Midnight Suns: Blood Hunt #3 - Marvel Comics

MIDNIGHT SONS: BLOOD HUNT No. 3, September 2024

It’s probably a fair bet that many a reader was rather disappointed with Bryan Hill’s script for Issue Three of “Midnight Sons: Blood Hunt”, considering that the vampireless comic doesn’t contain any sort of showdown between Blade and his former comrades whatsoever. In fact, up until this twenty-page periodical’s conclusion – which frankly feels like a bolt-on when the American author realised his ‘play by the numbers’ plot was going to fall significantly short - there’s not even a glimpse of Eric Brook’s sword-slashing alter-ego to be found despite its publisher’s pre-print solicitation promise to the contrary.

Instead, any bibliophiles picking this mini-series’ final instalment up will be faced with the “now (mostly) banded together” titular characters disconcertingly confronting a demonic clown in an Illinois hospital. Admittedly, this bemusing twist definitely contains a few terrifying scenes as Danny Ketch, Vicki Montesi and Johnny Blaze all appear to abandon a local nurse to a gruesome fate (possibly worse than death). But such is the team's confidence to trounce the worm-infested walking cadaver that the storytelling quickly becomes almost sedentary once it becomes clear that the petrified health worker was simply being used as bait; “You are bound. Embodiment of darkness. Bound in this form. And once banished, never shall you return.”

Furthermore, for some utterly bizarre reason Tamlyn Hamato seems to leave the paranormal super-heroes to the battle by ‘exiting stage left’ just as the fearsome fight begins. This baffling departure ‘off-screen’ debatably makes a complete mockery of just why Tulip was brought into the book in the first place, as the three devil-hunting comrades-in-arms all seemed perfectly willing to be drawn together without her influence anyway. Indeed, somewhat uncharitably, the Chicago-born screenwriter could be criticised for including the Japanese arms dealer simply so he could pointlessly pen her walking the sun-drenched streets of Chiang Mai, Thailand some “weeks after the defeat of Varnae and his blood hunt” and finding a heavily-bearded Blade.

Possibly just as perturbed by this bizarre sequence of events as the audience is German Peralta, who pencils some rather lack-lustre, lifeless panels depicting Montesi trying the convince Julie that she needs to face her greatest fear so it can physically manifest itself in our dimension. Some of the illustrator’s panels genuinely look like reused sketches from earlier in the layouts (or even page), and debatably lack a lot of dynamic energy any onlooker might expect from a frightful undead fun-fair attraction stalking the living.

The regular cover art to "MIDNIGHT SONS: BLOOD HUNT" #3 by Ken Lashley & Juan Fernandez

Midnight Suns: Blood Hunt #2 - Marvel Comics

MIDNIGHT SONS: BLOOD HUNT No. 2, August 2024

Despite starting with a scene seemingly stolen straight out Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 psychological horror film “The Shining”, there’s arguably still plenty to enjoy with Bryan Hill’s narrative for Issue Two of “Midnight Sons: Blood Hunt”. Indeed, no sooner has the audience waded through Victoria Montesi’s blood-drenched nightmare, than they are whisked away to the vampire-stalked corridors of a partially-deserted hospital in Springfield, Illinois for an enjoyable, pulse-pounding confrontation with a skin-shredding revenant; “I have so much pain inside me… Pain I want to share… with you.”

This tense, adrenalin fuelled chase scene genuinely doesn’t look good for the poor female nurse who finds herself at the fanged fiend’s not-so-tender mercy, and right up until the flame-fuelled Ghost Rider makes an impressive last-minute appearance, everything penned by the American author appears to lead the understandably terrified woman towards a truly grisly demise. Likewise things look similarly glum for the titular characters when their former friend Eric Brooks shocking crashes into the middle of their latest congregation and appears on the verge of dispatching at least a couple of the super-powered protagonists with his deadly sharp sword.

Quite possibly this twenty-page periodical’s best moment however, doesn’t come until its very end, when it’s revealed that Blade was merely trying to lure his ex-team-mates away from the infirmary so that some unseen demonic “sleeper of Hell” could cross over into our dimension. So disconcerting a plot twist really is very well delivered by the Chicago-born writer, and debatably occurs just as the audience are probably expecting the supernatural troupe to somehow follow their one-time mentor straight out of the clinic’s smashed multi-storey window.

Proficiently pencilling all this action is German Peralta, whose sketches of the aforementioned vampire literally clawing his flesh off of his head are well worth a “parental advisory” warning alone. Furthermore, the Argentinian artist does a cracking job in making the reader drop their guard with the ‘quiet’ of the hospital’s empty canteen. This serene atmosphere is disconcertingly peaceful, and resultantly makes the Daywalker’s dramatic entrance all the impactive as it completely shatters the calm nature of the moment in an instant.

