Writer: Sam Humphries
Artist: Ton Lima
Colorist: Rain Beredo
Letterer: VC’s Joe Sabino
Cover Artist: Stephen Segovia (Cover A)
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: June 11, 2025

Brief Summary

Carnage! The Hulk! Namor! Clea! Wolverine! Marvel’s synopsis describes them as “Five of the most dangerous loners and antiheroes in the Marvel Universe.” But we don’t meet them all just yet.

In this opening issue, Bucky Barnes and the Black Widow are attempting to assemble an “unsettling” team for a dangerous mission in Russia. Hundreds of people have gone missing near a rumored experimental Russian lab. What horrors will Natasha and the Winter Soldier discover inside?

Plot Summary

We open at a remote gas station in the New Mexico desert. Bucky Barnes is talking to the owner, a man called Earl. It turns out Earl has been ratting out his neighbors to Doctor Doom in exchange for reduced gas prices. Bucky has decided to make an example of the informant and torches the gas station with a Molotov cocktail. I thought he’d killed Earl as well, but we see him cowering before the huge explosion. What we don’t see is somebody sneak up and stick a gun against Bucky’s temple!

It’s Black Widow and she makes a reference to Bucky’s codename “The Revolution.” He tells her he’s just the Winter Soldier now and has been working alone since she left him. I don’t get this reference, so please enlighten me in the comments. Natasha replies, “some things are more fun together” and we cut to them in bed together. I’m all for Making Marvel Sexy Again!–my tagline. They’ve clearly been enjoying themselves, or should I say, each other.

We then get a lot of dialogue telling us that Natasha has a mission and wants Bucky’s help infiltrating a remote and experimental Russian lab. Bucky initially says no, “No more teams!” But Natasha convinces him with the information that “over two hundred people have disappeared from the surrounding area.”

The scene shifts to outside the Russan lab where Natasha and Bucky are beating up some guards. Bucky asks where their “diversion” is and we switch to a very brutal Laura Kinney in full female Wolverine gear clawing her way through a group of soldiers. The art looks great here, especially a single page of Laura ripping up the soldiers. Bucky tells Natasha that Laura is “the best there is at what she does”, referencing Logan’s famous tagline. I don’t think writer Sam Humphries is saying she’s the best Wolverine but it could be interpreted in that way.

This is followed by a brief flashback to when Bucky met up with Laura in New York and asked for her help on this mission. Like Bucky before her, she initially refused: “I know your crowd. I’m not joining up just so I can be judged.” Bucky makes it clear that this mission won’t involve the usual suspects, ie. Captains America and Marvel, and that he needs her particular “unsettling” skills.

Back to the present and Bucky, Natasha and Laura burst into the lab. What they find inside completely shocks them. There’s a group of what appear to be mutants but we quickly realize they are regular people who have been experimented on, “we’ve walked into a nightmare.” Bucky guides them out of the building and then continues deeper inside with Laura and Natasha. What else will they find here?

What they find next is what at first appears to be a tall Gremlin wearing a white suit and hat. It’s the Jackal! And I’m left scratching my head and questioning my comic book geekiness for the upteenth time. I should know this character but I don’t. Minus 5 geek points! The Jackal is standing in front of a series of numbered metal doors and gives the command to unlock seven of the doors. At the same time, Bucky hits his own remote-switch and a big explosion blasts the room they’re in. Was it a bomb or something even more destructive?

We see a silhouetted figure emerge out of the smoke, “Strike like lightning you said. But I am more than flash and thunder.” It’s Namor! He joins Bucky and the others as they are picking themselves up off the floor, “perhaps a little to the LEFT of us next time.” It’s a funny moment and worth noting that writer Sam Humphries does a good job of adding humor to the story when its needed.

One of the metal doors opens and out of it emerges “Iron Man?” who then hits them all with an energy blast. “No, not Iron Man. Not Iron Man at all!” And we get a double-page spread of five freaky-looking mutant versions of Iron Man, Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Mister Fantastic and Professor X! It’s a Negative Illuminati or should that be Anti-Illuminati. As they fight, Natasha asks Bucky “who else was in the Illuminati?” Oh no! It’s Black Bolt who mumbles his way into screaming out his name and the issue ends with a massive white THOOM! To be continued.

Sharp Points!

Ton Lima’s art and Rain Beredo’s colors are very strong showcasing a nice mix of cool action scenes and quiter character moments. Writer Sam Humphries has a good voice for the characters and uses both emotion and humor when needed. The story is entertaining and ends on an exciting cliffhanger.

Dull Points!

Some scenes are a bit dialogue or narration heavy. Plus with this being a new number one there is time spent on setting things up.

Final Thoughts

New Avengers #1 is an exciting and entertaining opening issue and a positive start to the series by Sam Humphries and co. The characters are written well and the art and colours make it a visually pleasing read. I’m definitely looking forward to more Bucky and Natasha making Marvel sexy again, as well as the rest of this “unsettling team” assembling. Recommended!

8/10

---

About the reviewer: Wakizashi Gray has a YouTube channel where he reviews comics. It has the rather bizarre name of Wakizashi’s Teahouse. He also keeps a WordPress blog called Wakizashi Teahouse Blog.