New Avengers 12, Infinity: Heist 3, Infinity the Hunt 4

New Avengers 12
Hickman (w) and Deodato (a) and F. Martin (c)

Infinity officially wraps up (about three days later, sorry guys) as we see the aftermath in Wakanda, the biggest strike zone for Thanos' troops. With Thanos and his troops withdrawing, dead, or captured, Shuri can't help but notice T'Challa's absence in the fight. She goes to question him on it in Necropolis, where, he says, he also had to fight Thanos and his Black Order. She demands to know what it is he's been doing and he deflects, but he's quickly betrayed by the royal guards, the Hatut Zaraze, and his once faithful personal guards, the Dora Milaje, who tell Shuri that he's been bringing foreigners in and that one of those foreigners is Namor, king of the land Wakanda is battling. T'Challa continues to deflect accusations and questions and Shuri bans him from entering Wakanda. As they leave, Namor himself appears and applauds T'Challa for the bravery he's shown in refusing to give up the Illuminati, no matter the cost. Meanwhile, Reed, Tony, and Hank go to chat with Black Swan, who laughs at their fight with the Builders, saying that you don't mind a dog when facing a demon. Back at his Sanctum Sanctorum, Dr. Strange is ready give up everything he believed in himself to take a more active role in defending the Earth.

The problem that I tend to have with events (well, one of them) is that I don't think the need to focus on huge plots gives enough chance to see what these events are doing to the characters. Sometimes we'll see their reactions in the aftermath or very briefly in the moment but by and large we don't get a true look at the characters as humans in their moment, one of Marvel's long-time biggest strengths. This issue, though, helps to prove that wrong. There's a ton going on and it gives us a look at nearly everyone in the Illuminati and the issues they're each dealing with. It's actually painful watching Black Panther get cast out of his beloved Wakanda simply because he can't tell Shuri what's happening. It's even painful from Shuri's perspective, as she throws out her brother, who she's always loved and admired. I'd say that Panther is helped by the fact that I adore T'Challa and understand his relationship to Shuri and Wakanda but I also felt pained by Namor's speech to Black Panther and by Dr. Strange's somewhat useless feeling and his sudden change in response to the Ebony Maw's recent takeover. Okay, I love both of those characters too but I think the point is still the same. Heavy is the head that wears the crown and every one of these characters has a crown of some sort, as was the conceit of the team. Really well done and some of my favorite Deodato art in a book lately.

Infinity: Heist 3
Tieri (w) and Barrionuevo w/ Olliffe (a) and Sotocolor (c)

Spymaster's assembled team breaks into Stark Tower, currently guarded by what MIGHT be the Mighty Avengers while the Avengers are in space, and manage to, after a little bit of in-fighting, open the door to the armor-vault. Once inside, Blizzard, Firebrand, and Whirlwind attack the other team members, knowing that they'll end up dead in the vault if they don't take action first. After the brief attack, Blizzard lets up and tells the other members that he's ready to finish the job but that he does't want to end up dead afterwards. They agree, for the moment, to these terms and Spymaster tags all of the armor, sending it to the buyer directly before sending himself away too, intending to take all of the payment for himself. By this point, the Mighty Avengers have been alerted and attack, leaving the team angry and needing an escape. Titanium Man offers a chance to resolve both, offering to bring them to the buyer as well. They reluctantly accept and get transported to the buyer, who is, of course, Titanium Man, who takes off his helmet to reveal Captain Atlas of the Kree empire.

Pretty hard to follow this one, in some terms. Not that the plot is particularly difficult; no, you could pretty easily follow each step without any complications. That's definitely good, though, as everyone is wearing excessive armor and things and it gets pretty hard to tell who everyone is at any time. The villains aren't the only ones; I emphasized "might" in that first sentence because I'm still not totally sure it was the Mighty Avengers. The art isn't exactly bad, I would say, but it is exactly bad in the sense that it's hard to keep up with the story and the characters when you're not entirely sure who each character is. As I said, the story itself isn't that complicated which really saves it in a way because it would be hard to tell what was happening if the story wasn't so easy. However, it comes at the expense of the story continuing to be a little less than exciting. Now the Kree are involved, so let's see what happens the next time out.

