Earth’s Mightiest Heroes Celebrate 800 Issues
Cover of Avengers #34 (Legacy #800) by Russell Dauterman and Rachelle Rosenberg. Written by Jed MacKay, art by Farid Karami, colors by Federico Blee
The final battle against Kang for the Grail to save the entire universe continues here in the 34th issue of Jed MacKay’s Avengers run which also happens to mark it’s landmark 800th issue! With the Twilight Court joining the fray and the arrival of Hyperion, can the Avengers turn the tide against their greatest foe?
I’ll break down the issue - as well as the special anniversary story penned by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley and then offer my thoughts and reviews after the fact. Spoilers abound, but heed the call, true believer, for now…the Avengers assemble!
Warning: Spoilers ahead for Avengers #800
The Twilight Court soars to the rescue, joining the fray to aid the Avengers.
Picking up where issue #33 left off, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, joined by the Twilight Court, confront Kang in the battle to save the entire universe from the time-conquering madman. Confirming what the previous issue told us, the Twilight Court informs the Avengers that they were inspired by them and have heeded their example for years. Captain Marvel remarks that it has only been a year since they encountered one another. However, the Court replies that due to the nature of their travels across the multiverse, where they were lost across literal time and space, it feels much longer than a single year.
Furthermore, they also confirm that they built the Impossible City from the remains of the Damocles Base of Kang. This creates a circular sort of origin for the sentient base. They acknowledge how they initially thought they were building Camelot in the image of the Impossible City which would, in turn, actually become the Impossible City. Freed from the machinations of Myrddin or Kang, the Twilight Court stands ready to stand alongside the Avengers. The two teams, along with Hyperion, work together to repel wave after wave of the summoned horde of zombie heroes and villains.
Kang abandons his Myrddin persona and garb and faces his greatest enemies in his classic appearance.
Captain Marvel leads the charge as she declares that the direct assault against Kang simply is not working and that they need to try something different. With the Twilight Court and Hyperion buying them much needed time, the Avengers rush to confront Kang. He has completely abandoned the Myrddin persona and stands before them in his traditional conqueror garb.
Carol decides to plead the case of the team before Kang. He is empowered by the Grail and ready to forcibly restart the universe by destroying it. She plainly states that they realize that Kang in his current state is more powerful than all of them together. However, Kang is no fool and knows that, despite this acknowledgment, the Avengers simply do not give up.
The Ashen Combine, the mad villains whom the Avengers faced at the beginning of MacKay’s run.
Carol happily confirms as much, noting that the Avengers did not give up when the Ashen Combine invaded Earth (an event which took place all the way at the beginning of this current volume). Despite the fact that these new villains were monsters from different worlds and each of them was a city killer in their own right, the Avengers rose to the challenge and defeated them.
As we see the flashback detailing how the Avengers routed the Ashen Combine, we get an interesting editor’s note. This note cleverly references how a certain Thunder God had seemingly been replaced by Storm despite the fact he was clearly present in that battle, right?
The Vision recounts how the Avengers came to the aid of the X-Men and mutantkind against Orchis.
Kang is not impressed, however, and goads the Avengers to attack him. Vision replies that the Avengers leapt to attack when an attack is needed, such as when they rallied to the aid of the X-Men and mutantkind from Orchis. We get a series of flashback panels detailing how the Avengers helped rescue the prisoners of Orchis and kept them sheltered aboard the Impossible City.
A possessed Blade was one of the myriad threats the Avengers faced over the past few years.
Again, Kang is not impressed, especially when it comes to braggadocio from a machine. This time Iron Man speaks, referencing how the Avengers came together to help protect the world when eternal night fell and ushered in the vampire invasion, as detailed in the Blood Hunt crossover event. We see some great panels depicting how the Avengers had to deal with a Blade who was possessed by Varnae and eventually ensured that the sun would once again rise.
Hyperion, who was on a suicide mission, winds up finding a new path forward thanks to the Avengers.
Continuing the trend of the Avengers recounting their previous exploits (which also serve to conveniently sum up the run to date), Storm speaks up. She recounts how Hyperion, upon realizing his life was a lie, sought out the Avengers to make them his executioners as the only ones who could perform the task.
But thanks to the Vision, Hyperion found a reason to live. More than that, he found a reason to be a hero again and come to the aid of those he had once cast as his own firing squad.
Black Panther leads as only he can.