The regular cover art to "MIDNIGHT SONS: BLOOD HUNT" #2 by Ken Lashley & Juan Fernandez

Midnight Suns: Blood Hunt #1 - Marvel Comics

MIDNIGHT SONS: BLOOD HUNT No. 1, July 2024

It is difficult to imagine that many fans of action and terror were truly satisfied with Bryan Hill’s narrative for Issue One of “Midnight Sons: Blood Hunt”, no matter how hopeful the American Author was during this mini-series’ pre-publication launch interview in February 2024. True, the thirty-page periodical definitely contains some high-octane action sequences, alongside a disconcertingly dark journey into a haunted cave in El Fasha, Iraq. But considering that large chunks of this comic consist of little more than conversational pieces, a lot of the storytelling’s dynamism has arguably already been negated by the time Tulip encounters a warband of vampire mercenaries in the desert.

Indeed, so much of this book appears to simply depict Tamlyn Hamato just nonchalantly talking to the likes of Danny Ketch and Johnny Blaze as part of her recruitment drive to tackle an utterly villainous Blade, rather than the tale actually explaining just how the “clairvoyant Japanese arms dealer” knows where to find the former super-team’s members, or that the Daywalker has even turned treacherously rogue. Much of this legwork was presumably obtained ‘off-screen’ and through her numerous contacts in the underworld. However, this unwillingness on the part of the writer to even summarise any of this, and instead simply signpost that Eric Brooks has been empowered by Dracula, debatably smacks of an assumption on Hill’s part that the reader has already consumed the entirety of his run as writer on the recently cancelled 2023 “Blade” series.

Such a shortfall of context also somewhat seems to permeate the Ghost Rider’s subsequent demand that Tulip help him first before the Midnight Sons will help her. Just why the Spirit of Vengeance and his predecessor need the help of a ‘mortal’, no matter how large the bazooka she carries into combat, is never explained, nor the reason behind why Blaze and Ketch needed to specifically destroy a thing from the Darkforce Dimension in the first place..? Unless they simply felt it was too dangerous a living weapon for the vampires to own..?

Ultimately, quite a bit of this comic’s palpable lethargy disappointingly also seems to stem from German Peralta’s layouts, which even when crammed full of explosions, flesh-tearing bullets and deadly sword slashes, seemingly lack the raw energy which so attracted Stan Lee to Jim Steranko’s artwork in the Sixties. Indeed, despite the Argentinian illustrator prodigiously pencilling an incredibly violent splash page showing the Ghost Rider riding straight through the aforementioned tentacled beastie from elsewhere, the picture appears to be devoid of the ‘oomph’ a bibliophile might ordinarily expect from such a sense-shattering shenanigan.

The regular cover art to "MIDNIGHT SONS: BLOOD HUNT" #1 by Ken Lashley & Juan Fernandez

Ghost Rider/Wolverine: Weapons Of Vengeance Omega #1 - Marvel Comics

GHOST RIDER/WOLVERINE: WEAPONS OF VENGEANCE OMEGA No. 1, November 2023

Opening up with as bloodthirsty a welcome as any one new to this “brutal team-up” could want, Benjamin Percy’s script for Issue One of “Ghost Rider/Wolverine: Weapons Of Vengeance Omega” also arguably does a good job of bringing such oblivious bibliophiles bang up to speed with what’s occurred in this mini-series’ previous instalments. Admittedly, much of this context is established via a significantly wordy summary at the comic’s start. However, this initial ‘info dump’ is then enthrallingly built upon by Talia Warroad, when she decides to enlighten the hapless Jeff Bannister as to the birth of Bagra-Ghul, and the demon’s subsequent grafting onto baby Bram’s body.

Such ‘straight to the point’ penmanship easily allows the audience to subsequently experience Hellverine’s internal battle when it comes to the hellfire-flamed killer being ordered to murder an infant mutant, whose parents have just ruthlessly incinerated an innocent family simply for the crime of owning the “biggest house on the neighbourhood”. This diabolical dilemma really lies at the very heart of the thirty-page plot’s resolution, establishing a line in the sand that even a heavily mind controlled Logan won’t easily cross, and one that enables the X-Man to mentally fight back for command of his adamantium-laced body; “I got your pitchfork right here.”

Likewise, the American author delivers when it comes to pitching the two titular characters against one another in an exhilarating, dynamically drawn action sequence by artist Geoff Shaw. Indeed, this ‘white knuckle ride’ repeatedly ‘wrong-foots’ the reader by persistently suggesting that perhaps one of the finale’s onlookers is about to die during the conflict - Whether that be Bram, Father Pike, or the gun-toting C.I.A. agent who “really preferred my life before I met you and Johnny”.

