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Avengers #26: Review

May 2012
Brian Michael Bendis, Walt Simonson

Story Name:

(no title given)

Review & Comments

Rating:
4 stars

Avengers #26 Review by (May 22, 2012)
This issue really is an Avengers vs X-Men tie-in. It continues the focus on Protector, that will extend into next month's issue too. As with last issue the highlight is Walt Simonson's Thor. And this time we get to see him in extended cosmic combat with the Phoenix Force. There's no Iron Man or Red Hulk in this issue, but there is a cameo by Captain America. So this issue will only be put in his library and Thor's. I suspect next issue will only be seen in the Thor library. Noh-Varr met Annie in Dark Avengers Annual #1, when he left the DA and became Protector. In his backup story in Ms Marvel #50 she was his girlfriend, where he encountered a future Annie. He introduced her to the Avengers in Avengers #7, and she was in a couple more of the issues of this series. Noh-Varr's confession to Annie that he might not be coming back to Earth may not just be because it's a suicide mission. It may also have to do with the Kree Supreme Intelligence giving him orders last issue, which he will act on this issue. The thing Noh-Varr leaves with Annie will probably become important at some point. My guess is he dies out in space (maybe in Secret Avengers #28, whose blurb says an Avenger will make the ultimate sacrifice), but he can be recreated from the shard back on Earth. How does the 2nd part of this issue fit with SAv#26? In that story the Avengers fail to capture the Phoenix Force and then retreat to the Kree homeworld Hala. This issue obviously finds them on Hala. However the end of SAv#26 conflicts somewhat with the end of this issue. In SAv#26 Ms Marvel and Protector meet the resurrected Captain Marvel, and discuss betraying the Avengers because of their joint Kree heritage. But here Ms Marvel seems to be caught unawares when Noh-Varr makes his move. Perhaps Carol thought they'd decided not to do anything. And didn't expect Protector to act alone.




 

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Avengers #26 Synopsis by Rob Johnson
This issue begins a short run that will share the adventures of the Avengers vs X-Men deep space team with issues of Secret Avengers. It consists of 2 halves. The 1st is a prologue featuring Protector just before they leave for space. The 2nd half follows on from SAv#26-28.

Captain America has chosen Beast, Captain Britain, Ms Marvel, Protector, Thor, Valkyrie, Vision and War Machine to go far away in space to stop the Phoenix Force before it gets anywhere near Earth, while the rest of the Avengers hunt for the Phoenix's presumed target Hope Summers. He tells them it's probably a suicide mission, but they all volunteer to go.

Noh-Varr (Protector) goes to say goodbye to his girlfriend Annie, telling her he might not make it back. He leaves her with a glowing shard.

The adventure in SECRET AVENGERS #26-28 fits in here

The scene is now after the team has failed to cage the Phoenix Force in SAv, and are recuperating on the Kree homeworld Hala.

Protector is trying to figure out where they went wrong. I understand the original plan was to capture the Phoenix completely, but their specially-built trap failed to hold it. Protector now talks about just grabbing *part* of the Phoenix Force.

He discovers that Thor's hammer absorbed some of the Force when it struck the Phoenix in SAv#26 (and AvX#4). He now figures that the combination of hammer and the original device should be able to ingest some of the Phoenix.

The team head back to space, where Thor attacks the Phoenix Force again. He gets as much of it as the containment device can hold, and just manages to escape. (But the Force doesn't seem to be noticeably diminished.)

The team plan to take the Phoenix fragment back to Earth, hoping that Tony Stark and others will be able to use it to devise a completely successful Phoenix trap.

But Protector makes his move. He pulls a gun on the others, and says he's taking the Phoenix stuff for the Kree.



Walt Simonson
Scott Hanna
Jason Keith
Walt Simonson (Cover Penciler)
Walt Simonson (Cover Inker)
Letterer: Cory Petit.
Editor: Tom Brevoort. Editor-in-chief: Axel Alonso.

Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Beast
Beast

(Hank McCoy)
Captain America
Captain America

(Steve Rogers)
Ms. Marvel
Ms. Marvel

(Carol Danvers)
Thor
Thor

(Odinson)
Valkyrie
Valkyrie

(Brunnhilda)
War Machine
War Machine

(James Rhodes)

Plus: Captain Britain (Brian Braddock), Phoenix Force, Protector (Noh-Varr).

> Avengers: Book info and issue index

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