New Avengers by Hickman vol. 4: A Perfect World
If you’re reading both of Hickman’s “Avengers” series (And if you’re not, then why the hell aren’t you? You’re only getting half the story if you read one and not the other.) be sure to read this one after “Infinite Avengers.” This volume takes place shortly after the confrontation between Iron Man and Captain America and shows things quickly building to climax for “Time Runs Out.” While the hype for this arc centered on the Illuminati taking on a thinly-veiled version of the Justice League, that particular thread isn’t as well developed as it could have been. Fortunately, it does allow for this volume to have a much stronger narrative than the one from the concurrent volume of “Avengers,” and it features one of the best endings I’ve read all year.
The previous volume ended with a battle that pitted the Illuminati — currently made up of Tony Stark, Reed Richards, Henry McCoy, T’Challa, Namor, Black Bolt, and Bruce Banner — against a superhero group from a parallel universe known as the Great Society. Their members — Sun God, The Rider, Doctor Spectrum, The Norn, Boundless, and The Jovian — have survived three incursions and the hope between the two groups is that they can work together in the limited time they have left to find a solution to avert this crisis. (Or is it a Crisis? Hard to tell here…) Making matters more difficult is the fact that the Illuminati have already prepared their final solution, an antimatter bomb capable of destroying a planet, and have it at the ready just in case things don’t work out. Meanwhile, Maximus the Mad is hanging out back at the Illuminati’s headquarters getting to know the Black Swan and poking around the prison of Thanos and his followers.
You know, for all of the talk everyone in this series makes about finding a peaceful way to avert an incursion, there seems to be very little action on that front. It’s also telling that they’ve gone ahead and made the “final solution” method first, effectively proving Cap right in his final speech to them before they had his memory altered. This is somewhat disappointing given that these people are supposed to be heroes, but there’s an interesting bit from Maximus in this volume that helps put their actions in perspective. Yes, they’re heroes, but the men here are also kings after a fashion. It’s their job to commit a certain amount of violence so that their subjects can live in peace. That’s why the Black Swan the one in the box depending the goodwill of someone who is nicknamed “The Mad” in order to get out instead of calling the shots in these situations like she usually does.
Yet most of the Illuminati also think of themselves as good men and that saving the world just isn’t worth it if it means they can’t live with themselves afterward. That becomes apparent when the only recourse in the battle with the Great Society becomes to destroy their world and the question becomes who gets to pull the trigger. Surprisingly, most everyone simply can’t do it. Each of them have their own reasons for saying no, and one even refuses with the weight of his legacy bearing down on him. In the end, such an act isn’t for a superhero, but a supervillain. The character winds up fully committing to the role in the end in a way that’s also consistent with his established mindset, which is nice. We’re also left to wonder if he has some remorse about all this as he engineers what appears to be his own downfall by causing one of the Illuminati to swear bloody vengeance on him.
You’ll notice that I’m going on at length about the Illuminati’s actions in this volume rather than their actual conflict with the Great Society. That’s because the fighting is the least interesting part of the book. The Great Society are interesting mainly because they represent a stand-in for the Justice League, but the differences in opinion between them and the members of the Illuminati aren’t played up that much beyond a handful of scenes. Boundless’ taunting of Stark to upgrade and become a better man is cute, but the actual fight is over almost as soon as it begins after Doctor Strange summons up the powers of an Elder God (not really, but there are tentacles involved). If this was meant to be the centerpiece of the volume, then it’s one that isn’t as compelling as it should’ve been.
The good news is that there’s plenty of interesting material on either side of the conflict to keep the volume interesting. T’Challa’s conversation with his father and the former Black Panthers is illuminating regarding his motivations in this matter and just why he has not taken his revenge against Namor just yet. Strange’s trip to sell his soul produces some unexpected consequences, while Stark feels the pressure (and shares it with Reed) of Cap and the rest of the Avengers knowing exactly what they’ve done and starts to crack as a result. Then there’s Maximus, who Hickman clearly enjoys writing as he gets all of the best lines with his on-target insights into those around him.
After the fight, everyone decides that it’s best to just let the end come and we see how each of them handles it in their own way. Some of them are expected — Banner goes to the gamma bomb test site, Stark prepares to get drunk — and others are not. Reed’s insistence at seeing his kids at Castle Doom in the middle of the night is unnerving both to his wife and Dr. Doom himself. Then there’s Beast’s conversation with his younger time-traveling self who promptly (and rightly) calls out his older incarnation for completely losing his way.
As for what happens when the world doesn’t end? The arguing is cut short by a question, from Black Bolt of all people, that proves to be a real “Holy Crap!” momen. Then, on those final pages, we see just what this person has done and the destruction and death it will entail. Even though I saw the cover to the first “Time Runs Out” issue of “New Avengers” all those months ago, the final scene still took me by surprise. It builds on what has come before in a very satisfying manner and shows Hickman’s master plan for his run to be coming together extremely well.
Art duties are split between Valerio Schiti and Kev Walker. This is my first encounter with the former’s work and he comes off pretty well. Schiti’s characters are quite expressive and lively, which is key for a book like this that is so dialogue-driven. He can still manage some decent superhero fights as the battle between the Great Society, for all its brevity, still allows for some striking visuals. As for Walker, I’m still waiting for him to produce work as memorable as “Marvel Zombies 3,” of all things. What’s here is better than what I saw from him in the one issue of “Secret Avengers” he did with Warren Ellis, but it leans a bit farther into caricature than I’d like. His (literal) square-jawed Black Bolt just looks silly. Walker is good with expressions, and that goes a long way towards making his work acceptable in the end.
If you were hoping that this volume would satisfy your craving for another Avengers/Justice League match-up in the face of Marvel and DC’s ongoing cold war, then you’re likely to come away disappointed. The conflicts between the two teams don’t really add up to much in the end here. Those of you who are invested in Hickman’s ongoing “Avengers” story and are waiting to see it come together will find a good deal of validation here. “A Perfect World” brings this act to a dramatic finish and leaves you dying to see what will happen next when “Time Runs Out.” It’s all you could hope for in the case of a giant ongoing story like this.