Avengers #5 Review/SPOILERS

[Prof. Warren]

The first arc of the Aaron era of Avengers really goes into overdrive in issue #5.

Lots of backstory and reveals, lots of large scale action, and some choice character moments.

As the issue's title is "The Secret Origin of the Marvel Universe," you know from the jump that some major sh*t is going down and Aaron and co. deliver.

As we begin, Loki is still holding court in the company of the captive Captain America as they linger in a mystic bubble in the waters of the North Pole, looking upon the carcass of the first Celestial to visit Earth, dubbed The Progenitor by Loki.

As Loki explains, the first Celestial did not come to Earth with a plan to plant the seed of life on this planet. No, instead it fell into the the still-evolving stew of life in the throes of its own gruesome death.

This Celestial had been infected by the cosmic locusts known as the Horde, something it had encountered while traveling in deep space. It fell dying for years before it landed on Earth. Once on Earth, it's sickness bled into the shifting primordial elements of a still-forming planet. It was the blood and rotting flesh of this nigh-omnipotent being working its way into the bubbling creation of a planet that made Earth an unique breeding ground for all the super-powered beings one day to come.

Loki taunts Cap with the knowledge that life on Earth as we know it sprung from a cosmic accident.

But Cap tells Loki that it doesn't matter how life started, only what we do with it. Even though he's chained, he head butts Loki, telling him he'll do whatever it takes to stop him and his Final Host. Loki backs away from Steve and continues his tale.

According to Loki, millions of years after the Progenitor came to Earth to die, another Celestial eventually followed looking for them. This was Zgreb the Aspriant. He was the lover of the previous Celestial, or however it is Celestials describe such things. The sight of its dead lover drove the Celestial mad, or perhaps that was the affect of the Horde latching onto him. In any event, Odin and his Prehistoric Avengers took on this Celestial, leaving it for dead deep in the Earth.

Eventually, the disappearance of two Celestials brought down The First Host to Earth. They made quick work of the Prehistoric Avengers but left after the battle, rather than destroy the Avengers or the Earth. Loki surmises that the Celestials feared succumbing to the Horde themselves and believed it better to leave it contained on, as Loki describes it, this "cosmic leper colony of a world."

That plan seemed to work for some time, until Loki revived Zgreb from his long slumber deep in the Earth. The Horde did not kill Zgreb, now known as Zgreb the Sorrower, instead the Horde transformed him into a new breed of Dark Celestial. Together with the rest of his kind, collectively known as the Final Host, they've killed or infected every other Celestial, the dead bodies of whom now litter the Earth, feeding the Horde.

Unknown to Loki, Ghost Rider has come upon Loki and Cap's location during the course of Loki's speech. GR attacks Loki and frees Cap, stuffing Loki in his trunk.

Running ahead of the Final Host, Cap and GR end up in a snowy village in Russia where Doctor Strange and Iron Man converge on their location. Soon, Black Panther and Captain Marvel and Thor and She-Hulk arrive as well.

All these disparate teams have brought something new to the fight. Tony has summoned an armor dubbed the Godkiller Mark II, T'Challa has used the Alpha Flight labs to infuse Carol's unique physiology and his suit with the same energy as the Horde creatures, making them able to put the bugs down. And Thor and Jen have brought from Old Asgard the Blood of Ymir, a magical weapon that will allow them to be on equal footing with the Celestials.

Cap sees that Robbie feels out of his league and gives him a Cap-style pep talk that Robbie takes to heart, coming across a means to join the battle in earnest.

The issue ends with an epic double spread that shouldn't be spoiled ahead of time but it's a truly cool, kick ass image - the kind of glorious insanity that you only find in comics. All I'll say is that Ghost Rider fans will be especially pleased.

Next issue is the conclusion of this first arc and this issue has definitely whet my appetite for a big finale. Really digging this book.

[Michael Watkins]

this reads like bad fan fic or an all-ages title.

[Johnrevenge]

this reads like bad fan fic or an all-ages title.

Agreed. It was totally awfull, and people later complained about the first season of Avengers Assemble or Waid's run of the Avengers.

[GodThor]

wow it's so simple to boost their power on Celestial level...

[Prof. Warren]

this reads like bad fan fic or an all-ages title.

Based on an actual reading of the issue or just by synopsis?

"Bad fan-fic" is a term that's tossed around anytime someone wants to slam a book that isn't to their liking or preference, rather than just critiquing it on its own terms.

Aaron is writing a fun (and, yes, in some ways all ages - but when has The Avengers ever not been an all-ages book?) Avengers tale filled with splashy action and big, cosmic concepts. It's grandiose, oversized, full on comic book-y action.

I expect that won't be the style of every arc but for an opening arc establishing this as the new Avengers team, I think it's the right choice.

