Avengers (2013) #9 Review

“NEW UNIVERSE”

Watch as the most dangerous weapon in the Universe is unleashed.

Two Universal SYSTEMS collide.

What good is a White Event if only leads to the destruction of the planet it was meant to transform?

The Good

Cover- At first glance it seems like just another cover based on action. You would only be half right on that though; closer examination leads to a cover very reminiscent of 90’s crave Dragon Ball Z. we have Hulk the strongest of Earth based beings having his punch blocked by one hand of Starbrand, with the other hand he deflects the heat vision blast of Hyperion one of Marvel’s superman anagrams and he stands unflinching at the mighty of Thor’s hammer slamming full force into his back. What this cover illustrates is how powerful Starbrand is while also looking mighty cool and slick at the same time.

Revelation- Ex Nihilo is easily my favorite villain of 2013, so full of dimensions. This issue we learn that he was bored after all the years he spent simply and so he did what anyone with incredible power would do in said situation, he tried something new. The problem with this something new is that it may be what’s disrupted the multiverse. Those origin bombs he hurled at earth in Avengers (2013) #1 changed the earth in varying ways in the hopes of making it sentient. Nihilo went against his prime directive which was to simple judge a planet if it was worthy of surviving and if not allow Aleph to destroy them. As he said this issue he played “Goddess” the very same word he called Captain Universe who appears to be universal consciousness itself. He was playing what Christians would call “God” and what I find more interesting was that his fellow “gods” Aleph and Abyss both realize Earth is too dangerous to allow continued existence

Earth survived multiple attacks by Galactus, spawned multiple Phoenix hosts and survived destruction, defeated a skrull invasion, a Phalanx Invasion, a kree invasion and a great many other things. As a race that has not reached the pinnacle of their evolution or even their technological advancements those are truly terrifying feats from a multiple galaxy perspective.

I said this in Avengers (2013) #2 and this still holds true now I’m even getting a Prometheus from ancient Greek myth from Ex Nihilo. He clearly thinks highly of the human race……there is more going on here than Hickman has let sip just yet, this bears further investigation and reading.

Ramifications- This issue Hickman again gives us a glimpse of just how far reaching his opening arc was.  Every location in which an origin bomb landed changed the surrounding and also left traces of energy for a great many earth based teams and villains to harness in a variety of ways whether this was intentional or not is debatable, all things considered. Ex Nihilo is pretty aloof and proud of what he’s done and that sly smile implies we are only scratching the surface…..also what are the ramifications of Starbrand destroying Earth’s brain?

Action- Starbrand and Nightmask vs the Avengers! Epic is the best word to describe this brief skirmish what’s more Starbrand may very well be one of the most powerful beings in the marvel universe when he’s holding back and it takes Thor, Hyperion and Hulk to stagger him and he isn’t even scratched by their head on assault, talk about scary powerful.

Builder Machine Code- I can’t even explain how cool it is to have a comic book which I read with my pen and paper ready to decipher the small but important portion of the story. Now I typically don’t look through the comic before reading it that way I get the same effect as watching Spartacus, True Blood or Californication. Because I do that I didn’t realize this issue had the builder code at the back, my wife thought I was going crazy as I hit those pages and went straight to the archives to find the code from an earlier issue. My room is chaos right now because of work (As I’m typing this I have a test to set and one to mark). I literally wigged out over not finding it, then went to the internet to find one so I could enjoy the book, the way Hickman intended. Found it! When I hit the last page and saw that it was really at the back…..you can imagine how peeved I was. What this shows is just how personally invested in this book I’ve become, I’m fascinated by the builder code and how it adds weight to re-reading a previous issue now that the code is ours!

Black Heroes- NightMask is here front and center, Eden Fesi our Australian born teleporter and our dues ex machina Captain Universe also make an appearance.

The Bad

Shipping-Honestly this book is so good waiting a week for the other issue will straight up kill me! And you too, don’t even pretend you’re not on the edge of your seat!

Ridiculous- I’m sorry but how is imprisoning Night Mask and Starbreaker on the Dyson Sphere Stark created in New Avengers (2013) #4 a solution? I don’t think a prison can hold these guys. One can teleport from earth and back as well as communicate with machines the other has power to destroy planets.

Captain America- Have I told you guys lately how much I hate Captain American the great Aryan hero that he is? Just like in Avengers vs X-men #1 he escalates the situation because he thinks he’s the only person who’s ever right. Keep it up Cap I’ll be burning your effigy real soon you self serving douchbag prick!

The Ugly

Hickman continues to weave a complex tale with great art and action literally leaving me foaming at the mouth and unable to get to bed because my mind is ablaze with so many questions and answers to mysteries I can barley grasp. I heartily recommend all my fans buy this book and those who have bought it re-read the earlier issues there are plans within plans and things hidden in plain sight in this fantastic thrill ride of a book! 4.5/5