Avengers #35 Review: Time Runs Out on Hickman's Avengers Run
Reading time: 3 minutes
After relentlessly hopping into the future where it seemingly looked like the two teams would never return, Avengers #35 does the unthinkable and flings this set of heroes into the future again. The result is a comic that is equal parts bizarre, aggravating, and frustrating. Still it’s hard not to see that Hickman has a master plan in this current story arc that he is slowly going to flesh out later on in the run. They just pit Captain America in a war with Iron Man, and the two of them are pretty much non-existent in this tale that picks up eight months chronologically after that one. Adding insult to injury, is the fact that almost nothing featured on the cover is in the actual issue. That seems to be standard practice for Marvel these days, who have been charging a premium $4.99 price point, and then do not even have the big continuity shifts that fans are anxiously anticipating in the issue. Frankly, it’s enough to make this title look bad even though the issue is full of interesting ideas complemented by a unique vision. While jumping into the future is a nice gimmick--that likely will pay off--forcing readers to spend so much of their hard earned cash on a project that will feature little to no payoff is slightly abusing the fan base.
This issue also falters in another key place: the art style. This makes it less consistent than fans might have seriously hoped for. Once upon a time, this book used to only feature people like Dustin Weaver. This story has Weaver and a bevy of artists with clashing styles. This is frustrating, and adds nothing to the story at hand. The shifts are downright jarring at times as well. Artist Nick Bradshaw is a great talent, but sticking him in the middle of an Avengers story that involves no frills or humor is simply a poor use of his time as a creator. This Issue in particular is full of silly mishaps in tone like the aforementioned piece. Jim Cheung delivers some pretty pages in the tale, but seems not to be utilized towards his full advantage, as the quiet laboratory scene with Amadeus Cho isn't the greatest place to put the artist. Where he does shine is towards the end of the tale with the interesting new costumes for the already established heroes. Paco Medina’s part of the tale is easy on the eyes as well, as the artist has grown substantially over the past year or so in terms of craft.
With all that out of the way, there is still a lot of material to love about this installment of Avengers. By declaring such an interesting storyline and then heading right into the future, Hickman has made a very bold choice that will hopefully add to the story later on. With exploration into some of the core themes of the series as well as the ideological warfare between both the Avengers and New Avengers, there is an incredible amount of potential contained within this narrative. Throughout this series, Hickman has been defying expectations with each Avengers tale, weaving a complex narrative and bountiful history in this series. Pretty soon everything that has been setup is going to come to a head, as we are shown with the Universal engine towards the beginning, as well as all the Ex Nihilo characters being thrust in difficult situations.
In that sense, the quality of this immediate issue doesn’t quite matter. The important moments in this story are what comes next when all the chess pieces are in place on the board. Comics are a medium of serialized storytelling, and Hickman writes for the slow burn. Unfortunately, a lot of people have been thrown off of these stories because of that, but in doing so they would be missing an Avengers narrative that is unlike any experience these heroes and villains have discovered. As the New Avengers encounter their last storyline and both of these tales begin to come to a close, we will attempt to cover each of their last installments at Comic Book News UK.
Our advice is to keep reading the Avengers saga as it continues to pick up steam despite your initial thoughts on this issue, or waiting for the trade.
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