Avengers #4: Why Can’t You Give Me the Respect That I Deserve?

Avengers fans: ASSEMBLE! We are officially on chapter four of MacKay and Villa’s new era on the Avengers, with the team finally getting into a row with the Twilight Court as they are tasked to earth to wreck it without abandon, drawing out Earth’s Mightiest, while their lord, Myriddin, attempts to find the Tribulation Events, aka the Missing Moments, that one of the Avengers most arch enemies, Kang, Marvel’s conqueror of time! Can these heroes defeat the Court and the Impossible City? 

So we finally see the team finally throw down against the Twilight Court, split apart from each other, with each one having to figure out what their new villains are capable of, all while trying to keep the civilians who were endangered because of the Court. The team seems pretty evenly matched against these new threats, but while they’re powers are evenly matched, it’s keeping the innocents safe from harm that proves the team’s downfall. For the most part. There are a few things that really stuck out to me, and the biggest one was the tense relationship between Sam and T’Challa. I’d lost track of the events from both of their solo books, but what I do remember, T’Challa was in a bit of hot water for setting up some sleeper cell agents around the globe, so I’m assuming it’s coming from that, but it definitely has me intrigued on what exactly happened. 

Having the team spread out like they are made the story read really fast. Not sure how much experience MacKay has with ensemble cast books, but it feels like the team doesn’t know what to do with the crew here. MacKay has been an absolute juggernaut on every project he’s been on since coming to Marvel, so he’s earned some leeway, but that can only go so far. Another thing that really drew my attention was Iron Man’s armor. I know the armor is changing over in his solo, especially after the events of the Hellfire Gala, but at the beginning of this story clearly took place before, but now it’s after? It just felt odd to me. 

CF Villa’s art continues to be stellar. The art is kinetic, and full of life. The characters don’t feel like they’re just pretty pictures, that are stiff, and placed on a background, or just a bunch of lines that make up the environment. It feels like he’s packing as much punch in as the script allows him to do. Sure, some scenes are minimal, but they aren’t the entirety of the issue. He really wants to show that Marvel is promoting him as one of the next up and comers in their artistic stable, and they were right in doing so. He’s come this far, let’s see where he goes next.