Lastly, Percy should be congratulated for providing both the aforementioned Warroad and Bannister with plenty of beguiling personality throughout the sense-shattering shenanigans on show. It would have been all-too easy for the writer to solely focus upon just the Ghost Rider and Wolverine for this book. But instead, both the former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and her slightly reluctant partner-in-crime prove integral to infiltrating Weapon Plus’ Headquarters, and bringing the programme administrator’s deadly plans to a fiery end.

The regular cover of "GHOST RIDER/WOLVERINE: WEAPONS OF VENGEANCE OMEGA" #1 by Ryan Stegman

Ghost Rider/Wolverine: Weapons Of Vengeance Alpha #1 - Marvel Comics

GHOST RIDER/WOLVERINE: WEAPONS OF VENGEANCE ALPHA No. 1, October 2023

Packed full of spine-chilling supernatural shenanigans, and some truly disconcerting physical horror, most bibliophiles perusing Issue One of “Ghost Rider/Wolverine: Weapons Of Vengeance Alpha” probably agreed with its New York City-based publisher that its “hotshot writer” Benjamin Percy was indeed “a master at crafting hair-raising sagas for Marvel’s most hardcore anti-heroes.” In fact, those readers caught up with its narrative about “a demonic serial killer [who] is murdering innocent mutants” would be hard-pressed to find any faults with this thirty-one-page periodical.

To begin with, the American author decides to depict the titular characters’ “(never before seen!) first meeting” via a well-penned flashback, and in doing so transports this comic’s audience back to a classic era of the Uncanny X-Men, when Professor Charles Xavier was busy mentoring the likes of Colossus, Storm, Angel, Nightcrawler and Shadowcat. These scenes set “many years ago” genuinely tap into an ultra-nostalgic vein, and also help sell a significant plot twist when it at first appears that super-powered little Bram Straub will swiftly receive safety inside the School for Gifted Youngsters; “Nobody wants him… including the Orphanage he keeps returning to.”

Just as enthralling though is the terrifying creature which lurks within the poor boy’s soul and seemingly comes out whenever the youngster is disappointed or upset. Somehow able to readily defeat the most formidable of Logan’s team-mates within a matter of minutes, this giant, flame-headed entity readily grabs all the attention whenever it manifests itself – especially when his appearance results in the formation of a stomach-churning flesh column which consists of various hapless children’s twisted corpses.

Readily willing and able to assist Percy in this book’s storytelling is “acclaimed artist Geoff Shaw” of “Thanos” and “Guardians Of The Galaxy” fame. The illustrator does a first-rate job of making the ordinarily warm and welcoming X-Mansion as creepy as possible once tiny Straub crosses its threshold during an electrical storm. Whilst simultaneously prodigiously pencilling Johnny Blaze’s jaw-dropping attempt to break the record of jumping eighteen burning buses on a motorbike. In addition, the University of New Mexico graduate wonderfully captures both the fiery menace of the Ghost Rider and dangerous, quick-moving mannerisms of Wolverine, once the pair clash heads towards this publication’s end.

The regular cover of "GHOST RIDER/WOLVERINE: WEAPONS OF VENGEANCE ALPHA" #1 by Ryan Stegman

Avengers [2018] #11 - Marvel Comics

AVENGERS No. 11, February 2019

Considering that the high-point of Jason Aaron’s narrative for Issue Eleven of “Avengers” is arguably Thor snogging in the Savage Lands with the She-Hulk, it is probably a safe bet that many of this book’s 52,820 readers could well understand just why the title saw a disconcerting drop in sales of almost twenty five thousand copies in December 2018. Indeed, despite this twenty-page periodical featuring some of the most flamboyant international superheroes in the Marvel Universe, such as Captain Britain, Michael Twoyoungmen, Arabian Knight and Shiro Yoshida’s fiery alter-ego Sunfire, the Alabama-born writer’s plot doesn’t get any more exciting than having Ursa Major teleported back to Siberia for forgetting his table manners, and a deluded Phil Coulson apparently gunning down a mysterious victim in cold-blood simply because the bound figure refuses to denounce Captain Rogers as a traitor..?

Instead, this comic seemingly offers some nonsensical insights into Robbie Reyes’ homework memorising “Steve’s super villain recognition quizzes”, and the God of Thunder enjoying “turkey legs, mead and dinosaurs” whilst dating an utterly bored Jennifer Walters in Ka-Zar’s kingdom. Admittedly, there is some fun to be had from watching the Ghost Rider desperately plead his case to Captain Marvel that he shouldn’t need to study having “single-handedly defeated the Final Host”, and Jen’s suddenly realisation as to how deep Odinson apparently cares for her when he finally opens up as to his true feelings for the former member of the Fantastic Four. But, alongside the Black Panther’s ‘star-studded’ International Super-Summit, such interludes disappointingly provide the backbone of this book’s contents.

