Avengers: No Road Home #10
Cody White
Recap
Vision enters "the house" for a final showdown with Nyx only to find the house full of the light of creation.
The battle with Nyx that occupies the first half of this book serves as an homage to the massive creative power of The House of Ideas-- a creative power that Vision harnesses through the windows that are stories to bring the full might of the Marvel Universe down upon Nyx, ending her reign of darkness.
The latter half of the issue is devoted to a series of epilogues showing the many results of the battle against Nyx for the many players involved. Vision's degrading has been halted, Spectrum is now mortal, Conan is slicing up dinosaurs in the Savage Land, and many other shifts in the status quo emerge from this weekly event. The most drastic appears to be the reemergence of the gods of Olympus in the far flung reaches of space beyond space and the evolution of the Hercules character into a more mature, less boisterous version of himself.
Review
Avengers: No Road Home has been an epic journey from start to finish. In many ways, it was a needless journey in that, while there are a number of moderately significant ramifications of the series, nothing happened here that couldn’t have happened elsewhere. On the other hand, though, from the perspective of a long-time Marvel Comics reader, this series was absolutely crucial. There are times when I find myself moving about recent Marvel Comics that it would appear the publisher has lost their way in some regards. That the echoes of the past are fading into the darkness while recency reigns supreme. Gone are many of the creators of old, along with many of their creations to make room for the “next big idea”. That is not always a negative, mind you. I want the next big thing as much as anybody but not at the expense of the history, but rather building upon that foundation.
With this past winter’s passing of Stan Lee and the loss of Steve Ditko in the fall, it is more apparent than ever that we are entering into a new era for Marvel Comics. Here, we see Vision listening to “an old voice”, however, that I can’t help but imagine sounding a bit like Stan’s voice reaching from the beyond and filtering through a grouping of new and old guard writers (Waid being of a distinctly different generation of creators than Zub and Ewing). This series was a reminder that despite the loss of so many greats, they are not forgotten. With a bevy of announced inbound one-shots from classic creative teams (a Roy Thomas/Jerry Odway Invaders issue, a Peter David/Dale Keown Hulk issue, etc.) Marvel seems to be amidst a project of refocusing on their own mythology while also preparing for what the future holds and that should put a smile on the face of every fan.
And I would be remiss if I were to not mention the absolutely stunning artwork from Sean Izaakse in this issue. He manages to evoke an almost Perezian mastery of space and detail here drawing inspiration from decades of comics work and costume changes, delivering an absolute fangasm of characters that culminates in this two-page spread.
Final Thoughts
I'm not sure what I really wanted out of Avengers: No Road Home when I began this journey, but whatever it was, it was dwarfed by the absolute treat that was delivered by this outstanding creative team.
Avengers: No Road Home #10: “Sing, O Muses…”
- Writing - 10/1010/10
- Storyline - 10/1010/10
- Art - 10/1010/10
- Color - 10/1010/10
- Cover Art - 9/109/10
