On Sale Date: July 2018
Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Paco Medina & Ed McGuiness
Inker: Juan Vlasco w/ Mark Morales & Karl Story
Letterer: VC's Cory Petit
Colorist: David Curiel
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Associate Editor: Alanna Smith
Editor-in-Chief: C.B. Cebulski
Cover Artist: Ed McGuiness
CHAIN REACTION
Beneath the Arctic Circle, Loki tells Captain America about the Progenitor, the first Celestial who came to Earth to die from the Horde infection billions of years ago and whose body remains buried in the ice. Loki explains to Captain America, and to the listening Ghost Rider who is sneaking up in his Hellcharger, that humanity was borne of that infection of "God's vomit". Another Celestial came to Earth in one million B.C. and was beaten by Odin and his band of heroes, a group that were unable to defeat the entirety of the First Host when they arrived to check on their brother. However, instead of destroying the Earth the First Host left, quarantining the planet's infection. The Horde infected many of the Celestials, transforming them into the Final Host that Loki has brought to Earth. Ghost Rider rescues Captain America and captures Loki with his chains, interrupting the history lesson.
Meanwhile, Iron Man and Doctor Strange are attempting to save a crashing airliner when Stark receives a call from Ghost Rider, who claims to have been given Stark's number by his deceased father via the Hellcharger. Ghost Rider and Captain America are in Russia when the Final Host catches up, causing them to crash. The rest of the Avengers arrive, including the Horde-powered Captain Marvel and Black Panther. She-Hulk and Thor consume the egg of Frost Giant blood, which transforms them into giants, and Iron Man's giant Godkiller armor arrives. Ghost Rider is given a pep talk by Captain America, which gives Robbie the idea to power up a nearby dead Celestial with hellfire, transforming him into demonic giant. The four giant-sized Avengers then prepare to do battle with the Final Host for the fate of the planet.
Meanwhile, Iron Man and Doctor Strange are attempting to save a crashing airliner when Stark receives a call from Ghost Rider, who claims to have been given Stark's number by his deceased father via the Hellcharger. Ghost Rider and Captain America are in Russia when the Final Host catches up, causing them to crash. The rest of the Avengers arrive, including the Horde-powered Captain Marvel and Black Panther. She-Hulk and Thor consume the egg of Frost Giant blood, which transforms them into giants, and Iron Man's giant Godkiller armor arrives. Ghost Rider is given a pep talk by Captain America, which gives Robbie the idea to power up a nearby dead Celestial with hellfire, transforming him into demonic giant. The four giant-sized Avengers then prepare to do battle with the Final Host for the fate of the planet.
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| Band name update: God's Vomit is winning. |
THE ROADMAP
Loki recovered the mad Celestial from South Africa in Marvel Legacy (2017) # 1, which was reanimated and used to threaten Odin in Free Comic Book Day 2018: Avengers/Captain America # 1.
The Prehistoric Avengers' battle with the Mad Celestial was shown in Marvel Legacy (2017) # 1. The start of their battle with the rest of the First Host was shown in Avengers (2018) # 1.
The Prehistoric Avengers' battle with the Mad Celestial was shown in Marvel Legacy (2017) # 1. The start of their battle with the rest of the First Host was shown in Avengers (2018) # 1.
CHAIN REACTION
Jason Aaron attempts to rewrite the history of the Marvel Universe as the Final Host arc continues into its climax.
I'll certainly give the creative team this much, they're definitely swinging for the fences with some of these ideas. They're not particularly good ideas, mind you, but at least they have gravitas and a sense of grandeur to them that I applaud the attempt. The first eight pages of this comic are devoted to Loki telling the story of what happened with all those Celestials millions of years ago, and that the last four issues have tip-toed around this conversation is frankly a bit frustrating. This is a massive info-dump that possibly could have worked a lot better if some of this information had been divided up in the previous chapters. Instead, those chapters were spent having Loki talk in circles so as to preserve a mystery that the plot but not the characters demanded be kept a mystery until now. I'm not sure where Aaron's going with the whole "humans are created by god vomit" idea or whether he really thinks its going to stick as the origin of humanity, I could easily see it getting retconned the next time the Celestials are trotted out for a story, but it's certainly an interesting angle to take.
