Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Avengers Academy #24


Well that was fast! It certainly felt like Christos Gage was giving us a slow burn on the whole Reptil plotline. Having one of your core cast being a secret spy and secret, hidden shape-shifters are both fairly common ideas (used pretty uniquely here, though!) Usually they are long-simmering plots. Not this time. Reptil starts off by leading the Sentinel kid to safety, but then he starts serving up important main characters to the enigmatic Hybrid. (Look for a review of Hybrid’s first appearance soon, I’m hitting my long boxes!)

We do have the Jocasta and X-23 subplots simmering, so Gage isn't neglecting us with continuing stories. I'm just amazed at this quick payoff!

It makes sense that Reptil’s inherent goodness would keep even his jaded future self from turning too evil, and I’m happy it worked out that way. It’s also interesting that White Tiger is so forthcoming with her origin after being so stand-offish in her first appearance. I love the original White Tiger, so having a new one is a nice bonus in a book I already enjoy.

That’s a heckuva a list of victims Hybrid puts together so quickly. Tigra and Lyra are both pretty big names. I hope that Hybrid didn’t get too far in his breeding plans, it seems like Tigra especially has been through enough hard times over the past few years.

Tom Grummet joins the artistic rotation this issue, and he’s another classic-style artist whose work will fit right in. I do worry that he’s not the best option for a horrific character like Hybrid, but he’s perfect for the Avengers themselves. His Tigra looks great, as does his White Tiger.

Fair

1 comment:

Martin Gray said...

I also expected the Reptil - hate that name! - plotline to simmer awhile, but here it is ... it's like old-fashioned comics, great stuff. Once this is over, though, I hope the future characters are left alone - Marvel goes a bit overboard with the time travellers.