Avengers: Armageddon #4: And The World Will Know Miracles *SPOILERS*

As the Avengers and their allies rally to stop Russia’s nukes from touching down, Colton and Winter Soldier go to cut the head off the snake. When Russia’s plan for the “rescued” Thunderbolt Ross comes to a horrifying light, the world is gonna need more than just avenging, it’s going to need a miracle.

The penultimate issue of Armageddon feels very fitting in scale for the story that it is trying to tell. The main criticism I’ve had about how it will fit in the wider world of Marvel’s other “Huge” events is slightly solved, but the reveal at the end of the issue raises more questions that may not be solved in a way that will be satisfying. I can’t accurately explain what I mean without spoiling said twist, so here it goes. Spoilers ahead…

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It is revealed at the end of this issue that the origin box that Colton received in Weapons of Armageddon contained the powers of none other than Miracleman (Marvelman if you’re nasty). Miracleman has a long and sordid history that I didn’t have the time or knowledge to fully delve into for this review. All you need to know is that Alan Moore’s run on the character was one of the first known deconstructionist Superman/Shazam! Stories, and through complicated legal shenanigans Marvel has owned the rights to the character since 2010. Now this twist was spoiled last week, but I’m not here to focus on spoiler culture (and how bad it is), I’m here to talk about comics.

As far as the questions Zdarsky raised mostly center around the premise of the origin boxes themselves. As explained in Ultimates the origin boxes are the abilities of the various heroes and villains of Earth-6160 that Maker took away so he could take over the world (the spider that bit Peter Parker, Clint Barton’s arrows, Captain Marvel’s quantum bands, etc.). The fact these powers exist imply that either a version of Mike Moran exists in Earth-6160 or a shady government organization created the powers that Maker locked away. Now this all could likely be revealed at time, but I don’t think thats a door that Marvel wanted open. Outside of this huge question mark, Zdarsky’s expansion of Colton’s story is very good, and the narrative backs him up 100%. The scenes with the vision of his mother are genuinely moving and the moments here feel earned.

Delio Diaz, Frank Alipzar, and Jesus Aburtov do some of their best work on this issue. It’s almost wall to wall action from start to finish with a few standout moments. Sue Storm stopping a nuke and the fight between Colton and Red Hulk is nothing short of bombastic. Also, despite my reservations, that final page reveal is stunning.