Mighty Avengers #27

I'm surprised to see Christos Gage credited with scripting over Dan Slott's plot here. I've heard the stories that Slott has a hard time meeting deadlines due to some perfectionist tendencies, so I wonder if Gage is going to be a regular part of the creative team to help move things along and meet deadlines. EDITED TO ADD: Slott actually explains why Gage is coming on in a recent Newsarama interview. I'm happy to see it! I'm be fine with that, since I like both writers and they worked well together back on Avengers: The Initiative.

Most of the story here is a flashback to the fall of CENSORED, a mysterious former king of the Inhumans who removed something called a Slave Engine from Attilan. It seems this reduced Attilan's standing in the world and changed it to the well-known status as a "great refuge." I never got a full-on villain vibe from our mystery king, even though he was facing off against youthful heroes Black Bolt, Medusa, Gorgon, and Karnak. We do see the king again in the present when US Agent, Quicksilver, and the GRAMPA agent see him take on a new Chinese super-team (including Radioactive Man!). USAgent has the best line of the book when he yells out that they just got "Alpha Flight'ed" when the king takes them out in one hit. What a great new verb, even if I'm still annoyed that Alpha was taken out so easily in New Avengers.

Pym's new HQ is revealed too, Avengers Infinity Mansion, a huge HQ with teleportation doors leading all over the world. I get the impression each Avengers member has quarters there, which is a neat idea. Jocasta maintains the place and now can bounce control amongst multiple robot bodies.

Koi Pham's art is looking more refined than he did in his last issue. I think the break between issues allowed Pham to spend time tightening his pencils making this look pretty strong. I will say I think the book would benefit from a regular penciller.

Good