Infinity the Hunt 4
Kindt (w) and Sanders w/ P. Diaz and D. Donovan (a) and Campbell w/ Silva (C)

The kids heading to Atlantis find themselves caught inside a giant whale but, well, it's not as bad as it seems. The whale creature, named Leviathan, is psychically linked with a girl from Atlantis named Whalesong and is actually saving them. Whalesong lets them know, from more psychic images, that Atlantis is relatively safe now and that Thanos has brought his legion to Wakanda. The kids, with the help of Leviathan, go to Wakanda after some argument and immediately join the fray there, hoping to help Shuri. Shuri won't accept their help, refusing to put kids in danger and feeling that Wakanda can still handle itself. Some of the monsters, though, are too much to handle and it requires everyone pitching in. Thanks in large part to the strategic mind of Gang, the kids win out and manage to help protect Wakanda. The games have been a failure but everyone still learned a valuable lesson about...um, working together, I guess?

I hate to bring this up again but AVENGERS ARENA wouldn't have worked nearly as well, if at all, if Hopeless hadn't insisted on dedicating full issues to individual characters, building up who each was before showing what they were all up against and how they were going to survive (or not survive, as the case may be). INFINITY THE HUNT doesn't have the benefit of 18 issues to let everyone in on every character and I think it suffers for it. Kindt makes the savvy decision to make Quentin Quire the narrator of this issue, even though he's not overly important to the issue or the story as a whole (in truth, Gang probably has the most to do here), because he's probably the one we know best, meaning Kindt doesn't have to worry too much about establishing him, he's already there. Still, it's hard to feel a weight to this story because you just can't care about all of the characters. Sure, you don't want anyone to die but you also can't really concern yourself if they do in this case. It makes the lesson feel forced and cliché (well, it is cliché, which doesn't help) and it makes you lose any sort of attachment. I'd be okay if this annual game thing wasn't really an annual game thing we had to see.

Infinity the Hunt 3, Infinity: Heist 2

Infinity the Hunt 3
Kindt (w) and Sanders (a) and Campbell (c)

The kids at the Pan-Asian School, who were launched into space as a protective measure to keep them from the attacks on the ground, have re-routed themselves and crashed down in Wakanda, hoping to fix up their pod and send it to Atlantis to help the Atlantis students. Wakanda, of course, has problems enough as it is and the students from Wakanda have very little interest in helping out Atlantis. The Pan-Asian students help convince them to be the better heroes and, when they eventually arrive, they find that the other kids have beaten them to the area, though the situation itself is pretty dire as Atlantis is already in trouble and these kids have little training and little experience working together. They do their best, which is considerably good, but, in the end, everyone seems primed to be eaten by a ridiculously giant sea-creature.

My problems with this series continue pretty unabated; we're inventing too many new people to really have stakes. There are a handful of students we already know and they're the only ones we can really pick out and, therefore, hope survive. Sure, it'd be neat if everyone made it out alive, but we don't know these other guys, you know? There's no connection and there's no chance to really, in such a short tie-in, make a connection. I'd also say, and this might be only for me personally, that, for as long as the X-kids we're seeing here (like Quentin Quire and Sprite) have been around, I care way more about the FF kids and the Avengers Academy kids, again limiting the weight of the series. It's not necessarily a bad story, per se, it's just...kind of empty?

Infinity: Heist 2
Tieri (w) and Barrionuevo (a) and Pantazis, Mossa, Loughridge, and Fabela (c)

Blizzard passing out last issue, it turns out, was a result of the Terrigen Mists spreading over Earth. That's right, Blizzard is an Inhuman. Now that he's awoken, he sees his transformation as a way to start his life over. He's not quite sure what his transformation means for his powers or anything else but now seems like a good time to turn his life around. Of course, it comes at a bad time for everyone around him, as Spymaster doesn't take the decision to bow out of the heist very well. In retribution, he attacks Blizzard's friend Whirlwind and, when she tries to intercede, Firebrand. He insist they follow-through lest worse happen to them, though he secretly tells Whiplash that none of them is to make it out of the next day alive.