Kang, clearly losing his composure at this moment, shouts that enough is enough and says he has grown weary of the Avengers and their "story time." He asks if they are cowards for not attacking him, to which Black Panther interjects. T'Challa asks him if a coward would enter an alien world alone and rally its inhabitants as an army to fight back against those who love incarceration and cruelty. T'Challa has been many things, after all. He has been a king, an outcast, a warrior, and a hero, but most of all, he is an Avenger.
This was long overdue honestly. If we can please never pit the X-Men against the Avengers again, I’d be so grateful.
As Kang bitterly says the Avengers can tell their stories because he has time on his side, Scarlet Witch confronts him. She points out that Kang is completely isolated and cannot possibly conceive of friendship or finding common ground with anyone. As she does, we see images of the Avengers and X-Men coming together as friends and allies. The wounds between the two great teams of the Marvel Universe are healing at last.
This is especially refreshing because the animosity between these teams has lasted entirely way too long. I would be a happy man if I never see another Avengers versus X-Men encounter in comics ever again.
Captain America (Sam Wilson) and Black Panther take on the Masters of Evil as Sorcerer Supreme Doom reigns over Earth.
Captain America is next to speak up as the former Falcon recounts how Doom took over the world, which gave the Masters of Evil an opening to conquer the Impossible City. We see flashbacks of Captain America and Black Panther taking on the Masters of Evil and stopping them despite running out of time to do so. They beat the clock time and time again, and surely they will beat Kang.
Kang admits he cannot outright the destroy the heroes, but with the Grail, he won’t need to.
Having heard more than enough, Kang lashes out verbally, asking the Avengers just how they hope to possibly stop him. After all, simply telling him that they will defeat him will not actually make it happen. Carol points out that while his defenses are impregnable with the Grail, there must be a reason why he simply has not used the Grail to atomize them. This leads her to the conclusion that Kang actually cannot simply destroy them with the Grail.
Kang scoffs, admitting that he does not need to, as each passing moment only serves to initialize the Grail further as a sort of universal doomsday device. Kang practically spits that the Avengers cannot hope to stop him, not through strength of arms or through the convictions of their stories. One by one, the Mightiest Heroes of Earth grill Kang, asking him if he considers the Avengers to be heroes and whether or not he considers himself one. He answers affirmatively to both, but Captain America is quick to point out that Kang is obviously a villain, as his heroism exists only to himself and there is nothing altruistic about it whatsoever.
Captain Marvel claims the Grail from Kang and all is well….or is it?
Kang just shrugs this off as semantics, which ironically seals his fate as we race towards the conclusion of the landmark issue. The Avengers note that the Grail was created by Reed Richards, albeit subconsciously. As such, they reveal that all this time they were not trying to convince Kang of their hero credentials, but rather the Grail itself.
The Grail soon responds to Captain Marvel as she uses its universal reality-bending powers to quickly destroy the zombie horde at the command of Kang. But as all seems to be well in order, Kang maniacally laughs in defiance. Dropping a bombshell, he reveals that the initializing sequence of the Grail cannot be stopped once it has begun and that the end of the universe is inevitable.
As our main story draws to a close, Kang mockingly asks which among the seven assembled Avengers will be the sole survivor of the new universe once this one is destroyed. This raises the stakes to a level that only the Mightiest Heroes of Earth can begin to hope to meet.
The Anniversary Special
Captain America keeps an eye on Madame Hydra.
As our main story ends, we are treated to a special new story courtesy of Brian Michael Bendis, the most prolific scribe of the Avengers in the history of the team, and Mark Bagley, the famed Marvel artist and frequent collaborator of Bendis on such titles as Ultimate Spider-Man and Avengers Assemble. Our short story wastes little time getting things rolling as we see Captain America doing some surveilling on the island of Madripoor.
In the sights of Captain America is the infamous Viper, also known as Madame Hydra, who is a longtime figurehead of Hydra and a frequent foe of the Avengers. Captain America is soon joined by Iron Man, who had been hailed on the classic membership identification cards of the Avengers. This is a nice flashback to the beloved classic era of the perennial superhero team in Marvel. The two quickly catch up and banter like the old friends they are as they discuss the troubling implications regarding the escalating aspirations of Hydra for global domination.
It’s not the Avengers if the Big Three aren’t together.
As they try to make sense of what exactly Hydra is up to, Tony notes that he believed the "all hands" signal of Captain America was not to denote that all of the Avengers were needed. Rather, he thought it was a call back to the anniversary of the original assembling of the Avengers. Ironically enough, today happens to mark the day that they formed, with Captain America being thawed out of the ice only a week later.
