Marvel has been taking some pretty bold swings lately with comics that don’t feature beloved heroes, and these seemingly out-of-left-field choices have been paying off. Specifically, the recent One World Under Doom event featured several incredible spin-offs that elevated the event and presented the opportunity for unique storytelling. I was shocked by how much I enjoyed Red Hulk, and I am currently loving the mini Dungeons of Doom series. Most surprisingly to me was how impressed I was with Superior Avengers, which features Kristoff, the son of Doom, and a team of future variants of various Marvel villains. I didn’t read the series as it was coming out weekly, which I am glad about, since reading it all collected in trade made the story and character development very compelling.
From writer Steve Foxe (Dead X-Men, New Champions) with artists Luca Maresca (She-Hulk, Weapons of Armageddon) and Kyle Hotz (The Amazing Spider-Man, Dark Reign: The Hood), the collected Superior Avengers brings action, heart, and gorgeous art into a shockingly fun series. Maresca’s main art throughout Superior Avengers is action-packed, dynamic, and engaging, and I particularly love how he depicts the haunting visage of Onslaught. Hotz gets the honor of illustrating the devastating flashback scenes in each issue, showing how the future “Avengers” defeated their Doom and traveled back to the present time. The emotions and movement Hotz can depict in his dark, ruined timeline add profound gravity to Maresca’s lighter art.
Marvel
One of the main reasons that Superior Avengers was such a blast was that Foxe chose amazing villains to create variants for, and each “hero” has a gorgeous design and background. In particular, as a fan of the X-Men, I was shocked by how much I enjoyed Foxe’s depiction of Onslaught. I have written about Onslaught burnout in recent years, with Marvel being too willing to dredge up the tired villain in various comics, but Foxe’s version is new and compelling. Instead of just an evil psychic version of Charles and Erik, this Onslaught is a gestalt creature created from the horror and rage of the world’s mutants, after they are wiped out, presumably by Doom. I just genuinely thought was a creative variant, and an interesting way to have mutant representation on the team!
In addition to Onslaught, I thought that Killmonger’s story and design were really interesting and kept my attention. From her journey to Wakanda in a broken world, to becoming one of Doom’s puppets, to eventually defeating Doom and traveling to the present time to gain power to defeat Annihilus, her path was a fun, slow reveal that engaged me throughout. I also thought that, visually, Malekith’s design was gorgeous and unique, and his villainous quips were fun moments of levity in an otherwise intense series. Unfortunately, I did not feel very compelled by Foxe’s version of Doc Ock, or Abomination, who just didn’t really jump off the page for me design-wise, and whose stories did not feel as fleshed out or interesting.
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I think you should pick up this trade! You don’t need to have read literally any other One World Under Doom comics to appreciate Foxe’s writing and character development, and Maresca and Hotz’s gorgeous art is enough alone to warrant a purchase. This is a truly solid standalone mini-series, featuring compelling and well-developed main characters, that boasts a solid number of twists and turns, leaving you excited to read more. The world the creators built is dark, twisted, and incredibly fun, and it will leave you hoping for more stories featuring Kristoff, the son of Doom, a feeling I have never experienced before. If you like disturbing variants of iconic villains, epic superhero battles, and devastating betrayals, this book is right for you. Give it a shot!
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