War Of The Realms Strikeforce: The War Avengers #1: Review

May 2019
Dennis Hallum, Kim Jacinto

Story Name:

(no title given)

Review & Comments

Rating:
4 stars

War Of The Realms Strikeforce: The War Avengers #1 Review by (June 8, 2019)
I don't know how Kim Jacinto and Ario Anindito shared out the pencilling and inking. Bu8t Felipe Sobreiro helped Java Tartaglia with the colouring.

Weapon H was the only successful result of an attempt by the Weapon X Program to create a Hulk/Wolverine hybrid in Totally Awesome Hulk #21-22. He broke free of their control and helped fight the program in Weapon X #7-11, and went on to his own series #1-12. And he sort-of teamed up with his 'parents' in Hulkverines #1-3.

The Venom symbiote left its last host Eddie Brock in Venom (2018) #12. Brock continues into War Of The Realms in #13-15, using a Dark Elf Dreamstone to simulate Venom. Meanwhile the symbiote itself winds up here (with his last scene repeated in WOTR#3).
The symbiote will next be seen in WOTR#4 where Malekith has forged him into a copy of the Necrosword. That 'sword' was All-Black the 1st Klyntar symbiote created by the dark god Knull and used by him as a weapon. Knull lost it and we actually 1st met it with Gorr The God-Butcher in the Thor: God Of Thunder series.

This version of Kurse is Waziria, a Dark Elf witch who also featured heavily in Thor:GOT. She eventually took over the role of Kurse from the original Algrim.

The cursed Ebony Blade has been passed down through generations of Black Knights since Arthurian times when it was created by Merlin. Because some BK's used it to kill unlawfully it gained a curse which made it crave blood, and would gradually turn its user into the evil Bloodwraith.





 

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

War Of The Realms Strikeforce: The War Avengers #1 Synopsis by Rob Johnson
Deadpool is fighting Fire-Sharks from Muspelheim and doing badly until he escapes by diving off a cliff into the Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately it turns out that these sharks work underwater too and 1 swallows him. Next thing he knows he's been rescued from the belly of the beast by the Sub-Mariner who wants to know what's going on. DP gives him a very potted summary of War Of The Realms, and Namor wants to know why he brought the war into *his* realm. Outside a big window we see his team the Defenders Of the Deep fighting off the sharks.

Then Captain Marvel and Sif arrive and help them win the battle. (Sif later says that the cold made the Fire-Sharks weaker.) Afterwards they enter the air-filled room to propose a truce in Prince Namor's war against the surface world, but Subby refuses to help fight Malekith's armies. Deadpool joins CM's team.

They return to Avengers Mountain where Carol Danvers says she's in charge of Earth's defences while Captain America and Freyja are leading away teams. Wade Wilson notices Sif moving a piece on a mapboard, but Weapon H looms out of the shadows to say it's just a boardgame to pass the time. They are joined by the Venom symbiote (currently without a host). Captain Marvel explains that their job isn't to defeat the enemy, merely to hold the line until the other teams can make a difference.

2 more of the team, Black Widow and Winter Soldier, are infiltrating a Stane International facility in Arizona to 'borrow' some weaponry. They take a warplane and load it up with stuff. But before they're finished a Frost Giant smashes through the roof to get at them. Bucky Barnes throws a grenade which takes off a Giant hand, and then Natasha Romanoff flies them out but into Frostie's other hand.

Then CM  and a quinjet piloted by Sif blast the Giant. Venom and Weapon H drop out of the craft onto some other approaching Frost Giants. WH uses his combined Hulk and Wolverine abilities to smash and slash the foe. And the symbiote's malleable form resists injury and can morph into sharp weapons. All our gang get away in their flying craft.

Later they fight Dark Elves in Sweden. Black Widow and Deadpool are in robot suits (from Stane?) which don't last very long. Sif's flying cycle gets gutted too by a swamp mammoth's tusk, so she cuts the beast in half. Captain Marvel and Winter Soldier are there too. The 5 of them are about to be overwhelmed by Elves when Carol calls up Captain Britain to provide a portal to get them out.

Their refuge is the Braddock Academy in England which Brian Braddock is magically keeping safe from the invasion. He tells them that Black Knight and friends are at this moment fighting Malekith himself in London. CM decides to go there to try to end the war by killing the enemy's leader. CB agrees to go with them. They link up with Venom and Weapon H and the quinjet (but Black Widow seems to stay behind?)

BK, Spitfire and Union Jack are battling Dark Elves in a pub. Malekith and Kurse enter on a mammoth. By the time the War Avengers get there the trio are down and Malekith has the Knight's cursed Ebony Blade. Kurse holds Captain Marvel off while the big M dodges Weapon H and Winter Soldier. Everyone has to fight Elves but Venom bulls its way through to Malekith himself. However the Dark Elf is fascinated to learn about the Klyntar symbiote's creator Knull and his Necrosword, the original Klyntar symbiote named All-Black. He stabs Venom with the Ebony Blade, and when the smoke clears only the Blade remains. (But Malekith isn't dead and the result will be seen in WOTR#4.)

Captain Britain presumably returns to the Academy while the 5 remaining War Avengers return to the Mountain in dismay. We see more of the ongoing conflict. The Fantastic Four continue to fight Frost Giants in Manhattan. Deadpool teams up with CB again to battle Rock Trolls(?). Black Widow and Sif slay Hel-Spiders. Weapon H and Winter Soldier face Enchantress in South America. The quinjet goes up against Angels from Heven, and everybody gathers to confront Sindr, daughter of Surtur.



Kim Jacinto
Ario Anindito
Java Tartaglia
Kim Jacinto (Cover Penciler)
Kim Jacinto (Cover Inker)
Matt Hollingsworth (Cover Colorist)
Letterer: Joe Sabino.
Editor: Wil Moss. Editor-in-chief: C. B. Cebulski.

Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Black Knight
Black Knight

(Dane Whitman)
Black Widow
Black Widow

(Natasha Romanoff)
Captain Marvel
Captain Marvel

(Carol Danvers)
Spitfire
Spitfire

(Jacqueline Falsworth)
Winter Soldier
Winter Soldier

(Bucky Barnes)

Plus: Captain Britain (Brian Braddock), Defenders Of The Deep, Kurse (Waziria), Union Jack (Joey Chapman), Venom (Symbiote).

> War Of The Realms Strikeforce: The War Avengers: Book info and issue index

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