New Avengers #3

[superboyprime]

The Illuminati proceed with their plan from last issue to stop the collision of another universe with their own via the Infinity Gems. It works, but in doing so, the process seemingly destroys the gems, with the exception of the Time Gem, which simply disappears. (I say "seemigly," because with these cosmic MacGuffins, who can really say?)

That means they have to come up with a new plan for the next parallel universe incursion.









That last page puts a new perspective on this scene from back in Hickman's first issue of the regular Avengers book:

Comments

[valtyr]

It's like hitting a dog with your car because otherwise you'll put your whole family in a ditch.

It's more like hitting a whole family with your car because otherwise you'll put your whole family in a ditch.

[arysteia]

While I desperately hope such a thing would never happen, that probably is what I'd do. If my car was guaranteed to go over a bridge, rather than just scuff itself against a fence. I think we're all that selfish, as human beings, that we'd save the ones we love rather than strangers.

[valtyr]

Well, yeah, but we're not superheroes. Cap wants to try and save both, even if there's a risk of his own loved ones dying, and that's more what I expect of my superheroes.

[arysteia]

That is absolutely true and fair.

Mostly I'm just sad that yet again we're stuck in the goddamn position that someone has to be (narratively) right and someone has to be wrong and because Tony did something *personally* gross Steve is not going to get over it any time soon, and hey presto, back where we started.

I like intellectual quandaries as much as the next smart person, but like you I do like my heroes to be heroes. Oh, and get along.

[valtyr]

Honestly? This is the step too far for me, I think, with Tony. Civil War came close, but... Tony's down with killing a planet, and he's willing to mindwipe Steve and act like nothing's wrong, that they're friends and everything's fine.

This is like Watchmen; it may be a good story, but IMO it's using up and wringing out the characters, and so they shouldn't have used their ongoing characters.

[arysteia]

This is the sort of story I'd like to read, insofar as I'd like to read it, as an Elseworld. We get to see how people we care about would deal with the situation, but it doesn't have ongoing ramifications in the real world.

[jmacq1]

I suppose it depends on how far after the events of this issue that Avengers #1 occurs. It may be that this entire storyline (save the repercussions of the Cap mindwipe) is concluded by the time that issue occurs. Maybe Tony's "You were right" is about more than "getting bigger." Maybe the Illuminati eventually do find a way to do it non-lethally (which would explain Tony being able to maintain such a chipper mood).

Doesn't change the crappiness of mindwiping Steve, but I'd imagine Tony meant it when he said "I'll find some way to make this right" and it may have been about more than expanding the Avengers.

[lorriek]

But if they couldn't save both, I'd expect them to save their family (or in this case, their own world at the expense of another Earth, which would also save their loved ones and two entire universes). Because I prefer to read about people, not paragons. You don't choose the life of a stranger over your own kid, I don't care how "heroic" you are.

I'm puzzled that people seem to think the Illuminati aren't going to keep looking for another solution. But they should be prepared for the worst.