written by Jason Aaron
drawn by Ed McGuiness (p) Mark Morales and Jay Leisten (i)
colored by David Curiel
Marvel's current Avengers relaunch continues, with the architect behind the great globe-menacing menace, the Final Host of Dark Celestials, finally revealing himself, though his identity would have been known to anyone who had read the Free Comic Book Day prelude to this story. The team starts to come together as circumstances bring together She-Hulk and Ghost Rider, and Captain America, Iron Man and Thor meet up with Captain Marvel as she tries to ease the plummeting Celestials' descent. Doctor Strange and the Marvel Cinematic Universe's most popular character Black Panther get a grand total of one panel of face time.
I get that when Marvel introduce a splashy new title/relaunch/reboot, they want to start off with a grandiose story arc with all-star creators, but an unfortunate side effect of that is that sometimes, the story feels a bit too bloated for its own good, and that's usually down to the individual issues, which are often just filler. This issue is a prime example of that; too much time is spent on things of little consequence, and far too little happens to move the overall story forward. From the first page to the last, with its grand revelation, it feels like almost nothing has really happened. It's basically just another excuse for Ed McGuiness to deliver stunning art (on which front, fortunately, he delivers).
I'm not the biggest Jason Aaron fan, but I have read his work, and I know he's quite a capable writer, one who is also quite capable of crafting both tightly-paced done-in-one stories, as he did during his tenure on "Wolverine" nearly ten years ago and sprawling, multi-issue tales like the quirky, genuinely entertaining "Astonishing Spider-Man and Wolverine," so to be honest I'm scratching my head a little bit over this one. I'm also bewildered as to why Doctor Strange and Black Panther, arguably two "it" characters right now due to their prominent roles in the world-beating Avengers: Infinity War now dominating cinemas, have been sidelined in favor of Ghost Rider fighting worms. I'm guessing they'll get the spotlight next issue or at some point in this arc, but the pacing still feels questionable.
Sometimes it's hard to review multiple-issue arcs because they read better as a whole than as individual issues but even story decompression doesn't have to mean that each issue doesn't feel like a complete experience in and of itself. I mean, the latest Captain America issue is testament to how effective a single issue in a multi-issue arc can still be. I hope they pick up the pace again next issue.
6/10
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