Synopsis
New Avengers (2010 series) #8 synopsis by
Rob Johnson
Rating:
Luke Cage is sipping a beer at a restaurant table when 2 young women fans hit on him. He politely lets them know he's waiting for his wife as Jessica Jones appears behind him. The couple banter and Luke suggests this may be the 1st time they've been on a proper date. He also asks Jess if she's made her mind up about being an active superhero (as opposed to just living in Avengers Mansion as his wife and mother of their baby daughter). As an aside he suggests maybe she could call herself Power Woman (as he used to be Power Man). She's not impressed by the idea, and they argue about it. She's conflicted. On the 1 hand she's not invulnerable like him and might die leaving Danielle without a mother. On the other hand maybe she should give her an inspiring example of being the best you can be. And which example is that - Avenger or mother? At this point the waitress gives up waiting for them to order and walks away.
But at a point almost immediately after that they see out of the window something large and egg-shaped hurtling towards the street with Ms Marvel (Carol Danvers) trying to hold it back. It hits the ground smashing several cars. Cage comes out telling bystanders to get clear. He sees MsM lying unconscious and what looks like Dr Doom climbing out of the egg. Doom blasts him as Jess calls in the New Avengers. Carol recovers to see Luke and Doom slugging it out. Cage sends the villain flying into a store and Carol tells him she's no more idea than him what's going on. Doom blasts Luke again. MsM blasts Doom back into the store. In the lull we learn that she warned Luke not to press Jess to make her mind up. And the only plan she's got is to stall until the rest of the team get here. Doom blasts at them again and Carol notes that he's unusually quiet. A blast downs Luke so superstrong Jessica hits the foe several times with a fire hydrant. This gives Cage time to recover and finish the Latverian off with a final punch ...
... but when they remove Doom's metal mask they discover it's just a Doombot. Finally Dr Strange, Iron Fist, Spider-Man, Thing and Wolverine show up in a quinjet. Ben Grimm immediately leaps on the 'Bot and rips its chestplate off. He pulls out its 'brain' which *wasn't* in its head, and says he's stopped it rebooting.
Later they're all having snacks in the Mansion with baby Danielle Cage, Mockingbird and their minder Victoria Hand who says she can't tell them much about Dr Doom because of National Security. Spidey checks that it's still because he refuses to reveal his identity and she confirms that. What she can tell them is the rumour that he's lost his mind and control of Latveria. Thing confirms that Doom's been acting extra crazy lately, and Strange says he warned Victor about dabbling in dark sorcery. Hand doesn't know what the Doombot was supposed to do but Tony Stark's excited to get his hands on it. Then Jessica announces that she's decided to become a full-time Avenger, and she'll use the name Power Woman. But when Luke gloats over the last bit she changes her mind about that.
Story 2: Avengers Assemble - the oral history of the Earth's mightiest heroes Chapter 13 continued (but in the subsequent book renamed Chapter 14).
Written by Brian Michael Bendis with an illustration by David Mack.
Chapter 13 as a whole covers the Kree/Skrull War. The start in Avengers #8 told us that Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch were back on the team. It covered Rick Jones' recent history linked with the Kree Captain Marvel. And it discussed the 2 alien races.
This section continues with more background as Reed Richards describes how the Kree visited Earth ages ago and created the Inhumans. They then used Sentry robots to keep track of developments. He speculates that even that long ago they were preparing to deny Skrull access to this planet.
The epic began with Av#89 where Captain Marvel found a way out of the Negative Zone though the portal in the FF's Baxter Building HQ, thus breaking the link between him and Rick Jones. In #90-91 a Sentry and Kree Ronan The Accuser captured CM and tried to revert Earth to the Stone Age in a story that involved non-current Avengers Wasp and Yellowjacket. And the team 1st met Carol Danvers (the future Ms Marvel). Plus the Scarlet Witch/Vision romance began.
Chapter 13 continues in Av#9.
CharactersGood (or All)Plus: Danielle Cage, Victoria Hand.