Avengers #7: Daydream Believer

The doom-and-gloom of Avengers #7 is unexpected, given that it’s a transitory chapter between story arcs. The team has jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire, having bested the Ashen Combine only to be brought down by a greater world-ending threat. The Vision falls first, and, one by one, his brethren follow in their futile attempts to avenge him. Scarlet Witch, whose perspective is followed throughout the comic, is the last hero standing as the world literally crumbles around her. She wipes her tears away enough to see through the lie, revealing this apocalypse to be an illusion (or possible prophecy) conjured by the villain Nightmare.

The sequence is so well executed that ninety percent of its content being a fake-out doesn’t feel like a betrayal. C.F Villa and Federico Blee masterfully use visual storytelling to drop the reader in the middle of this horrible situation while immediately hinting that something is off. Carol Danvers is inexplicably dressed in her iconic black leotard, while other Avengers are similarly clad in vintage looks from the ’70s and ’80s. Surely this must be a flashback to some obscure decades-old annual or backup issue, yet Sam Wilson wears the stars and stripes of Captain America, so that cannot be the case. It’s an excellent method of keeping readers guessing.

Jed MacKay’s choice of analogy is unique, describing the kaiju that tear through the ravaged Earth not as weapons deployed by some would-be conqueror, but scavengers come to feed on the remains of a sick and decaying planet. There is no malice behind their actions; they are only playing their roles in the cycle of life. Villa adds to the metaphor, penciling monstrous creatures who levitate through the sky, consuming humans as peacefully as cows graze. It all works in tandem to sell the existential dread.

Wanda Maximoff, having dutifully played her part in this ensemble, is paid her dues. Although her romance with Vision is long behind her, she still holds him dearly in her heart. The grief she displays is poignant when contextualized with her personal history, having previously been a catalyst for destruction that cost the life of Vision and other friends. Wanda finds no comfort in the waking world, as she comes face-to-face with the Twilight Court, an intergalactic team of superheroes who are dead set on killing Kang the Conqueror.

Given the sixth issue’s bombshell reveal that the Impossible City once served as Mount Olympus to an ancient pantheon of heroes, the natural assumption is that this enigmatic Twilight Court is its original creator. If that is indeed the case, then the lightning fast payoff to this ominous foreshadowing is a bit disappointing. Any decent mystery deserves at least a few months to stew before a grand and hopefully satisfying reveal. It is possible that all is not what it seems, but should it be, there is still great drama to dive into. The City proudly proclaimed itself an Avenger, but if the family it presumed gone forever has now reemerged, where will its allegiance ultimately lie?