Avengers Beyond #1 launches your favorite Marvel heroes into a situation that could end everything as we know it. It’s big stakes in Derek Landy and Greg Land’s next foray into Avengers storytelling after their All-Out Avengers action frenzy ended, and it’s mostly successful in its first issue.
Avengers Beyond #1 opens with She-Hulk contemplating losing herself and going berserk on a villain who seems to have the heroes on the ropes. The team consists of Iron Man, Thor, Blade, Black Panther, Captain America, Captain Marvel, and She-Hulk, and they’re facing The Autocrat. He has some kind of mind-control virus that’ll cripple the world, and She-Hulk thinks killing him may be the only option. Thankfully she keeps herself in check before realizing it was all a test.
Props to Landy, who writes a rather tight first issue here, weaving in The Autocrat with a larger threat you won’t see coming. It all involves the Beyonder, who narrates this issue via the captions. The stakes and scope of this story are so huge it’s a surprise this isn’t a summer event, but it’s also a relief knowing it’ll be self-contained. Sure, unimaginable threats that could kill everything have occurred before, but the way Landy lays it all out makes it feel special and unique.
The story gets fully established via some slightly heavy-handed exposition by Beyonder, but once things are laid out, it’s clear how this is a job only the Avengers can tackle. As the Beyonder reminds us, these heroes don’t ever give up. The lead-in to the Beyonder also uses a clever idea involving Black Panther and Iron Man that reminds us they’re both equal in their genius. A nice reminder since Black Panther’s intelligence is sometimes forgotten.
Love this bit with Iron Man and Black Panther.
Credit: Marvel
Land’s best work is on Beyonder, who clearly has too much confidence in himself. That helps establish the unique ego of this character as well as how he could put all of the universe in danger. Customary facial expressions by Land are everywhere in this issue, so don’t be surprised if it looks familiar. Still, it looks slick and never looks unfinished.
One weak spot in this opening issue is a character named Tiamok, or at least how she’s introduced. She takes up four pages, filling the book with pointless action. It looks clean and exciting, but it’s also unnecessary punching and kicking. That’s to be expected in a superhero book, but it feels like it goes on too long.
I’m excited for more Avengers Beyond after this first issue. It establishes a mega threat, captures the nuance of each character, and feels efficient as it gets us from an opening conflict to a new threat to fight by the end of the issue. Sure, there might be some pointless action that feels overly long, but this is an exciting Avengers book you won’t be able to put down.
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