Writers: Jed MacKay, Kalinda Vazquez / Pencillers: C. F. Villa, Ivan Fiorelli, Alba Glez, Greg Land, Jay Leisten, Patch Ziircher, Salvador Larroca / Inker: Elisabetta D'Amico (Avengers #6: The Truth Is Out There / Colour Artists: Federico Blee, Matt Milla, Frank D'Armata / Letterers: VC's Cory Petit, Ariana Maher / Editors: Martin Biro, Annalise Bissa, Tom Brevoort / TP / Collects: Avengers (2023) #1-#6, Timeless (2022) #1 / Marvel Comics
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Review by: Paul Dunne
Date (Released: 10th January 2024)
The Pitch: The Star. The Icon. The Witch. The Construct. The God. The Engineer. The King. In a time of Tribulations, they will answer the call as Earth's Mightiest Heroes! But when the towering Terminus attacks, a new and insidious danger rears its head. One that the Avengers know all too well, and one who comes to them in the most dangerous of guises: that of a friend! Soon, the Ashen Combine, a collection of the Multiverse's greatest monsters, descends from the Impossible City - and they destroy metropolitan areas for sport! The Avengers face the battle of their lives - and one will fall. But will the Impossible City fall with them? And what kind of doom might be unleashed upon the Earth as a consequence? Plus: Kang the Conqueror searches for the missing moment!
Outside of their cinematic counterparts, I’ve always found The Avengers difficult to get into. Partly, it’s the fact that Marvel’s timeline is one ongoing arc, where the histories of the characters are all ever-present. Although The Avengers fly from crisis to crisis, they never really face a Crisis on Infinite… Well, you get what I’m saying. It all feels too daunting. Still, with Kang around – at least at the start of this series – perhaps someone will find us a decent entry point. Or maybe it’s not Kang we should look to… Perhaps the real Conqueror here is writer Jed Mackay? Mackay has come from safely guiding Moon Knight through the trials and tribulations of death after life and vice-versa, making a hit book or two along the way, to become one of THE architects of the Marvel Universe and once you read this first volume, it’s easy to see why. He manages to combine the science speculation and big ideas of Hickman with the humanity of Busiek, both having served stints as Avengers captains.
So where are we with this iteration of The Avengers? With most of the players still reeling from Judgement Day, the overall feeling here is one of atonement. Whilst no one is asking the big ‘Should the Avengers exist?’ question, the individual roster is certainly questioning itself. Some, like T’Challa, have gone into hiding. Some, like Thor, were never off the team. All fall in when asked by new leader Captain Marvel. The Avengers aren’t a team you want to see kicking back and eating shawarma every issue, so you know whatever they’re going to assemble for is going to be big and this first arc (actually beginning with the 2022 Timeless one-shot) doesn’t disappoint size-wise. The team face first Terminus, then as an after-effect of that battle gets a world-ending crisis to try and defeat. The Avengers work best in huge settings, with huge threats and the creative team embraces that. If the choice is go big or go home, they certainly won’t be seeing their front doors for a while. This moves not just to space, but to null-space, beyond time, where Kang waits to be found so he can… join The Avengers?
Well, certainly waiting to come to their aid, which in itself is a turn of events you may not have been expecting. As with all good superhero comics, there’s always a bigger enemy and the team finds one in The Ashen Combine, a group of intergalactic terrorists who are part Tarot symbols, part Avengers-inspired. Look closely and you find the parallels between the two enemies. Which seems to be Mackay’s way of saying that your greatest enemy will ultimately be yourself. The individual Avengers face off against members of The Combine they seemed designed, or perhaps destined, to defeat – but only if they employ a little of what The Combine has in abundance: Ego! Meanwhile, Sam Wilson and T’Challa are in dialogue with The Impossible City itself, a slave whom perhaps due to the generational injustices heaped upon people of colour, only they can understand. Mackay seems to have taken inspiration from Grant Morrison and Richard Case’s version of The Doom Patrol, with The Ashen Combine having hints of the Brotherhood of Dada and in the living, sentient Impossible City, Danny The Street, which definitely showcases some out-of-the-box thinking for a large-scale superhero book.
C.F. Villa and latterly, Ivan Fiorelli (who takes up the art mantle for issues five and six), create a good, solid superhero book. They display a fast-slowing, clearly told line of action throughout the run that indicates a manga influence, but also the sense of big landscape that you get from European comics, as well as a fine eye for detail, especially in their faces. They really sell the drama with their expressions and movements. You never feel lost or wonder where you are with the geography of a panel, scene, or page. Their low angles create a sense of awe for the characters as if you’re seated in the room as another emergency goes down. Federico Blee’s colouring brings a great palette to the book, infusing the action with the glow and warning of fire and electricity, and the phosphorous buzz of the dead rising from graves. Cory Petit once again steps up to show his lettering muscle, doing a grand job (one that he never fails to do). I sadly don’t have time to mention all the great work that was done on the 2022 Timeless one-shot (included here for its ties to the main story), but rest assured, it’s a worthwhile read and key to getting more out of the main book. Also worth your time also is the backup story in Avengers #6 by Kalinda Vazquez, Alba Glez, Elisabetta D'Amico and Matt Milla, which provides a nice aftermath to the action. All in all, this version of The Avengers has been well-assembled as has the team creating the book!
The Avengers: The Impossible City is available now.
