Avengers # 679 (Spoilers)

[ChronoRogue]

First part of the issue deals with the immediate fallout of Human Torch touching one of the artifacts. The Peru team are bewildered by what happened and the Black Order & Lethal Legion both take off. Lightning is most affected, feeling responsible for not getting there faster. He takes off to tell Rogue, saying he'd heard they were close.

Back with Beast & Nadia, Beast is confused on the abnormalities displayed by Jarvis. Nadia thinks she knows, saying that since Jarvis has been there since the beginning, he's been exposed to so many different toxins and radiation via the Avengers over the years that its clung to his person; they dub it "Avengers fever".

In Rome, Thor suggests gathering their allies and forming another meeting to go over their options. Rogue rebuffs the idea, saying she doesn't feel like the Avenger leaders will come to a consensus. It's part of why she thinks she doesn't make a good soldier, she follows her gut and her gut is saying its time to go on the offensive. Before she can get herself riled up any further, Lightning gets there to deliver the bad news.

The rest of the issue deals with the Challenger and Grandmaster's backstory. We learn they were old friends, elders of the universe who specialized in playing games, who kept upping the stakes on their contests until eventually the loser was cast out into a dark abyss. The Challenger is revealed to the original holder of the title Grandmaster, before the current Grandmaster took it from him.

Reminiscing has brought up the Challenger's repressed rage and he grabs Grandmaster in a hold, asking him why he doesn't just end this all now by killing him? Grandmaster says that'd be cheating and appeals to his sense of pride, that it won't be a real victory unless he beats him through this game. When he goes on to say that The Challenger is at a disadvantage now that he's lost one 'player', The Challenger says he's had another in reserve this whole time.

One guess as to who. He's green and very angry.

oh and Black Dwarf and Johnny are totally not dead, instead frozen inside some Crystals circling the room Grand Master/The Challenger are in

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This issue felt a bit weaker than the others, felt very explicitly like a backstory issue, so not a lot of meat in terms of action or plot development. Can't say I was that engaged with what was revealed though I did think it was interesting that Grandmaster took the name for himself.

The new Avengers leadership seems pretty fractured or absent, so I wonder how they're gonna turn this around. also the narrative is pointing toward some leaving when this is all over more than others

The cover for next issue implies Janet might come back with the caution that covers can be misleading so it'll interesting to see how a veteran Avenger leader deals with this crisis if it does happen.