Well, this is it! This is the end! Every month this year, I've looked at an issue of Avengers Forever. From what seemed like an insidious plot to kill long-time Avengers associate Rick Jones, sprouted a scheme to destroy humanity on an unimaginable scale...and a conspiracy that seemingly encircled the entire history of Earth's Mightiest Heroes. An adventure that took a ragtag team of Earth's Mightiest heroes from the Wild Wild West to a horrific future with humanity making one last desperate stand against alien invaders.
And now this is it. The Avengers having to team with their long-time nemesis Kang the Conqueror to stop the Time-Keepers and their lackey Immortus (Kang's future self) from destroying humanity. Do they succeed? Let's find out in Avengers Forever #12!
The cover is a Carlos Pacheco, Jesus Merino, Steve Oliff, Tony Kelly, and John Roshell piece. Five people on one cover?!
Yeah. Anyway, it's pretty cool...if a bit basic. It depicts what looks like the 70s-era Avengers roster and allies charging into battle...until you notice Songbird and Sandman there. That's because this is meant to depict Avengers from various eras fighting together. It's a neat cover.
"Avengers Assemble"
Writers: Kurt Busiek and Roger Stern
Penciller: Carlos Pacheco
Inker: Jesus Merino
Colorist: Olyoptics.com
Letterers: Richard Starkings and Albert Deschesne
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Editor-in-Chief: Bob Harras
The story begins with...well, a big ol' brawl.
I'm serious. A big ol' brawl.
The Time-Keepers' Citadel has basically become a gigantic warzone, as various versions of Avengers from timelines that both went well and went wrong have waged an epic battle over the fate of humanity. In the room containing the Chrono-Cannon, the makeshift Avengers are also fighting to get to the Time-Keepers and the cannon. They notice the temporal tyrants trying to force Kang into becoming Immortus.
Yeah, the Time-Keepers are Cronenberg fans. Libra tries to strike the Time-Keepers, but one of them blasts him for his efforts.
Rick Jones's elder counterpart warns him that things will be rough for his younger self that things will be rough for a while, but it doesn't have to be that way. Just be smarter than him. The older Rick switches places one last time with Genis-Vell. Genis tells the young Rick to find a safe place to hide and wait this out. But Rick is like, "No way! I'm helping out!"
Wasp leads a group of heroic Avengers towards the Time-Keepers. It leads to another battle with a squadron of evil Avengers. Janet is understandably sickened and horrified by all the death that results. She's especially disturbed by a particular pair of casualties.
Is it a warning from the future? Were those alternate versions of herself and Hank? Who knows? But it only disturbs the Winsome Wasp more and makes her more determined to end this madness. Nearby, Songbird notes that Genis-Vell seems...sincere. It's because he knows that something is about to happen...and he's accepted it. I wonder what that could be...
The Time-Keepers have managed to almost completely transform Kang into Immortus. However, the Conquerer has managed to find new strength, literally ripping his way out of his own changing body. This causes an energy backlash that rocks the Time-Keepers. The Keepers summon some more "Dark Avengers" to defend them, and the "Avenger War" continues on. Rick Jones makes one desperate gambit to stop the Time-Keepers from activating the Chrono-Cannon. The young man draws the Destiny Force from all the Avengers into himself, and he slams into the Cannon as it fires.
And you guessed it, it makes a big ol' explosion.
Thankfully, the explosion doesn't cause the universe to go "Kablooie". The Chrono-Cannon is destroyed, at the seeming cost of Rick's life. Kang finishes the Time-Keepers off by blasting them into little pieces. Like that scene in Robocop where the ED-209 shoots that executive into powder. Kang takes a moment to gloat about it, when he notices that Captain America has the Forever Crystal. Cap gazes into the Crystal, feeling the temptation to use its time-altering power.
After all, there's plenty of things Cap could have done with the Crystal. He could have rescued Bucky. He could have saved Rick Jones. He could have used it to prevent World War II by taking out Hitler. He could...even erase Number One from history. Remember, this is Captain America from just after the events of the first Secret Empire story, when he was rather disillusioned with America.
