Avengers by Hickman: Time Runs Out vol. 2

Speaking of “time running out,” here we are with the next volume of the series that heralds the end of the Ultimate Universe.  The previous volume did an excellent job transitioning Hickman’s narrative eight months into the future and this latest one keeps most of the momentum from it intact.  It’s an impressive feat considering all of the different storylines at play here.  On this Earth alone we have Thanos’ Cabal who are still destroying alternate-reality Earths, Steve Rogers’ group of S.H.I.E.L.D.-affiliated Avengers who are busy hunting down the fugitive Illuminati, and a group of “New Avengers” who have come together to get the other two groups to stop fighting each other.  Then there’s Doom who is off playing his own game with the Molecule Man.  We also can’t forget about the Multiversal Avengers who have been flung halfway across the multiverse to find the source of the incursions and wind up coming face-to-face with the Black Priests and their leader.

With all of these elements in play there’s always a high risk that the narrative could degenerate into an incoherent mess.  The fact that it doesn’t is likely down to whatever preparation notorious planner Hickman was able to do before he finally had to start typing all this up.  Not only do we get answers — in the form of finding out what Stark and Dr. Strange are up to, as well as a clarification of what the Multiversal Avengers’ purpose is — but a lot of threads start coming together in the last two issues of this collection (and a couple more in its final pages).  It’s great to see plot threads paying off now rather than saving everything for the final volume.  Yes, it raises expectations for that final act, but at this point I’m inclined to think Hickman and co. can deliver.  Particularly in light of the fact that he’s able to squeak in some great character moments, such as the conversation between Stark and the Black Swan, and Reed’s lessons to Valeria that narrate the final two issues.

It’s not all fantastic, as there are some parts that misfire or come off as too obscure for their own good to effectively contribute to the story at this time.  Finding out that Cyclops has a Phoenix egg?  Um, okay.  When did this happen and what does it mean?  Pod’s backstory also felt like it was unspooling just a little too late to be effective.  Then you’ve got the Molecule Man who is meant to be the story’s all-powerful crazy person and whose characterization is stuck in “crazy.”  Attentive readers will likely notice the five different artists credited on the cover and think that we’re in for another volume full of crazy style clashes like the first one.  They’d be right and while I like most of the artists featured here, Szymon Kudranski’s contribution comes off as a less overtly photo-referenced, more over-rendered take on the kind of work I’m used to seeing from Greg Land.  I don’t think that the art is going to get any more unified in terms of style for the next volume.  At least the writing and overall storytelling are great enough to compensate.