Review: Avengers #25 (Hickman)

Remember when those scientists on AIM Island pulled a new Hyperion out of the ether and he later became a member of Jonathan Hickman’s Avengers? Well, they are at it again, and the scientists this time find … well, the original Avengers (plus Cap).

Avengers #25 brings us a retread of sorts of All-New X-Men, and it is to Marvel’s credit that they joke about it in the solicits. Because it really isn’t. No, these Avengers seem to be from an alternate Earth, not our own timeline like the original X-Men, and they also seem to have a Squadron Supreme mentality in that their own Earth’s populace must have worshipped them as gods. (“Thor” actually expects that on our world, and is confused when he does not get it.)

These new Avengers are prepared to give “instruction” to the folks of Earth-616 (Marvel Earth) and, somewhere between their arrival and its discovery by SHIELD, Ant-Man (Hank Pym) dies. With a corpse on her hand, Maria Hill calls in our Assemblers and asks where they have been in the past few hours.

Already we have the confusion that is, I think, leading to something much bigger down the way regarding last issue’s “Planet Bullet,” now merged with the Earth, and the female Iron Man from the future … or is that “a” future?

I love that Jonathan Hickman is sticking to the threads of this massive sci-fi story he is writing long-term and yet letting the characters breath and remind us who they are (although to tell the truth, the REAL Avengers only appear on one page this issue).

The art, as has been the norm for this title since its relaunch, is breath-taking under the expert hands of Salvador Larroca. It is interesting to compare the two splash pages, one with the original Avengers from an alternate Earth and one with the 616 Avengers, our own. Note the costume style differences.

As usual, this is a Hickman issue of Avengers that leaves you wanting more. How lucky are we that Avengers World #2 is also on sale this week?