Frustratingly, this publication’s interior artwork doesn’t do much to help remove the impression that the entire comic was only printed as a ‘filler edition’ either. It’s clear, just from the first appearance of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s former Supreme Commander and Thor’s riotous obsession with warring battle dragons, that both Ed McGuiness and Cory Smith are prodigious pencillers. However, there are only so many splash pages a bibliophile can surely peruse featuring either Coulson or King T'Challa, before it becomes abundantly obvious that Aaron’s script was distinctly lacking in content; “I apologise for the disturbance. But we should not allow this unfortunate business to derail our summit. We have much to discuss. Iron Men. Clean up this mess.”

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

Avengers [2018] #10 - Marvel Comics

AVENGERS No. 10, January 2019

Publicised as a “heroic 700th issue”, and shifting enough copies to make it the ninth best-selling book in November 2018, Jason Aaron’s narrative for “The Battle For The Right To Be Called… Earth’s Mightiest” certainly shouldn’t have caused much disappointment for its 77,715 readers. For whilst the oversized, thirty-two page periodical debatably plods along somewhat at the beginning as the Soviet Super-Soldiers are reformed under the leadership of Dmitri Bukharin - the newly appointed Minister of Superhuman Defence, and Steve Rogers makes it crystal clear to an agitated General Ross that “the Avengers don’t work for any [one] country”, its plot soon throws together a truly breath-taking roster of the Marvel Universe’s most formidable heroes and villains.

Indeed, it’s hard to imagine a more crowded confrontation this side of “Secret Wars” or “Civil War” than that depicted at the international undersea biosphere known as Hydropolis, as King Namor’s Defenders Of The Deep, the Avengers and the new Winter Guard all cataclysmically collide with one another over the future sovereignty of the planet’s oceans. Admittedly, some of the Sub-Mariner’s troupe, such as the Piranhas, King Crab and Manowar, aren’t widely regarded as some the Marvel Universe’s biggest hitters. But a battle which incorporates at least three deities, the Avenging Son, Captain Marvel, Iron Man, She-Hulk and Captain America should not be treated lightly.

In addition, almost all of this impressive cast are given a moment to shine within the Alabama-born writer's script, whether it be Perun and Chernobog’s fragile alliance swiftly breaking down over which is to strike Namor's final blow, the increasingly intriguing Red Widow monitoring her team-mates’ performance so as to recommend any terminations, or Ghost Rider’s utter astonishment at facing zombie sharks. Perhaps unsurprisingly however, it is Atlantis’ monarch who receives the greatest share of the spotlight, with Aaron penning the underwater hybrid as a complete homicidal maniac who openly threatens to kill Black Panther in front of the biosphere’s scientists, and even momentarily looks set to lethally attack his old World War Two comrade, Captain America; “I’m right here. Come kill me. Old friend.”

Adding tonnes of tension to these sense-shattering shenanigans are David Marquez and Ed McGuiness’ layouts. The London-born illustrator pencils some wonderfully impactive panels reintroducing this book’s audience to the likes of an ever-eager Major Mikhail Ursus and the fatalistic former KGB operative Bukharin. Whilst the famed “Superman” illustrator takes on the lion’s share of the work, piecing together an incredibly fast-paced patchwork of punches, kicks, shield throws and explosions, the majority of which occur with the combatants waist-deep in water.

Writer: Jason Aaron, Artists: David Marquez & Ed McGuiness, and Letterer: VC's Cory Petit

Avengers [2018] #9 - Marvel Comics

AVENGERS No. 9, December 2018

Whilst Bill Everett’s creation Namor has arguably always been portrayed as a holier-than-thou, pompous anti-hero, it is doubtful many within this comic’s 58,185 readers were expecting the paranoid Human/Atlantean hybrid to show quite such a lethal willingness to believe the worst of land-dwellers as he undoubtedly does in Issue Nine of “Avengers”. In fact, the King of Atlantis appears so determined to play the insane, homicidal arch-villain in Jason Aaron’s “The Defenders Of The Deep”, that it’s hard to reconcile the Alabama-born writer’s incarnation of the Sub-Mariner with that of the man who was once actually a well-respected member of this comic’s titular team; “This man is an invader in my realm. And invaders will no longer be tolerated. War Sharks. Finish him.”

Happily however, the Defender’s downward spiral into the darkest depths of his unstable personality provides this twenty-page periodical with some thoroughly memorable moments, including the truly sickening, cold-hearted murder of the hero Stingray, who was supposedly one of Namor’s “oldest friends from the surface world.” Walter Newell’s demise really is incredibly well-penned by the Inkpot Award-winner, with the hapless oceanographer being brutally beaten so mercilessly by the Scourge of the Seven Seas that even the horrifically savage Tiger Shark visibly blanches at its severity.

