The Avengers refused to take Brandy on their mission through time, but when you bear the Starbrand? It’s easier to beg forgiveness than to ask permission. Your Major Spoilers review of Avengers #61 from Marvel Comics awaits!
AVENGERS #61
Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Ivan Fiorelli
Colorist: David Curiel
Letterer: VC’s Cory Petit
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: October 18, 2022
Previously in Avengers: If the Avengers hope to survive being lost in time, they’ll need the help of some of history’s greatest heroes, from the Thor of the Viking Age to the T. Rex Starbrand at the dawn of time, plus all the forgotten Avengers of bygone eras whose stories can finally be told.
THE PARTS WE MISSED
For the last few issues, The Avengers have been jumping through time, encountering any number of forgotten heroes throughout history, but unable to make the final jump to the era they’re actually shooting for. Cut back to an undisclosed amount of time ago, as the team prepared to leave for the past, Brandy the young Starbrand gets the bad news: The rest of the team has voted, and she’s not going with them. Captain Marvel worries about her power problems (Brandy is now physically a woman in her early twenties despite being only a few months old, aging every time she uses her full powers). As the Avengers prepare to leave, Brandy speaks to the dead Celestial who serves as the team’s headquarters/time travel apparatus, and when the team pops up in the past, so does she. This issue touches on a number of Mephistos in a number of eras, bouncing from the Viking Era, to the 1920s, to the Cretaceous Era, as the demon taunts the team (and especially Brandy) across reality. When she encounters her ancient counterpart, a Tyrannosaurus Rex who got his powers from the K-T Extinction event, he has one question for her: What world will his sacrifice help to build?
AND A SHOCKING ENDING
The answer to Star-Rex’s question becomes the last third of the book, and once again, Aaron manages to present a great amount of information and experience in a short period of time. Starbrand is seen talking with Thor about godhood, Iron Man about technology, Captain America about history, and Captain Marvel about astronomy, with each interaction helping to educate her. In return, she gets to share the experience of meditation with Nighthawk, discussing mortality with Valkyrie, and even just plain arm-wrasslin’ the Sub-Mariner with her predecessor, explaining that each person gets to make their own meaning out of life. It’s a satisfying answer for the dinosaur AND for me as a reader, especially given the issue’s ending, as the team finally manages to outmaneuver Mephisto and make their way to the Genesis point. The final page is a bit of a shocker, expertly built-up and foreshadowed all issue, Fiorelli’s art is an important component to that success, whether showing a street fight on the docks of 1924 New York or a fire-breathing dinosaur who has outlived everything he knows.
BOTTOM LINE: BIG STORIES CAN BE PERSONAL, TOO
With this big arc wrapping up next month, Avengers #61 serves as an emotional checkpoint before the big final battle, giving Starbrand a well-deserved spotlight and finally getting our heroes to where they need to be in the timestream, with strong writing and above-average art combining for 4 out of 5 stars overall. There are so many interesting characters and concepts being thrown around in Avengers lately that I sometimes forget there’s an endgame, but if this ends up being Jason Aaron’s swan song, it’s gonna be a memorable one.
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AVENGERS #61
The Avengers finally make it to their destination, but at an unexpected cost, while the youngest Avenger gets a moment in the spotlight to show off what her colleagues have taught her. Very nicely done!
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Writing9
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Art7
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Coloring8
Once upon a time, there was a young nerd from the Midwest, who loved Matter-Eater Lad and the McKenzie Brothers... If pop culture were a maze, Matthew would be the Minotaur at its center. Were it a mall, he'd be the Food Court. Were it a parking lot, he’d be the distant Cart Corral where the weird kids gather to smoke, but that’s not important right now... Matthew enjoys body surfing (so long as the bodies are fresh), writing in the third person, and dark-eyed women. Amongst his weaponry are such diverse elements as: Fear! Surprise! Ruthless efficiency! An almost fanatical devotion to pop culture! And a nice red uniform.