Written by: Jim Zub

Art by: Carlos Magno

Colors by: Espen Grundetjern

Letters by: VC’s Ariana Maher

Release Date: 8/26/2020

Price: $3.99

SPOILERS FOR EMPYRE AVENGERS #2 BELOW!!

These members of The Avengers are defending The Savage Lands, New York, and attempting to keep the peace between the Kree and Skrulls, but what does any of this have to do with “Empyre“? Jim Zub has created a story that is the ultimate Naruto filler. No stakes, no consequences, everything just works out in the for the eye rolling cliffhanger. This is allegedly a war, but feels more like an annoying weed infestation that can be fixed with a little bit of RoundUp. At the end of last issue Ka-Zar was (Spoilers) by the end of the issue, the story progressed in a way that would have been the exact same if it did not happen. In other words, there was no reason for it at all.

I will not claim to know these characters one hundred percent but using Doctor Nemesis as basically the grumpy old dad killing weeds in his front yard seems like a waste of a character, he was one bad dad joke away from completing that vision. Even with Plantman, a very large villain that was easily taken down. It’s understandable to make heroes strong and capable of defending what is needed to be defended, but where is the excitement? Where is the danger? Zub may have had his hands tied with what all he could do with these characters, but with his hands tied this tight, may not have even been worth agreeing to write the title at all.

At one point in the introduction of this book, Zub makes Shanna sound like the drive-thru employee in “Dude, Where’s My Car?” As I pointed out before Doctor Nemesis had bad dialogue, and so did the majority of characters in this issue. Zub has an act for writing books with multiple characters but this title clearly shows it was phoned in. Especially with titles like “Wayward” & “Rick and Morty VS Dungeons & Dragons” both big hits on the “indie” side of writing. Besides some nitpicks Carlos Magno and Espen Grundetjern did a great job once again. Panel progression was ten times better than last issue.

Final Thoughts:

With the final installment of this story being “Empyre Avengers Aftermath” it’s safe to say this story may not have been worth the read in conjunction with the Empyre solo title. And should have been on the chopping block when Marvel decided to cut down the number of tie-ins for the event.

4.0/10