have said "gee, that feels a little anticlimactic" and moved on, happy to have Vision back. Now that I have this situation to compare it to, I know that's an awful solution. This is the more real one, the more nuanced one. Marvel prides itself on characters, and on real characters at that. So no, Vision, the synthetic man, is not a real character, but you can feel what he feels and understand what he understands because of issues like this. That's absolutely what books should be striving for, a deeper understanding of their characters and a way to make them real and pertinent. Vision examines his life as a whole, separate from that of his Avengers life, and discovers he doesn't really have one. It also makes him reach out to his "sons," Tommy and Billy of the Young Avengers (the original run, not this new one only because Tommy hasn't been introduced to that team yet, if he's going to be), who Wanda created out of madness. If you're not a Vision fan, you can miss this annual. If you have any interest in the Vision or the Young Avengers or the Roxxon Corporation, pick this one up. It's worth reading.




That's the end of post one for today. With so many books, I'm going to flirt this week with releasing two posts a day with reviews, so I don't have four reviews of four-five books a day. Especially today, Avengers day, where I REALLY want to dedicate time to these two books (as you can see above, boy I wrote a lot) and New Avengers and Secret Avengers. That post should come around soon-ish.