Twenty years ago, Thanos wanted to impress his greatest obsession, Death, by killing half the sentient universe. He did this with the power of the Infinity Gauntlet, a glove that held the gems that controlled humanity’s perception of reality. It was a well-written limited series which forced Marvel to utilize the likes of Silver Surfer and Adam Warlock. It also made them relevant and cool as well.
Now it’s 2011 and the Illuminati (Doctor Strange, Reed Richards, Charles Xavier, Tony Stark, Namor, and Medusa, who comes in her dead husband’s stead) have a serious problem. It seems that someone is collecting the gems – the gems that each of the illuminati held in their possession. These men took it upon themselves to save mankind when they saw a potential threat, since each holds a specific interest in the survival of the groups represented. Still, like the brilliant decision to jettison The Hulk into space, these men, through their secrecy has caused a cataclysmic issue for the marvel universe.
Power, soul, reality, mind, space and time are what writer Brian Michael Bendis is tackling in his take on The Avengers. Issues eight and nine deal with The Illuminati’s hubris involving the gems. This isn’t new territory for Bendis. After the Kree-Skrull war Bendis utilized this group that he created in New Avengers #7 by using them as a microcosm of the marvel world. Mutants, inhumans, superheroes, and the mystical world all have something at stake. These men represent the fear, anxiety and arrogance of good intentions. Bendis has them make the most egregious errors that come back to bite them in the butt again and again, and it makes for great storytelling.
Confrontations abound in both issues. In issue eight Medusa deals with the betrayal of the now departed Black Bolt as she finds out that he was a part of this secret organization. And issue nine reveals the resentment that comrades Stark and Steve Rogers have for one another. It’s nice to see Captain America give Iron Man a verbal smack down. Rogers’ new position also offers him to have secrets of his own, such as The Red Hulk doing covert work for him.
Speaking of The Red Hulk he gets a serious beat down; which means that this new threat has already harvested two of the gems.
With one gem removed from its self-contained universe and another robbed from a desolate area – one wonders how this ever increasing power will retrieve the other gems that are continuously calling out to one another. One thing is for sure, Spider-man will have the obligatory quick remark, obscure characters will be used to the fullest and get ready for some serious battle scenes.
Incidentally, don’t think the fun is over when you see “to be continued†at the end of the comic. Bendis’ history of The Avengers is just as entertaining as the comic itself. Here you get insight into the likes of Hawkeye and Hank Pym. It’s a clever way of giving the audience back stories on the relationships of the characters and past missions.
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