A Wild And Wonderful Collection Of Stories In The Avengers #700
by Josh Davison
[*Mild Spoilers Ahead!]
Namor and his Defenders of the Deep have rallied to attack the Hydropolis, an international underwater biosphere. The Avengers assemble to stop the Sub-Mariner and his new crew, but the Winter Guard, Russia’s own national superteam, join the fight. Things get even more complicated from there.
Meanwhile, General Ross is watching the new collection of Avengers, now based out of Wakanda. Ross and the people he works for are not happy about that, and he is even willing to threaten Captain America. Worse yet, Ross has his own agent watching the situation and readying to put together another super-powered team to challenge the Avengers.
The first back-up story brings together Robbie Reyes, aka the Ghost Rider, and All-Father Odin. The All-Father knows about what happened between Ghost Rider and Starbrand, and he is seeking vengeance.
In the second back-up story, we rejoin Loki as he is being punished by the Celestials for his crimes with the Final Host. Surprisingly enough, someone on the edge of space is actually looking out for Loki Laufeyson.
Finally, the Wasp seeks another new addition to the Avengers.
Avengers #10 celebrates the 700th printed issue of the Avengers title. In doing so, it sets up a few new dynamics for the Marvel Universe which also tease a few stories to come.
The most notable change, beyond Gorilla-Man of the Agents of Atlas being the new Jarvis and the new member(s) teased at the end of the comic, is the superteam arms race inadvertently started by the new team of Avengers. The Winter Guard is back and stronger than ever, Namor has his Defenders of the Deep, and now General Ross may have a superteam for America.
That’s a pretty damn cool idea, and it will almost certainly lead to interesting stories in the near-future under the talent of Jason Aaron.
We continue digging into the legacy of Avengers 1,000,000 B.C and how it has somehow led to the current lineup when Robbie and Odin speak. I’m not sure I’ve been entirely sold on this plotline, but the episode about it in this comic is pretty cute.
Jason Aaron continues to inject a healthy helping of snark, one-liners, and slapstick throughout the book. Though it’s been a little much in some issues, it’s mostly earned in this issue.
Ed McGuinness, David Marquez, Frazer Irving, Adam Kubert, and Andrea Sorrentino share the art in this comic, with McGuinness and Marquez splitting the main story and the other three artists each having a short tale in the back. I can’t really complain about any artists’ work here; each does an excellent job of rendering their respective sections and make this an all-around gorgeous comic book. Color artists Justin Ponsor, Erick Arciniega, Matthew Wilson, Giada Marchisio, and Irving each do great jobs on their end too.
Avengers #700 is a fun mega-sized adventure for Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. It tells a solid tale while foreshadowing to many interesting things yet to come. The Aaron and the team of artists do excellent work, and this is one comic that definitely earns a recommendation. Give it a read.
Avengers #700 comes to us from writer Jason Aaron, artists Ed McGuinness, David Marquez, Frazer Irving, Adam Kubert, and Andrea Sorrentino, color artists Justin Ponsor, Erick Arciniega, Frazer Irving, Matthew Wilson, and Giada Marchisio, letterer VC’s Cory Petit, cover artist Ed McGuinness with Marte Gracia, and variant cover artists Alex Ross, Arthur Adams with Paul Mounts, Alan Davis with Mark Farmer and Jim Campbell, David Finch with Peter Steigerwald, Ron Lim with Paul Mounts, David Marquez with Romulo Fajardo Jr., Ed McGuinness with Marte Gracia, George Perez with Jason Keith, and Skottie Young.