The Avengers #25: Rise of The Masters of Evil

Avengers #25 is Die Hard if John McClane were forced to fight his way through a metropolitan area’s worth of Nakatomi Towers. That is the hook writer Jed MacKay leads with, and the execution of it is glorious. This self-contained, smaller-scale adventure comes as a welcome surprise given that this is the book’s One World Under Doom tie-in. MacKay takes great care in spoon-feeding readers enough context to understand the event’s status quo shift, but keeps the focus at all times on his characters. It’s a respectable move given how crossover events often derail ongoings, leaving those not following confused as to what is happening. A group of villains taking advantage of the chaos Doctor Doom has thrown the Earth into to invade the Avengers home base is easy to wrap one’s head around, and that is the comic’s most rewarding quality.

Sam Wilson, Captain America, left injured in said battle against Doom, is teleported to the team’s sentient city in Earth’s upper atmosphere for medical care. Unbeknownst to him, the Mad Thinker has boarded to initiate phase two of the diabolical plan he started in issue #11. This time, he’s brought along some friends: Dread Knight, Exterminatrix, Mister Hyde, and Madcap. Yes, MacKay’s Avengers has become a refuge for villains and side characters once lost to time, and the vintage mischievousness of this makeshift Masters of Evil is a joy to witness. MacKay knows how to balance the voices of these supervillains perfectly, making them campy without turning anyone into a joke. The group is competent enough to pull the wool over the Avengers’ eyes, and that makes them a decent enough threat.

Same goes for the way Valerio Schiti lovingly sketches each of them: Madcap, Dreadknight, and Exterminatrix’s designs are untouched, maintaining their brightly-colored cartoonish charm, yet there is a modernly sinister quality added to their physicality. With the station overtaken and all outside communication cut, it’s up to Sam and the city’s A.I., now confined to a singular synthetic body, to save the day. The two literally combine forces to become an armored warrior, giving Sam the power he needs to take down Madcap. It’s not the most visually striking suit of armor an avenger has ever donned, but Schiti ensures that it is fierce in motion and packs a punch in action sequences. All in all, issue #25 is a great underdog story setting up what’s sure to be a thrilling two-on-four brawl.