Avengers Forever #11

It's that time again! It's time for a monthly look at a comic from a twelve-issue maxiseries. In this year's case, it's Avengers Forever! Last time, our heroes finally learned why Immortus wanted to take out Rick Jones, and it turned out it was just a prelude to something much more horrifying: The Time-Keepers planning to wipe out humanity by culling the Multiverse. And then Kang, Rick Jones, and the Kree Supreme Intelligence makes one heck of an entrance. So, what happens next? Let's find out in Avengers Forever #11!

The cover is a Carlos Pacheco, Jesus Merino, Steve Oliff, Tony Kelly, and John Roshell piece. My God, that's a lot of names credited to one cover. 

Anyway, the cover is pretty neat. It depicts the Avengers of the present day and the 

"The Destiny War!"
Writers: Kurt Busiek, Roger Stern
Penciler: Carlos Pacheco
Inker: Jesus Merino
Colorist: Steve Oliff
Letterer: Richard Starkings, Albert Deschesne
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Editor-in-Chief: Bob Harras

The story begins straight from the ending of the last issue, with Kang and Rick Jones charging in on the...Supreme Intelligencemobile.

(Page 1, Panel 1) "Supreme Intelligencemobile AWAY!"

Both the temporal conqueror and the former sidekick are ready, locked, and loaded for a big ol' fight.

The Avengers charge in alongside them, and Libra watches. It's here that we learn there was a point to these particular Avengers from these points in time being brought together:

- Captain America: At the point in time he was brought from, he was demoralized from witnessing Number One's suicide at the end of the original Secret Empire storyline. At this time, he can't take command of the team, forcing them to be a bit more loose and improvisational.

- Yellowjacket: Here, Yellowjacket was arguably at his worst. He was Hank Pym as an arrogant jerk, arrogant enough to betray his fellow Avengers. However, that betrayal would put the Avengers in a position to stop the Time-Keepers.

- Wasp: The Wasp of the "present" was someone who could lead the team while allowing flexibility and improvisation.

- Giant-Man: The Hank Pym of the "present" would be the stable "backbone" of the team, and would help push Yellowjacket towards betraying them.

- Hawkeye: Clint Barton is one of those stalwart members, a hero with a long association with the Avengers, both as a member and as a leader. He also was known for being a bit of a hotheaded livewire, which would also further irritate Yellowjacket.

- Songbird: This version of Melissa Gold was from a future in which she became an Avenger proper, and this future version of her had connections to Wasp, Hawkeye (thanks to their time in the Thunderbolts together), and Captain Marvel.

- Captain Marvel: Genis-Vell, like Songbird, is from the future. He was in a relationship with Songbird, which affected his decision-making. And he's tied into the destiny of Rick Jones.

So yeah, these six Avengers were not random. The group manage to make their way through the Time-Keepers' defenses, but they decide "yeah, we're gonna leave now" and they take Immortus with them.

Luckily, Yellowjacket had planted some limbo bugs on Immortus, so he can be tracked. Which leads to this funny panel.

Page 6, Panel 5

The Avengers take the Supreme Cycle (what Rick calls their little vehicle) and follow Immortus to the end of time. Songbird worries that they won't be able to stop the Time-Keepers. However, the Supreme Intelligence points out that they are not gods, just artificial beings. Powerful artificial beings, but technological creations none the less. Meanwhile, the Time-Keepers are preparing a nasty little weapon.

Page 9, Panel 1

This chrono-cannon, clearly created by the fine folks at Kirby Industries, is going to reorder time to their whim. All they need is the Forever Crystal, so their efforts don't create a mess of alternate timelines. Remember, the Forever Crystal allows the user to actually alter the time-stream, having been used by Immortus to allow the Vision and the original Human Torch to be separate beings. Kang and the Avengers manage to follow the Time-Keepers and attack them again.

The Keepers demand that Immortus use the Forever Crystal to eliminate the Avengers. Immortus...refuses.

You see, Immortus has grown rather fond of Earth's Mightiest Heroes. He's shepherded the group's existence throughout this point, and he believes there's another way to end this without killing them. The Time-Keepers...disagree.

Page 11, Panel 3

So long, Immortus. We...yeah, whatever. The Time-Keepers then summon versions of Avengers from timelines that went wrong to battle our heroes. 

The Avengers engage in battle with these dark counterparts, despite this being a battle they likely can't win. Libra jumps in and unlocks the Destiny Force within Rick Jones, supercharging the heroic Avengers. However, the Time-Keepers catch Libra and use him to freeze the heroic Avengers in their tracks. They then attack and torture Kang. However, the Keepers forget one little detail: Captain Marvel is Kree, not human. As such, Genis-Vell cannot access the Destiny Force. He's able to clink his Nega-Bands together, revealing...

Page 21, Panel 1

...Another Rick Jones. I wonder how this Rick got Superman's cape and Batman's utility belt. This frees the Avengers, but they can't access the Destiny Force anymore. Meanwhile, the Time-Keepers try to force Kang's evolution into Immortus. However, the two Rick Joneses not only are able to get the Avengers their access back...

But also summon some epic backup: alternate Avengers from timelines in which things did not go bad, the timelines in which the Avengers maintained the heroic ideals they were founded on. Epic battle incoming...

This comic was enjoyable. It's basically one big ol' fight scene, but we also start to see some things finally coming together. What's really cool is that it's explained why this ragtag Avengers team was brought together. Every member seems to have a point...well, except for Songbird, seemingly. It only felt like she was brought on board because of her connection to other characters, not anything of her own. It's strange. This is one of the issues that I really wish George Perez could have drawn. Nothing against Pacheco, but a story like this was made for Perez.