Somewhat less vicious, though just as surprising, is the Sub-Mariner’s apparent ability to hold off the latest roster of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes single-handedly. Marvel's First and Mightiest Mutant has always been one of the publisher’s more formidable powerhouses, especially when submerged, fighting beneath the waves. Yet his ability to withstand both Thor’s Asgardian hammer and Iron Man’s technologically-enhanced grip simultaneously is a stunning achievement, even if the underwater monarch’s strength has been additionally fuelled by “the power of righteous rage!”

Wrapping this tour-de-force up with a pleasing bow are David Marquez’s story-boards, which at times, such as Namor’s all-too brief tussle with the Black Panther, and the aforementioned gory demise of a hapless Stingray, are breathtakingly dynamic. Colour artist Justin Ponsor’s contribution to the murky ambiance of this comic’s deadly deep fathoms can also not be overstated, especially when the book’s sudden return to the bright daylight of the surface world will momentarily blind any perusing bibliophile whose eyes have become accustomed to the rich blue-greens of the Sub-Mariner’s domain.

Writer: Jason Aaron, Artist: David Marquez, and Color Artist: Justin Ponsor

Avengers [2018] #8 - Marvel Comics

AVENGERS No. 8, November 2018

Lacking any notable action whatsoever, unless any of this book’s 58,060 readers felt Captain America’s all-too brief training exercise with Roberto Reyes qualified, Jason Aaron’s somewhat sedentary storyline for Issue Eight of “Avengers” may well have struck many in its audience as being a rather lack-lustre affair when compared to all the sense-shattering shenanigans the eight heroes had previously experienced whilst battling the Celestials for the very future of Humankind. Indeed, apart from an intriguing flashback to the creation of the super-group’s new global headquarters at the North Pole and an off-screen battle aboard a whaling vessel “on the other end of the world”, little else arguably occurs within this twenty-page periodical apart from plenty of wordy-heavy discussions, disputes and disagreements.

Fortunately however, that doesn’t mean for a moment that the Alabama-born author’s narrative isn’t an enjoyable experience, with T’Challa’s exploration of the “desiccated, armoured corpse of an Alpha Celestial who died four billion years ago” posing all sorts of intriguing possibilities for future predicaments in its own right. Doctor Strange’s research into Jennifer Walters’ rocketing “Gamma counts” also looks set to provide the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes with some quite literal explosive exploits, especially if the increasingly strong She-Hulk continues to demonstrate her inability to keep her formidable strength in check as she does when angered by the Sorcerer Supreme’s suggestion to undergo “more testing before you return to the field.”

Of course this comic’s greatest hook though is the utterly barbaric killing of three Fish People who storm the aforementioned fishing ship in an unsuccessful attempt to reach its Bridge. Brutally gunned down for their impudence by the boat’s heavily-armed security team, and then distastefully suspended from one of its sides like any other dead catch of the day, the sudden arrival of a giant squid, alongside the “Avenging Lord of the Seven Seas” is such a truly pulse-pounding moment that it must have had any perusing bibliophile begging their local comic shop owner to pre-order this ongoing title’s subsequent edition with spirited sincerity.

Undoubtedly adding to the grand look of “Inside Avengers Mountain” is David Marquez’s artwork, wonderfully coloured by Justin Ponsor. The University of Texas graduate’s opening splash page depicting Ghost Rider driving up to Avengers Mountain is particularly well-drawn, and really helps put the technologically-advanced place’s sheer size into jaw-dropping perspective.

Writer: Jason Aaron, Artist: David Marquez, and Color Artist: Justin Ponsor

Avengers [2018] #7 - Marvel Comics

AVENGERS No. 7, November 2018

“Featuring Ghost Rider 1,000,000 BC” in a stand-alone origin story set “before the dawn of civilization”, Jason Aaron’s storyline for Issue Seven of “Avengers” probably pleased the vast majority of this comic’s 65,815 strong audience in September 2018 with its intriguing hypothetical insight into the life “of cave folk struggling to survive on the edge of the Big White” and its subsequent depiction of a seemingly unstoppable blood-crazed Wendigo, who in just one night “killed and ate them all.” In fact, it’s arguable that many within this comic’s increasing audience probably wished that “Fire And Bone” was the start of an ongoing series focusing upon the Spirit of Vengeance and “a period of Marvel history that’s never been explored” before, rather than a simple ‘filler’ following the conclusion of the Alabama-born author’s “first explosive arc featuring Earth’s Mightiest Heroes”.

