Cover Date: October 2018, November 2018, & December 2018; On Sale Date: August 2018, September 2018, & October 2018
Writer: Jason Aaron; Artist: David Marquez, Ed McGuiness, Frazer Irving, Adam Kubert, & Andrea Sorrentino; Letterer: VC's Cory Petit; Colorist: Justin Ponsor; Editor: Tom Brevoort; Associate Editor: Alanna Smith; Editor-in-Chief: C.B. Cebulski; Cover Artist: Ed McGuiness
Robbie Reyes has a phone conversation with his little brother Gabe as he drives the Hell Charger across the Arctic Ocean. He arrives at Avengers Mountain, the hero team's new headquarters made out of the body of the dead Celestial Progenitor. Robbie is met inside by Captain America, who welcomes him to the team. Robbie is then forced to transform into the Ghost Rider to train with the Captain.
Days earlier, following the defeat of the Final Host, the Avengers face the captive Loki, who claims to have set everything in motion so the Avengers would reform. The Celestials depart with Loki, but Ghost Rider explains that they are leaving the body of the Progenitor for the heroes as a warning to the next threats that come to Earth. Back in the present, a whaling ship is attacked by Atlantean warriors, who are killed by the ship's guards. When Black Panther holds the first meeting of the new Avengers team it is interrupted by a crisis alert. The Roxxon whaling ship is now under attack by an enraged Manor the Sub-Mariner.
An underwater fight between Stingray and Tiger Shark is interrupted by Namor the Sub-Mariner, who tells them they can either join him or stay out of the ocean. He savagely beats Stingray nearly to death, causing Tiger Shark to agree to joining his war against the surface.
Days earlier, the Avengers are in the ruins of Atlantis fighting Namor's Atlantean army tobrwcuse a crew of Roxxon soldiers thst have been taken captive. The Atlanteans summon a massive sea beast that swallows Ghost Rider's He'll Charger, but Robbie is able to drive his way back out of its mouth. The Avengers confront Manor, who holds his own against all of them until Captain America attempts to talk him down. Namor accuses the Roxxon ship of poisoning his people and murdering his soldiers, and even Captain America's promise to have them face justice isn't enough to sway Namor's anger. He reluctantly lets the Avengers leave with the Roxxon soldiers.
Later, spurred on by the deaths Atlantean child refugees on the surface, Namor has declared war on all air breathers. He has had the Roxxon guards murdered in their prison cells amd has assembled his own team of superhuman Atlantean he has dubbed the Defenders of the Deep.
Days earlier, the Avengers are in the ruins of Atlantis fighting Namor's Atlantean army tobrwcuse a crew of Roxxon soldiers thst have been taken captive. The Atlanteans summon a massive sea beast that swallows Ghost Rider's He'll Charger, but Robbie is able to drive his way back out of its mouth. The Avengers confront Manor, who holds his own against all of them until Captain America attempts to talk him down. Namor accuses the Roxxon ship of poisoning his people and murdering his soldiers, and even Captain America's promise to have them face justice isn't enough to sway Namor's anger. He reluctantly lets the Avengers leave with the Roxxon soldiers.
Later, spurred on by the deaths Atlantean child refugees on the surface, Namor has declared war on all air breathers. He has had the Roxxon guards murdered in their prison cells amd has assembled his own team of superhuman Atlantean he has dubbed the Defenders of the Deep.
While Russia reforms its superpowered team the Winter Guard, Namor and his Defenders of the Deep attack the underwater facility Hydropolis. When the attack sets off the alarms at Avengers Mountain the heroes are all alerted. Ghost Rider is racing Tony Stark, Hell Charger against a repulsar powered car, with Robbie promising to help Tony contact his dead father even if he loses the race. The call to assemble interrupts their race and both take off across the ocean to Avengers Mountain. The Avengers quickly confront Namor and engage his Defenders in battle, but the fight is interrupted by the Winter Guard, who have come to take Namor into custody for crimes against Russia. This turns into a fight between all three teams that only end a after Namor and the Defenders retreat. After a tense standoff the Winter Guard leave the Avengers to go about saving Hydropolis. Following this event, General Thunderbolt Ross meets with Agent Phil Coulson, who introduces the general to the. Squadron Supreme of America.
