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Mighty Avengers #27: Review

Jul 2009
Christos N. Gage, Khoi Pham

Story Name:

The Unspoken: part 1


Synopsis

Mighty Avengers #27 Synopsis by Rob Johnson
Henry Pym, now calling himself Wasp in honour of his dead ex-wife, has his own Mighty Avengers team which was based in the Pym Pocket pocket universe. However its doorway connections to Earth-616 have been compromised and over the last 2 issues he successfully struggled to set up a new base. But 2 of the team went away on a separate mission while this was going on, and this issue begins by showing what they've been up to.

Or rather it really begins by showing a hitherto unrevealed event in Inhumans' history which will be extremely relevant. In fact the event and the name of the ruler involved have been redacted from their history, and he can only be referred to as the Unspoken.

Attilan prospered under his rule and he was respected and loved by the populace. But such was his personal power that he was also feared. He even treated the Alpha Primitive workforce with kindness, and he preferred their dumb adoration to the usual court surroundings.

1 day the young Royals Black Bolt, Gorgon, Karnak and Medusa (who had been given their powers by the Terrigen Mists only 1 week ago) demanded an audience with their cousin. As usual Medusa made the demands because Black Bolt daren't speak lest his voice destroy all around him. The palace guards tried to keep them out but Gorgon and Karnak dealt with them while BB used just physical force to break the door down. They demanded to know what he'd done with the sacred Slave Engine which keeps Attilan safe from the savages outside. Without it their home is only a Great Refuge which they daren't leave. The King says he's hidden it away because it too powerful for anyone to possess. He considers their disagreement with him as heresy. Karnak claims that his new ability to sense anything's weak point tells him that Attilan's weak point is the King himself, because the monumental task of moving the Slave Engine has weakened him. The guards let them attack because it's an allowed Royal Challenge, but they expect them to fail against the Living Terrigenesis. Gorgon, Medusa and Karnak fall but against Black Bolt the King's power finally fails him.

Later in the Himalayan mountains the young Royals offer him clemency if he tells them where the Slave Engine is. He refuses so they tell him he will be banished and his name will be expunged from all records. BB seals the deal by speaking the King's name for the last time, and the force sends him flying across the mountains. But the next morning some Alpha Primitives find him and take him to safety.

Now in the present we see the Unspoken with 4 Alpha Primitives in Tibet. Quicksilver and U.S. Agent are there with Ban-Luck, an Agent of GRAMPA. That organisation detected a large source of Terrigen particles and verified that he was an Inhuman. The Inhumans declared war on the US (in their 2002-2004 series) so GRAMPA are worried about them allying with China. USA studies the guy through Ban-Luck's tri-noculars which show that the target is extremely powerful. GRAMPA asked for Pietro Maximoff because of his intimate knowledge of the Inhumans (he married 1). When he tries the trinocs what he sees sends him into a panic. He tells them it's the Unspoken (so although his name has been expunged the Inhumans must still have pictures of him), and they'll need *all* the Avengers to deal with him.

But we switch our focus to the rest of the MAv. Last issue ended with Hank Pym about to unveil their new base. He opens a door from his lab in the old base, where the robot Jocasta merged with his large device called Salvation 2 to create the new base. He leads them through to an impressive-looking place whose rooms seems to extend for as far as they can see in every direction. He calls it the Infinite Avengers Mansion. Jocasta reappears as a hologram with a new-look to greet them. Pym invites the synthezoid Vision (Jonas) to aim his enhanced senses along 1 corridor. A mile away he sees another Jocasta with a different look. She explains she has a 'body' every mile in every direction, but she can only inhabit 1 at a time. Pym says that all the old doors to Earth are back working plus lots more, and he shows Hercules 1 to Athens and tells them he can create doors to anywhere they want. Butler Edwin Jarvis is worried about the vast size of the place until Jocasta whispers to him that it's all self-cleaning. Stature asks how all this is possible and Henry gives her a gobbledygook reply about how Scarlet Witch helping set the team up gave him the idea of researching the science behind magic. And then Cassie Lang notices that Wanda Maximoff herself is here on the floor above. And Cassie's been dying to have a word with *her* (about killing her father Scott Lang during Avengers Disassembled).

For the final scene we're back in China where a horde of local superheroes have turned up to confront the Unspoken. US Agent thinks that they are China Force but Pietro Maximoff says this is their much bigger replacement The People's Defence Force. USA recognises the Collective Man and Radioactive Man. All the others are new to us too. Captions identify Lady Of Ten Suns, Most Perfect Hero, Ninth Immortal, Princess Of Clouds and Scientific Beast but there are many more. Our team think the 2 sides are meeting as allies, but then they hear Collective Man telling the Inhumans to leave China or be arrested. Unspoken's reply is to emit a blast which flattens them all. USA is forced to agree with Quicksilver that they need to bring in every Avengers team available.


 

Review / Commentaries

Rating:
4 stars

Mighty Avengers #27 Review by (August 31, 2024)
The Mighty Avengers still don't know that the Scarlet Witch they're involved with isn't the real Wanda Maximoff but the currently-female Loki in disguise.

The flashback in this issue was Unspoken's 1st app until 2017's Inhumans: Once And Future Kings mini-series revealed more of his reign. It also makes it clear that the end of the Unspoken's reign was not long before the Inhumans met the Fantastic Four. There will be flashbacks in the next 2 issues showing what he's been doing since being banished.

Loki hasn't done anything else since impersonating Scarlet Witch in #24.

China Force were only active in Alpha Flight #64-66&69, Marvel Graphic Novel: Rick Mason, The Agent and X-Force Annual #3. They haven't been seen for a long while.

Collective Man debuted in Hulk #250 before appearing in the 1st Contest Of Champions limited series. He was last seen in the Civil War: X-Men mini-series and the Thunderbolts: International Incident 1-shot.

Radioactive Man goes back a lot further to Journey Into Mystery #93 followed by joining the 1st Masters Of Evil in Avengers #6. He's most recently been more heroic as a member of the Thunderbolts, during which time he was also in TB:II. But he was most recently thrown off that team in #126 after the hero of Secret Invasion, Norman Osborn, took greater control of it.

This is the 1st app of The People's Defence Force, and only the above 2 plus Lady Of Ten Suns and Scientific Beast will survive into next issue.



> Mighty Avengers comic book info and issue index

Elektra

Excelsioring your collection:
statue
Holy smokes, Batman!
(The Boy Wonder)

Khoi Pham
Allen Martinez
John Rauch
Marko Djurdjevic (Cover Penciler)
Marko Djurdjevic (Cover Inker)
Marko Djurdjevic (Cover Colorist)
Additional Credits
Plot: . Letterer: Dave Lanphear.
Editor: Tom Brevoort. Editor-in-chief: Joe Quesada.

Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Jarvis
Jarvis

(Edwin Jarvis)
Jocasta
Jocasta

(Jocasta Pym)
Loki
Loki

(Loki Laufeyson)
Quicksilver
Quicksilver

(Pietro Maximoff)
U.S. Agent
U.S. Agent

(John Walker)
Wasp
Wasp

(Henry Pym)

Plus: Ban-Luck, Collective Man, Lady Of Ten Suns, Radioactive Man, Scientific Beast, Unspoken, Vision (Jonas).