Avengers 13, Avengers Arena 10

Avengers 13
Hickman w/ Spencer (w) and Deodato (a) and F. Martin (c)

Avengers 13 continues where Avengers 12 left off as the team in the Savage Land (comprised of Hyperion, Thor, Iron Man, Hawkeye, Captain Universe, and the Spiders-Man and -Woman) sets out in search of the stolen children. Captain Universe comes across a Watcher of the land (Garokk, the Petrified Man) he leads them to the High Evolutionary, who has found a use for the children. As the Avengers are dealing with a handful of Savage Land evolved beasts, the High Evolutionary wakes Terminus, who had been defeated and unable to rise until he put the children, a seemingly limitless power source, behind it. Hyperion discovers this as he goes on ahead to fight the High Evolutionary while Thor and the team deal with Terminus (who had already crushed Iron Man, the empty armor Tony is controlling from space). Thor is on the verge of completely wrecking Terminus with a massive thunderbolt as Hyperion flies out of the High Evolutionary's inner sanctum and through the head of Terminus, rescuing the children attached to the platform within. With Terminus defeated and the children saved, Hyperion and Thor again retreat to the mountain they had been on last issue to talk more. Thor warns Hyperion about what family means to warriors (usually some sort of flaw in the armor), citing the dangerous events on the horizon, but Hyperion will not hear of it. In Hyperion's narration, we find that the most important memory of his life is no longer the destruction of his world but the discovery of this new one.

This is a very sweet issue for Hyperion particularly, who, as I mentioned last review, could easily have gone a pseudo-Doctor Manhattan kind of way. Instead, he seems to be going the exact opposite, gaining strength from the people in his life and the the new family and world he's found. Add to that character arc a few fun lines from the increasingly cynical Spider-Man and some nice Avengers moments as a whole and this is a very satisfying two issue arc. The children don't feature in this one nearly as much except as a plot device and a sort of save-the-cat moment but they still have the weight they gained last issue and, I mean, they're kids. No one wants to watch kids in peril and everyone's rooting for the guy who saves them. So now we're rooting for Hyperion. The Hyperion-Thor relationship continues to be interesting to watch as Thor finally has a new, non-Asgardian god buddy. Rooting for that guy too, pretty constantly. Solid issue, nice two-issue story.

Avengers Arena 10
Hopeless (w) and Burchielli (a) and Beaulieu (c)

As my girlfriend just pointed out, I finish reading about half of these by involuntarily going "oh noooooooooo" at various volumes. This book is heating up like crazy now that Katy has been outed as a strategic technopathic monster with, now that Juston is dead, a Sentinel at her disposal. She still has Death Locket under her command and she's out to win Murder World. Nico, as the only one who knows Katy is back in control, wakes X-23 and tells her what happened. Laura hunts down Katy and Death Locket by herself and ends up taking a beating from the Sentinel. Darkhawk, who had been exiled from the group, finds himself there as well and attacks unsuccessfully after X-23 is defeated. Laura is delivered back to the group in very weak condition and Nico does what she can to hold off Katy and the Sentinel. It gives them enough time to make a break for it and exit the desert. Nico's teleportation spells haven't been working but she tries another one, instead trying to teleport them somewhere else in Murder World. This one does work and everyone jumps through the portal, unsure where it will put them. Just as Nico is about to exit, Katy shows up again and blasts her, breaking her leg. Nico closes the portal and stays behind to face Katy on her own before Darkhawk shows up. Unfortunately for Nico, Katy is now also controlling Darkhawk and he blasts her hand off, knocking away the Staff of One as well. She tumbles down a mountain after it and struggles to reach to it. As the issue ends, her last health bar disappears. Oh noooooooooooooo.

This book alternates between a great and pretty fun read and one of the darkest books Marvel has ever put out. It never feels like it's reaching to try to fit in either corner, which makes it a thoroughly enjoyable, if tense, series. The action scenes are peppered with the knowledge that everybody seems able to die (as much as I hate watching characters die, what a change it is to feel like there are consequences to the battles) and, in fact, rather on the brink of death at any given moment. The less action-y scenes, depending on who they focus on, feel appropriately sinister or appropriately light-hearted. I've already positively said a ton about this book but I really can't seem to say enough. I caught myself, in the middle of this book (in one of the less action-y scenes but knowing that action was on the horizon), stopping to say "gee, I'm really enjoying this book." Young Avengers occasionally gets me to do that but very few others make me actively aware of how into the book I am while I'm reading it. This book probably scared people who weren't fans of the young'uns in Marvel away but I really hope it didn't. I don't think you need to go in knowing anyone in this place. They're well-explained without the need for too much exposition and they're really well-developed across the board (well, except for Red Raven). This book has been fantastic and I'm looking forward to it as long as it keeps going.