Avengers (Vol. 4) #10 (Story 1)

Background

It's a race betwen the Avengers and the Hood to gather the remaining Infinity Gems. The Hood is already ahead, with two gems in his possession.

Story Details

The Avengers split up into 3 teams to gather the Gems from their hiding places.

One team consists of Red Hulk, Thor and Namor, who travel undersea and eventually recover Namor's Gem. There's a telling moment when Red Hulk getures for the Gem, but Namor instead entrusts it to Thor.

Xavier takes a team to the ruins of his Westchester mansion and they enter a version of the danger room created specifically to protect his Gem. They battle and reach a barrier, then the issue cuts to Iron Man's team.

Iron Man takes a team of Avengers to a base in New Mexico, Area 51, and they enter the vault where his Gem is hidden and find the Hood is already there and in possession of Iron Man's Gem. The Hood gestures and the Avengers disappear.

The Hood then teleports to an island, as he wonders why the Gems took him there, Red Hulk and Thor emerge from the sea... to be continued...

General Comments

The pace picks up this issue, starting off with a great action sequence involving Thor and co. Romita, Jr. does a fantastic job and Bendis steps right back, with barely a word printed on the first few pages. Romita, Jr. continues to do a spectacular job throughout this issue.

The action continues with the other two groups. There is only one quiet scene where Ant Man and Iron Fist are on watch and Ant Man tries to get some info on Spider-Woman, so that he can make some moves on her. Besides that, the Avengers are either on the move or fighting.

With all the movement and action going on this issue, there really isn't a lot of tension or intensity, considering all of reality is on the line! The humour thrown into the mix (Ant Man's scene and a conversation between Protector and Spidey) falls a bit flat and seems a bit out of place among all the big action. The way that Romita, Jr. draws the Hood's hood is also really weird, square and solid looking.

Overall, this issue is pretty good. Spidey is once again only along for the ride and for marketing reasons and does little in actually contributing to the story. I do think it is awesome that Noh'Varr appears and isn't called 'alien boy', though the new name 'Protector' isn't much better. I'm sure if Deadpool showed up he'd have a field day making fun of guy with a name like that!

Overall Rating

I'm glad there's some action and the pace has picked up.