We
begin this issue, as we have with every issue thus far, with an origin
story. This particular origin story is
for evryone’s favorite blonde-tressed Asgardian. That’s right, Thor will play a major part in
this issue. I must say, the way Krueger
and Ross are slow-burning the introduction of the heroes here, while also
filling the issues with material in the interim is incredible. They could have easily decompressed everything
to the point where nothing happens until all of the heroes are revealed, but
instead they give us a full story in each issue and then slowly bring the
heroes along. It’s masterful
storytelling, and something that made me a longtime Krueger fan.
Anyway,
after the introduction (with more stellar art by Leon) we travel back to
Latveria where the Inhumans and Reed Richards have come to the realization (at
the end of last issue) that with the help of old Charlie Xavier’s Cerebro
mutant finder, they can locate the missing Inhumans and reunite the
kingdom. It should be noted that when
the Red Skull’s powers first manifested themselves, all of the telepaths died
out, that means no Xavier, no Phoenix, no Emma Frost, etc. Of course, once Reed leaves Doom’s castle,
the Doom Bots attack the Inhumans. It’s
pretty well established that the Inhumans are capable of taking care of
themselves in a fight though, so we don’t even stick around to see how that
turns out.
Instead,
we are back to California. Here, we see
that the hold that the Red Skull has
over his “subjects” is not total and unbreakable. Iron Maiden shows that she has a mind of her
own, even though she is forced to follow the Red Skull, and she might even be a
“hero” or what passes for a hero in this reality. We now focus in on Cap, who is still in
California, but is now just hanging out, extremely dejected at the humiliation
of not being able to save his country, and losing yet another sidekick
(seriously, who’s the worse mentor, Cap or Batman?). Daredevil, the guy that can’t die wants to
partner up with Cap, solely for the reason that all of Cap’s partners wind up
killed. This can only end well, right?
Back in
New York, at the home of Clea, the Sorcerer Supreme, picking up right where we
left off at the end of the last issue.
We find out that Clea took over for Dr. Strange when he was attacked and
put into a coma by an unknown force. We
then go into some mystical stuff regarding Mar-Vell and death/rebirth. It’s a little crazy, but illustrated
beautifully, and the coloring on this is excellent as everything is illuminated
by the candle in the center of the room.
With
that, it’s time to introduce Thor, who just so happens to be a woman now thanks
to a trick from Loki (yes, Thor was a woman years before it became a stunt by
Marvel to sell books and appear like they were progressive. We get a brief exchange between Thor and
Loki, where Loki is funny and condescending at the same time (as is his way)
and then we are on to a quick jump around the Marvel Universe. Our first stop is with Cyclops, who is now a
balding old man that looks like he should be teaching history, not saving the
world. He is talking on a video
conference with his father, Corsair of the Starjammers along with his brother
Havok, and I’m assuming his sister-in-law Polaris. Cyclops is pissed because his father is
willing to come pick him up and get him away from Earth, but only him, leaving
Jean Grey on Earth (even though it doesn’t appear as the two are together – and
how she survived the telepath purge I have no idea). We get confirmation that Jean is not with
Scott on the next page as we see that she is with Wolverine. Both would look more comfortable in WalMart
than they would in tights saving the day at this point.
Our
last stop is back in Latveria, where the Inhumans are finishing up the
dismantling of the Doom Bots. Medusa
then goes inside Reed’s lab and realizes that he has access to Doom’s time
machine, and in his journals, we see Reed’s struggle with using that time
machine to go back and fix everything and the moral quandary he has before
him.
With
that, we end this issue after a quick synopsis of the whereabouts of a few
other Avengers (Ant-Man, Ms. Marvel and Wonder Man).
Next Issue: What part does Lady-Thor play in this
story? Will Cyclops finally stop being a
baby about Jean Grey, and who the hell changes Ape-Hulk’s diapers?
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