Star Trekkin'! ANAD Avengers #10 Recap

Oh, All New, All Different Avengers. You have so much going for you. Out of all the Avengers-themed groups running around right now, you have the honor of calling yourselves the main one. You’re Marvel’s flagship team. Your lineup is comprised of seven incredibly popular characters, all of who have super successful solo titles.

So why, oh why, are you still such a mediocre comic?

Is it that face? It might be that face.

Our story opens in SPAAAAAAAACE, where, as a result of the events of the last issue, the Avengers are off to find Nova’s dad. Since Tony Stark is currently missing the ‘Billionare’ part of his famous résumé, they are forced to use a hunk of junk that is decidedly not the fastest in the galaxy by a long shot. The lack of engine means that they are forced to use Thor-power. Literally.

Apparently 'Warp Power' is something Mjolnir has. I'm not even joking.

Anyway, they discover distress signals emanating from a planet (that is described as being approximately the size of Mars, but also happens to look just like Mars), crash land there, and discover other groups of crash survivors who are all under threat from a large mysterious tower, and a giant vortex thingy.

It’s like that Star Trek episode. The one you know you watched but can’t seem to remember the name of, or even which crew it was with.

Meanwhile, back on Earth, Jarvis and New Wasp are on a road trip to visit Janet Van Dyne who, as Jarvis points out, has not actually abandoned the title of Wasp. With all the new heroes taking on legacy titles left and right, this was bound to happen eventually. Anyway, they have engine trouble, and meet Janet for approximately two panels, and it’s somehow far more interesting than the Avengers battling a space vortex.

Even in emergencies, Janet always finds time for fashion advice.

Speaking of which, Cap decides that the best way to save people from the thing is to fly into it themselves, probably because he’s been spending too much time on the internet. So, they boldly fly off into the vortex and, on the other side, are captured by… ANNIHILUS!!!
*dramatic music*

He looks kinda like a cross between Galactus and Ambush Bug.

So, I don’t know if you noticed, but I’m pretty disappointed by this. Everything just falls flat, from the plot to the characterization to the dialogue. The art meanwhile is downright bad in places, and just plain boring in the rest.

On the brighter side of things, I’m liking the new Wasp so far, even if she has yet to show any personality beyond the usual hyper-excitement. Still, it looks like next month we might be getting a team-up between her and Janet, and so at least we have something to look forward to.

Another positive is that we get hints of the greatness this series could achieve. It’s during little moments, like Nova’s desperation to find his dad, or Thor using Mjolnir to save Ms. Marvel that I see what kind of comic they were trying to write. Sadly, the rest of the issue fails to reach the same heights.