I’m glad I decided to revisit Jonathan Hickman’s Avengers run as the third one, Prelude to Infinity, surprisingly wasn’t bad!
I’m still not 100% sure what’s happening but someone is trying to make Earth sentient for some reason – I think it’s the new golden “cosmic gardener” character, Ex Nihilo, though he seems to be on the Avengers’ side despite wreaking havoc – with, of course, side effects, meaning Avengers gotta Assemble, etc. The first half sees new alien kids sprouting up in the Savage Land and Thor, Hyperion and Spider-Man taking it upon themselves to teach the little tykes Earth values. Except the High Evolutionary wants to kidnap and use them for his own inevitably evil purposes.
It’s a fun little adventure and Hickman/Nick Spencer write Thor and Hyperion’s friendship quite well. Mike Deodato’s art is ok though I’m not sure he’s the best artist for a Savage Land story. His backgrounds are always so sparse and the Savage Land is basically Jurassic Park bursting with vivid plant and animal life – in Deodato’s hands though the place seems almost empty!
The second half is more generically Avengers-speed – ie. crap. A giant robot’s gotta be punched and a couple weirdos in space are sitting around talking in typically lofty Hickman speech. It ties into the overall story about turning Earth sentient, and those parts showing areas of the planet being disrupted by strange new creatures are mildly interesting, but the typical superhero antics render the affair unimaginative and dull.
Avengers, Volume 3: Prelude to Infinity is a mixed bag. It’s not great or that memorable but the story is suitably grandiose and ambitious for the characters involved, if a little convoluted and obtuse even three books in. Still, parts of it were enjoyable and it was better than I expected for a Hickman/Avengers joint!
No comments:
Post a Comment