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Avengers #690: Review

Apr 2018
Mark Waid, Pepe Larraz

Story Name:

No surrender: part 16


Synopsis

Avengers #690 Synopsis by Rob Johnson
Beast, Wasp (Janet Van Dyne) and Wonder Man bring recuperating Edwin Jarvis in a wheelchair to see work begin on repairing the destroyed Avengers Mansion. Nadia Pym (the other Wasp) runs to greet him. In the background various Avengers use their superpowers to clear away debris. (Cannonball and Squirrel Girl get a look in here.)

Roberto da Costa (Citizen V/Sunspot) intends to resign as leader of the U.S. Avengers. The other team leaders Falcon (Sam Wilson) and Rogue try to talk him out of it. Jan-Wasp joins Rogue in surveying the damage.

Human Torch (Johnny Storm) complains to Beast that they only rebuilt the place a short while ago (in Uncanny Avengers). Johnny financed that with money from Reed Richards' estate which he inherited (now the that Reed and Sue Richards are missing presumed dead since Secret Wars III, or whatever the inhabitants of this multiverse believe happened then). But the firm of accountants he hired made sure the place was insured so that's alright. In that case Hank McCoy has suggestions for improvements such as a jacuzzi.

Roberto and Falcon join Captain America, Hercules, Thor (Jane Foster) and Wonder Man to offer Voyager a place in the Avengers. But she feels unworthy because she initially worked against them for her father Grandmaster. She says someday she may return to *earn* her place. And if GM returns to play more games with the Earth she will be there to oppose him. But for now she'll just take his opponent the unconscious Challenger away with her.

The team wonder where the alien playing pieces of the game that the 2 Elders of the Universe played in this story arc have gone. The Black Order are all alive and well on a far-distant planet where they are accosted by Grandmaster who offers them a job. (In this series they were working for the Challenger.) Meanwhile the Lethal Legion are in Knowhere, the hollowed out detached head of a Celestial that the Guardians of the Galaxy often use as a base. They prepare to split up but Captain Glory suggests they stay together. Grandmaster had rescued them each from certain death, and he himself would be executed by the Kree for desertion if he went back. We leave them thinking about it.

Lightning and Red Wolf are in Texas helping arrest some A.I.M. Agents who have gone back to their criminal ways. They decide to team up. Roberto da Costa informs Toni Ho (ex-Iron Patriot), current Supreme Leader of AIM as the government agency containing the US Avengers, about this development. She's quite happy to let AIM go back to being criminal scientists led by Andrew Forson or whoever. Maybe the government will stop annoying her and go after *them*. The ones she can trust are still working for her, and she's thinking of renaming her bunch R.E.S.C.U.E.. Currently she's repairing the damaged Vision. And she says she's been talking to some people about what comes next. (See the current Iron Man 'Legacy' series for that.)

Roberto confirms that he's quitting the group. Turning off the headband which limited his Sunspot power last issue in order to save the world has probably taken years off his life. This has focused his mind and he's going back to fighting for mutants with a new identity Citizen X.

Doctor Voodoo, Scarlet Witch and Synapse meet to discuss Quicksilver. Wanda Maximoff and Emily Guerrero were mind-linked to Pietro Maximoff when he disappeared in #688 and they believe he is still alive in some other realm. The 3 of them agree to use Voodoo/Witch sorcery to search for him. (They'll presumably turn up in the new Quicksilver series.)

Wonder Man says he's going too, but Hercules insists they have a farewell feast. Herc is now teetotal so he says Simon Williams will have to drink *his* share. Thor calls on Heimdall to bring the 3 of them to Asgard to feast with the gods there.

Clint Barton and Bruce Banner are having coffee in a greasy spoon. Clint isn't wearing his Avengers costume for anonymity, but he is actually wearing his Occupy Avengers t-shirt. Bruce apologises for getting Hawkeye to kill him (in Civil War II), especially as it didn't actually work. Clint says he'd been shown a vision of the future with Hulk killing everyone he loved, which was why he agreed. And then it turned out Ulysses' visions were just possibilities, and the world has gone a different way. As Banner leaves Clint urges him to remember he's not a bad person. (Bruce will star in the new Immortal Hulk series.)

Jarvis has been thinking it's time for him to retire as Avengers butler. Nadia shows him a holographic AI she's built to help him, which he now thinks could replace him. But when it turns out it doesn't really know what it's talking about he decides he'd better stay anyway.

Rogue is going back to the X-Men (well there's really no Unity Squad left for her to lead). Workmen arrive to restore the Mansion. Including a new statue to commemorate much more than the original founders.

Voyager and a shackled Challenger are watching from very afar. Challenger swears to break free and kill her, her father and the Avengers. Va Nee Gast thinks there's someone inside Challenger who can be saved, just as the Avengers saved her. He pooh-pooh's all that, but is eager to see what happens next. We see some images of upcoming stuff.


 

Review / Commentaries

Rating:
4 stars

Avengers #690 Review by (May 5, 2018)
For the last time Mark Waid is writing this issue along with Al Ewing and Jim Zub. Next time Jason Aaron takes over.

The Legacy numbering never reached #700 because we're starting the main Avengers title from #1 again next month. They just can't last so long without doing that.

Well this really does signal the end of Uncanny Avengers and US Avengers, and Occupy Avengers stopped a while ago. There's only the main book continuing, but 2 issues a month for the foreseen future. We haven't had a lone Avengers title since the 2005 New Avengers was joined by Mighty Avengers after Civil War I.

However it looks like I'll be also following Toni Ho (Iron Patriot in armour again if not (yet) in name) in the pages of Iron Man. Because there are no other Iron characters this probably takes place before Tony Stark returns in *his* Legacy series.

This is probably Jane Foster's last adventure as Thor before her finale in *her* Legacy Thor series.

And the new Avengers series doesn't seem to feature *anybody* who was in the bulk of this story arc. Advance hype suggests that the big 3 Captain America, Iron Man (Tony Stark back in the role) and Thor (Odinson) will be joined by Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Dr Strange, Ghost Rider and She-Hulk.



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(The Boy Wonder)

Pepe Larraz
Pepe Larraz
David Curiel
Mark Brooks (Cover Penciler)
Mark Brooks (Cover Inker)
Mark Brooks (Cover Colorist)
Additional Credits
Letterer: Cory Petit.
Editor: Tom Brevoort. Editor-in-chief: C. B. Cebulski.

Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Beast
Beast

(Henry Phillip McCoy)
Captain America
Captain America

(Steven Rogers)
Doctor Voodoo
Doctor Voodoo

(Jericho Drumm)
Falcon
Falcon

(Sam Wilson)
Grandmaster
Grandmaster

(En Dwi Gast)
Hawkeye
Hawkeye

(Clinton Barton)
Hercules
Hercules

(Heracles)
Hulk
Hulk

(Robert Bruce Banner)
Human Torch
Human Torch

(Johnny Storm)
Jarvis
Jarvis

(Edwin Jarvis)
Rogue
Rogue

(Anna Marie LeBeau)
Scarlet Witch
Scarlet Witch

(Wanda Maximoff)
Synapse
Synapse

(Emily Guerrero)
Thor
Thor

(Jane Foster)
Wasp
Wasp

(Janet Van Dyne)
Wasp
Wasp

(Nadia Pym)
Wonder Man
Wonder Man

(Simon Williams)

Plus: Black Order, Iron Patriot (Toni Ho), Lethal Legion (Aliens), Lightning (Miguel Santos), Red Wolf (William Talltrees), Squirrel Girl (Doreen Green).