The two continue to casually talk. They reference their losses and wins alike as they continue to keep an eye on Madame Hydra and the goons she has gathered. It is not long thereafter that the two are joined by the Mighty Thor, reuniting the Big Three of the Avengers once more. As the three most influential and iconic Avengers discuss whether or not Thor should just bring down the lightning on Hydra, Iron Man brings Thor up to speed on the fact that it is the anniversary of the Avengers.
Meanwhile, Madame Hydra unveils just what she has up her sleeve in the form of a Super-Adaptoid Mandroid. This is a manned attack suit that can replicate the powers and abilities of anyone it engages in battles. Humorously, the members of Hydra seem to be pretty stoked by their new weapon, whereas the Big Three do not seem entirely too bothered. Tony suggests that perhaps he can get through to Madame Hydra if he talks to her one on one, which prompts knowing looks from Captain America and Thor. They note that Tony definitely has a type. As Tony decides to hack into the Super-Adaptoid Mandroid, he unfortunately triggers an alert, and all of the members of Hydra set their eyes on the trio.
The casualness of Hulk just showing up and saying “hey, guys” is beyond hilarious.
In a fortunate turn of events, they are soon joined by the Hulk just as Madame Hydra sics her forces on them. Thor retaliates with a surge of lightning, but as Tony points out, the Super-Adaptoid Mandroid simply adapts to the attack and returns it back to the Avengers. As the dust settles from the attack of the Mandroid, the Avengers are joined by the final two founding members in the form of Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne (Ant-Man and the Wasp).
They are quickly brought up to speed as the battle is joined between Hydra and the Mightiest Heroes of Earth. Pym mentions he can probably shut down the suit from the inside, provided he has some cover. And cover he definitely gets courtesy of Janet, the Hulk, and a trick arrow! The team is joined by longstanding Avengers Hawkeye and Scarlet Witch, who join the fray.
Hawkeye and Scarlet Witch - arguably the two most important Avengers who don’t have founding member status - join the fray!
As the Avengers rally together, Ant-Man shrinks inside of the Super-Adaptoid and reaches the highly volatile core. Wanda lets him know she has him and tells him to just say "when." Ant-Man rips out the core and Scarlet Witch is able to safely teleport him out of the now unstable war weapon as it starts to go critical.
Thor warns everyone to stay back as he spins Mjolnir in preparation to contain the damage. Just then, Captain Marvel arrives, playfully asking if she was included in the "everyone" warning. She flies through the Super-Adaptoid Mandroid as its chaotic energies are harmlessly dissipated.
The Avengers round up Madame Hydra and the rest of her forces as she is admonished for her reckless actions. They tell her just how much she could help the world instead. Hank McCoy (the Beast) bounds into action as he confirms that his escalation theory paid off. Captain America implores Madame Hydra to let this be the end of Hydra once and for all. To this, the Hulk loudly asks if they heard that (they definitely did, HA).
Captain Marvel arrives in the nick of time!
Tony and Captain America realize that being in the Avengers ultimately was good for them individually, as they both rubbed off on one another in a positive manner. Thor quickly adds that he, too, has improved himself in the form of no longer proudly announcing his own accomplishments. This, of course, is a jest from the Odinson.
SHIELD soon arrives and begins taking the members of Hydra away. The heroes are soon joined by, well, let us just conservatively say a lot of Avengers as our short but sweet anniversary celebration comes to a close.
Just a handful of the many heroes who were once - and always - an Avenger. And yes, Spider-Man, you missed it.
An Anniversary Unlike Any Other?
I can’t get enough of the Twilight Court.
Avengers #800 has a daunting task as it hits the shelves. It not only has to properly pay homage to the great storied history of the title which has spanned decades, but it also must serve as a worthwhile story that continues the Grail arc (which in turn neatly wraps up the entire run to date). This raises the question as to whether Jed MacKay and Farid Karami do indeed succeed in that multifaceted task.
That answer is yes, ……mostly.
The issue certainly takes big steps towards the inevitable conclusion of the story and, as it would appear, the Avengers title itself. If you have been looking at solicitations and previews for a hot minute, you would know that once issue #36 (which would be legacy issue #802) hits the stands, the title is effectively on hiatus for the time being. I would assume we will not wait terribly long for a new Avengers run, likely sometime after Armageddon (the next big Marvel event, penned by Chip Zdarsky) wraps up. There is a lot of expectations that this run needs to stick the landing as it reaches its conclusion after three years. For all intents and purposes, this issue is setting up the book to do just that.
