Avengers #33: Dawn of the Twilight Court

As the progeny of Marvel’s number-one headache-inducing defiler of chronological events, it is fitting that the Twilight Court, a strange reflection of Earth’s Avengers engineered into existence by Kang the Conqueror, would find themselves completing a topsy-turvy time-travel loop of their own.

After last issue’s bombshell reveal of the Court as the Impossible City’s creators, writer Jed MacKay seeks to fill in the gaps by switching perspective away from the book’s titular team. Instead, the clock turns back to the final act of the Avengers’ space casino adventure, when Kang, in his alternate persona of Myrddin, allowed the Grandmaster to cast his homunculi into purgatory. His “heroes” had outlived their usefulness, so Myrrdin did not hesitate to dispose of them like trash.

Crushed by the realization of their master’s true nature, the Court has a crisis of identity before banding together once more. Inspired to become true heroes like the Avengers they were modeled after, they resurrect an abandoned ship to escape the barren timeline they were exiled to, building upon their vessel with every adventure until it became the sentient being known today. Hopping from timeline to timeline, The Court was eventually separated from the City after a major loss, setting the events of Avengers #1 into motion.

And while this all aligns perfectly with what’s previously been known, the feeling that this tale is more filler than anything can’t be shaken. Initial shock aside, the Impossible City’s true origin and history with the Twilight Court is straightforward, as is the reasoning behind it’s amnesia. With no more surprises to unveil, one can’t help but feel this prequel could have occupied one or two pages in a more substantial issue. While it is fun to see Kang’s peculiar creations act independently and use their unique powers in union, there isn’t much nuance behind their redemption arc, especially since these characters were established as having noble intentions from the beginning. What doesn’t return is the interpersonal drama and potential love triangle hinted at in these heroes’ introduction, which had the potential to make things a bit more interesting.

All that said, artist Javier Pina does an incredible job imbuing the thinner narrative of Avengers #33 with life. Pina draws each member of the Court with a larger-than-life sense of majesty befitting a group of characters inspired by King Arthur and his roundtable. Every cosmic vista and alien spacecraft featured has a wonderful sense of scale to it, ensuring that this quainter adventure still looks like an adventure nonetheless.