New Avengers 15, Avengers World 4

New Avengers 15
Hickman (w) and Bianchi w/ Pieruccini (a) and Dall'Alpi (c)

The team has been using the bridge that Black Swan advised them to create in order to look into other worlds and see how they've combatted the incursions or, in many more cases, who they failed to combat incursions. However, that's not all they've been able to do with the bridge. They've realized that they can actually use the bridge to see through time, like looking at a star in the sky that's millennia old. It doesn't work great on the future but it's pretty good at looking at the past so they've decided to try to learn a few things about the threats they face, including looking into Black Swan's past, which reveals a glimpse at some of the people she's misled and betrayed (including alternate versions of Reed and Tony) to get where she is. They promptly go and fight her, managing to get her caged again in what they believe to be an unbreakable cage, though it still leaves her a chance to speak with Terrax, who tells her that he believes there are no constants and that these men will fall.

Friends, I'm going to level with you here. I haven't been sleeping particularly well lately and last night was no exception. I woke up several hours before I intended this morning after falling asleep several hours after I intended. And now, here I am reviewing this comic just about as quickly as I can. after its release. Any person reading this book can probably tell you that it is not best read when weary and sleep-deprived. I had to read the various parts of this one a few times over and, were I closer to my copies of the rest of the series (and were I not afraid that retrieving them would just land me in my bed from which I would not move again the rest of the day), I'd likely be referring back to them to try to straighten some things out. I really like this book and I think it's doing a lot of really interesting things. I will say that at this point I think that reading this by trades isn't a bad idea. It's a lot to keep in your head from moment to moment and week to week. That said, I'm still enjoying the way that the characters interact with one another and I'm looking forward to seeing where this whole story goes, particularly as it's been revealed of late that Captain America will have his memories of the Illuminati and the incursions restored in the upcoming ORIGINAL SIN event. Should be a good time. Well, not really good, per se, but certainly interesting. Should be a time, anyway.

Avengers World 4
Hickman and Spencer (w) and Caselli (a) and Mossa (c)

The team of Hawkeye, Spider-Woman, Nightmask, and Starbrand have accidentally found their way into the City of the Dead under Velletri, Italy. Well, one of the cities of the dead, as Sebastian Druid explains to Captain America and Bruce Banner back at the Iliad. Under Velletri, Starbrand is called away from the rest of the team by voices only he can hear beckoning to him while his team fights some spirits emerging from the rivers. Kevin finds that the voices are all the souls of the people he killed back when he first got his powers in AVENGERS and that they're not particularly thrilled with him. He's overcome with fear and guilt and the spirits take him to their leader, who Sebastian explains would have to be someone pretty powerful to hold sway in the city of the dead. "Powerful" doesn't seem to be an issue for the ruler of this city of the dead, as Morgan Le Fay returns to the Marvel Universe.

Another pretty interesting turn as Hickman and Spencer continue to break in this new title that is living up to its promise of shining a light on the Avengers in smaller groups and as individuals. It's also another nice little reunion for Hickman as former Secret Warrior Druid returns to shed some light on the City of the Dead and to get involved with the Avengers right as Banner points out to Cap that, with all of their new hires, they're sorely lacking people who represent the magical element of the Marvel Universe. His concerns, it seems are totally warranted and it's nice to see another Secret Warrior back in the fold, raising the total up from Manifold in Hickman's AVENGERS and Quake in Spencer's SECRET AVENGERS. Also can't help but like Stefano Caselli's work with one of the old Secret Warriors and his work in general on this issue. It's a very compelling idea and one that had to come to a head at some point; regardless of how little Kevin may have interacted with the students at his school, regardless of how ignored he may have been, he still killed hundreds, if not thousands, of people when he got his powers. As one of the souls he recognizes points out, it's not the kind of superhero origin that makes you Captain America. Should be interesting when this one picks up again, likely after we've revisited the other AVENGERS WORLD stories.