Later, in East Los Angeles, Robbie Reyes goes outside his home to check on his car. He's suddenly attacked by a very drunk and enraged Odin, who stabs Robbie through the chest as revenge for the death of Starbrand. Robbie turns into Ghost Rider and explains that Starbrand attacked him and was acting crazy, that his death was accidental. Odin realizes his mistake and apologizes, then proceeds to tell Robbie about the first Ghost Rider. The visit ends with Odin riding with Robbie in the Hell Charger across mountains.
Later, in East Los Angeles, Robbie Reyes goes outside his home to check on his car. He's suddenly attacked by a very drunk and enraged Odin, who stabs Robbie through the chest as revenge for the death of Starbrand. Robbie turns into Ghost Rider and explains that Starbrand attacked him and was acting crazy, that his death was accidental. Odin realizes his mistake and apologizes, then proceeds to tell Robbie about the first Ghost Rider. The visit ends with Odin riding with Robbie in the Hell Charger across mountains.
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| The best way to commute to work! |
THE ROADMAP
Robbie Reyes fought and killed Starbrand in Marvel Legacy # 1.
Ghost Rider spoke with Howard Stark, Iron Man's deceased father, through the Hell Charger in Avengers (2018) # 5.
The origin of Ghost, the Spirit of Vengeance of 1,000,000 B.C. that was part of Odin's first Avengers team, was told in Avengers (2018) # 7.
Robbie Reyes makes his next appearance in Dead Man Logan # 3.
CHAIN REACTION
Avengers reaches its extra-sized 700th issue (plus or minus numerous relaunches along the way) with a three way brawl that's a little underwhelming.
Top plate for this arc has to be David Marquez on art duties, and boy am I torn over appreciating the draftsmanship or banging my head into the wall over the inexplicable lack of common sense his scenes convey. He's a fantastic artist thats able to draw some amazing action sets, his character work is dynamic as hell, so he apparently had some difficulty portraying underwater action. Its not enough that hes got characters like Hulk and Captain Marvel in the ocean floor having conversations with people sans aquatic gear, maybe that was in the script fire reasons I can't fathom. He also conveys motion in water as if it were on land, with characters jumping and throwing shields in ways that would be impossible. Maybe its just me, but stuff like that takes me right out of the story, I just can't get my brain to reconcile what my eyes are seeing.
It also doesn't help that Aaron and Marquez are using Namor as their big bad, having him do what all less than interesting Namor stories do, namely warring with the surface dwellers. Namor has gone to that well so many times now that seeing it happen yet again elicits a whole lot of yawns. It doesn't matter that he's dressing like Aquaman or assembling a bunch of obscure characters to form a super team, this premise is still insanely boring. Namor went through several years of deft character work by Kieron Gillen and Jonathan Hickman, this feels like several steps backward.
Aaron does still have a good handle on the Avengers and their dynamic as a team, amd as usual he allows Ghost Rider to have a wonderfully imaginative scene of his own with the sea beast. The bit with him running Namor down with the Hell Charger was a nice touch as well. Aaron is doing a lot of work to assimilate Robbie into the team as a solid member, I just wish he was given a little more to do.
It also doesn't help that Aaron and Marquez are using Namor as their big bad, having him do what all less than interesting Namor stories do, namely warring with the surface dwellers. Namor has gone to that well so many times now that seeing it happen yet again elicits a whole lot of yawns. It doesn't matter that he's dressing like Aquaman or assembling a bunch of obscure characters to form a super team, this premise is still insanely boring. Namor went through several years of deft character work by Kieron Gillen and Jonathan Hickman, this feels like several steps backward.
