Avengers Twilight #5: A Modern Classic

Avengers Twilight #5 picks up with the Avengers finally fully reassembled, ready to take on the Red Skull to save the United States and the world. After what felt like a sight rehash of the plot of The Avengers video game mixed with some traditional comic booky tropes, Avengers Twilight #5 finally feels like the series is coming into its own. The biggest compliment that this series deserves is that it feels like an unabashed, traditional Avengers tale. The odds are stacked against the heroes and the world has already lost, but that won’t stop Earth’s Mightiest Heroes from doing what they do best, avenging it.

This issue is just a lot of fun, through and through. Yes, there is a lot of subtext behind blindly following a leader and the pitfalls of life, but this is an Avengers book through and through. It almost feels like every run on the Avengers as of late has been the creative team trying to find some new way to invent the wheel, whether it’s making the Avengers into gods or filling the team with nobodies. But rarely does a miniseries come along that begs the question, “what if The Avengers just do Avenger things?” Leave it to the likes of Chip Zdarsky to give readers the most fun, easy to follow and classic-in-the-making Avengers series in recent memory.

One of the best parts about this classic feel is the way that Acuna paints this book into a familiar mindscape. Much like Alex Ross, Acuna gives his art a classic feel, almost like every page is paying homage in some way, shape, or form. This makes the book instantly feel like a time honored tale, even when the characters look like a bunch of old people. Many are going to compare this to the great classics like Kingdom Come and The Marvels, and that comparison is just. Those tales really identified what made those universes and those characters so timeless, the same thing that Avengers Twilight does here.

This issue also sees the action take a dramatic turn up, with the whole team running into the comic in spectacular fashion. It’s great to see this classic team be full of the classic, memorable characters like Captain America and Iron Man, while also paying its respects to the modern classic hero of Ms Marvel. There’s a lot to be said about how well this creative team pays its respects to the best of Marvel, and it’s exciting to see that done without relying on the star power of Spider-Man or Wolverine. Again, this is an Avengers book through and through and Zdarsky and Acuna will make sure you remember that.