Avengers #23 – Review

by Jonathan Hickman (Writer), Leinil Francis Yu (Artist), Sunny Gho, Paul Mounts (Colorists)

The Story: The Galactic Council gives one last push for the Avengers to reach Earth and save it as the titular team needs to save the day.

The Review: It’s always a bit disheartening to see something done wonderfully in one aspect, yet somewhat fails in another one. Enjoying anything is to accept its strengths and weaknesses, letting both get together for a cohesive experience. However, when there are two extremes, it leaves for a somewhat confusing experience, neither knowing it was superb, weak or simply acceptable.

This is pretty much what happens in this issue of Avengers, as it pretty much close to the bigger cosmic parts of the storyline attached to Infinity, doing it in a way that does feel satisfactory.

Giving one final focus on those cosmic characters for this event, Hickman present how these characters have evolved during this storyline, with one last hurrah given to them. With a few choice lines said by them and a particularly memorable action scene near the very end of the issue, Hickman does more with those beloved characters than most did with them in the last two years. Those that really liked the Giffen and DnA era of cosmic Marvel will be pleased to see Gladiator, Ronan and Kl’rt being so preeminent and awesome here.

Avengers #21 – Review

Jonathan Hickman (Writer), Leinil Francis Yu, Gerry Alanguilan (Artists), Sunny Gho (Colorist)

The Story: The resistance against the builders gains a lot of momentum as the Ex Nihilii tries to create a miracle.

The Review: Infinity is cosmic done right. As Jonathan Hickman advances with his larger story in the main title, the books tied to it also deals with the main themes without letting it own go away, creating a symbiosis of sort in terms of storytelling. The threats are huge, the players numerous and the events occurring in the pages are simply gigantic in scope.

Readers who were fans of Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning and Keith Giffen cosmic corner shall find much to love here, as many a great things are referenced directly from their contribution to the larger Marvel cosmology. The Annihilation wave, Annihilus, Gladiator, Kl’rt the Super Skrull, Ronan, the Imperial Guard and Ikon the space knight all appears in some manner in this tale, adding to the large tapestry weaved by Hickman. Not all of them receive meaningful moments like Ronan or Gladiator, though, with most of them being set in the background or participating in the action silently. Still, fans of the older cosmic stories will probably feel like Christmas came early this year with how those elements are handled.

Another element that is handled in a very competent manner is the tone, which makes the actions and the setting even bigger than it seems. Most of the tone is set in the narration and the dialogue itself, which may comes a bit cold in some places, yet for the most part it really set the mood of war and the tides turning for the heroes. It’s a space opera, a war comic, a super hero comics and a cosmic one, which makes this issue works really well when it deals with its stakes and with grandeur.

Infinity #4 – Review

Jonathan Hickman (Writer), Jerome Opena, Dustin Weaver (Artists), Justin Ponsor (Colorist)

The Story: The terrigen mists causes immediate change to the planet, as Thor negotiates with the Builder on Hala.

The Review: Events comics have many things to accomplish, but the most important one would be to possess a sense of spectacle. Things need to be big, memorable, surprising on an even grander scale than usual. In a world where resurrection and world-saving battles are the norm, it can be hard to excite readers that can be jaded with the constant event-mode that is on-par for the big two.

Well, believe it or not, Hickman delivered with this issue, as not only there are big moments and rather spectacular twists, but he also manage to actually deliver on a saying that has become some kind of a joke these days in the comic fandom: the ”nothing will ever be the same” paradigm. It may be too soon to say so, as the ramifications of this event will probably be felt in the coming months after this event is done, yet there is a huge sensation of importance in display.

The issue is split in two bigger scenes, with one dealing with Black Bolt and the terrigen mist while the other deals with the war against the Builders. The former one is actually much more focused on the results of Black Bolt and Maximus action’s rather than moving the plot forward. The strength of this scene, though, is on narrating the ramifications of such events, with a good number of people now being changed as Hickman does some massive change in the Marvel universe. The way things are narrated and the way the scene switch from the effects of the terrigen mist to Black Bolt and Thanos fighting makes for a rather neat reading experience, enhancing the tension and letting the gravitas of what Black Bolt has done reach the readers.

