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.