Review: Mighty Avengers Vol. 2 #2
NOTE: It turns out that this version of the Mighty Avengers is Volume 2, and not Volume 3. I deeply regret this error, and subsequent reviews will reflect the correct volume.
Previously, “Issue 1”
When we last left the Mighty Avengers, they were preparing to go up against Proxima Midnight, member of the Black Order and one of the heralds of Thanos. This issue picks up with Doctor Strange seemingly in a peaceful trance. However, that is only an illusion due to the entity known as Ebony Maw, another member of the Black Order, corrupting the good Doctor. Doctor Strange’s ally Kaluu tries to get him to snap out of it, but the villain’s trance is too powerful for him to break. He seems to have Doctor Strange summoning something, but we have no idea what at the moment. There’s no way this isn’t gonna come back to haunt us later. We then meet Dr. Adam Brashear, also known as the Blue Marvel, in his underwater base of operations as he is being watched over by Uatu, the Watcher. Uatu only shows up if there’s something serious about to go down, and Dr. Brashear asks the worst question ever, and we are then greeted to the obvious answer.
NYC is really taking a pounding by Proxima Midnight and her forces, and Spectrum is taking control as field leader. Under Rambeau’s leadership, the tide of battle appears to be turning their way, but Proxima has a trick up her sleeve: her spear can turn into three tracers of black light that are completely unavoidable. Rambeau finds this out the hard way, and the resulting after effects threaten to tear her apart. Meanwhile, Proxima knocks out Luke Cage and threatens to kill him, when she gets a face full of brick. The people of New York begin to rise up against their attackers with bricks, bottles, and whatever else they can find on the street. Proxima is unfazed by this until one of the people, an old woman, yells out, “AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!” This wakes up Luke Cage, who proceeds to put a tectonic asswhipping on Proxima.
Even while getting the snot beat out of her, Proxima is defiant and flabbergasted at Cage’s resilience, until they are both interrupted by Thanos. The Mad Titan expresses disappointment at Proxima’s failure to destroy the city, and he sends her on her mission to Atlantis. She calls back her spear and promises that their coming deaths will be slow and painful. Cage sends Spider-Man to take a look at Monica, who is still writhing in pain, while silencing the vigilante in the knock-off Spider-Man costume for criticizing him. Just when the Superior Spidey is about to give his prognosis, he is interrupted by the entity Stephen was summoning: the demon Shuma-Gorath. This is more than enough to get Dr. Brashear out of his underwater base and back into civilization.
Al Ewing is back at it again in this issue. Chief among my favorites is the supposedly one-sided conversation Dr. Brashear has with Uatu. The purpose of the Watcher is to observe and never interfere, but you can clearly see that Uatu’s silence is pushing Dr. Brashear in the direction of intervening. Another thing that goes unmentioned in most comics are the captions; even the captions have their own personality and humor, and they’re welcome additions to this book. The art in this book again is pretty solid, and as long as we stay away from the O faces, Greg Land can keep doing what he does. The colors pop off the page, and help to move the story along quite nicely.
This is the second book in the Infinity crossover, and it doesn’t feel like it’s completely disconnected from the main storyline. Granted, the introduction of Doctor Strange and the Ebony Maw seems to come out of nowhere, but it still doesn’t seem forced. Neither does the introduction of Dr. Brashear; he’s a fascinating character who deserves the attention of the mainstream universe. This did a lot to move the story along and create an effective cliffhanger for the next issue.
