{"id":26693,"date":"2022-10-13T17:00:36","date_gmt":"2022-10-13T17:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=26693"},"modified":"2022-10-13T13:43:22","modified_gmt":"2022-10-13T13:43:22","slug":"mighty-avengers-no-single-hero-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2022\/10\/13\/mighty-avengers-no-single-hero-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Mighty Avengers: No Single Hero"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nBy Al Ewing<\/strong>, Greg Land<\/strong>, Jay Leisten<\/strong> & various (Marvel)
\nISBN: 978-0785188742 (TPB\/Digital edition)<\/p>\n

Following blockbuster Avengers Versus X-Men<\/strong> publishing event, company-wide reboot MarvelNOW! reformed the entire overarching continuity: a drastic reshuffle and rethink of characters, concepts and brands with an eye to winning new readers and feeding the company\u2019s burgeoning movie blockbuster machine\u2026<\/p>\n

Moreover, many disparate story strands were congealing to kick off the always-imminent Next Big Thing, with the cosmically expanded Avengers titles forming the spine of an encroaching mega-epic. The colossal Infinity<\/strong> storyline detailed a grandiose advance into Armageddon as an intergalactic Hammer of Doom fell with an all-out attack by impossibly ancient race The Builders<\/em>. They claim to have sparked universal life, but now seek to rectify their mistake on Earth – and woe betide any species or intergalactic civilisation in their way.<\/p>\n

When The Avengers<\/strong> mobilised most of their assemblage off-planet to tackle the threat before it reached them, Thanos of Titan<\/strong> took advantage of the dearth of metahuman defenders to invade, leaving the remaining superheroes with an almost impossible task\u2026<\/p>\n

Written by Al Ewing and illustrated by Greg Land & Jay Leisten, Mighty Avengers<\/strong> volume 2 #1-5 (November 2013 – March 2014) describes how those left behind unite as a resistance force and stayed together as a decidedly different kind of crusading team\u2026 one primarily comprising heroes of colour, not the usual bunch of white guys and ones who looked at problems beyond a self-appointed cosmic jurisdiction\u2026<\/p>\n

The action opens as Thanos hits Earth, where blithely unaware ex-Avenger Luke Cage<\/strong> is pitting his Heroes for Hire<\/strong> apprentices White Tiger<\/em> and a new, teenaged Power Man<\/em> against seasoned super-thief The Plunderer<\/em>. Their efforts are interrupted and derided by the Superior Spider-Man<\/em> who orders them to quit before insultingly offering Cage\u2019s kids a real job.<\/p>\n

Everybody sees that the wallcrawler has become insufferable since he technologically upgraded his act and hired a paramilitary gang as his deputies. Many of his oldest friends even think he might be going crazy. What no one knows is that the mind inside the arachnid hero\u2019s head is actually archvillain Otto Octavius <\/em>AKA Doctor Octopus<\/em> who – despite a passionate initial desire to reform – is slowly reverting to his true manner and bad habits\u2026<\/p>\n

The webspinner\u2019s derision spurs White Tiger into quitting, but only fuels her male teammates into trying harder to prove Spider-Man wrong\u2026<\/p>\n

Elsewhere ex-Avenger Monica Rambeau<\/em> (formerly Captain Marvel<\/strong> and Photon<\/em>, but now calling herself Spectrum<\/em>) is getting back into the crime-busting game after a bout of retirement. She\u2019s sorting out her costume and talking over old times with an enigmatic fellow champion when the first wave of the Titan\u2019s invasion force smashes into New York.<\/p>\n

Donning a store-bought comedy costume, the stranger – also black – joins Monica as a generic \u201cSpider Hero\u201d<\/em> and converges on the landing site where Cage and the still-enraged Superior Spider-Man are battling the Titan\u2019s ferocious warlord Proxima Midnight<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, Mystic Master Doctor Strange<\/strong> has been possessed and corrupted by the Ebony Maw<\/em> – the most personally ambitious of Thanos\u2019 lieutenants – whilst at the bottom of the sea\u00a0 Dr. Adam Brashear<\/em> receives a cosmic visitor. A forgotten African American superhero forbidden by Presidential mandate from operating during the Civil Rights era, The<\/em> Blue Marvel<\/em> is thus stirred from a lengthy self-imposed exile and grudgingly agrees to return to the world which shunned and sidelined him\u2026<\/p>\n