Aaron does still have a good handle on the Avengers and their dynamic as a team, amd as usual he allows Ghost Rider to have a wonderfully imaginative scene of his own with the sea beast. The bit with him running Namor down with the Hell Charger was a nice touch as well. Aaron is doing a lot of work to assimilate Robbie into the team as a solid member, I just wish he was given a little more to do.
I appreciate that Aaron is attempting to set up various teams to represent different factions of the world, such as Atlantis and Russia (and even the United States, as revealed in this issue as well), but using the tired trope of "Namor hates the surface world and goes to war" is about the least interesting way to go about it. The re-introduction of the Winter Guard is far more entertaining to read about, considering they're characters who never had much of a personality before this, Darkstar notwithstanding. Ursa Major immediately stands out as the most engaging member, but Crimson Dynamo and Red Widow get some endearing moments as well. The rest of the Winter Guard are ciphers, sure, but they're at least more interesting than the Defenders of the Deep, whose names I can't even remember outside of Tiger Shark.
The most interesting part of the arc are the bits that come at the end, the teases for future storylines illustrated by guest artists. I don't know what the hell is supposed to be going on in the Adam Kubert drawn section, with Loki and a Wolverine that has the Phoenix Force for whatever reason, but it does give lots of little glimpses into some potentially exciting stuff coming down the road. Moon Knight leading an army of mummies and the Punisher as a samurai, Man-Thing holding Thor's hammer and Iron Fist fighting a bunch of ninjas? Yeah, sign me up for all of that. The last section is more immediately important, with the Wasp recruiting Blade from his imprisonment in Castle Dracula, but it's only a teaser.
Naturally, the best part of the arc is the Frazer Irving section that pairs up Robbie Reyes and Odin in an extremely unlikely buddy situation. I'm not altogether keen on Aaron continuing to push the prehistoric Avengers stuff, even though it looks like he's in it for the long haul, but it does give these two characters a reasonable excuse to interact with one another. They are even a surprisingly entertaining team on the page as well, which is nice.
The art for the main story in # 10 is split between Marquez and McGuiness and both do perfectly good jobs on the material, though Marquez is still having characters carry on full conversations underwater for whatever reason. The real treat is Irving, though, who turns in yet another fantastically stylized story. I've always loved that guys work, and seeing him draw Ghost Rider makes me very happy. The Kubert and Sorrentino pages are solid as well, making this a very pretty comic indeed.
So I'm still not sold on Aaron's direction for this series, but he gets so many if the disparate pieces right that I'm still staying on for the ride.
The most interesting part of the arc are the bits that come at the end, the teases for future storylines illustrated by guest artists. I don't know what the hell is supposed to be going on in the Adam Kubert drawn section, with Loki and a Wolverine that has the Phoenix Force for whatever reason, but it does give lots of little glimpses into some potentially exciting stuff coming down the road. Moon Knight leading an army of mummies and the Punisher as a samurai, Man-Thing holding Thor's hammer and Iron Fist fighting a bunch of ninjas? Yeah, sign me up for all of that. The last section is more immediately important, with the Wasp recruiting Blade from his imprisonment in Castle Dracula, but it's only a teaser.
Naturally, the best part of the arc is the Frazer Irving section that pairs up Robbie Reyes and Odin in an extremely unlikely buddy situation. I'm not altogether keen on Aaron continuing to push the prehistoric Avengers stuff, even though it looks like he's in it for the long haul, but it does give these two characters a reasonable excuse to interact with one another. They are even a surprisingly entertaining team on the page as well, which is nice.
The art for the main story in # 10 is split between Marquez and McGuiness and both do perfectly good jobs on the material, though Marquez is still having characters carry on full conversations underwater for whatever reason. The real treat is Irving, though, who turns in yet another fantastically stylized story. I've always loved that guys work, and seeing him draw Ghost Rider makes me very happy. The Kubert and Sorrentino pages are solid as well, making this a very pretty comic indeed.
So I'm still not sold on Aaron's direction for this series, but he gets so many if the disparate pieces right that I'm still staying on for the ride.
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| Never ask an Allfather their age, Robbie! |
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