Avengers #19

By Jonathan Hickman and Leinil Francis Yu

Avengers isn’t the easiest book to jump on board with. If you haven’t read the previous 18 issues, plus New Avengers and Infinity, you won’t have a clue about what the heck is going on. Luckily, Hickman is rewarding fans by giving us a fantastic story through all three titles. So far, the Infinity event has lived up to the hype, but this issue suffers from just a few hiccups.

Captain Marvel is one of the main stars of the issue. She’s been a prominent part of the Marvel Universe for quite a while and there are even whispers of Carol Danvers getting her own movie. That would be great, but not if she’s written like this. She spends this issue being interrogated by The Builders. She remains strong, despite awful circumstances, but a few of her lines are ham-fisted and lame. It’s definitely not things that Carol would say. Maybe a character from the movie Independence Day would say it, but not her.

Everybody else is more or less on key. The best written character is easily J-Son (father of Star-Lord). The man is arrogant, selfish, and a xenophobe. Hickman writes him as a total jerk that you will love to hate. Seriously, Captain America should punch him right in the face. Also of note are The Builders, who are cold, calculating, and without passion. It would be interesting to see them fleshed out more, but for now, they are truly frightening.

Yu’s pencils work well with this story. He has a dark tone, as well as flair for the epic, so he fits right in with Avengers. His character work is great and the epic shots of spaceships and galactic armies are truly a treat. Well done, sir.

Infinity is incredibly interesting and with the story sweeping several titles, there is time to take a little piece of the story and run with it. This issue isn’t perfect, but the political intrigue and characterization (aside from Carol Danvers) are enough to warrant reading it. I’m not kidding. Captain America needs to knock J-Son out.