[Captain M]

I had never been in a situation where I don't have a current Avengers book that I enjoy. The line is practically dead to me currently. I dislike this book , almost everything about it, immensely. This is just not for me, nor I think it's a good/memorable story.

Thankfully, WCA is coming out soon and while it's not really going to give me the avengers fix, I'm sure I'll like it a lot.

I believe we desparately need another Avengers title featuring the likes of Wanda, Janet, Monica and more.

[Anthony W]

Does anyone remember the film Prometheus? The engineer in the beginning of the film is actually on Earth and he drinks the black liquid and immediately begins to disintegrate and his DNA is then spread through the water he falls in. This is integrated into the Earth's ecosystem and through evolution, man is born with this DNA, which explains Human life? Not saying Aaron ripped it off but man was it similar....

[InformationGeek]

I just honestly can't get into this at all. It's just boring and I really don't care about the characters, especially the unremarkable She-Hulk. Aaron's aiming for the stars, banking all of this cosmic and origins of the universe and others when everything just feels so standard and basic. It just does not feel inspired.

[Michael Watkins]

Based on an actual reading of the issue or just by synopsis? .

i wasn't the only reader to have this reaction. i can get behind a simple tale as long as it's entertaining. but that giant sized avengers stuff at the end was just doofy. I'm sure that this would be a great book to buy for a grade schooler. i wasn't feeling it.

[Mike_Murdock]

I have no problem with Avengers being fun for all ages. This is a bit franetic in pace. That isn't a bad thing but everything feels seat of your pants. However, there are some things seeded for the future that might be interesting.

[Chainsaw Vigilante]

Remember when the Celestials were considered far beyond Odin with the entire lifeforce of all Asgardians in the Destroyer Armor wielding the Odinsword? When they scared the combined pantheons of Earth, and when Kubik and Kosmos (living cosmic cubes) considered themselves far below the Celestials?
Now they've gotten the Galactus treatment where once omnipotent gods are now common fodder for writers (Galactus ironically has been treated better in recent years).

I mean first it was the Exterminators running through them in the Age of Apocalypse crossover event and a bit before that it was revealed that AOA Apocalypse killed one, then the Celestial killing axe in Uncanny Avengers, then you had the Beyonders killing most of them off, the Aspirants and their Godkiller Celestial killing armor, Mr. Sinister and Magneto being able to effect the Dreaming Celestial in different ways, then that merged Chaos/Order/In-Betweener entity Logos slew all but a handful in the re-booted multiverse, and it was also revealed a war between the Celestials and Dark Celestials killed a bunch of both, the heroes taking on the Celestial Destructor with them finally teleporting it away, and now this.

[Prof. Warren]

i wasn't the only reader to have this reaction. i can get behind a simple tale as long as it's entertaining. but that giant sized avengers stuff at the end was just doofy. I'm sure that this would be a great book to buy for a grade schooler. i wasn't feeling it.

If the double spread at the end of this issue makes a reader roll their eyes and say "meh, how childish" rather than grin with pleasure at how wonderfully ridiculous and over-the-top it is, then sure, this is definitely not the book for them.

[Michael Watkins]

If the double spread at the end of this issue makes a reader roll their eyes and say "meh, how childish" rather than grin with pleasure at how wonderfully ridiculous and over-the-top it is, then sure, this is definitely not the book for them.

yep. it's not for me. not even a little bit. i know wonderfully ridiculous. this wasn't wonderful.

[The Cool Thatguy]

Based on an actual reading of the issue or just by synopsis?

"Bad fan-fic" is a term that's tossed around anytime someone wants to slam a book that isn't to their liking or preference, rather than just critiquing it on its own terms.

Aaron is writing a fun (and, yes, in some ways all ages - but when has The Avengers ever not been an all-ages book?) Avengers tale filled with splashy action and big, cosmic concepts. It's grandiose, oversized, full on comic book-y action.

I expect that won't be the style of every arc but for an opening arc establishing this as the new Avengers team, I think it's the right choice.

I'd call it 'like fanfic' because it tries to be so sweeping and grandiose with little build up, poor execution and worse follow through.

Aaron seems to want to overwhelm us with 'kewl' moments as opposed to amaze us with connecting separate plots. And given how the celestials have been depicted in the past, their appearance here is underwhelming. If they were giant mechs, would we know any difference?

[Prof. Warren]

I'd call it 'like fanfic' because it tries to be so sweeping and grandiose with little build up, poor execution and worse follow through.

Aaron seems to want to overwhelm us with 'kewl' moments as opposed to amaze us with connecting separate plots. And given how the celestials have been depicted in the past, their appearance here is underwhelming. If they were giant mechs, would we know any difference?

Well, yes. Mechs wouldn't be something that cosmic locusts would feed on and a dying mech, even a twenty story one, wouldn't be able to infuse the primal elements of a planet with its DNA. So if you tried to swap out the Celestials in this story with robots, it wouldn't work at all. It would be a completely different story.