Ghost Rider does at least get some neat stuff to do in this comic, as he provides a pretty great escape sequence for Captain America. Aaron is continuing to play fast and loose with Robbie's version of the Ghost Rider displaying abilities he's never shown before, such as using the car to talk to the dead and him being able to transform vehicles other than the car, but I'm rolling with it so far. I appreciate that Aaron is attempting to drag Reyes back toward the more traditional Ghost Rider mythos, but I feel like his handle on Robbie as a character isn't quite solid. His version of Reyes seems too bright-eyed, too awed by what's happening, to really resemble the East LA kid that Felipe Smith created. It's not terrible characterization, naturally, but it's a major change from his established personality.
The artwork continues to balance nicely between Medina, who does the lion's share of the issue, and McGuiness, who comes in to illustrate the last eight pages. Both are solid storytellers, and while McGuiness may be flashier and more dynamic in his layouts I actually Media does a better job telling the story. His splash page of the dying Celestial is pretty fantastic, and is really only outdone by McGuiness final two-page reveal of the Giant Avengers. That Celestial Ghost Rider design is sweet, too, and it's a great way to use the character in a new way that's appropriate for an Avengers series.
This story has a lot of questionable elements to it and I wish it had just gotten to the damn point before now. This one does end on a great cliffhanger, though, so here's hoping Aaron can tie it all together into something satisfying.
I'll certainly give the creative team this much, they're definitely swinging for the fences with some of these ideas. They're not particularly good ideas, mind you, but at least they have gravitas and a sense of grandeur to them that I applaud the attempt. The first eight pages of this comic are devoted to Loki telling the story of what happened with all those Celestials millions of years ago, and that the last four issues have tip-toed around this conversation is frankly a bit frustrating. This is a massive info-dump that possibly could have worked a lot better if some of this information had been divided up in the previous chapters. Instead, those chapters were spent having Loki talk in circles so as to preserve a mystery that the plot but not the characters demanded be kept a mystery until now. I'm not sure where Aaron's going with the whole "humans are created by god vomit" idea or whether he really thinks its going to stick as the origin of humanity, I could easily see it getting retconned the next time the Celestials are trotted out for a story, but it's certainly an interesting angle to take.
Ghost Rider does at least get some neat stuff to do in this comic, as he provides a pretty great escape sequence for Captain America. Aaron is continuing to play fast and loose with Robbie's version of the Ghost Rider displaying abilities he's never shown before, such as using the car to talk to the dead and him being able to transform vehicles other than the car, but I'm rolling with it so far. I appreciate that Aaron is attempting to drag Reyes back toward the more traditional Ghost Rider mythos, but I feel like his handle on Robbie as a character isn't quite solid. His version of Reyes seems too bright-eyed, too awed by what's happening, to really resemble the East LA kid that Felipe Smith created. It's not terrible characterization, naturally, but it's a major change from his established personality.
The artwork continues to balance nicely between Medina, who does the lion's share of the issue, and McGuiness, who comes in to illustrate the last eight pages. Both are solid storytellers, and while McGuiness may be flashier and more dynamic in his layouts I actually Media does a better job telling the story. His splash page of the dying Celestial is pretty fantastic, and is really only outdone by McGuiness final two-page reveal of the Giant Avengers. That Celestial Ghost Rider design is sweet, too, and it's a great way to use the character in a new way that's appropriate for an Avengers series.
This story has a lot of questionable elements to it and I wish it had just gotten to the damn point before now. This one does end on a great cliffhanger, though, so here's hoping Aaron can tie it all together into something satisfying.
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| Up yours, Captain America! |
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