The stakes are revealed.
Creative Staff:
Story: Jonathan Hickman
Art: Steve Epting
What They Say:
The Illuminati gather to plan for the death of everything. Infinity gems, old wounds, lies, agendas and universal incursions are all on the agenda!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Having stayed out of the Avengers books for quite a few years, I found myself drawn in late last year when I got the first issue of New Avengers as part of a twelve days of Christmas free program. What then happened was that the first trade got put on sale for a couple of bucks, so I found myself able to read more of what had intrigued me. That first installment, with its focus on Black Panther and Wakanda, worked because it brought everything down to a very human level, a very natural level, so you had a character to empathize with. And as we worked through it, things went to a scale beyond what most can easily comprehend in reality as T’Challa’s encounter with Black Swan ended with her destroying a whole other other in another timeline. That’s just hard to process, which is why he called in the Illuminati side of the Avengers, a side that he’s had no real desire to involve himself in for quite some time.
And he does get called out for that here, as he’s not gone to them when they’ve requested his help for various missions to deal with and there’s a kind of tension there. A lot of it stems from Namor and T’Challa as the two have very serious issues as Namor has caused a lot of Wakandan death and destruction before and shows no humility over it all while being kept out of sight of others. T’Challa works well here in making his own threat clear about how Namor should behave while in the country, but he also makes it clear that he will do his damndest to kill Namor after all is said and done for what happened. That sets up the right kind of tension, especially as they’re going to have to work together for awhile with what’s ahead. While we often see different kinds of tension between various characters, something like this feels even sharper and more intense.
Reed’s time with Black Swan fills him in on everything that she knows, which when combined with what T’Challa had seen, makes it clear that there’s either a systemic issue with how reality works as different timelines are going to start crashing into each other and causing massive destruction on an incomprehensible scale, or someone is actively doing this, creating these Incursion points where worlds touch and either one or both is destroyed, which then causes the next Incursion to begin. The book spends its time being rather matter of fact, appropriate for the power levels and ages involved here, and it works well by essentially having most of it with the group sitting at a table and calmly talking things out, making a plan. Such as having Reed, T’Challa and Tony work on some early detection gear while the rest are off on another mission.
That mission is what’s interesting, though. Because of the nature of the event, they realize they may have to make hard choices about protecting this timeline at the expense of others. But Steve also knows there’s another choice, and that’s to use a different power as they have most of the Infinity Gems spread between them. Using that to try and stave off complete destruction isn’t a surprise, if you have a power, use it, but they have the problem of getting the Mind Gem that Xavier was in possession of. His death complicates that, but it gives Namor, Black Bolt and Captain America a goal to work towards. All while trying to process this idea that the end of their entire timeline could happen – and that who knows how many other timelines are ending that very minute because of these Incursions.
In Summary:
I admit it, I like books where characters sit around and talk. While we get some threats made and a little recap to provide a touch of action, the bulk of this is all about the exposition. And if you’re going to setup more of what’s to come, especially as this is one of the turning points that pushes us towards the Secret Wars event that’s happening this year, it makes sense to take the time to really lay it out, the complications of it and why those involved are working in secret at first in order to stop it. This isn’t the simple Avengers of old going off into battle and doing what they can. This is a group of very powerful and experienced people acknowledging what’s at stake and working towards the best conclusion they can. It’s heavy-handed at times, but wholly appropriate overall with where it wants to go while still being rather personal and intriguing with how the various subplots as they evolve can play out. It’s definitely a solid book that makes it very easy to invest in the concept and the larger goals with it all being laid out like this – and not in the heat of battle.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Marvel Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: January 16th, 2013
MSRP: $3.99