Perhaps foremost of this twenty-page periodical’s biggest draws is the way in which its Inkpot Award-winning writer pens the primitive life of the Neanderthal, at a time when neither names nor speech were even known, and Ghost’s fellow cave-dwellers simply “communicated with grunts and fists.” “Smarter than everyone I knew” the fledgling super-hero’s determination to track down the human-shaped monster who slaughtered his entire clan proves a somewhat mesmerising experience, especially when tired, alone and dying of exposure the young man encounters a giant talking snake called Mephisto and haplessly agrees to the snow-coloured reptile’s generous offer to “make it sso you’re never cold again.”

Of course, in making such a deal the semi-conscious adolescent curses himself to a fiery future, but at least finds himself in a position some five years later where he is sufficiently strong enough to challenge the savage might of the bestial stranger who once slaughtered everyone he knew. Indeed, the Rider’s ensuing battle with Wendigo, complete with Sara Pichelli’s perfectly pencilled woolly mammoths, really does bring this comic to a sense-shattering conclusion as the white-furred ‘feeder upon manflesh’ demonstrates just why his scourge would later prove so difficult for Alpha Flight to overcome in the Modern Age of ‘capes and cowls’, whilst Mephisto’s flame-headed agent has an opportunity to demonstrate his prehistoric powers by drawing the grim skeletal remnants of his opponent’s former feasts into a hellfire-fuelled chain; “The bones say you’ve eaten your fill. Now it’s their turn to feed.”

Writer: Jason Aaron, Artist: Sara Pichelli, and Color Artist: Justin Ponsor

Avengers [2018] #6 - Marvel Comics

AVENGERS No. 6, October 2018

It must arguably have been hard for the majority of this publication’s 58,925 readers to work out just how Jason Aaron’s script for “Planet Of Pathogens” somehow managed to make this particular book the nineteenth-besting selling comic in August 2018. For whilst the Alabama-born author’s action-packed and undeniably pulse-pounding storyline ultimately brings to an end the super-group’s “final battle against the Dark Celestials”, it is debatable as to whether many within its audience actually managed to successfully follow just how “the new team of heavy hitters” were successful in winning “a battle a million years in the making.” Indeed, even the twenty-one page periodical’s heavily-narrated opening sequence debatably provides plenty of head-scratching puzzlement with its bizarre carousel of Man-Thing, Gladiator, Iron Fist and Odin all apparently somehow sensing “the Earth’s peril from afar… with a heavy heart” and bewildering deciding not to do anything about it..?

Dishearteningly, things do not get any better once the book focuses its sole attention upon the giant-sized Avengers fighting “somewhere in Russia”, as despite their enormously exaggerated strength and confidence, Iron Man, She-Hulk, Thor and Ghost Rider seem unable to overpower their silent opponents without resorting to some utterly unfathomable “Uni-Mind” mental merging. True, Jennifer Walters alter-ego, who disconcertingly seems to have developed a peculiar desire to both eat her foe’s bomb-tasting flesh and continue snogging the God of Thunder, does manage to knock Obliteron down to the snow-covered ground. But the blow is soon shrugged off by the blue-skinned Celestial, as the leaders of the Final Host increasingly demonstrate their superiority over the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes by slicing away one of the arms belonging to Tony Stark’s Godkiller Armor MK II and suddenly somehow resurrecting all their fellow dead extra-terrestrial cosmic beings into gigantic zombies.

To make matters even more indecipherable however, the conclusion to Issue Six of “Avengers” is based upon the premise that all of the planet’s super-powered inhabitants are part of “a live virus vaccine” against the Horde, and can therefore defeat the Dark Celestials simply by using “an ancient method the Eternals use to combine their energies.” Somehow united due to Doctor Strange’s incantations and some baffling rewiring by the Black Panther, the heroes inexplicably manage to imbue Robbie Reyes with their coalesced energies and in the publication’s final splash panel are pencilled preparing themselves for a final assault upon their enemies alongside the disconcertingly regenerated good Celestials; “So we’re right back where we started. Still trying to defeat the Final Host.”

Writer: Jason Aaron, and Artists: Paco Medina & Ed McGuinness

Avengers [2018] #5 - Marvel Comics

AVENGERS No. 5, September 2018

Sticking to its reasonably straightforward revelation as to “the startling secret of the Progenitor”, Jason Aaron’s script for Issue Five of “Avengers” must have provided many within its 55,850 strong audience with a thoroughly enjoyable reading experience, which not only parades the increasingly irritating Loki trussed up like a chicken inside the trunk of Ghost Rider’s modified 1969 Dodge Charger. But also staunchly shows an entrapped Captain America bravely blindsiding the God of Mischief with an eye-watering head-butt and boot to the jaw despite being held captive some leagues beneath the icy waters of the North Pole; “You really love to hear yourself talk, don’t you? But who’ll be around to listen once we’ve all been fed to space bugs?”