In the end, though, Captain America realizes that such power has a price. It means the loss of freedom and dignity. And not even Captain America has the right to impose his way on others. He smashes the Forever Crystal to pieces in his hands. Kang gets in his face all like, "YOU HAD THE POWER TO REWRITE HISTORY TO YOUR WILL, AND YOU JUST THROW THAT AWAY!?" ...yeah, Kang does not comprehend Cap.
Anyway, it turns out that the Crystal is not permanently lost. And neither is Immortus.
Yeah, when Kang tore his way out of his own body earlier, what was left also somehow reformed into Immortus. Immortus, who quickly ages to young adulthood, explains that Cap's destruction of the Forever Crystal is only temporary. The Crystal will reform one day. Immortus knows this, as he's studied the thing for centuries. Hawkeye is left confused. If Kang is supposed to become Immortus, then how did the two end up becoming separate people?
Well, Libra provides an answer. When the Time-Keepers tried to force Kang's eventual evolution into Immortus, and Kang tore his own way out of his changing body...it caused his personal timeline to split. It mirrors how Immortus had used the Forever Crystal to split Jim Hammond's body in two, allowing one Jim Hammond to become the Vision, and the other to get revived as the Original Human Torch and joined the West Coast Avengers.
Immortus has a good attitude about his revival. He sees his rebirth as a second chance. He wasted his old life in service to the Time-Keepers, and he's quite eager to see where his path goes this time around. Kang is overjoyed as well. His own future is now as well unwritten. He feared become what he considered a simpering academic, but now...his fate is up in the air. Both Immortus and Kang leave.
But there's a more pressing concern. The ragtag Avengers found Rick Jones' body...his dying body. There's only one way to save him now...and Genis-Vell knows it. With the help of the Supreme Intelligence, Genis-Vell takes a fateful step....
Rick is saved, thanks to Genis merging Rick's life-force with his own. The heroes have won today, but have learned a valuable lesson. Humanity has a great spirit, an indomitable spirit. But that spirit needs to be tempered. Kang was that spirit at its most raw, unfiltered, and aggressive. And it made him into a conqueror. A tyrant. That spirit needs to be tempered by compassion and a desire to respect the rights and freedoms of others. And with that, the remaining Avengers are returned to their proper points in time.
When the "present day" Rick, Wasp, and Giant-Man return to their proper time, Rick notices he's wearing the Nega-Bands again. He clanks them together.
He finds himself switched with Genis-Vell, whose appearance suddenly changes to resemble his older self. Likely thanks to a time-flux. The younger Genis has now gained the Cosmic Awareness his father Mar-Vell and his older self was shown to have, but is none too happy about being bonded to Rick. Wasp and Hank decided to make a report on this...later. They're tired, and they need a drink.
An epilogue shows Libra on the Moon, discussing things with the Supreme Intelligence. The former supervillain is wondering what the Supreme Intelligence gained from this adventure. The Intelligence is not sure, but he expects to be happy with the results. Libra has research to get back to, thinking it will be interesting to see where and when the Forever Crystal will return. When Libra leaves, the Intelligence focuses his energies...
And the Forever Crystal reappears right in front of him. I smell a potential sequel...
This was an epic ending to the story. The best part of this was the big ol' Avengers War in the Time-Keepers' chamber. It was really cool looking at the various cameos of characters from throughout Marvel history. I also liked the callback to various old What If and alternate universe stories. What is interesting about this big event is that in a bizarre way...how many people actually won here. The Avengers managed to save humanity from the Time-Keepers, and Kang managed to free himself from his destiny. Heck, even Immortus won, getting not only reborn, but also freed from the Time-Keepers. This was an epic ending to an epic story.
I have nothing against Carlos Pacheco's art, but here...of all the issues of Avengers Forever that I've looked at, this is the one I wish the most that George Perez drew. This issue features epic battles with loads of characters. This would have looked incredible under Perez. On its own merits, Pacheco doesn't do a bad job at all. It's still good to look at.
If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2011 trade paperback Avengers Forever. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you enjoyed it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, wear a mask, and get vaccinated! See you next time!
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