In New York, \u2018The Assembly\u2019 <\/em>give battle, but the Amazing Arachnid seems more concerned with suing his \u201ccopyright infringer\u201d than defeating the invaders, and Spectrum is gravely wounded by Midnight. As Cage tackles Proxima, ordinary citizens are emboldened to join the struggle, compelling ever-watching Thanos to order a retreat.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not over though, as the ravaged metropolis is then assaulted by an overwhelming aspect of voracious Elder God Shuma-Gorath<\/em>, summoned by enslaved Stephen Strange. The rampant horror gleefully begins transforming native New Yorkers into ghastly demon duplicates\u2026<\/p>\n

As Blue Marvel rockets to the rescue, temporarily stymieing the devil god and healing Spectrum, mystically empowered White Tiger and Power Man arrive and Spider Hero -demonstrating a keen knowledge of arcane rites – devises a scheme to drive the Lovecraftian horror back to its own dimension for good.<\/p>\n

Cage then has a eureka moment, realising \u2018No Single Hero\u2019<\/em> could have managed, declaring that they are all Avengers\u2026<\/p>\n

Originally parked above Manhattan, the Inhumans<\/strong>\u2019 floating city Attilan was destroyed during the war and its ruins now languish in the Hudson River. Moreover, when Thanos personally attacked Black Bolt<\/strong>, the embattled Inhuman monarch released genetically transformative Terrigen Mists thereby unleashing a host of new super-powered warriors from the ranks of the humans below\u2026<\/p>\n

Issue #4 is set after the invasion is finally repelled, with the city engrossed in rapid reconstruction. The space-bound Avengers are still missing off-world but life is returning to normal.<\/p>\n

Sleazy entrepreneur Jason Quantrell<\/em> despatches his personal industrial spy Quickfire<\/em> – a recent recipient of Terrigen-induced abilities – to raid the sunken citadel in search of fresh mutagens he can monetise, whilst in Times Square<\/em> Cage has turned his old Gem Theatre offices into a storefront Avengers HQ.<\/p>\n

He has a bold new idea: opening the heroic volunteer brigade to the public who can come to them with meta-related problems or issues of injustice. Even though Reservist The Falcon<\/strong> has come aboard, Spider-Man is becoming increasingly intolerant, alternately demanding to be placed in charge and ordering Cage\u2019s crew to cease and desist. Unable to convince them, the furious superior wallcrawler storms off\u2026<\/p>\n

Meanwhile Spider Hero – who has some ominous magical acquaintances older fans might recognise – has detected an encroaching mystic crisis and resolved to stay. Adopting the vacant costume and identity of martial arts mystery man Ronin<\/em>, he invites the team to join him in stopping an impending burglary in Attilan. It\u2019s not Quickfire\u2019s illegal raid that\u2019s the problem, but rather that she\u2019s going to inadvertently awaken the slumbering submerged threat of the Death Walkers<\/em> if somebody doesn\u2019t stop her\u2026<\/p>\n

However, as the most recent Ronin leads the Avengers to the already-in-progress monster catastrophe, Octavius returns to the Gem Theatre and – in a manic fit of frustrated rage – attacks Cage with all the paramilitary resources he can muster: mercenaries, spider-bots and urban assault vehicles all primed to shut down the Avengers forever.<\/p>\n

Happily, the harassed Hero for Free had already contacted his lawyer and is delighted to follow Jennifer Walters\u2019 <\/em>guidance\u2026 which basically boils down to \u201cShe-Hulk<\/strong> Smash!\u201d\u2026<\/p>\n

Fast, furious and fantastically offbeat, this epic epistle also offers a selection of editorial features from the issues in question and a covers gallery, as it delivers hard, fast, thrilling and funny stories about heroism on the other side of the tracks\u2026
\n\u00a9 2013 Marvel Characters Inc.. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Al Ewing, Greg Land, Jay Leisten & various (Marvel) ISBN: 978-0785188742 (TPB\/Digital edition) Following blockbuster Avengers Versus X-Men publishing event, company-wide reboot MarvelNOW! reformed the entire overarching continuity: a drastic reshuffle and rethink of characters, concepts and brands with an eye to winning new readers and feeding the company\u2019s burgeoning movie blockbuster machine\u2026 Moreover, … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Mighty Avengers: No Single Hero”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[94,74,18,158,189,79,213,39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-avengers","category-captain-america","category-captain-marvel","category-dr-strange","category-inhumans","category-marvel-superheroes","category-iron-fist","category-spider-man"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-6Wx","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26693"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26693\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26695,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26693\/revisions\/26695"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}