Avengers [2018] #12 - Marvel Comics

AVENGERS No. 12, March 2019

Whilst “Marvel Worldwide” wanted this title’s audience to believe that “it’s hard to run the Avengers without a support staff”, it was probably a whole lot harder for many of this comic’s 52,427 readers to process the plethora of comic book super-heroes Jason Aaron desperately tried to crowbar into his narrative. In fact, at its most basic level the American author’s storyline for “The Agents Of Wakanda” is arguably little more than a twenty-page procession of some of the New York-based publisher’s lowest-tiered crime-fighters and anti-heroes; “As for the others… How are there not better available candidates than this? Was there recently a super hero massacre of which I was not made aware of?”

Admittedly, having recently become the leader of “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes”, King T'Challa’s desire to create a network of “intelligence gatherers” makes considerable sense if “the most powerful super-team in recent memory” are actually going to become an international resource for truth and justice, as opposed to it simply being a ‘puppet’ for S.H.I.E.L.D. or the United States Government. But so bizarre are some of the Inkpot Award-winner’s choices that the roster debatably smacks of the writer simply throwing out a plethora of seldom-seen characters, such as American Eagle, Broo and Doctor Nemesis, in the hope that the odd “agent” will somehow resonate with this book’s bibliophiles.

Aaron also seems to have taken a fair few disagreeable liberties with the personality of Ka-Zar, questionably turning the once proud Lord of the Savage Land” into an unrecognisable foil for Okoye, leader of the Dora Milaje and Director of the Agents of Wakanda. Kevin Plunder's history dates back as far as the mid-Sixties and resultantly has provided him with a proven track record working alongside some of the greatest super-heroes known. Yet, in this story, the eldest son of a British nobleman has to first pass an audition so as to be deemed worthy to join a ground crew which has already recruited Gorilla-Man as the Chief of Security for Avengers Mountain apparently without any trial being warranted..?

Luckily, this publication’s puzzling plot does ‘enjoy’ the visual stimulus of Ed McGuinness and Cory Smith’s pencilling, which in the majority of cases makes the word-heavy discussions between Black Panther and the likes of Odin, at least pleasantly palatable. However, the artwork does suffer from some noticeable inconsistencies, courtesy of editor Tom Brevoort apparently employing three different inkers in order to ensure the book made its deadline at the Printers.

Writer: Jason Aaron, Artists: Ed McGuiness & Cory Smith, and Color Artist: Erick Arciniega