Avengers #43

by Kalem Lalonde on April 04, 2015

Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artist: Mike Mayhew

Hickman’s Avengers saga is rushing towards Secret Wars in full throttle and this week’s penultimate issue has achieved maximum speed. There have been some inconsistencies as this story has been heading near its finish but Hickman is all done with those as we are only getting high points for this series now. Issue #43 gives us the great battle for Earth that was set-up in the previous issue while delving into Tony Stark’s role in this series.

Stark is a character that has been sidelined in this book since Time Runs Out began and he’s proving to be much more interesting in this arc of the series. This is mainly due to Hickman’s incredible analysis of what Tony Stark as a human being is. He describes him as being a man of the future stuck in the past. Someone who has passed human evolution and adapts his ways of life to the greater good of mankind’s survival. I love the idea Tony’s downfall into superior status wasn’t just because of the silly inversions but it was a natural progression of the events of Hickman’s Avengers story.

Tony is also a strong point in terms of Steve’s views on their fallout. Steve who feels betrayed by an old friend and feels stupid for having ever trusted him. It’s sad that their relationship has come to this but Hickman is extremely adept at writing rivalries between two heroes and while this one isn’t as wonderful as Namor/Black Panther, it adds a great layer of character to this story
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On the visual front, we unfortunately get another new artist. It very detrimental to the quality of this overall series that the visual are so inconsistent. This is going to be a very jarring read in trade with all the transitions. That said, I did like most of Mike Mayhew’s work on this issue. Particularly his action and renditions of the spaceships. On the other hand, his art could look a little clunky when it came to drawing all the characters Hickman has featured in this issue.

Avengers #43 sets this series up for a crazy finale leading into Secret Wars. Hickman is done building and we’re now start to get the payoff of this series and it’s not letting me down. This series could’ve benefited from more visual consistency in its final issues but the quality remains high all the same. 


 

Our Score:

8/10

A Look Inside