Avengers #4 is published by Marvel Comics, written by Jed MacKay, art by C.F. Villa, colors by Federico Blee and letters by Cry Petit. The Avengers have split up to face the Ashen Combine, a group of city-destroying beings. Split among the Avengers and their individual missions, the comic makes a decision I was not expecting. It not only separates the Avengers but the issues themselves.
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The comic focuses on four of the situations, hiding the results of the others until a further issue. Thor faces off against the Alabaster Idol, a creature forcing worship on the citizens of Vatican City. Scarlet Witch is fighting the rising dead in Sydney. Iron Man is battling the Citysmith in Toronto whilst Falcon and Black Panther are on their ship, the Eternal City. The other scenarios aren’t even mentioned or shown, hinting at a much larger saga than I had initially assumed. In each city is an entirely different scenario that would have been considered an individual issue capable of being an Avengers comic.
They are conflicts of a personal nature for the heroes, making them more than an all-out brawl. It stunts the pace slightly of Avengers #4, still setting out a lot of the parameters, but the sheer size of the book and the amount of unpredictability makes the issue epic. And even by the end, the segments aren’t concluded, which means there is plenty more to do in the next chapter.
The characters and the dialogues between them are fantastic, especially considering how big the cast is for this book (even excluding those not present). What I immediately noticed was a confidence and ego in practically every character involved. The villains are bizarre, often quite jolly as they inflict terror and destruction on earth. We’re still finding out what they can do, and their various powers are fascinating. But the Avengers also have a cockiness within them, manifested over years of vanquishing evil and repelling threats. It gives the villains an opening, something to use to knock the characters down. Whilst most of the Avengers are fighting solo, Black Panther and Captain America are in hostile territory to blow up the Ashen Combine’s base. But the history between the two has led to tension and bickering, with a lack of trust for each other. It is surprising to see but it provides more grit to the comic.
The art is also terrific, practically drawing four entirely separate comics within the same issue. In each scenario, there are new heroes, new villains, new surroundings and new powers. It’s a mammoth task by Villa to tell all of these stories at the same time, and yet that is achieved superbly. The Impossible City, where Captain America and Black Panther have infiltrated, is vast and filled with history, yet mysteriously empty. Thor is fighting something big and celestial, but horrifying and frightening. The strangest threat, due to how it looks oddly similar, is the one attacking Scarlet Witch in Sydney. Iron Man’s foe suddenly escalates the sense of scale, changing every time it is seen. All of the different aspects of this comic are adapted due to a huge variety in line weights. They can be thin to etch in subtle details, or thick like ink splodges to create shadows
Like with the art, the colors are completely different depending on the situation, altering depending on the threat. For Thor, there is a blue tinge to the panels due to his lightning. But in contrast, with Wanda, there is a pretty blend between the red from her powers and costumes and the sickly green that denotes whatever force is being used to drag the dead from their graves. It’s a great example of the range that exists within this issue. The lettering has many custom word balloons and fonts, but legibility is never sacrificed.
Avengers #4 lets loose. It’s a collection of incredibly exciting and magnificent stories that are actually composed within the same one. Each segment carries weight, with a brand new set of villains that the Avengers are struggling against. Pitting the team up against threats that have never been seen before refreshes the comic. The structure of the story highlights a story much larger than I had initially believed, with an enormous scale and potential for directions to travel in. The art is spectacular, unphased by the constant changes. And it is almost impossible to guess how the rest of this tribulation event will be handled going forward.
Avengers #4 is available where comics are sold.
Avengers #4
TL;DR
The structure of the story highlights a story much larger than I had initially believed, with an enormous scale and potential for directions to travel in. The art is spectacular, unphased by the constant changes. And it is almost impossible to guess how the rest of this tribulation event will be handled going forward.
