Avengers Next #5

Background

Sylene, the daughter of Loki, has the desire to restore Asgard to its former glory after it was destroyed by Galactus by transforming Earth into it. Using Ulik and a human teleporter named Warp, she kidnapped Kevin Masterson (formerly Thunderstrike) which brought the other Avengers into her grasp. Capturing them, she uses their powers to create energy clones of themselves that seek out and do the same to other powered humans, giving Sylene all the energy she needs to enact the spell. Now, it's up to Jarvis, Kevin and Warp to find a way to stop her before Earth becomes Asgard permanently.

Story 'Farewell My Planet'

Kevin, Jarvis and Warp surmise the situation. While Kevin tries to formulate a plan, Warp tries to talk them into escape. Mainframe calls in from his satellite and tells them his intentions of destroying Sylene's volcano base. Just then, Jarvis alerts them to every energy clone in New York coming for the Mansion. The trio outrun them to the arsenal where they grab some supplies and teleport out just as the clones are about to grab them.

At the volcano, Ulik and Sylene bask in the glory of their victory, not knowing that in the magical pool where Thena and J2 lay submerged, J2 is slowly trudging his way to the surface; fighting back against unending pain and madness. Suddenly, one of Warp's portals opens and Iron Man's old golden armor emerges. Ulik attacks, but is surprised to find no one inside. It's intent as a distraction is complete when Kevin uses Grim Reaper's scythe to blast Sylene and send her energy clone control into Warp's waiting hands. Ulik turns his attentions on him with Kevin ready to strike, but Warp intervenes and sends Ulik packing to the moon.

Back on Earth, Jarvis now has Sylene's control and analyzes how to use it to reverse the process while Kevin stands ready over Sylene. Meanwhile, the spell continues to engulf the world and Mainframe sets his satellite into a freefall directed towards Sylene's base. J2 finally finds Thena inside the pool and hopes he can free them both, while Jarvis manages to disable the clones and turn off the stasis pods.

Sabreclaw is the first to come to and attacks Sylene. Sylene counters by setting him on fire, giving the other Avengers an opening to strike at her. J2 manages to free himself and Thena, causing Sylene's spell to lose potency and begin to reverse. Thena awakens and thanks J2 with a kiss, which he happily accepts. Sylene captures the Avengers with her magics, but is interrupted by a fully recovered Thena. Sylene turns her attentions on her, and Kevin joins in with the scythe. When Thena learns his identity, she reaches out to touch him and gives him back his power. He's Thunderstrike once more.

Thena informs Sylene about Thor and Odin using the Odin Power to restore the magic to Asgard, and Thunderstrike lectures Sylene on what being a god should mean as he takes her down. Stinger interrupts with a message from Mainframe that he wants them to clear out as the satellite is about to impact any second. Warp opens a portal and they all clear out as Sylene revives just in time to witness the impact first hand.

They all ponder if she survived or not, and American Dream finally accepts the world still needs them. Mainframe flies down to lecture them about the members they've taken onto their team, but Dream tells him to stuff his complaints. They may not be ideal Avengers material, but they answered the call. They're the Avengers the world has, and that's just fine.

General Comments

Katie's back! Still no word on where she disappeared to last issue, but at least this time she didn't miraculously save the day again. A good conclusion to the mini, which sets up a new status quo for the Avengers as well as ties up some established plotlines from the previous two MC2 minis.

The pacing on this one went a bit quick in some places, some things not being completely resolved like Stinger's standing with being an Avenger again, or Katie's desire to be a hero once more, or Warp being invited to join the team despite their prominently being displayed on the group shot on the final page. Also, the whole J2/Thena/Bluestreak triangle left a bit more to be explored, which will hopefully be touched upon in future stories. Also, a nice subtle homage to Michelangelo's Creation of Adam.

Overall, the entire mini was good. It kept up the old-school feel the MC2 universe embodied and which Spider-Girl continues to embody, right down to the dialogue. That in itself makes it worth reading.

Overall Rating

4.5 Webs. A good conclusion to a good mini. Some minor story problems, but otherwise the same quality standard that we've come to expect from Spider- Girl's world.