The big finale! Time for some fan favorite Bryan Hitch art which I will not enjoy! Hitch rose to superstardom on the Authority with Warren Ellis, before achieving even wider recognition with Mark Millar on the Ultimates. Beloved for his realism and exquisite detail that ensures his books will be late, Hitch is certainly a talented draftsman, no question. But my issues with him are summed up neatly on this cover. He doesn’t pose his characters to look cool, or dramatic even, really. They’re all just flailing limbs. Look at Luke Cage. He actively looks funny. Look at Spider-Woman. She looks like we caught her between cool poses. Mockingbird looks like she’s a cheerleader at a pep rally. Etc. And none of the characters, not a one, have any relation to the background. They look like someone scattered them all over an existing drawing. And look at that background. Impeccably detailed. I think Hitch really wants to be a landscape artist. He puts a truly insane amount of time and effort into backgrounds people will scan briefly and keep going. In this case, a background that was colored so weird you’re encouraged not to notice it. That’s crazy inefficient. Another favorite, very specific Hitch-ism for me, previously seen and complained about on ASM 529, is Spider-Man’s leg curving in an unnatural and unnerving way, like he doesn’t have bones. A cartoonist could get away with that, easy. Someone known for “realism” is creating a real distraction. Spider-Man, in general, looks like a rough sketch here. Look at his weird, mismatched and misaligned eyes. Last but not least, Wolverine. His mask looks stupid. His claws pointed toward us look off. Hitch makes so many weird choices. Wait til you see what he thinks a black man with hair looks like one day, it is beyond the pale. Anyway, here he is, ready to send New Avengers out with a bang. He’s inked here by Butch Guice, which is a rather inspired choice. Guice was kind of aiming for this realism trend Hitch helped set off decades before he did it. Paul Mounts handles the colors. But there’s also pages in here by Stuart Immonen, and surprisingly, he’s not inked by his main man Wade Von Grawbadger, but by Andrew Currie & Karl Story, with colors from Justin Ponsor & Rain Beredo. Exciting for Rain to get to color a professional for a change. And to kick things off, we check in with Madame Masque, who, at the end of her rope after the Siege debacle, has gone to her dad for help. Her dad being big league Avengers villain Count Nefaria, last seen bustin’ outta the joint way back in New Avengers #2. Dad says he’ll help her & the Hood. Meanwhile, Jessica Jones watches TV coverage of the Siege fallout hoping for signs that Luke is alive.
This is the sort of spread that really made Hitch’s name. “Widescreen.” Which, frankly, has largely meant a lot of comic book artists making a product more like storyboards than comic books ever since, and which I think hasn’t been so great for the industry, but what do I know? He draws such lanky characters.
Back at the ruins of Asgard, the heroes take stock of the situation, and each other. Nick Fury and his Secret Warriors have conveniently disappeared, and it seems like most of the army has, too. Even the Asgardians aren’t around, these panels are weirdly empty.
It’s the big name Asgardians bringing them prisoners. Various other Asgardians are containing various other losers (Where were any of these people in the establishing shots? Why do a giant panorama if you’re going to leave so much out?), and they begin to gladly give up everything they know about the Hood, since he and Masque have left them to their own devices yet again. You’d think people would learn. The goons give up John King, the Hood’s cousin who runs is affairs, and we smash cut to the Hood calling him, unaware that the New Avengers have gotten to him first. King schedules a meeting with the Hood, and so thee Avengers are off.
A nice little speech, and a good way to position this as a real finale for this title, too. They discuss how to handle Nefaria for a bit, since he’s a brand-new element the reader may not understand, and then Spider-Woman briefly tortures John into calling the Hood, that’s not cool.
So, you know. If your angle is “the Hood is a junkie for superpowers and will do anything for them,” that’s an interesting idea, sure. But to take up so much real estate in the Avengers with it is bonkers. The Avengers get to work, and Carol confronts Nefaria directly. He’s unaware of her energy absorption powers, and so feeds her just what she needs to blow him right through the building. He comes flying back very upset.
They did fly to California, after all. He’s been gone a surprisingly long time. But Cage said he was making a phone call before they went in “to be smart,” and… this is who he called? Nefaria battled the whole Avengers team at once back when it was mostly powerhouses. Wolverine starts slicing him up like he can’t go toe-to-toe with Thor, and then Ms. Marvel grabs him by the head and does… well, something, I don’t know, but energy bursts out of him in a huge lightshow that seems like it hurts.
Next, the Avengers zap into Broxton and unceremoniously dump their prisoners at Maria Hill’s feet. They ask her what their status is, and she says they should turn on a TV or check their phones.
The President can’t just “toss” a law, your name has “America” in it, come on.
“I think we should all stand around like we just got our arms and legs for the first time!” Luke proceeds to give a stirring speech laid over double page spreads from various past adventures (And a new one of the events of the Collective arc by Hitch because I guess they didn’t have one appropriate), which also includes Hitch’s own spread from NA 50, which is kinda funny, in which he sums up what their time together over the last 64 issues and several events has been like, what it’s meant, what it was all for, and it works pretty well. And for the final spread, Stuart Immonen gets the last word.
Well, sort of last, anyway. You’ll never guess who’s drawing New Avengers, Vol. 2 a few blocks from now. But that’s it! They all lived happily ever after! And one of the silliest periods in Marvel history is over. The Sentry is dead! Sort of for real. They did a one-shot of his funeral by Paul Jenkins, including the totally baffling revelation that Sentry took Rogue’s virginity, if you can believe that, and the Sentry stayed dead for a good long while. If only the Hood had gone with him. Well, that’s it for this block. Join us next post for a glorious return to Ultimate Spider-Man.