Avengers #20 – Review

by Jonathan Hickman (Writer), Leinil Francis Yu, Gerry Alanguilan (Artists), David Curiel (Colorist)

The Story: Captain America may have found a new strategy in order to deal with the Builders as Ex Nihilo goes on to see just what is going on with his people.

The Review: From what we’ve seen so far, Hickman seems to have rejuvenated this title with Infinity, his big event that ironically enough was build up from pieces introduced in this very title. With a much more focused plot and very clear stakes at play, the strengths came to the forefront that much easier, but with the story moving forward with almost every week of the month, does the book continue to be relevant to the event while keeping its own plotline and a modicum of quality?

So far, so good from what can be seen, as many of the plotlines and characters introduced in this title continue. Many of the threads are played with here quite aptly, with some of them moving the story forward in ways that really do bring surprising twists. One of them would be the scenes featuring Ex Nihilo, a character created by Hickman especially for this series, who deals with the Builders. For quite a long time, the motivations of the Builders to destroy and kill around the whole cosmos was pretty vague, much to the event discredit. In this issue, though, we do get an evolution and some explanations as to the problems that plagues creators that are turning into destroyers and killers. It is a fascinating development that makes this conflict a bit more interesting and that promises to make it even more so in the upcoming issues.

What’s also handled with care and gravitas would be the Galactic Council and how they are trying to pursue this whole conflict. The decisions, the in-fighting and how Captain America is portrayed makes for a rather suspenseful read that put the readers right into an impossibly large conflict. There are twists and a good use of those featured in the main event book without letting it lessen the impact of this book. It’s a neat use of the event, which is central to the book, without destroying the importance and the ongoing subplots of the book. It maintains its identity while it adds up to the whole experience.

Infinity #3 – Review

by Jonathan Hickman (Writer), Dustin Weaver, Jerome Opena (Artists), Justin Ponsor (Colorist)

The Story: After the attack of the Builders, Captain America decides he’s had enough. All the while, Black Bolt gives a definitive answer to Thanos about the tribute question.

The Review: Things gets dire before they get better. This is something that writers knows very well to do, as tension and drama adds much more to a story instead of an even-level or smaller happenstances. Considering the cyclical nature of most stories in our general culture and how superheroes comics really do stick out in terms of cycle, it rings even more true when it comes to events.

In the tie-ins and the main book, the war against the Builders and the arrival of Thanos on Earth had not exactly been without any struggle for our heroes, which built up the importance and the level of the conflicts rather sharply, which is good when it comes to event comics. However, something that many writers try to accomplish, with varying results, would be something I’d like to call the ”Oh snap!” moments. Those scenes are usually the result of build up, resulting in the payoff being immensely surprising or satisfying to the readers. While those moments are subjective to the readers, there are perhaps two of such moments that could very well be established as such in this issue alone.

However, to arrive at those moments of pure super heroic pleasure, Jonathan Hickman makes good use of the two fronts he has established with both of his titles. This time, the issue is divided exactly in two, with one portion completely devoted to the Builders cosmic war and the second half delegated to the Earth, with special devotion to the Inhuman side of the conflict. The pacing for both of those scenes is especially well done, as the comic has a forward momentum that never allows it to spin its wheel incessantly. There is a good balance between exposition, narration, development and action that do bring out the grandeur of this tale that unfolded in the pages of both Avengers and New Avengers.

Avengers #19 – Review

by Jonathan Hickman (Writer), Leinil Francis Yu, Gerry Alanguilan (Artists), Sunny Gho (Colorist)

The Story: Captain Marvel is captured by the builders as the Avengers and the Galactic Council rest after their battle, tending to their wounded. All the while, a traitor is in their midst…

The Review: It’s an usual and unfortunate thing that event comics drag some other titles in their large plot. It doesn’t always mean it’s a bad thing, but plenty of titles have seen their momentum being a bit lost as several elements of a story that isn’t integral to their own plot and subplots gets shoved in the way. This can destroy the flow and sometime even mean that the readers shall suffer through some plug-ins of other characters and elements alien to their book, which makes it much less enjoyable for those that don’t want anything from those events to begin with.
There are also those that are integral to the story structure, those that actually add something to the whole event or use them in ways that feel organic to the whole narrative. Those are rare, to be sure, but much appreciated, like Journey Into Mystery for Matt Fraction’s Fear Itself or Guardians of the Galaxy for War of Kings. Instead of having to contend with these elements, those stories included them naturally, making them that much stronger for the duration of the event.

