The Avengers #14: Do The Monster Mash

Last week saw the arrival of the crossover event Blood Hunt, in which writer Jed MacKay put his mighty avengers through the ringer in their first major defeat. Taken down one-by-one and whisked off to the uncharted lair of vampiric demon lords, Earth’s defense was left in the hands of a ragtag group of auxiliary avengers led by Steve Rogers. And so their vampire slaughter began in this quick-witted and riveting adventure.

Perhaps the most impressive quality of Avengers #14 is how easily MacKay pens a team dynamic that is fresh and distinct from his regular roster. Hazmat, Kate Bishop, Hercules, and Quicksilver are friendly but not friends, lacking the unspoken connection of longtime comrades. Just a few simple caption boxes perfectly surmise how different these individuals are in ideology, but their shared professionalism as heroes trumps any qualms about working together. Captain America is the perfect glue to hold them together, operating in full military mode to whip his recruits into shape on the fly. This is a war after all, and mutual respect for the star-spangled man is the primary thing each member has in common. Issue #14 so effectively displays each personality that it would serve as a genuinely decent introduction to any of the characters featured, and might be enough to earn them some new fans.

Artist C.F. Villa makes sure that their charisma extends into their actions, as the comic’s non-stop combat is overflowing with amusing little quirks. The brawny Hercules is depicted more gargantuan than usual, matching his loud and boastful personality. Hazmat’s small statue is similarly exaggerated to symbolize her role as the nervous rookie. It also makes the sight of them crammed into Cap’s flying convertible all the more amusing. Seeing Kate Bishop wildly steer said car with one foot as she fires arrow after arrow is the cherry on top of these fun antics. The comic even takes each character’s pre-established history with the supernatural to give them a combat advantage: Herc scorches vampires with a blade blessed by Apollo, while Steve’s time as a werewolf taught him the usefulness of weaponized silver.

It all crescendos with the surprise return of Baron Blood, an old foe of Cap’s from the 70s. The Avengers are stuck in his home turf, left with a crowd of civilians to protect as they fight their way off the Baron’s fascist vampire-infested helicarrier. That sentence alone speaks to the lengths Avengers #14 goes to thrill the reader.