Kelly Sue DeConnick and Warren Ellis’ ‘Avengers Assemble’ has reached it’s penultimate issue and things are shaping up for an explosive finale. In this last arc of the series, we’ve been following Anya Corazon, the young hero known as Spider-Girl, as she sought help from the Avengers to retrieve her missing teacher who was abducted by Dr. June Covington because she was looking to steal his newfound Inhuman powers for herself. Since stepping foot into Avengers Tower, she has teamed up with the likes of Black Widow, Captain Marvel, Spider-Woman, Wolverine, and Bruce Banner, but now we find the Avengers Academy student in the company of the biggest guns in town: Iron Man and Captain America.
In her final lesson of the series, Anya is taken under Tony Stark’s wing as he bestows the importance of studying and being prepared. Through this lesson, the pair is able to locate her missing teacher, but they uncover the Toxic Doxie’s larger plan that goes leaps and bounds over simple kidnapping and stealing some DNA.
Like I mentioned in my last review, I like the way that the writers are systematically dissecting the different aspects of what is necessary to be a superhero and teaching us along with Spider-Girl. But at the same time, they’re really teaching their readers how to be better people. It’s very reminiscent of Saturday morning cartoons and it’s nice to think that these important messages live on for younger fans even though those shows seem like a thing of the past these days.
As always, the comedy is very strong in this issue. The writers are all stars when it comes to snark and this issue’s vessel was Tony Stark. My favorite exchange had to be when he was questioning Anya’s new uniform since she was taking “fashion tips from a man who wears a reverse mohawk”. I also agree that it was a smart decision to keep the gloves.
Finally, as Captain America tends to do, the Sentinel of Liberty put everything into perspective for Spider-Girl, who didn’t think that the Avengers were really paying attention to her case. Seeing as I was her age not too long ago, I can definitely see how Anya would think that, but now being closer to Cap’s age (minus the frozen years), I also appreciate his way of underhandedly teaching the less experienced youngster a thing or two. After all, if they don’t come to the conclusions themselves, then teenagers never really learn, right?
It’s a shame that this series has come to an end. Though I did drop off for a short period of time, ‘Avengers Assemble’ has consistently been one of the most entertaining and exciting Avengers titles on my pull list. Hopefully the stars of this series, especially Jessica Drew, don’t slip through the cracks in the Marvel offices and appear more prominently in other books down the line.
Final Score:
AVENGERS ASSEMBLE #24
Written by Kelly Sue DeConnick & Warren Ellis
Art by Matteo Buffagni & Ruth Redmond
Cover by Jorge Molina