Delightfully, it isn’t just the star-spangled World War Two veteran who provides “The Secret Origin Of The Marvel Universe” with plenty of punch either, as the Alabama-born author pens plenty of entertaining moments for Flag-head’s team-mates too, most notably Roberto Reyes, whose ability to resurrect a fallen celestial as a giant-sized fiery “All-New, All-Different” incarnation of Eli Morrow’s spirit really helps bring this publication to a jaw-droppingly good cliff-hanger. Indeed, the Inkpot Award-winner manages to imbue his narrative with several such stand-out scenes, like She-Hulk amusingly admitting that Thor and her were busy “smashing and kissing”, Ghost Rider’s human alter-ego having doubts as to whether he’s “more than a car”, Doctor Strange confronting Loki as “the [true] Sorcerer Supreme”, and Tony Stark demonstrating his vast wealth by summoning “the Godkiller Mark II” from where he keeps it “parked on Mars for eventualities such as this.”

Of course, none of these scenes would be anywhere near as fun or impactive if it wasn’t for the vibrantly dynamic artwork of Paco Medina and Ed McGuinness, whose intermingled storyboards are all superbly brought together into a beautifully blended feast for the eyes by David Curiel’s colours. Certainly, it’s hard to imagine a more moving death scene than that of “the first Celestial to ever set foot on the Earth” as the “omnipotent space god”, overcome by a “nasty infection”, pitifully sinks to its knees in its death throes and spews out a disgusting, oil-slick like substance from its maw, only to then have its submerged, partially decayed corpse be revisited four billion years later by Steve Rogers…

Writer: Jason Aaron, and Artists: Paco Medina & Ed McGuinness

Avengers [2018] #4 - Marvel Comics

AVENGERS No. 4, September 2018

Despite “Marvel Worldwide” clearly hoping this comic’s 61,897 readers would focus upon its pre-publication question as to just how the Avengers could “possibly defeat a crew of 2,000-foot-tall, nearly omnipotent Dark Celestials bent on annihilating the human race”, it’s entirely possible many within this twenty-page periodical’s audience were actually more occupied trying to make sense of Jason Aaron’s incredibly choppy and convoluted narrative. Indeed, the sheer number of sub-plots and secondary cast members which the Alabama-born writer crams into “A Battle That Was Lost A Million Years Ago” is bewilderingly breath-taking, with the likes of Agamotto, Starbrand, a swarm of cosmic locusts, Celestials, Eternals, Frost Giants, Proto-Humans and even the “Dragons of K’un-Lun” all getting at least a mention.

Of course, such a wide ensemble would be perfectly palatable if this book’s script actually tried to tie the different races and their fantastic locations together into a sensible, logical storyline. But any perusing bibliophile who casually glanced inside Issue Four of “Avengers” would instead have first found themselves being thrown back in time to the prehistoric Pleistocene Period, before arriving at Old Asgard, the Mountains of Greece, Alpha Flight Space Station, and the North Pole, all within the passage of a plethora of Paco Medina and Ed McGuinness’ perfectly pencilled panels.

Disappointingly however, few of these trips actually appear to make much sense, with Iron Man’s surprise visit to the Home of the Eternals proving particularly puzzling as Tony Stark’s alter ego discovers that Zuras, Sersi and Thena have all apparently killed one another “within the last few hours” simply because they were driven mad by “the deaths of all those Celestials”..? To make matters worse, Thor’s outing to see the All-Father is arguably even more bizarre with Odin refusing to help his son recover the Blood of Ymir, and She-Hulk deciding the best way to warm up an all-too conveniently faltering God of Thunder is to give the bearded warrior a huge kiss on the lips; “Thank you… For, Ah… Saving my life back there, my Lady Hulk.”

Fortunately, such debatably poor penmanship is entirely survivable thanks to Medina and McGuinness’ sumptuous storyboarding and this comic’s attractively lavish inking by Juan Vlasco (with Mark Morales). Ordinarily, any series “scheduled to release eighteen issues per year” would understandably prove too “large load for one artist to handle by himself”, so Executive Editor Tom Breevort’s decision to add Paco “in the mix” with his similar style to Ed, really seems to have paid dividends with the illustrations for this specific edition.

Writer: Jason Aaron, and Artists: Paco Medina & Ed McGuinness

Avengers [2018] #3 - Marvel Comics

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.

Writer: Jason Aaron, and Artists: Paco Medina & Ed McGuinness

Avengers [2018] #2 - Marvel Comics

AVENGERS No. 2, July 2018

Shifting 66,646 copies in May 2018, “Still Avenging After All These Years” arguably doesn’t let its audience pause for breath until its final shell-shocker of a concluding cliff-hanger which reveals that Loki, “the greatest Avenger who ever lived”, has been aiding the Final Host of Dark Celestials in their bid to “correct the grievous mistake they made one million years ago.” True, Jason Aaron’s script does contain one quiet moment where a “surprised” Jennifer Walters encounters a tower-block sized dead giant which “fell from the sky”, but the lawyer is immediately forced to transform into the She-Hulk courtesy of an attack by a host of killer robotic arachnids, and subsequently sets about ‘squishing’ the extra-terrestrial life-forms with all the savage ferocity one would expect from Bruce Banner’s cousin; “Though I suppose the Avengers rainbow just wouldn’t look the same without the usual splash of green.”

