Jed MacKay and C.F. Villa’s takeover of Avengers continues in Avengers Vol. 2: Twilight Dreaming, out this week. Collecting Avengers #7-11, the new lineup has taken out a supervillain team, and now they have to clean up Kang’s mess and take out Myrddin and his Twilight Court. If there’s one thing MacKay will be known for in this era of Marvel, it’s coming up with crazy new supervillain teams, which continues here.
Kicking things off is a four-issue arc involving Myrddin and his Twilight Court giving the Avengers a run for their money. The first issue is as epic as they come, dropping readers into a battle that the Avengers have already lost. But they won’t quit. Dressed in costumes from the past, it’s disorienting. The third page has the Scarlet Witch crying over a dead Vision while most of the team is nearly spent. Most of this issue is a guessing game, from how the heroes got here to who speaks in the captions. It makes for a compelling payoff with the cliffhanger, although it’s a big gamble to hang your story arc on an entire first-issue teaser.
Villa gets to go off on art, with big epic kaiju dropping buildings and the heroes going full tilt with their powers. As seen in previous issues, MacKay has a knack for drawing you into each hero’s attack, giving them a chance to shine. Villa gets to show each hero make their best finishing move, so to speak, and it’s at once exciting and dramatically crushing. The team is losing, and Vill makes you feel it.
This story arc kicks off in a way that continues to show MacKay is always good at two things. The first is pushing this team to its limits, making readers believe their chances are slim. That makes the stakes quite high and entertaining. The second is introducing new elements. You can’t put down a Villa/MacKay Avengers book and think, “I’ve seen this before.”
The team is in big trouble.
Credit: Marvel
From there, Nightmare is drawn into battle, the Twilight Court shows they have a certain honor system to live by, and Myrddin achieves his goal. In an interesting twist, the Avengers technically lose twice, as MacKay and Villa continue to build towards the quest to find the “missing moment.” All in all, it’s good action comics with plenty of moments for each hero to shine.
The final issue collected here is more of a one-shot, featuring the Mad Thinker up against the Avengers. We see he’s locked away at the start, but he always seems to get off a scheme or two. That scheme is directly tied to Jarvis, who enters Jed MacKay and Ivan Fiorelli’s issue as a kind of teacher. The Impossible City can take care of the team but needs some training. That makes for a playful story that’s filled with fun moments.
Along the way, this issue also reminds us that the Ashen Combine are a problem that needs to be secured or they may rise again. Captured in the Impossible City, Captain Marvel points out they aren’t cops, and she doesn’t want their base to be some kind of prison. Each of these villains could easily defeat a few Avengers, so something must be done. I’m sure MacKay is reminding us of their threat level while also setting the stage for another attack.
The main conflict of this issue is great to unpack, with plenty for the Avengers to fight off. Fiorelli, who you might note has drawn a few great issues of Fantastic Four written by Ryan North, brings the same sense of vibrant energy and dynamic action to this adventure. Each Avenger gets a moment to punch, kick, and do their thing.
Avengers under Jed MacKay continues to show a strong desire to introduce new villains, higher stakes, and plenty of action. Above all else, the writing is efficient never wasting a panel as we get tons of character moments, twists, turns, and new ideas too.
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