written by Jason Aaron
penciled by Ed McGuiness and Paco Medina
inked by Juan Vlasco, Mark Morales and Jay Leisten
colored by David Curiel
Having been revealed as the collaborator of the Dark Celestials, Loki immobilizes the few Avengers assembled, namely Iron Man, Thor and Captain Marvel, and stops them from detonating the warp grenades that would send this world-ending group of space beings into the sun. Steve, however, detonates the grenade, sending himself, the Dark Celestials, and Loki into the sun, with surprising results. Meanwhile Ghost Rider, She Hulk, Doctor Strange and Black Panther converge in the center of the earth, where they learn startling truths about the invasion they're experiencing. In the end, the team, sans Cap, meets in New York, and realize that the threat is far from over.
It's really not rocket science as to why Marvel relaunched this book with A-list creators, but it is mind-boggling why those A-list creators have simply not lived up to the hype. This issue goes a bit heavy on exposition with Loki explaining to a captive Steve Rogers what's going on, and with the rest of the team converging and sharing notes. It's basically the "talking heads" issue of the story and if I may be honest, I feel the action moves excruciatingly slow here.
Usually, my consolation prize for toiling through these issues is Ed McGuinness' spectacular art, but that's not even the case here as for whatever reason Paco Medina has to contribute several pages to this issue. Now, Medina is a competent enough artist, but considering he's filling in for McGuinness, the disparity in the art is glaring, especially considering that much of Medina's art looks like it was rushed.
I had once thought that I'd be sorry once this first story arc was ended, but given that Sara Pichelli will be doing a one-shot, followed by David Marquez on multiple issues, its seems like it's something to look forward to instead.
I just hope Jason Aaron gets his head back in the game.
6/10
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