This has a little more weight to it than Infinity the Hunt. It might be because we know the characters a little bit more, it might be because we know the story a little bit better (villain wants to turn his life around but gets pulled back in), or it might just be because it's a smaller cast here. Really, we're only on the side of three people, whereas, in the Hunt, we're on the side of like, probably a billion kids. Granted, they're kids, but they're mostly teenagers and teenagers can be pretty annoying. Who hasn't pictured them eaten by a giant sea-creature at some point? I...I sense I'm getting a little off-topic here. Anyway, this one is decent. There are stakes, there's an enemy who has proven himself fairly powerful and not to be trifled with, there's redemption, there's backstabbing (even for villains), there's a new power-set to be revealed, etc. Plenty happening here to at least make this an entertaining, if not particularly memorable, story.

Hunger 3, Infinity the Hunt 2, Thunderbolts 16

Hunger 3
Fialkov (w) and Kirk (a) and Aburtov (c)

Galactus, now merged with the Gah Lak Tus swarm, continues his rampage through the Ultimate universe while Silver Surfer and Rick Jones try to deal with a rogue swarm that's portal'd with them to Earth. They're having some trouble containing it when they get help from an unlikely source: Mahr-Vehl, the Captain Marvel of this Universe. He reveals to the duo that the Kree created the Gah Lak Tus swarm and that he's studied all his life to stop it, which explains why he has so little trouble destroying the swarm that followed them to Earth. Rick needs to process everything and leaves, saying that he can't do anything more with them. As Surfer and Captain Marvel press forward and attack Galactus and his swarm, Rick joins back up with them, having gone home and seen that Peter Parker, the kid he knew back when he lived across the street, has died and was Spider-Man. It's fortified Rick and he finds himself back in the fight, a solid weapon against Galactus. Meanwhile, Mahr-Vehl's weapons don't work on Galactus himself and he is fatally wounded in the fight. Before he dies, he tells Surfer and Rick that he has a bomb in his helmet that will destroy Galactus, it just has to be piloted there. Rick immediately puts the helmet on, prepared to sacrifice himself to stop the swarm.

We're racing towards the conclusion of this series which may be the only series still concerned with the fact that space-time continuum was apparently ruptured during Age of Ultron (that's not entirely true, Hulk is still jumping through time in his own book while Guardians of the Galaxy is dealing with the universe-hopping Angela, though neither event feels particularly world-breaking). Whether this series is powerful enough to have made Age of Ultron worth it is up for debate but frankly, the fact that we might even debate it is high praise. Age of Ultron was pretty garbage but this series feels like a story worth telling. Fialkov's strong writing and characters help that, as does Leonard Kirk's fairly phenomenal artwork on the book. One of the other things worth mentioning in this is that it's not a book that's about to overstay its welcome. There are fewer and fewer mini-series out there right now, mostly leaving that space for events, and almost all of those run too long (Infinity is paced pretty well so far but it's still a somewhat long series in general). Hunger ends with issue four and will, in that time, have a succinct but powerful beginning, middle, and (hopefully) end. That means a lot today.

Infinity the Hunt 2
Kindt (w) and S. Sanders (a) and Campbell (c)

We are introduced to the Latverian School's contenders in the games before they too are thrust into the fight against Thanos. Back stateside, the teachers from the various schools direct the kids into a specially made bunker to wait out the attack. Some are more hesitant to back out of the fight than others but are convinced as one of the newly created students, Crimson, gets viciously killed by Thanos' horde. While waiting things out deep underground, the kids get a transmission from the Latverian School goading them into the battle. They agree to meet up in what's left of Atlantis to see if they can save the Atlantis students.

