It’s the start of a fresh relaunch for The Avengers. After writer Jason Aaron’s 5-year run spanning multiple spin-off titles and events, this series had become a daunting one to approach with increasingly insular continuity. However, this latest volume hands the reigns over to a new creative team. The Impossible City collects the first six issues of the relaunched title as well as Timeless #1. (Not to be confused with Timeless #1 from 2021 or even Timeless #1 from 2023, but I digress.) Timeless functions as a prologue to the titular series and introduces the key forces driving the relaunch forward.
A battle bouncing across time and space has Kang the Conqueror reeling from his universal search. His goal? The “missing moment.” A single second in all of time that is off limits, even to one as powerful as him. But he’s not the only one searching for this elusive second. The new threat of Myrrdin and his Twilight Court also seeks the prize. The ensuing conflict forces Kang to reach out to the only people he can turn to, the Avengers.
Thus we’re led into issue #1 where we’re introduced to the new Avengers lineup. Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers, has been elected the new Avengers head and must assemble her team. With a climactic battle against Terminus acting as a throughline, each team member gets folded into the battle as we flashback to see Carol recruit them. Her picks? Iron Man, Captain America (Sam Wilson), Thor Odinson, Black Panther, Vision, and Scarlet Witch. As our heroes narrowly approach victory over Terminus, Kang shows up to tie his plight directly into this series.
Issue #2 catches our heroes up on the “missing moment” McGuffin, the threat of Myrrdin, and the upcoming “tribulation events.” Kang reveals these events will occur in unknown order and magnitude but will each pave the way towards the “missing moment.” Before he falls into a coma, he reveals the first event will be the Impossible City.
Freshly designed team.
Credit: Marvel
Enter the Ashen Combine, an alien force that arrives to wreak havoc across the globe. This new villainous team boasts creative designs and powersets to rival specific Avengers, forcing the team to overcome their own individual obstacles. This battle extends across the volume’s remaining issues, and the arc follows the typical trajectory one would expect from an Avengers story, which is not to say it’s bad but just predictable.
What you see is what you get here. New Avengers lineup? Check. Seemingly insurmountable forces tailored to each hero’s powers? Check. New Iron Man armor? Check. Teamwork and a climactic conclusion? Check. It ticks all the boxes one expects but doesn’t go beyond that. The story assumes familiarity with the heroes, and each one reads distinct, but it’s the villains here who end up being more developed. Lots of page space and narration builds up these new comers into formidable foes, however it ends up feeling more like padding for the fights until the Avengers can each figure out a solution. Not to spoil too much, but these villains receive a lot of build-up for seemingly little payoff.
The artwork realizes the story’s scope and is suitably striking. The bombastic superheroics fly right off the page, and each hit between characters feels weighty due to the stark shadows and bold inking. The few character moments sprinkled throughout look great, too, as the heroes appear larger than life. Midway through the arc, the main artist does switch hands, giving way to a more finer lines and inks. It’s a more detail-oriented approach with its own merits, but the loss of the starker contrasts leads to some of the visual punch being lost. The colors are consistent between issues and give the book a vibrant palette. They also help blend the different styles between artists.
The Avengers: The Impossible City makes for an entertaining read at the moment, but it didn’t stick with me much after the fact. It certainly is a more approachable book than the volumes from the past couple of years, making it accessible to new readers. It boasts big ideas, such as the upcoming tribulations, and the team lineup is solid, but for all my familiarity with the heroes, I was not invested in them. It ends up playing them surprisingly safe for a debut volume with many ideas bouncing around.
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