New Avengers # 17 – Review

byJonathan Hickman (Writer), Rags Morales (Artist), Frank Martin (Color Artist).

The Story: T’Challa and Namor find common ground admits the destruction of worlds.

The Review: One of the most fascinating aspects of this series has been the continued evolution of the relationship between the Black Panther and the Sub-Mariner in the wake of Atlantis’ attack upon Wakanda in the pages of Avengers V.S X-Men. While Namor has been shown to actively trying to bring further destruction down upon Wakanda during the events of Infinity his relationship with Namor in this issue is equal parts melancholy and camaraderie, two weary warrior kings commiserating over where their paths have led them; as witnesses to the destruction of multiple Earth’s. While Namor’s motives are always suspect, the conversation between the two does contain some moments of bitter-sweet honesty and understanding between two characters who’s dynamic could easily fall into a tiring pattern of constantly being at each others throats in the hands of a lesser writer.

Avengers # 28 – Review

by Jonathan Hickman (Writer), Salvador Larroca (Artist), Frank Martin with Anres Mossa (Color Artists).

The Story: Hulk Smash, Banner deduce.

The Review: Now this is what I’ve been waiting for! Hickman’s long form Avengers epic has been a frustrating beast at best, I’ve wanted to like it so badly but have often been frustrated by how disparate all of the elements Hickman and his horde of superstar artists have introduced thus far are. I recall being curious but ultimately disinterested during Hickman’s first year on the Fantastic Four title only to be blown away by FF and the confluence of all the seemingly standalone stories that the writer had been crafting. And so it is that I’ve been following Avengers, New Avengers and now Avengers World,  waiting patiently to see how the puzzle pieces fit together.

With issue #28 it seems as though two mysteries are revealed, one to the reader and another to Bruce Banner who’s unravelling of the continued existence of the Illuminati provides the meat of this issue. I’ve often thought of the Avengers as a very epic but ultimately cold book, devoid of much characterisation or humanity but this issue goes a long way to reversing that paradigm by focusing on the conversation between Tony Stark and a Bruce Banner who repeatedly injects himself with tranquillisers in order to keep his monstrous alter-ego at bay. The tension that builds through these scenes is palatable and riveting, bravo to Hickman and Larroca.

The other reveal shows us exactly what the Map-makers are and how they come to be, further marrying the narrative of Avengers to New Avengers and finally giving readers an answer to help orientate themselves within the deluge of mysteries that Hickman has heaped upon us so far in this run. If this issue is an indicator of what to expect from the third act of Hickman’s Avengers saga then I’m cautiously optimistic about what comes next. That last page reveal/cliffhanger should have readers on the edge of their seat like a good episode of 24 or Breaking Bad it’s such a cinematic, ominous can’t-wait-for-the-next-issue reveal.

New Avengers #12 – Review

by Jonathan Hickman (Writer), Mike Deodato (Artist), Frank Martin (Colorist)

*If you follow Infinity, I strongly urge you to read the final issue of the event before reading this issue. You have been warned.*

The Story: Being done with the invasion of Thanos and the war against the builders, the Illuminati returns to their present affairs as they are warned by what might be much more dangerous for their universe.

The Review: With a pretty big event now being done with, it’s the job of New Avengers to provide an epilogue and perhaps a new way to envision what just happened in the Marvel universe. While this series did suffer a bit from some of the threads of Infinity, can it actually provide some form of satisfaction with some of the elements of Hickman’s large story?

In many ways, this issue does actually shows a lot of great stuff, merging some of the events of Infinity with some of the threads of the title. This has the result of making it so what did happen prior all count toward the evolution of the cast as well as the problem they face. Not only does it heighten and bring the focus back on the memorable cast of characters, but it also use the Builders wars and the coming of Thanos to centralize and put in perspective the future battle they might have to face yet.

One of the better scenes, which takes about a third of the issue is one dedicated to perhaps the best duo of conflicted souls in the series: Namor and Black Panther. Putting forth the many problems and sacrifice that T’challa has made in order to protect the world from unknown threats and how he got betrayed unwittingly by Namor, the parables between the two comes forth in a way that makes their antagonism that much more interesting. With the conflict between Wakanda and Atlantis being still going on, the relation between those two characters become that much more interesting considering the new status of these two after the massive events of Infinity.

New Avengers #11 – Review

Jonathan Hickman (Writer), Mike Deodato (Artist) Frank Martin (Colorist)

*I strongly urge people to read this week’s Avengers #21 before reading this story. You have been warned.*

The Story: The Illuminati gets to see why and how and the Builders destroys worlds as Thanos gets in the Necropolis after his assault on Wakanda.

The Review: This issue should be called ”how to use events to propel a book forward”. While it was to be expected that Jonathan Hickman would find the better use for his event called Infinity in his own titles, it seems that there were some ideas that he was keeping for his ongoing.

What Hickman successfully do here is tying in the incursion events, the problem in the multiverse, the Builders and many other elements together in a cohesive manner. Better yet, he is also able to add quite a lot of depth to the concepts he introduced in Infinity as well as in his other book, Avengers. What he accomplish here is nothing short of impressive, as not only he is able to surprise his readers, yet he keep the progression of his themes going without slowing down any threads.

This all begins with the incursion as the Illuminati tries to see how it is and whether or not they should use the same technology as last time, when a particular being comes to meet them, inviting them to see the end of the world and the very reason why the Earth cannot be left alive. The Illuminati and their encounter with this specific group is a fascinating second point-of-view to what is happening in their own universe and how Infinity can be perceived by other beings in other universes. Hickman also manages to bring in a few character moments as well as he is still able to bring what makes some of the Illuminati interesting to begin with. Not all characters gets the spotlight, but it is still entertaining to see how Beast, Reed and the others reacts to these revelations.