Thrown into the multiverse by a random Deathlok, Ghost Rider has a new goal: Stop the conquest of ALL reality! Your Major Spoilers review of Avengers Forever #1 from Marvel Comics awaits!

AVENGERS FOREVER #1

Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Aaron Kuder & Cam Smith
Colorist: Jason Keith
Letterer: Trion Farrell
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: December 22, 2021

Previously in Avengers Forever: On a quest for cosmic vengeance, Ghost Rider finds himself roaring through the wasteland on a ruined Earth, where the great age of heroes never came to be, where hope is a four-letter word, and where his only ally in the coming battle against the greatest villains any universe has ever seen is the world’s most wanted archaeologist, Tony Stark… The Invincible Ant-Man.

WHERE HOPE IS A FOUR-LETTER WORD

After a prologue that explains the fate of the prehistoric Avengers on Earth-818, we cut to that world in the present. In the wastelands of the world, wrecked by the Black Skull (seemingly a Red Skull possessed by Knull the symbiote god), we meet Tony Stark, the Invincible Ant-Man, and his robot partner, Shellhead the Iron Ant. His investigations have brought him to the battlefield from the prologue, where he finds the war hammer of Odin, as well as the corpses of his Avengers. He is overwhelmed by Venom-ized insects, after which he witnesses one of the most terrifying sights of recent years; an enraged Ghost Rider operating without restraint. After wiping out a horde of War Machines, Ghost Rider and Deathlok up the ante (think “Ghost Train”) to bust into Black Skull’s stronghold, while Ant-Man returns home to greet his friends, whom he calls Earth’s Mightiest Losers.

THERE MUST BE AVENGERS

My primary complaint (and it’s a relatively mild one) about this issue is that the debut cover features dozens of Avengers from multiple realities, many of whom I recognize from “What If…?” issues and various alternate reality tales, none of whom appear in the issue. On the one hand, I totally get it, and the issue’s pacing is both deliberate and quite good. But on the other, it feels a little bit like a promise that doesn’t quite get fulfilled. That said, this issue looks quite good, thanks to Kuder and Smith. Tony’s costume feels like the kind of thing you might patch together in a destroyed wasteland, while the appearances of the maybe-Avengers at the end are enticing enough to make me wonder who they are and want to come back next issue to find out. Though the story itself rolls out of Avengers #50, but doesn’t require readers to have read that book to get into things. (It’ll probably help, though.) The villain of the piece also feels a little bit flat, another “ultimate evil jerk” who unfortunately is inextricably tied into the “King In Black” storyline, which I didn’t really enjoy at all.

BOTTOM LINE: STARTS OFF WITH A BANG

Even for my perceived missteps (one of which is an unfortunate side effect of modern cover image practices), Avengers Forever #1 is a strong first chapter, one that places our neophyte Ghost Rider in a world where he can truly cut loose and show off his powers, combining a number of strong set pieces with well-done art, earning 4 out of 5 stars overall. Multiverses are all the rage these days, and this story is spinning out of the popular Avengers franchise, so I expect it to be a dynamic story for the next 12 issues. I just worry which story will break the multiversal camel’s back.

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