New Avengers (Vol. 2) #33

Background

Daniel Drumm has returned seeking revenge for the death of his brother, which he holds the Avengers responsible. He has killed Victoria Hand and Daimon Hellstrom, framing Dr Strange who is now on the run from S.H.I.E.L.D. and the F.B.I.

Story Details

This issue picks up straight from the last, literally, as the first to pages are the same as the final two from the previous issue. Dr Strange is trying to explain how the long dead Daniel Drumm is responsible for all of this to Maria Hill, who is understandably having a hard time believing any of it. Stephen is suspicious of Hill, thinking Drumm has now possessed her.

Meanwhile, back at Avengers Mansion Captain Marvel has helped the Cage family escape and now the Avengers have to deal with the S.H.I.E.L.D. team outside (also led by Maria Hill). Suddenly in New Orleans a possessed S.H.I.E.L.D. agent kills their Maria Hill. Turns out it was a life model decoy and fortunately the Maria Hill in New York is the real one, but she saw what happened with Dr Strange and so now believes the possession story. She has called in the main Avengers team and asks Stephen to come back and help. That’s the worst thing she could have done though as now Brother Voodoo has many high powered people to possess and so all the Avengers start fighting each other, not knowing who is in control.

Luke Cage sees what is going on via a news feed; he wants to stay with his family but Jessica Jones sends him back to help their friends. The issue ends with Dr Strange appearing and challenging Brother Voodoo, sorcerer versus sorcerer, to the death.

General Comments

Really eventful issue again. We found out how Maria Hill can be in two places at once and now the Avengers are up to speed with the whole possession/revenge plot. I’m not sure if the “Avengers” Maria Hill was possessed last issue or not, it arguably doesn’t matter. Daniel Drumm is moving between bodies very quickly, especially now Captain America’s team is present, and the only way we readers can keep up is by a change to the characters’ speech bubbles when possessed. The second half of the issue is pretty much a battle scene but there was still room for some good character interaction: Daredevil using his legal knowledge to explain why they shouldn’t run from the authorities even though Spidey wants to and Jess Jones sending her husband back to help the fight (although ultimately that’s a bad thing as it’ll at another body to be possessed).

I found it weird how they literally repeated the last two pages from the previously issue and then had the standard recap page. It was as though they scripted for two pages too few and so the artist had to fill in the gaps by repeating the previous issue. The artist was different again (I guess they are letting everyone have one final go at drawing the New Avengers before this volume ends) and so had a different style. It was very cartoon-y and reminded me a lot of the Powerpuff Girls but I actually quite liked it on the whole! The change in artist means minor continuity problems again (Jess Jones's outfit again and no one can seem to agree on Captain Marvel’s new hair!). At least they got Daimon’s surname right this time!

The arc has been well paced with no real filler so far, I'm enjoying the New Avengers' swan song.

Overall Rating

Looking forward to the conclusion.