WARNING: If you haven’t read ‘Avengers Vs. X-Men’ #11 first, don’t read ‘New Avengers’ #30 yet. Or, if you’re a Luke Cage fan and don’t care that much about a minor spoiler, then go ahead and read on because some big things are going down in the life of the former Power Man.

The last issue of ‘New Avengers’ focused on the Illuminati, some of the most intelligent and influential beings in the Marvel Universe. In this issue, we’re focused on a few of the street level Avengers including Daredevil, Mockingbird, The Thing, and Luke Cage as they transport a prisoner, but get ambushed by a group of religious radicals.

Though that’s what happens in the story, we really get a much deeper tale here. We’re shown the internal struggle of Luke Cage where he’s torn between being an Avenger and staying out of harm’s way for the sake of his family. He’s practically invulnerable, yet he still has these concerns that one day he may not be able to come back to his wife and child.

I really enjoyed this story because it humanizes these larger than life heroes. We forget (or, rather, we don’t see) that the Avengers have problems beyond the intergalactic threats like Galactus, the Phoenix Force, or Thanos. That’s one of the things that I really love about Marvel heroes. They’re not only off saving the world, but they have lives and their own worlds to worry about. Even though they’re superhumans (or aliens, mutants, or whatever the case may be), they have human qualities that make them relatable to their readers.

Marvel NOW is still a month away, but we’re already starting to see how the Marvel Universe will be changing after the end of ‘Avengers Vs. X-Men’. I’m interested to see what other changes could occur before the final shots are fired.

Final Score:

 

THE NEW AVENGERS #30
Written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS
Art by MIKE DEODATO & RAIN BEREDO