Avengers: Armageddon #4
Writer: Chip Zdarsky
Artists: Delio Diaz and Frank Alpizar
Colorist: Jesus Aburtov
Cover Artist: Dike Ruan and Moreno Dinisio
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Unless you've been under a rock, you've probably already had the big last-page reveal of Avengers: Armageddon #4 spoiled for you. So I'm not going to be shy in talking about it here.
Dr. Strangelove
David Colton has been having these dreams. Ever since he got his new powers, he's been seeing his mother (who's long dead) and she's talking in riddles while putting up anti-nuke flyers. This becomes important later.
In the present day, David, the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four—basically everybody—have nuke problems of their own. The Russians just fired a bunch of missiles at the United States, which (thanks to David) has no missiles of its own currently. So the heroes scramble to intercept the missiles, which they learn have been designed to counteract most of their powers!
Meanwhile, David and Bucky Barnes head to Russia to take out the missile base before anything else can be fired. They encounter the Oktober Guard and the Red Hulk, who is so overloaded with Gamma that he's basically a living bomb!
In the end, David lies near death, but in another conversation with his "mom" he is given the "magic word"—Kimota—and when he says it, he transforms into something Miraculous…
Say the Magic Word
I'll get this out of the way first: I have no attachment to Miracleman one way or the other. When Marvel put out the reprints of the original stories a few years ago, I picked up the omnibus collection… and never actually read it. I know of the character, of course, and I know the complicated backstory with the Original Writer (Alan Moore, if you didn't know) and Neil Gaiman. But I have no real knowledge or attachment to the actual material.
So let's see how this goes…
This is an event book, so there aren't many contemplative character moments. This issue is mostly wall-to-wall action. The good news is, it's rather good action. And even better, everyone seems to be in-character, which is not always the case with event books.
David Colton has been our main character the whole time, so of course he gets the most panel time. Carol Danvers also gets a sizable amount, which was somewhat surprising to me—haven't heard as much about her lately. Here she gets to really cut loose, power-wise, and it's pretty cool to see.
The person who gets the biggest showcase is Sue Richards of the Fantastic Four, though. Most people, myself included, will tell you that she is the strongest member of the FF, and she more than proves that here. It's a very cool scene. I won't spoil it here, but let's just say that a missile being immune to her powers still isn't enough to stop the Invisible Woman.
It's not all good stuff, though. I'm not crazy about how Bucky is written here. It's funny that he's latched onto another Captain America in Steve's absence, but I'm really worried that he's going to come out of this event in a pine box. I just don't see how he can come back from this.
Speaking of pine boxes, I guess we're supposed to think that Red Hulk is getting fitted for one? If so, that's lame. For someone who had such a big role in the buildup to, and start of, this event, if he goes out like a punk like this then that's just stupid.
There's a lot of allegory for today's world in this book. In the lead-up to this event, and in the first few issues of Armageddon itself, one of the central story points has been the dangers of American Imperialism and the consequences of overreach. This was actually very topical for today's world, unfortunately—it's just that it was Red Hulk at the forefront, not all-too-human politicians. Now all of a sudden, the focus has shifted to "the Russians are the bad guys, and the American leader is working with them!" Which is actually still pretty topical, if you think about it…
I am curious how the final issue of this event is going to go. The missiles are stopped and the baddie who started the whole event, Red Hulk, is down. Obviously there's David's new status and fallout from his and Bucky's actions, but how does all of this lead to the "next phase" of the Marvel Universe?
Oh, and one last thing that bugged me: if David has to say the magic word to change into Miracleman, then how did he have the powers already? I know he was already a super-soldier, but they can't fly, so that was definitely from the Origin Box. Then again, there aren't exactly any rules established for those things or how they work, are there?
Switching Sides
Chip Zdarsky has been handling the big event book well here, even if I don't agree with everything he's done. His characterization of the big Marvel characters is all pretty much spot-on, with the exception of Red Hulk (although in his defense he is Gamma-crazy here) and I'm still not sold on his Bucky. David Colton is an interesting character, but he's getting to be a little too much Gary Stu (he went from crazy Captain America to Superman to Miracleman in, what, a year's time?) for my taste, so I am worried about Zdarsky writing the new Avengers book when Miracleman is clearly going to be the mystery member. Those quibbles aside, he keeps the pace moving and no one does anything exceptionally stupid and/or out of character, so it's head and shoulders above a lot of events I've read.
The art team this issue consists of two artists, Delio Diaz and Frank Alpizar, and they do a really good job. Everyone looks "right," again not always easy in a big event book. There's plenty of action, and various players get cool moments. Plus it's easy to follow what's going on throughout the whole issue. When you read a lot of manga like I do, you get used to a ton of power effects meaning that you have no idea what's happening on the page half of the time. And the official reveal of Miracleman looks really cool, so they understood the assignment there.
Jesus Aburtov handles the coloring for this issue, and he similarly puts forth a strong effort. It has that extra-bright look that digital coloring often has, but it's not in an overwhelming or "bad" way. There's tons of power effects and explosions, so he has plenty of opportunities to play with tones and effects, which he does to great effect. All in all, it's the kind of coloring that you'd expect a big event book to have.
For Tomorrow
Avengers: Armageddon #4 will be most known for its big reveal, poorly kept secret that it is, but the rest of the issue is a strong effort. It's well-paced with good character work and plenty of action, which makes it a cut above a lot of event books. That doesn't mean I agree with everything happening in the story, there are still things that don't make sense and some characters turns don't feel earned. But for a book that is supposed to have major ramifications for the Marvel universe, it delivers a solid issue overall and leaves us at the edge of our seats waiting for the conclusion.