If you’ve been reading Jonathan Hickman’s ‘New Avengers’ then you know very well that the team has been monitoring curious incursions that lead to the destruction of entire universes. With the latest one putting them and their world in grave danger, they must make some incredibly difficult decisions that could tear up their very beings. However, they may get torn up literally if the Great Society has anything to say about it since they too would rather that their universe didn’t have to perish. But the heroes of this other world definitely aren’t prepared for Doctor Strange, who has given every single bit of himself to the cause of saving our world by any means necessary.
Now, in issue number twenty-one, the Sorcerer Supreme unleashes his full power on Boundless, Dr. Spectrum, Sun God, the Rider, the Jovian, and the Norn after the two groups of heroes cannot come to an agreement or a solution to save both universes. Strange loses control and can barely be stopped, but he isn’t the only member of the New Avengers who travels as far from their comfort zones as possible in this battle.
One thing that I absolutely love about this series so far is that it shows just how powerful Stephen Strange is. The former surgeon has shined a great deal throughout this story by showing the great lengths that he has to take in order to be ready to save one world by destroying another. There are few heroes active today that possess that kind of power, so seeing how the Doc deals with it has been one of the most interesting parts of this whole series. I look forward to seeing how this will all affect the character from this point forward.
But Doctor Strange isn’t the only one who has shown us a side that we haven’t seen before. Namor and Black Panther both have some very strong, character-defining moments in this issue as well. While both kings have enough on their plate already since their people are at war, this whole thing with the incursions certainly isn’t doing them any favors. This issue marks some fundamental changes for these two heroes, so again, I really want to see how they’re affected moving onward.
Basically, this entire issue was filled with some intense will they/won’t they moments. As I read on, I recall being in suspense practically every step of the way. I may have escaped that feeling temporarily when I was examining the gnarly fates of the Great Society, but for the most part, I found myself hanging on each character-changing moment. Not to say that this story arc hasn’t been interesting, but I feel like issue twenty-one did a really good job at reminding me the things that are so awesome about Hickman’s much darker Avengers title.
Final Score:
NEW AVENGERS #21
Written by Jonathan Hickman
Art by Valerio Schiti, Salvador Larroca, Frank Martin, & Paul Mounts
Cover by Dustin Weaver & Jason Keith
