My recollection is NA 36 sort of ends halfway through MA 8, let’s see if I’m doing this right. Oh, you know what, maybe this is my chance to merge the 2 books, like I mused about in Civil War. Easier when it’s just 2 comics. Ok, let’s do that. So I’ll chop the 2 books up to try to make one story out of them. Here’s the New Avengers cover…
…which, of course, has nothing to do with this story, because of the schedule being all messed up. And, yet again, I remind you that Mighty 8 came out 3 months after New 36. MA 8 opens with a flashback to Hank Pym giving Janet a new version of the Pym Particles that will allow her to both shrink down to Wasp size and grow to Giant, uh, Woman size, which apparently she couldn’t do before? Why not, I think Hank could. Well, anyway…
Those impossible to read little armor captions say 12,943 symbiotes have been detected. That’s a lot!
Well, that sure was convenient! But then Black Widow gets infected, and then Spider-Woman, and things are looking grim.
Very grim! Meanwhile, nearby, things aren’t looking much better…
Peter Parker getting temporarily bonded with a new symbiote feels like something that shoulda gotten more than this one panel. When Luke wakes up…
…is the moment the 2 books intersect:
So Tony rushes off to look for a cure in captions you can barely read…
…ending up having to go let himself into the Baxter Building, while, back at the fight…
Wolverine’s body rejecting the symbiote would’ve paired nicely with that cover on NA 34, huh? Iron Man is synthesizing an antidote, but all he can think about is Skrulls. He wonders if Captain America was a Skrull, and that’s why he acted so insane during Civil War. His corpse DID do something weird in Cap 26. He wonders if Reed is a Skrull, and has been since the 60s, or if the President is. He thinks they got in his head, but he won’t let them win. Then his antidote is ready.
Jessica’ boob is ludicrous.
Everyone helping is portrayed in both books, and then they go their separate ways. Iron Man goes to space, and finds that the satellite that accidentally launched the virus (Tho he doesn’t know it was an accident) comes from Latveria. Dr. Doom. Tony thinks he picked the wrong day to launch a biological attack on the US.
Jess starts freaking out over the implications, then wonders aloud what Spider-Woman told Iron Man. Luke says Wolverine is going to find out this minute. At Avengers Tower, Carol tells the assembled gang they’re going to Latveria in one hour. She says Doom has committed an act of war and they’re going to bring him to justice. So the team has one hour to get ready or relax or whatever they’re gonna do. For Spider-Woman, that means taking a shower, wondering aloud how on Earth she got here.
Frank Cho might’ve had an aneurysm if he was asked to draw this sequence.
The New Avengers head to New Jersey, where the survey the scene of Deathlok’s attack on the bank. Spider-Man wonders if the symbiote thing was a cover for this, but Wolverine says that was Doom, and the other team is going to take care of that. Logan gets a scent, presumably the Wrecking Crew, and the team takes off.
And THAT takes us to the end of New Avengers 35, and the Hood saying “Grand Opportunity,” only now we learn Cage came through the wall one second later and started attacking. The Hood says “Tell me you were stupid enough to come here alone.”
Well, that’s unexpected. Especially since, in Might Avengers…
…they’re off to Latveria. What’s going on? We’ll follow Mighty Avengers to the end of its story first, because I think it has to wrap before the New one. Hey, this was fun. The books lined up pretty well. Mighty gave you more of the symbiote battle, while skipping Wolverine’s infiltration of Avengers Tower. And if you were some weirdo not buying both books, you could read either without the other, although it would be kind of strange. Well done. If only they’d been able to come out next to each other.