REVIEW: ‘Avengers Annual,’ Issue #1

Avengers Annual #1 is published by Marvel Comics, written by Jed MacKay, art by Travel Foreman and Juan Ferreyra, colors by Jim Campbell, and letters by Joe Caramagna and Cory Petit. With Iron Man and Captain America having run into the new wielders of the Space and Time Stones, Quantum and Overtime, respectively, the duo of Avengers come together to figure out what their next move should be where the Infinity Stones are concerned. Meanwhile, a synthetic person at a random dinner is about to have a run-in with some rather close-minded homo sapiens.

Splitting its time in two, Avengers Annual #1 serves to both move the loose narrative surrounding the emerging hosts of the Infinity Stones forward while also delivering a bit of a refresher moment for any who may have missed some of the previous seven installments in the Infinite Destinies one-shots. This catch-up information is delivered smartly by writer MacKay with a strong helping of fun character interaction between Cap and Iron Man. The two open their half of the book at Avengers Mountain as they take stock of the situation surrounding the cosmic stones, as well as lay the groundwork for their response should more of the stones appear.

While the two iconic Avengers make plans for the future, Avengers Annual #1 introduces readers to a young synthetic person(their preference) named Ward. Ward is traveling across America doing some literal soul searching when he runs afoul of the Sapien League. As it turns out, this hate group is apparently expanding its prejudices beyond just Mutants, and unfortunately for Ward, he doesn’t fit their idea of normal.

MacKay’s portrayal of Ward is excellent. The blend of logical deduction and metaphysical curiosity the writer weaves into the character makes them memorable and unique. The character’s pure-hearted innocent layers on a generous helping of charm that makes the synthetic instantly likable.

The regrettable situation the youngster stumbles into brings some great character moments as the Sapien League’s members’ closed-mindedness is addressed. The entire way MacKay resolves the moment is excellent, as well as how it continues to impact the story for the rest of the book’s main plot.

The art in this tale delivers the narrative well. Foreman brings both sides of the narrative to the reader in a way that delivers on all of the characters that MacKay’s writing so skillfully creates. Combining this with Campbell’s solid colors and the central story of Avengers Annual #1′s art comes together nicely.

As with all the previous Infinite Destinies stories, this book follows its main story with a look at Nick Fury’s dealings surrounding the Infinity Stones. Having snapped out of Nighthawk’s mind-control last issue, Fury confronts the would-be world changer. This story also sets up Fury’s presence in the recent Black Cat #8, though it still fails to fill in all the gaps in the larger narrative.

This secondary tale does a good job of further cementing Fury’s mindset and approach to the unfolding situation. MacKay’s writing combines with Ferreyra’s art to deliver another solid short story.

Wrapping up Avengers Annual #1 is the book’s lettering. The lettering in both stories delivers their tales in clear and easy-to-follow manners that allow the reader to enjoy the stories effortlessly.

When all is said and done, Avengers Annual #1 brings one of, if not the strongest, entries in the Infinite Destinies story thus far. It delivers some critical information to the unfolding scenario while combining that with healthy doses of character and heart.

Avengers Annual #1 is available now wherever comics are sold.