New Avengers #27

by Kalem Lalonde on November 29, 2014

Written by: Jonathan Hickman
Art by: Szymon Kudranski

Time Runs Out’s shipping schedule has been extremely aggressive thus far. We got 2 issues just last week and this week gives us New Avengers #27. The flow of this series is really benefitting from the shipping schedule that doesn’t give us time to forget about the seeds that Hickman plants. This issue picks up on the plot of Avengers #36 as we catch up with the Multiversal Avengers and a character that has been missing since New Avengers #23. With some great character moments and interesting plot-developments, New Avengers #27 continues Time Runs Out’s winning streak in spite of its flaws.

Ever since New Avengers #12 hinted at a greater conflict with even more players than we would expect, I’ve been longing for appearances from the omnipotent Rabum Alal and the ominous Ivory Kings. Hickman gave us no hints to who they were or what their role in the story was but he somewhat develops that here. We’re given bits and pieces of the aforementioned greater conflict and they are some intriguing ideas. Two insane battles are set-up with higher stakes than this series has ever had. It’s really incredible how Hickman can keep raises the stakes, you would think that he has a limit but he keeps on pushing and pushing.

The character work here is also very strong (as usual). Hickman gives Thor a fist-pumping worthy moment even though the explanation is absent. You would think that something as seminal as what occurs would have some sort of explanation but unfortunately, Hickman doesn’t give us much context. Stephen Strange also gets a lot of awesome dialogue and an epic role, worthy of the great character.

Doctor Doom is featured in this issue and any Doom written by Hickman is joy but his scene feels rather irrelevant. Like Hickman couldn’t really fill his script entirely with the main segment so he just included another plot and developed it a tad. The scene brought me out of the main plot-line for a few pages and felt like a rather clunky transition.

We also get a new artist in the form of Szymon Kudranski and Marvel picked the perfect time to get him onboard. His surreal style is a great fit for drawing the Black Priest. His priest are menacing and creepy in comparison to the choppy depiction Simone Bianchi gave us in issue #13. His human art isn’t perfect though, drawing some weird faces and awkward looking character. His flaws, notwithstanding, Kudranski is a great fit for this series and I hope to see more of his work in the future.

New Avengers #27 wasn’t the best issue of Time Runs Out. Some clunky transitions and lack of necessary exposition held the comic back from being amazing. It’s still a great comic and worth the price of admission but it could have easily been a 9 if it was cleaned up a little. The battle set-up here is going to be an incredible one and Hickman has me on the edge of my seat waiting for this series’ plot-lines to payoff. If you like complex plots filled with imagination and bewilderment, New Avengers will surely mesmerize you, it's a special comic. 

Our Score:

8/10

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