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.