Avengers #41
Marvel
Written by: Jonathan Hickman
Art by: Mike Deodato & Frank Martin
Okay so after last week’s scathing review of New Avengers #29 you may not trust my opinion on the book dealing with Incursions and all that mumbo jumbo. Well Avengers #41 added a fantastic twist on the story in New Avengers #29, which would have added a few points back to the score! This book is fun to say the least. It opens in Earth-1610 otherwise known as the Ultimate Universe, and gives readers who are fans of the 1610 a nice taste of home by showing Ultimate Nick Fury and Ultimate Reed Richards finding out the same news the Illuminati found out in New Avengers last week. We get to see a bit of the cosmic universe back in the 616 when Gladiator and the Shi’ar Empire find out the news that only a dozen worlds are left as well. Finally we see the bit left out of New Avengers #29 showing us what happens directly after Namor’s crash back to Earth.
Hickman has restored my faith in this long and convoluted story he’s writing with a few minor plot twists. What could he have done to change my opinion so fast? He is utilizing one of the greatest villains Marvel has come up with in a long time… Reed Richards. By using the Ultimate Universe’s greatest villain in this story, Hickman has thrown a massive wrench into the Incursions machine and I love it so much. Mike Deodato is always fantastic and he makes the Ultimate Universe look better than it ever has. I have always felt that the Ultimate Universe’s art was sub-par compared to the big 616 comics, but now that the 1610 is coming to the 616, we’re getting Ultimates drawn like Avengers. Frank Martin’s colors are really well done and give this comic the sheen that the Avengers comics always seem to have. If the cover of this book alone doesn’t get you excited, then you are in for a surprise. Watch out 616, just because the Ultimate Universe was intended for newer readers, doesn’t mean they aren’t going to fight to the end.