The Mighty Avengers has been a true Avengers book. Dan Slott has showed that he remembers the classic Avengers format. He demonstrates that they can rise above their circumstances and work as a team to defeat threats to the world. The issue at hand is the fifth and final chapter in the saga of the Unspoken. The Unspoken was the king of the Inhumans before Black Bolt.
Creative Team
Plot: Dan Slott
Script: Dan Slott and Christos N. Gage
Pencils: Sean Chen
Inks: Yeung and Morales
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 7.5 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: The People’s Republic of China…The Unspoken says that his greatest crime was taking pity on humanity. He hid the Slave Engine (the device that can change humans into Alpha Primitive slaves) from the Inhumans. Humans repaid his kindness by waging the Silent War with the Inhumans. Quicksilver thinks to himself that he was the one who started that war. All of this is his fault. The Unspoken plans on the humans fighting each other.
Infinite Avengers Mansion…Pym picks some weaponry and heads through a door to China.
China…Hawkeye wants to know what Pym’s plan is. Pym does not have one yet but will come up with something. Pym contacts Amadeus Cho to see how his mission with Hercules is going. They have infiltrated the Unspoken’s ship and found the source of the Xerogen gas. Amadeus uses a penny to disable some of the guard robots. Hercules uses his fists.
Pym grows to giant size and fires up his laser sword. The Unspoken counters by growing to the same size and attacking with his sword.
Hawkeye tells Stature to shrink down. She hitches a ride on his arrow. Captain America throws his shield to create an opening in the side of the ship. Hawkeye shoots the arrow into the opening.
While he is beating up Pym, the Unspoken complains how he is judged by his past mistakes. He tells Pym that he cannot imagine what that is like. Pym says how pathetic that sounds. He always blamed his problems on the past. But this tells him that the Unspoken is already beaten if he can’t look to the future.
Amadeus determines that the Unspoken is using a Chronal Ray to make the crystals grow. It accelerates time around them. He tells Hercules to steer the ship towards the Unspoken.
Inside the ship, Stature is joined by Vision. They fight their way to Amadeus.
In the battlefield, the Alpha Primitives are gaining the upper hand. Quicksilver tells the Alpha Primitive Captain that the commies will win if he can’t get to the Unspoken fast enough. A.P. Captain clears the path. Quicksilver picks up a rock and throws it at the Unspoken. It hits him in the eye.
Amadeus tells Pym to get away from their enemy. Amadeus aims the Chronal Ray at the Unspoken and fires. He turns old very quickly. He can’t remember why he was fighting. He just wants to go home. They return him to his cave to be cared for by the original Alpha Primitives.
Hawkeye tells Pym that they could use the Chronal Ray to make Pym young again. He could relive his life without the mistakes he has made. Pym destroys it. No more looking back.
Hawkeye confides in Pym that the Scarlet Witch who has appeared to the Avengers is not the real one. Pym figured that out. He is waiting for the right time to confront her.
They use the mansion portals to take the crystals to the Inhumans. Pietro explains how a Skrull impersonator took his place, stole the crystals, and started the Silent War. Queen Medusa forgives him and restores his citizenship. Crystal brings Luna (her and Pietro’s daughter) to him.
Luna’s power is the ability to see the truth. As they hug, she tells her father that she can see the truth about him. There was no Skrull. She will not tell anyone else but she will never respect him again. Every time he looks at her, he will remember what he did.
Commentary:The Good: Another good issue from Slott. This issue features a nice balance of action and drama. At the end of this story, things are different.
The whole epilogue with Pietro and the Inhumans was handled very well. Pietro pulled off his deception of the Inhumans, restored peace with them, and was made an Inhuman citizen again. The downside was that his daughter knows the truth. The way the story is written, it hints at Pietro’s story paralleling the Unspoken’s life. He has made a mistake that will not be forgiven. I am interested to see how Slott handles Pietro in future storylines.
Throughout this 5 parter, Pym has matured. He now realizes that he has to let go of the past and focus on the future. The Unspoken cannot forget his past and forge a new future. Like Pym said, the Unspoken had lost the battle because of that flaw.
I liked the improvisation the Avengers did to find a way to defeat the Unspoken. Will someone in the future find a way to restore his youth? Probably. It reminded me of the original Defenders vs. Magneto. Magneto was regressed back into being an infant.
In this case, the Avengers did the opposite. The use of the Chronal Ray to defeat him was ironic in that it was the device that enabled him to mass produce the gas. His own device helped defeat him.
A good bit of characterization occurred with Pym. It was good to see him stepping up and taking charge of the situation. The confidence he is exhibiting is similar to his personality when he became Yellowjacket.
Chen does a nice job with the pencils. The Unspoken shows some classic Marvel villain influences in his design.
The Bad: Amadeus throws a penny and disables 3 robots. If Bullseye had done it I could have believed it. I don’t buy it that Amadeus has the strength to throw it hard enough to shut the robots down.
Overall: Another solid issue. Slott continues his run of classic style Avengers stories. Recommended to Avengers fans. Next issue should be a good jumping on point with the start of the next storyline.
__________________________________________________________________________
Jim