It’s all up to the Wasp to save the Avengers. They’re certainly not in a good place after having their past selves (when they were babies) murdered and only a bit of magic keeping them in existence.
That’s time travel for ya! This issue attempts to resolve that time paradox, but is it good?
Avengers #3 (Marvel Comics)
So what’s it about? Read our preview to find out more.
Why does this book matter?
Mark Waid can write dialogue and with it character development. ‘Nuff said. Mike del Mundo can blow you away with big, beautiful pages. ‘Nuff said again. Add in a zany time travel storyline? Gimme!
Fine, you have my attention. What’s good about it?
“Let’s do, the time warp, AGAINNNN!”
Waid kicks this issue off where the last left us with Wasp very much out of her element as she attempts to go through the time stream and place the baby Kang back where it belongs. Waid does a great job capturing Wasp’s spunk and positivity which is a through line right up until a very heroic moment for her. That isn’t to say it’s all about Wasp, but she takes up the brunt of the heroic work in this issue.
The remaining team must stop multiple Kangs from keying in on Wasp’s tail and there’s plenty of fun dialogue to be had in these scenes. Every character gets a moment to shine or say something which is a staple of Waid writing a team book. So often comics focus on a single character even if it’s a team book, but Waid always keeps the team engaged at all levels.
At this point it’s clear del Mundo was probably born to draw timestream weirdness as these pages are gloriously psychedelic and vivid. There’s a nice moment where Wasp explains maybe travelling through time is different depending on the technology, and given del Mundo’s work here, that would explain how trippy and awesome it all is. The pages practically drip with the backgrounds molding and melting into each other at times, which gives the general sense of time travel a weirdness that helps sell the story. Meanwhile, the characters all look fantastic with a nice gleam to them that makes them look extra sharp. Mundo has help on colors by Marco D’Alfonso and it shows as the colors are incredibly detailed, refined, and robust throughout this book. Love or hate their work, you can’t argue this is a work of art.
It can’t be perfect can it?
I will say the color practically impedes what is going on at times as backgrounds are blank, awash in color or simply don’t have any detail at all. It makes following the action harder as spatially there’s no rhyme or reason to where characters are standing. Generally it doesn’t matter, the focus is on the characters and what their actions are after all, but I found myself lost spatially at times.
The resolution in this issue does have a bit of the deus ex machina that tends to feel unearned in narratives. It gets a bit of a pass considering how zany and out there this time travel story is, but it did make me hold pause as to how the resolution fell into the heroes’ laps.
Stupid tricksies!
Is It Good?
Avengers #3 is a fine semi-conclusion to a series that’s been incredibly vivid and gorgeous. Wasp takes the reigns in this one and proves she’s just as heroic as the next guy.
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