What Jonathan Hickman has done with Avengers is even more rare, as he has built up a whole lot of plot points and conflicts throughout his tenure on the title, resulting in an event comics, Infinity. The event, having its own book, is split up in two fronts which are covered by the same author with each of them being in one of the two books. This has caused the main Avengers book to receive a much-needed shot in the arm after what was basically seventeen issues of foreshadowing as Hickman shows full cosmic actions in this title.

Continuing where the last issues of Avengers and Infinity left off, the team is divided in two as those with Captain Marvel are in captivity while the rest are with the Galactic Council. While the comic switch from two perspectives, it juggles very well with both plots at it manage to connect the two together. The pacing is good as there are multiple events in this comic, with many great development brought to the forefront as well as some good character moments.

Annihilation (TPB) Volumes #1-3 – Review

By Various

When this series came out a couple of years ago, I picked up the first two issues and was so completely lost that I never bothered to pick up the rest of the series. The problem was that there were “prologue” books that came before, opening up the storylines and the characters of the series. Well, I missed out on those books. and after hearing many raves regarding this crossover from friends, I decided to give it another shot. Thankfully, Marvel was kind enough to put the series in chronological order when it compiled this series into three trade paperbacks. It all makes sense to me now, and boy did I miss out on one heck of a story.

Before I get into what this story’s about, let it be known that you don’t need to know much or even anything of Marvel’s cosmic continuity to enjoy it. Trust me, because I pretty much have never kept up with this stuff either. I always thought Nova (at least from the New Warriors) was a little boring, Silver Surfer was a cool concept that never really grabbed my attention, and the Skrulls and Kree were just kind of silly. Then you have Thanos, who, thanks to Jim Starlin’s ego and vanity, was always a completely bloated and lame character. But with Annihilation, all your preconceptions of these characters go out the window. Sure, at times, they are portrayed as a bit too silly with their monologues and one-liners (“This ends now!” is said like six times throughout the series), but those moments are few. Instead, these characters are humanized, triumphant, and set on a destiny of greatness (and tradgedy).

The prologue issues go into great depth, explaining who the main cast of characters are and their motives. By the time we get to the actual Annihilation storyline, we’ve got all the information we need to dig in and enjoy it for what it is. What also helps are a series of “biography files” inserted at the end of each issue, explaining the main characters, their backgrounds, and powers. We get a good understanding of what’s at stake in the whole scheme of things. The Annihilation Wave is unlike any force seen in the Marvel Universe. It destroys planets, reaps the dead, and frees ancient evil from captivity.

Knowing that this wave cannot be stopped alone, an uneasy alliance is formed and a huge cosmic war commences. How the heroes on Earth can be so oblivious of the bigger picture and not lend a hand to this galatic conflict is beyond me. Annihilation is, in my opinion, the best crossover event that Marvel has ever done. Released during a time when Civil War was king and DC’s 52 was queen, Annihilation imposed a strong storyline on many galaxies set within the Marvel Universe. It literally changed the cosmic make up of the universe.

What Annihilus does is castastrophic. The epic events his invasion puts into motion make Civil War seem like squashing an ant hill. Imagine Thanos finally meeting his maker or Galactus being captured and used as a universal weapon of mass destruction. This is the kind of large scale stuff I’m talking about here, folks! More people peope die in this series than if you combined all the issues of Marvel’s back catalog. I mean, you have the Skrull Empire which loses more than half of its population to this war. And yet, these goons want to invade Earth after the fact? This, I don’t get.
It’s such a shame that this storyline never got the attention it really deserved. If you’re still on the fence, I urge you to pick up the trades. If you’re tired of big crossover events not delivering or being retconned within months after their release, Annihilation will reinvigorate your excitment in these events. (Grade: A)

– J. Montes