Not only does this book cleverly refresh the memory of the reader with everything that has led up to this point, but it also serves as a testament to the resilience of the Avengers as a whole. Despite the fact that this iteration of the team is one of the more powerful versions we have seen in a hot minute, the Avengers have been fighting uphill battles almost since the first issue of the run of MacKay. Those trials and tribulations have tempered the team like fire does iron as they confront Kang, choosing a line of dialogue as opposed to battling him futilely. This obviously panned out in their favor as it bought them enough time to convince the Grail that they are heroes and certainly more heroic than Kang himself. It certainly helps out a lot that Kang was more or less powerless to attack them directly, which is why he was summoning zombie hordes to do it for him.
As such, the story is pretty solid and has a good conclusion that leads up to the penultimate issue of the series. All that said, I feel as if the issue is missing something. Given the buildup and hype for the issue, as well as the beautiful wrap-around covers courtesy of Russell Dauterman and Rachelle Rosenberg, I felt like there would be more to the issue than what we got. Maybe I am just being greedy here, but I feel like we should have at least seen the start of the initializing process of the Grail. This is a MacGuffin that has ties all the way back to Secret Wars from 2015, after all. That is a fairly deep cut given the status of the event that has shaped modern Marvel storytelling since its release (and the inspiration behind the current plans in the Marvel Cinematic Universe).
And true, we did get more in the sense of a fun welcome back celebratory short story courtesy of Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley, but that story, while enjoyable, did not quite elevate the overall issue to the almost mythic status Marvel had been hyping it up as. Please do not get me mistaken, either. This truly is a good comic book that is carrying a pretty great story arc towards its conclusion. But as a milestone issue in the annals of history, I feel as if its reach somewhat exceeds its grasp. But that is less of a fault of the writing and more on the expectations Marvel as a whole thrusts upon the creators.
The art here is something to behold per usual. Farid Karami offers cinematic quality with expressive characters and larger than life scale action. This certainly feels like an Avengers book with everything going on here. The attention to detail, from the specific zombified characters in the background assaulting our heroes to the splash pages designed to reflect back on previous arcs, cannot be understated. And I for one, as someone who has lived through the myriad clashes and butting of heads between the Children of the Atom and the Mightiest Heroes of Earth, especially enjoyed seeing the two major superhero teams in Marvel being shown in a mutually positive and friendly light.
The art of Karami best shines, in the humble opinion of this reviewer, when they are allowed to highlight facial expressions. No character ever looks alike and they are always dynamically posed and presented upon the page. Even when they are relaxing and having fun, you get a strong sense of presence. And you really should, given that these are not just superheroes, they are AVENGERS (and the foes that no single superhero could withstand).
Captain Marvel switches up tactics to hopefully save the day.
The backup special is also enjoyable as Bagley brings his signature and quickly identifiable style alongside the writing of Bendis. You can tell the two enjoy working with one another and enjoy a camaraderie that rivals that of the Avengers themselves, especially Steve and Tony. It is purposefully a timeless sort of story given the characters involved and how they are portrayed. The costumes are mostly modern depictions, but Thor technically does not really exist (at least not in the familiar sense) and Hulk is basically a demonic entity now, to say nothing of the current status quo of all the other Avengers. As such, it is a story that can be enjoyed on its own with no prior context outside of simply being a fan of the Avengers and wanting to celebrate the anniversary of the day unlike any other.
This is a huge invasion of privacy and yet…I get it.
Final Thoughts and Review
At the end of the day, even with my minor misgivings about whether or not the book lives up to the almost impossible hype surrounding it, it certainly is a book worth reading from a series that is very much worth your attention. Issue #800 of the Avengers draws us ever closer to what I hope is a titanic conclusion of everything MacKay has been building up to for the past three years.
Final Review: 8/10
Victory but at what cost?!
Beginning with Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the legacy of the Avengers has passed through a veritable who is who of all-time greats in the industry. Jed MacKay has proven to date he can rub shoulders with literal giants, and issue #800 of the Avengers is certainly a testament to that fact. It is a celebration of the history of the Mightiest Heroes of Earth, and the backup feature from Bendis and Bagley helps solidify it as much. As we approach the end of the run of MacKay and what I hope is not a terribly long wait without an Avengers title, this book is worth heeding the call and assembling for.