Avengers #676 Review
Spoiler Free
With the Earth still in a new place, the Avengers go to work, helping where they can. One mystery gets kind of solved, while looking back in time. As the various leaders of the Avengers teams are tested, 2 villain teams touchdown in Africa. Another mystery is uncovered centering on the villains - some old, some new – all leading to a jarring cliffhanger.
Spoiler Filled
This issue is mainly given to us from Falcon’s point of view, which becomes important late in the issue. Starting in the hospital where, Jarvis is being treated, the high number of casualties are impacting the emergency staff. As Beast reads the bioscan for Jarvis, he realizes something is very wrong.
Back in Avengers tower, the Avengers are looking to establish leadership, and Falcon suggests Voyager. She counters by saying that some of the Avengers may not even know who she is. Citizen V, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch and Hercules talk about the pivotal moments she was there as an Avenger. From being a founding Avenger, to a constant member of the team through the ages, and seeming losing her in a battle with Victory the Electromagnetic Man, they all talk about how she’s the heart of the Avengers. As fate would have it, she didn’t die, her powers reacted with Victory’s and removed her from normal existance and even removed her from memory. She could see all that they experienced from outside the time stream. The Earth being stolen somehow brought her back. She defers leadership back to the leaders of the 3 teams who begin discussing options. They have no satellites, some limited powers, no magic, and many of their biggest known members and villians are still frozen. More importantly, they realize that they are flying blind.
In Egypt, 2 villain teams touch down – the Black Order and the Lethal Legion. Naturally, they both immediately join in battle until they are stopped by two mysterious voices. They are clearly incredibly powerful and most likely behind the theft of the planet and freezing of the heroes. They tell these 2 teams that they may not engage until the Pyramoid is activated and that they should gather themselves, survey the battleground, and prepare for the upcoming trials. They clearly want to kill each other, but must respect the rules. Interestingly, we learn that Earth was chosen as the battleground due to it’s unique defensive properties. Corvus Glaive tells the Black Order to take the initiative to clear the “Designated Obstacles” from the board before things get going.
Back in Avengers Mansion, Falcon is trying to help the team get going in the right direction to craft an Avengers wide strategy to help the people of Earth, which starts arguing between Rogue and Citizen V. Falcon and Voyager refocus the group just as they get loud feedback in the meeting room. They get the screen on and they see Glaive and Proxima Midnight floating in midair. Falcon reaches out to see if he can help figure out where they are, figuring that if he can’t see them, they aren’t close since his powers have limitations. Terrified, he realizes they’re just above the Mansion, just before Proxima makes Avengers Mansion explode
Reflections, Impressions, and Predictions
Big cliffhanger at the end doesn’t look too good for the Avengers.
Jarvis’ fate hangs heavy in the air, yet the first page is all we get. We know something is alarmingly wrong, thanks to Beast.
We have another Sentry type of situation with Voyager – we still know very little about her or her powers.
The part where she is floating out of time is very similar to another book this week showing pivotal moments in Avengers history which provides a cool video.
It’s curious why only certain Avengers were taken off the board.
Who is leading/directing the Black Order and the Lethal Legion? Could this be the Beyonder and/or some other type of incredibly powerful cosmic being?
It’s awesome to see that event though these characters have pulled together when it most counts, they are still a big dysfunctional family.
In case you didn’t know, the Lethal Legion is an all new team and they seem like they could be a little cool as time goes on. I’m looking forward to learning more about them.
Final Breakdown
Story – Answered questions, presented more, and left the team in a precarious situation. Moving very quickly so far which is great. 8/10
Art – Clean lines, good facial work, good action scenes, and neat throwback style. 8/10
Continuity/Character Consistency – Remembering that the Avengers are a dysfunctional family with mutants and other powered characters makes this about as consistent as you can get. The biggest question is where this falls in Jane Foster’s timeline, since we know she’s close to death. 7/10
Twist Factor – The answered questions about Voyager, and that explosive ending. 7/10
Final Score – This book holds quite a bit of intrigue moving forward. 7.5/10