The book ends up dedicating another couple pages to introducing new characters, none of whom I'm like to remember as this limited series pushes forward. One of the (many) great things about Avengers Arena is that, as an extended but finite series, they had time to throw everyone at us all at once but take their time eventually giving everyone a backstory and a real characterization. I feel like I should have been taking extensive notes in the first issue of this one. When Crimson dies in this issue, I have legitimately no idea why I need to care. Obviously he's a person (in this universe) and, on top of that, a young person, but I have absolutely no connection to him and, in comics, connections are everything. Even if i had taken notes about who each character was, it wouldn't make me feel any more strongly about what happened to Crimson because I still know nothing about who he was. This isn't necessarily a fault for Kindt, who has four issues to tell a complete story and introduce about a hundred new characters, but it's a fault for the design of this book. We're obviously only going to really be concerned with the handful of characters we know and smart money says they'll probably come out okay while others may act as cannon fodder. Also, the endless explanations of who everyone is (hopefully coming to a close with this issue over) slows down the story, as it did tremendously in issue one. It's not a great sign if your first two issues of four have to spend the majority of their time introducing the cast. Hopefully the story will kick up in issues three and four and make it worthwhile.

Thunderbolts 16
Soule (w) and Palo (a) and Guru eFX (c)

Punisher, Elektra, and Venom are still making a move for the Paguros amidst Thanos' army's attack. They've let the Nobili, who sold the Paguros out, go and are now hot on their tail as they make their way to the Paguro's hideout. Apparently, the Paguros have a bunker that anyone under their protection can go to when this end-of-the-world stuff happens. The Nobili, no friends to the Paguros, manage to barter their way in by saying they have information about Punisher. The head of the Paguros opens their armory to the various gangs inside, telling them to prepare for a fight with the Punisher. Meanwhile, Supergiant of Thanos' Black Order has found the Leader by tracking his extreme intelligence. Mercy saves him before rushing to the city to herald forth those wishing for death. Deadpool, out in the city, saves a few more people and takes down a few more of Thanos' army, mad that they would take coins out of a fountain ("Those are people's wishes. You don't steal people's wishes!!!"), before waving down a still-working horse-drawn carriage operator in the hopes that he'll take him to the pizza place he needs to go.

Another solid issue for Charles Soule on the new-look Thunderbolts. I'd say this one is maybe a little slower and a little less fun than the last two but it's certainly not to the book's detriment. This one feels very much more like set-up for the final battles than the last two, which concerned themselves with the part of the story they were telling, not the part of the story that is yet to come. Still, the book has its bright moments, which continue to very much include Deadpool, and the story continues to be a good one. You can see the unbridled joy in Punisher as he realizes that just about every criminal in the city will be bunkered down at the Paguros, ripe for the picking. It continues to be strong characterization all around as we also see Punisher bitterly waving off the suggestion that they wait for Red Hulk or Deadpool, as they've clearly abandoned this mission (claiming that this is why he doesn't work in teams). Elektra has a nice moment where she scares some information out of a guard and she and Flash share a telling look at the end of the issue as they realize how in his element Frank is. There's a ton happening here and it's all working to the book's benefit. Another good issue.

Avengers Arena 15, Infinity the Hunt 1

Avengers Arena 15
Hopeless (w) and K. Walker and Gorder (a) and Beaulieu (c)

Cullen's monster, released when Cullen took off his Bloodstone ring to protect Aiden, is putting up a solid fight against the thought-unkillable X-23. She seems to snap out of her bloodlust and admits she doesn't know how to stop the monster. She's saved as Reptil, Darkhawk, and Nico come out of the woods to protect her and to engage the new and unknown monster. Cammi, Nara, and Aiden start looking desperately around for the Bloodstone ring, which is eventually found by Cammi but inevitably knocked away and into the ocean by a flung Reptil. Nara dives after it while Cammi and Aiden talk about whether or not Aiden will have to kill Cullen to stop the monster. Both are morally against it but Cullen had told Aiden how to do it if he needed to and had made him promise to do it if he lost himself. As Aiden is about to strike, Nara bursts out of the water with the ring, managing to get the monsters attention and eventually touching the ring to its skin, pulling Cullen out and making the monster disappear, but not before the struggle with the monster kills Nara.

