Written by: Mark Waid
Art by: Mahmud Asrar, Dave McCaig and Cory Petit
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: June 29, 2016
Publisher: Marvel

Before doing the site and our Marvel Podcast, I had only a passing notion of what was going on over at the House of Ideas. As a comic book fan, I had heard of most of Marvel’s big guns and know the basics of their origins and such and books like the Avengers really intrigued me. So, now that I have done this Marvel thing for a bit and we aren’t getting any new books at the moment, it’s time to radomly jump back into some stories and see what’s what! Not really randomly, but here goes…

Here at Weird Science, we follow a couple of rules to get us through the day.  Don’t fry bacon without a shirt on, don’t eat the yellow snow and if you want to make a book fun, take it into space!  That’s what Mark Waid has done with the Avengers here, but unfortunately, it hasn’t been as much fun for them as it has been for the reader. That’s because their little star hoping field trip to find Nova’s father has turned into a fight against Annihilus!

The issue opens up with the Ms. Marvel, Nova and Spidey working in some sort of mine…you know, mining. Mark Waid shows us now that it’s been a bit since last issue’s cliffhanger and also that Nova blames himself for everything.  EVERYTHING!

We then see what the other Avengers are up to and I’m not sure if it’s better or worse than mining unknown minerals and drinking shitty water.  Sam and Tony are trying to help Vision (the anti-matter sun is not being kind to him) while Thor is going toe-to-toe with Annihilus!  While the evil insect is trash talking, we see his plan and it’s not good for our Universe.

Back with Miles, Sam and Kamala come together and decide that it’s time to stop mining and start kicking ass.  It’s a nice team moment and each of them step up and kick “Bantha Turd” ass.  Nice!  It ends with Nova making bold statements about Annihilus and while I am not a big Nova fan, this scene actually has gotten me to turn the corner a bit.

Speaking of Annihilus, he is still fighting Thor, but they also get into a little discussion of when enough is enough.  I am not a huge fan of battle banter, but this felt a bit off and made me chuckle a little, but not in a good way.  It’s very quick, though, and is interrupted by the arrival of Iron Man, Captain America and Vision.

After Tony obviously sees something about Annihilus that catches his eye, the rest of the Avengers show up and a plan is put into effect.  It’s pretty cool and while Nova doesn’t exactly get to do what he wanted to, he kind of gives a cool assist thanks to Tony and Vision.  If you are like John “Hannibal” Smith and love it when a plan comes together, you will love this scene.

The issue ends with the Avengers trying to save everyone, but it kind of is an out of the fire and back into the frying pan type of situation as they aren’t quite home free just yet.  If that was the worst thing going on, however, they would be pretty well off, but as the cliffhanger shows, they may have left a man behind.  Oh snap!

This is a fun issue.  Mark Waid keeps things moving at a fast pace and we get to see the team come together as everyone steps up their game and takes charge.  Watching Thor fight Annihilus was awesome, but my favorite Avenger after this issue is easily Kamala.  She really feels like she’s coming into her own a bit here and shows she belongs with the big guns.  Again, I even like Nova a bit more after reading this so that’s a win right there.

I like Mahmud Asrar’s art for the most part, but hate Tony Stark’s look and the lack of detailed backgrounds makes everything look a bit generic.  I know that’s kind of a result of being in the Negative Zone, but it still is so plain to look at.  Every other Avenger aside from Tony looks great, though.

Final Thoughts:

The Avengers in the Negative Zone fighting Annihilus sounds like fun, right?  Well, it is.  Mark Waid brings the team closer together and uses it to show that the younger team members belong.  It may not be the most mind bending issues I’ve ever read, but I had a smile on my face while reading it and will be back next month for more fun.

7.5/10