Avengers Assemble: Omega #1: One Last Ride!

The highly anticipated and long overdue finale of Aaron’s multiversal saga has arrived. Mephisto has done nothing but play the role of cackling, the mustache-twirling villain, for the past ten issues, so seeing tears stream down his face in this moment of sincerity is an off-putting tonal shift. The full explanation of Mephisto’s motive is finally revealed: he has grown miserable in the monotony of his immortal life. He must end the multiverse to experience the sweet release of nonexistence.

Of course, the red devil does not succeed as the Avengers use their combined power to quell his unleashed wave of destruction. The leader of the Doom army gets his just desserts due to his arrogance. Still, Mephisto, even after serving as the primary antagonist of two arcs, limps back to hell with an unsatisfying slap on the wrist.

Omega seeks to tug at your heartstrings with not one but three heroic sacrifices. Robbie Reyes dies in a blaze of glory, sealing the God Quarry’s rupture to save the multiverse, while Starbrand and the prehistoric Phoenix use the last of their life force to repair the damage done. The emotional impact is undercut when the issue begins planting seeds for their return. Still, it should not be faulted for simply acknowledging the revolving-door nature of death in comics.

The issue also boasts a larger-than-average art team, lending multiple styles to the book’s pages that are unique yet cohesive enough not to be distracting. If there is one complaint to list, it would be the inconsistent appearance of the all-consuming void. In the previous issue, it was penciled and colored with an abstract, inky blackness and seemed to move in a way that defied physics and gravity. Here, it is depicted as a larger but less visually evocative tsunami. Still, there is much spectacle and energy found within the art of Omega; Robbie turning the fractured remains of Planet Doom into a giant flaming skull comes to mind.

The comic wraps things up with a handful of endearing moments. The ragtag band of Avenger variants becomes a sort of found family, defending the multiverse from the God Quarry and providing the once-isolated Avenger Prime, some much-needed company. Thor proudly acknowledges and embraces the multiple mother figures in his life. However, for a book with a whopping 60+ pages, it does not dedicate enough time to its conclusion. Pivotal plot developments, such as Echo losing the Phoenix force and the current team disbanding, are briefly covered in dialogue without further exploration. It seems that those responsibilities will be left in the hands of the new creative team.