Similarly as sense-shattering is the gamma-fuelled human mutate’s one-on-one with Ghost Rider, which entertainingly sees the former member of the Fantastic Four impressively wreck Roberto Reyes’ “demon-possessed car” with her bare hands and then battle the “skeletal superhuman wreathed in ethereal flame” in close combat. Sadly, the Alabama-born author’s rationale behind this titanic tussle is a little artificially penned, due to She-Hulk supposedly being momentarily mesmerised by one of the fallen Celestials. Yet debatably such a contrivance is easily forgivable, especially when such an exhilaratingly well story-boarded punch-up concludes with the “ghost of Eli Morrow” briefly encircling his enraged opponent with his sickle-ending chains and watching her being towed away by his fiery “black classic muscle car”.

Unfortunately however, this significant spotlight upon Stan Lee’s savage co-creation also means that the Black Panther and Doctor Strange’s struggle against a (second) wave of metallic spiders deep beneath the crust of the Earth is frustratingly relegated to just a single panel inside the twenty-page periodical, with an incredibly impotent attack upon the death-dealing Dark Celestials by “Marvel’s big three Avengers” occupying the vast majority of the publication’s remaining ‘screen time’. Such a disappointing visual disparity between the super-group’s myriad of members is then unhappily made all the more infuriating by Ed McGuinness’ disconcertingly poor pencilling of Captain America, Thor and Iron Man, as the perturbingly square-headed, angular-looking trio desperately attempt to teleport their opponents into the molten centre of the Solar System using “omega-level warp grenades attuned to the coordinates of the Sun.”

Writer: Jason Aaron, Penciller: Ed McGuinness, and Inker: Mark Morales with Jay Leisten

Avengers [2018] #1 - Marvel Comics

AVENGERS No. 1, July 2018

Printed as part of “Marvel Comics” “revamping [of] its entire publishing line in 2018”, this Jason Aaron reboot sold an impressive 131,450 copies upon its release and certainly seemed to deliver on the Alabama-born writer’s double promise of it featuring “the biggest characters” and going “to the coolest, most exotic locations around the Marvel Universe.” Indeed, it’s arguably hard to think of a broader scope to a story than the one contained within Issue One of “Avengers” as the “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes” bravely battle both a downpour of “giant dead bodies falling from the sky… all over the globe” and a robotic arachnid army “miles below the surface” where “the pressure here would crush me into a puddle of goo and then the air would set that goo on fire.”

Alongside “Marvel’s big three Avengers”, the thirty-two page periodical even features “the popular stars of last year’s massive Marvel Legacy one-shot: the Avengers of 1,000,000 B.C.”, utilising the “group of powerful beings assembled at the dawn of man” as a sense-shattering springboard into its modern-day tale of the Final Host of Dark Celestials arriving to destroy the Earth. Such a massive cast admittedly means that few characters obtain much in the way of ‘screen time’, but even so the interplay between Doctor Strange and T’Challa deep beneath the Earth’s crust, as well as Roberto Reyes’ almost antagonistic relationship with “his demon-possessed car” genuinely must have made this book’s readers wanting to see more.

Unfortunately however, perhaps as a result of being so ‘super-sized’ this “fresh start” does sag in its story-telling from time to time, most notably when it focuses upon Tony Stark’s grating doubts as to the validity of reassembling the Avengers alongside “Hydra Cap” and “The Unworthy Thor”. It’s clear that having returned from “suddenly being clinically dead”, the genius engineer has his doubts about hurling his body back into the fray so soon, yet surely the American author didn’t need to spend quite so many panels, intermixed throughout this comic, laboriously depicting the business magnate’s negative view-point; “In the beginning it just happened. It wasn’t us. It was actually more Loki than us. And who says it has to be the three of us anymore at the --”

Rather agreeably though, Ed McGuinness’ clean-lined pencilling imbues even these boring bar room scenes with some semblance of energic urgency, through his clever use of Thor Odinson as an increasingly enraged advocate of the team embracing its ideals. In addition, the American artist also provides plenty of jaw-dropping visuals for the rest of this tome’s ensemble, such as the somewhat surreal, face-hugger egg-sack infested catacombs uncovered by the Black Panther, or the significantly sized “2,000 feet long” Celestials crashing amidst the world’s most populated civilisations.

Writer: Jason Aaron, Penciller: Ed McGuinness, and Inker: Mark Morales