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| AVENGERS No. 3, August 2018 |
Pausing only to provide its audience with incontrovertible
proof as to what a “full-power jerk” Tony Stark is, Jason Aaron’s treatment for
“Where Space Gods Go To Die” pretty much picks up with precisely the same
pulse-pounding pace as its preceding publication by presenting a series of
dramatic action-packed sequences involving She-Hulk, Ghost Rider, Doctor
Strange and the Black Panther. In fact, with the notable exception of Loki Laufeyson
explaining to Steve Rogers just why the “naughty star-spangled boy” failed in
his attempt to “murder a sorcerer of my calibre… by throwing said sorcerer into
the Sun”, there probably isn’t a dull moment in the Alabama-born writer’s
narrative until Colonel Carol Danvers finally informs the rest of the anxiously-waiting
Avengers that the Alpha Flight space programme have confirmed Captain America
is still alive and has been teleported away by the God of Mischief; “Of course
he is. That old man will outlive us all.”
Such sense-shattering shenanigans, superbly pencilled by
Paco Medina and Ed McGuinness, could admittedly have become a little wearisome
for this comic’s audience if there was little plot progression to accompany it,
but fortunately nearly every blow thrown seems to advance the story further on,
especially Jennifer Walters and Roberto Reyes’ rollercoaster of a ride down
towards the centre of the Earth, and subsequent rendezvous with a beleaguered Sorcerer Supreme and T’Challa. This disconcerting ‘rescue’ from an underground
army of ferocious spider-sized robots is fantastically penned and provides both
a genuine belly laugh moment as the Master of the Mystic Arts apologizes to his
flaming-headed saviour for “throwing up so many times” in “his demon-possessed
car”, and also finally brings the “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes” together just in
time for Iron Man to demonstrate just why the character was only ranked twelfth
on “IGN's Top 100 Comic Book Heroes in 2011”.
Indeed, the founding member of the super-group really
comes across as an especially dislikeable fool in Issue Three of “Avengers” as
he arrogantly blames Captain Marvel for “the giant dead bodies” which
have been falling from the sky, accuses the Human/Kree hybrid for having previously
put him in a coma, and then rudely dismisses the man “who just drove to the
centre of the Earth and back” simply because he doesn’t know “this Spooky and
the Bandit guy.” Such utter condescending haughtiness on behalf of the new team’s
armoured leader is incredibly infuriating, and alongside his subsequent disregard
of the savage She-Hulk’s help, arguably must have sadly convinced a few disenchanted perusing
bibliophiles to place this twenty-page periodical back upon the spinner rack.
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| Writer: Jason Aaron, and Artists: Paco Medina & Ed McGuinness |
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