A world must die! But which New Avenger will find the strength to press the button? And what will come in the aftermath?
The Good
Story– In the present Dr. Strange unleashes an elder god which completely decimates the Great Society. The Illuminati panic and quickly take him down. They are shaken by the death of the Great society and what Dr. Strange has become, so shaken are they that none of them can detonate the bomb not even the Black Panther who is counselled by his father and the panthers of the past. Namor however has no such issue and detonates the bomb and killing the other world.
Emotion– I understand why the team has crumbled in the current situation. They have just faced down men of equal if not superior moral standing to themselves. They have watched their friend Dr. Strange literally become a monster in the face of the incursion. They see themselves reflected in his monstrous transformation and have come to the point that they don’t like what is staring back. The exchange between Black Panther and his ancestors is particularly touching as he can never seem to live up to their expectations. It was already established in the Priest run of Black Panther that he was very different from his father T’chaka. The dogs of war/Hatut Zeraze were sanctioned by T’chaka to do anything necessary to ensure the safety of the kingdom. T’challa disbanded them because of their immoral ways. T’chaka was an isolationist and chose to keep his nation so while T’challa has done the exact opposite as he accepted refugees int he Priest run and accepted help from the Avengers, Fantastic four and X-men on occasion to aid his people. They are different and have different outlooks on life. This exchange was hurtful for T’challa simply because it echoed the sentiment that son’s will never live up to their father’s expectations. It’s painful not just for T’challa but for his dead father who realizes that his son is not the man he wanted him to be.
Maximus and the Swan– Who is playing who in this situation? What does it mean for what comes next?
Namor- Unlike everyone else I am one with Namor on his decision to simply destroy the other earth so that our Earth-616 can survive. While I understand why the other members of the Illuminati are overwhelmed by the emotion of the situation, seeing Dr. Strange almost destroy them all was very sobering as to just how far they were willing to go thank goodness Namor was on hand to make the hard choices.
Moral Ambiguity- Is it morally right to kill a planet to save your own? could you do it? Would you agree with Namor or T’challa?
The Bad
Complaints– My internet has been down and so this review is going out but I must say that people complain every-time a writer tries anything remotely interesting with T’challa. The new complaint is he’s now a failure. The very best and most memorable moments in a characters life are when they stumble and fall and how they pick themselves back up. Batman defeated and broken by Bane, the Death of Superman etc. these showed our heroes at their weakest but having them recover and deal with the threats was a thing of beauty which makes them some of the best mainstream comic stories in history. We have had a perfect T’challa written by Christopher priest and you know what, you stopped buying it and it was cancelled. We got a more human and relatable T’challa written by Hudlin and you stopped buying that too and it was cancelled. They had him outsmart Doom in Doomwar and ya’ll complained. He was an american vigilante in Black Panther Most Dangerous man alive and ya’ll stopped buying it and it too was cancelled. Instead of complaining why don’t you do something about it. Time to put out or shut up!! If you don’t like it buy indie and spare those of us who are fans your tired old complaints. It’s been done before.
X2– Am I the only one who hated T’challa collapsing into an emotional mess on the floor while Reed Richards cradled him in his arms? No? It reminded me of my most hated X-men movie scene of Cyclops doing the same in X-men 2. I can see T’challa falling to his knees and shedding a tear but in Reed’s arms is just…out of character for me. Equally I find it hard to believe T’challa could not do it, it would have seemed more in character to push the button and lament about it afterwards to me..
Art– It could have been damn near perfect but those last three pages are just jarringly different and destroy the flow of the book.
The Ugly
Overall New Avengers (2013) #21 was an emotional, gripping and deeply engaging book that deserves your love! 4/5
Well Said.
Hi,
Thanks for your great review. This issue was compelling and interesting and now I have added it to the list.
This issue did make me connect with Black Panther like never before, the crying was a bit much but I am excited about his eventual death match with Namor.
I have heard complaints about the New Avengers, but personally I enjoy the complexity of this story line and it’s time jumps.
On to the next one!
I don’t know if you are having bad bump in the road. But at the end of the day this is your domain, the website and facebook page. You can literally post something and walk away. If your post concerning your reviews on comicbooks or characters going to be up for public debate, to agree, disagree. or in-between. You might need to wear an hard hat, or remove the comment section of your post. The whole buy indie and allow fans to celebrate there comics does not work. Especially when part of your website is about supporting comic/character with monetary means. I have not seen any fan give an critical eye towards something they like, because you most likely are judging the whole package (story, art, character growth,relationship) and ignoring the constant repeaters. I’m going to stop there and again this your platform and I am still waiting on your thoughts on all these “dipped in chocolate superheros” (model term).
Oh Cedric we could be here until next week if we started on that road. I’m always curious what other fans impressions of the various books are. I’m kinda on Sabatical right now, school, two jobs, web designs, new baby etc.
When I’m back we can get into it properly.
Thanks Jeannine! I love the grey area in which this book operates. It’s a discussion laden book that more people should be giving a chance.
Shoot thats the word of the year “two jobs” but when you get things under control. Holla, And now I see why the web page changed
I would like to add a few comments
I really like that when it came down to it ,T”challa finally recognized that what he was about to was simply wrong and he could do it . And in spite of all the badgering to go through with it from his father and all the other Black Panthers and the ongoing general consensus of his companions that what they were doing was right and justified he at last acknowledged what I suspect he secretly realized all along ,namely that what he was about to do was wicked and immoral and could be justified
And so he did not do it.
And my heart soared when I read this
I think these actions shows him to be a very strong person ,for in making that decision he went against his father and all the other Panthers .Plus he also made that decision with out any help or support of his companions
I should add here that I do not believe that it is a son’s duty to live up to his father’s expectations so T’Challa did nothing wrong in rejecting his father’s directions.
So when the time came to do the deed T’challa was all alone . He made the right decision .Even though it was impossibly difficult .And it cost him dearly
Also regarding his emotional response to his decision . I think this shows him to be a wise and thoughtful man who understands the enormity and the ramifications of his decision( the world and everything and every one he cares about will die because of what he did not do) Personally speaking I think he would be less than human and not much of a man if he did not have such a reaction
And I see no shame or any thing wrong in Reed coming over to comfort his friend.
As to Namor I think the choice was easy for him because he is weak and shallow . I believe his famous arrogance is simply a facade for a heedless immaturity . He does not seem to comprehend or care about what he has done . I get the impression for him the greatest calamity possible would be a world in which he did not exist. I suspect he did the deed simply to show off and show up the others
At least that is the impression I am consistently getting of the character from reading this series
One more thing – It occurs to me that if T’Challa had gone through with it and destroyed the world it would have placed a tremendous impossible unfair burden on the people he was most motivated to save .( the Wakandans ) I wonder if in the fallowing days every time he saw a Wakandan behaving badly or dis honorably he would think “I murdered a world so you could survive and this is how you behave ?” And I suspect that eventually he would have come to resent and even hate them I further wonder if it would have been the same for Henry who got into this enterprise to save his fellow mutants , or Reed who was motivated to save his family . Would their minds be likewise poisoned against the very people for whom they had done that awful thing ?
And wouldn’t that be a terrible and perhaps fitting punishment/ result for what they had done
Or at least very ironic
Valid Points, and Interesting Perspective. The only section that doesn’t resonate with My Being is witnessing a character, whom I hold in high regards, crying and being cuddled. That part, to Me at least, is unbecoming.