Avengers #29: A Fantastic Revelation

Answers at last! The grand mystery begins to piece together as the avengers turn their attention back to Myrddin and his Twilight Court. Decoding the codex retrieved from Kang’s vault, the team uncover what is truly at stake. The true treasure Myrddin seeks lies within the “missing moment,” a segment of time that has evaded even Marvel’s most seasoned time-travelers. Whoever happens upon this moment will trigger the death of all existence and the birth of a new one in which they ascend to cosmic godhood, a process akin to the origins of Galactus. And somehow, even more surprising, the super-intelligent and super-elastic Reed Richards is behind all of this.

Yes, Doctor Richards and his fantastic family have suddenly become crucial to this story, conveniently at the same they are about to become crucial to the Marvel cinematic universe. And its not only Mr. Fantastic himself; the lore of Jonathan Hickman’s Secret Wars is dusted off and given new relevance, almost as if a film by the same name is preparing to hit theaters.
Yes, this is undeniably corporate synergy, but synergy of the finer variety, cooked up by a professional who knows what they’re doing. Jed MacKay weaves these details together with astounding finesse, making it feel like a natural progression of the story which fits the characters.

MacKay’s voice for Reed Richards is solid and balanced in its intellect and empathy. The quickness with which he catches onto the outlandish exposition being dumped upon is a perfect, subtle way of showing the exact kind of genius he is. While recreating the universe from scratch at the end of Secret Wars, Reed subconsciously created the missing moment as some ultimate achievement to strive for, an unfortunate consequence of his perfectionist ambitions. As the creator of this potential doomsday scenario, the avengers know deep within his mind lies the only chance of finding it before Myrddin does.

Speak of the devil, Myrddin does get his spotlight this issue, and surprisingly provides it with the bulk of its true drama. There are some shocking developments between him and his loyal Twilight Court, who are revealed to be homunculi created in the image of the Avengers themselves. Myrddin had intended for them to brave the missing moment’s trials, but was disappointed by them one too many times. He gladly gambled them away to the Grandmaster during the Casino Heist arc, and their new owner chooses to dispose of them rather than repurpose them. It’s somewhat bizarre seeing this team built up to be the Avengers ultimate match destroyed so soon, but their fate is far from set in stone. In a medium where death is a revolving door, being blown into a vague portal may as well be equal to exiting the building for a quick smoke break.