Avengers 37

Avengers 37

Reed and his team are still on the run and Steve Rogers is furious about it. To make matters more complicated, the world at large has caught wind of the universes dying and Terrax has made a speech ensuring that this world will be protected thanks to what the Cabal is doing. More infuriatingly for Steve, his numbers have dwindled to just himself, SHIELD, Captain America (I'm already doing what I can not to call Sam "Falcon" any more and finding it DIFFICULT), Hawkeye, Sue Storm, and Captain Marvel (with Black Widow and Spider-Woman in the wind) and this team cannot keep up with the Illuminati, who are beating him at every turn. He's getting crap from everyone and lashing out in turn. Essentially, he's the old man cop on the tail of our movie's/TV show's lovable rogues; what he's doing he's doing out of a sense of justice that's turned sour by his hate for these guys so now it's hard to figure out where he's coming from. What's worse is that Sue Storm appears to be a double agent for the Illuminati, unbeknownst (obviously) to the rest of the team.

I think there are probably interesting things happening here. Maybe I'm a little too fresh off reading it. I like twists and turns. I like new takes on characters. I like dark. But I'm finding it really hard to follow this Steve Rogers, cranky old man. I do believe there's a chance he reacts like this, frustrated after months of chasing the smartest people in the world and getting no where. I'm hesitant to say I don't like this take on him simply because I don't like this take on him. Let me explain. Steve Rogers, as people reading this blog probably know, is my absolute favorite superhero. I love characters in the Steve trope, the leaders who are unflinchingly noble, even at the cost of making their lives much harder. To me, there's no argument that Steve Rogers as Captain America is the best possible superhero. Not necessarily that he has the best powers or he's always the most interesting or likable, but that the best superhero is the one who always does the right thing, no matter what's pulling him in other directions and even if he fails. So I'm doing what I can to find this take interesting because I think there is a seed of something there and it's certainly impressive (and very like Hickman) to take a character 70+ years old and suddenly make his personality "change" in a way it hasn't before (I put change in quotes thinking that perhaps this isn't a change so much as it is a wearing down of what his character really is, eight months down the road of a seemingly impossible problem). So I don't like this take on him but that's not because it's not interesting nor because it's not unfounded. I wish I could say I can't see this take somewhere in the Steve we all know, but of course I can. It's just one I'm not sure I want to see.

Total Score: 4/5