There's a ton happening in this issue and even more on the horizon because of this issue. It's easy to forget, given how many contenders are still alive and the depth of personality each of these characters has demonstrated, that issue 18 is the final issue, putting us officially at three remaining issues following this one. There's so much to resolve and so much fear that it won't be resolved. That's been the best thing about this book, in truth. I'm not following it to see who survives or who "wins," though I'm certainly interested in that. There's so much more here and it's more that I want to know about. Where does/do the survivor/s go after this? What of the relationships formed here or that were brought in from various other books here? What of the mental scarring? I think every character in this book has been, at one point or another, a risk for turning evil. Avengers Academy was built so that kids Norman Osborn "created" didn't follow in his footsteps. Apex kind of is evil, very conniving and mastermind-y. Kid Briton was an arrogant bully. Anachronism has rage issues. Cullen was left in a horrible monster dimension for years and years. X-23 was created to be an assassin. The Runaways are the children of supervillains. Death Locket is a female Deathlok. Cammi was abandoned by the her favorite person and father figure, the assassin Drax the Destroyer. In this issue (narrated by Nara), we learn that Nara was the daughter of two Atlantean traitors, who followed Attuma and rebelled against Namor, leading to their death at his hands. Red Raven believed Namor killed her father. Darkhawk was the son of a dirty cop. Juston's only friend was a mutant-hating Sentinel (reprogrammed somewhat successfully). Have I made a point? Plenty of superheroes have these tragic backstories but these ones are all young enough to still potentially be turned with the right scarring. In fact, I'd even hazard that the least damaged ones, the ones most likely to err on the hero's side, are the ones who died first (Mettle, Red Raven, Darkhawk, Juston), just as Arcade predicted in issue one (telling them that, in essence, being the villain would be the only thing to save them here). It's all really fascinating, and all of that doesn't even get into Nara's complex emotions and backstory or the change we'll see in Aiden with his new girlfriend dead saving him and his best friend. Really stellar book, as ever.

Infinity the Hunt 1
Kindt (w) and Sanders (a) and Campbell (c)

A new mini-series spawned out of Infinity and also a multitude of other books. This book focuses on the heads of various superhero schools across the globe deciding to band together to create an intramural competition between all of their students. The games themselves, called the Contest of Champions, haven't been established yet as this issue chooses instead to focus more on introducing the schools and the key students we'll likely see. The schools represent places all over Marvel, with the Jean Grey School, Avengers Academy (where this takes place), the Future Foundation, the Braddock Academy, a Pan-Asian school, a Wakandan school, a Latverian school, and an Atlantean school (not participating, given the tensions between Wakanda and Atlantis right now). We get a brief overview of each school and an introduction to a couple characters from each as well as a thought bubble from each character giving a small window into their personalities and motivations. It's perhaps a bit heavy-handed but it gets the point across. The opening ceremonies are interrupted, though, when an emergency broadcast from the Atlantean school shows the destruction in Atlantis and an attack starts on LA from Thanos' army.

As I said, the introductions are a little ham-fisted as they prefer text over subtext ("you know how I'm your brother?") but it gets the job done. The real story here, presumably, will be the way these adults running the school and these kid heroes band together to push back Thanos. It's all hands on deck right now on Earth as the Avengers are off-planet so it makes sense that we'd see the young heroes and their guardians getting in on the fight, I guess I just didn't expect them to all be banded together while they do it. There are an impressive amount of new heroes introduced with new powers pretty laid out for us though, again, I think it's a little heavy-handed. Not to keep coming back to Avengers Arena, but Avengers Arena created all-new characters without me even realizing they were all-new. The first few issues, I just nodded and assumed they were already established and that the Braddock Academy was already a thing, not all stuff that Hopeless created for the series. Granted, Kindt has far less time here to establish the sort of things Hopeless (who just won a Harvey Award, I believe) has been able to do over in Arena. Fairly ambitious book, we'll see if it leads to anything.