Review - The Avengers: The Legacy of Thanos

While investigating one of Thanos’ abandoned spaceships, Captain Marvel encounters a band of mercenaries led by the enigmatic Nebula. In an effort to stay alive, she feigns interest in joining Nebula’s ragtag team and is taken in as a probationary member. To prove her loyalty, she must infiltrate a Skrull base. However, she may not survive long enough to accomplish her task.

The Avengers: The Legacy of Thanos collects Avengers #255-261 and Annual #14, and Fantastic Four Annual #19, written by Roger Stern and John Byrne. Art is by John Buscema and John Byrne.

This collection picks up in the aftermath of a dramatic incident in which Avengers mainstay Vision hijacked the world’s computers to enforce peace. He had sent Captain Marvel light-years away from Earth to keep her busy while he launched his plans. She ends up on Sanctuary II, a ship once occupied by Thanos and has since been taken over by Nebula’s forces. Captain Marvel bluffs her way into the group long enough to get an SOS message out to her fellow Avengers. Back on Earth, the Avengers are facing severe cuts to their budget and capabilities after the government pulls their support following the debacle with Vision. Before they can fully digest everything, they head off to the Savage Land to prevent the gigantic Terminus from destroying it. Once the conflict is resolved, they speedily head off to space to rescue their teammate. To say that the events presented in these issues are dense would be somewhat of an understatement. It’s continuity heavy and requires its readers to have a working knowledge of the Marvel Universe. We’ve got the Savage Land (which means we’ve also got Ka-Zar and Shanna), space hijinks (Skrulls, Thanos, etc.), the Fantastic Four, and even a cameo from Spider-Man. It also doesn’t help that the narrative is forced into tying in with Secret Wars II by including the Beyonder at one point. Since the cast is more eclectic (meaning that it’s Captain America plus several lesser known heroes), this could be a barrier to some readers too.

Since my working knowledge of Marvel is pretty decent, I wasn’t too lost. However, the story itself didn’t quite flow as well as it should due to its divergent narratives. Captain Marvel’s subplot (which eventually became the primary one) was the backbone of this particular collection of stories. The others were vignettes that varied in quality. The jaunt to the Savage Land was brief and felt derivative of X-Men stories set there. The brief appearance of Spider-Man offered little to the plot aside from facilitating Firelord’s temporary alliance with the Avengers. These elements really pulled focus from what was the most engaging part of these issues, which was the conflict between Nebula and the Skrulls. Captain Marvel and the Avengers get caught in the crosshairs, lending their support (hesitantly, I might add) to the Skrulls. This means we get some passing references to the Kree-Skrull War, which is kind of neat. Seeing the Avengers off in space is fun as it’s not something they do often and it provides a rich history for them to take part in. Writer Roger Stern smartly inserts an emotional component by zeroing in on the differing opinions regarding this conflict, as well as the varied approaches to resolving it. However, what strikes me as the most interesting is that each character feels distinct. They each have their own voice and bring a special something to the table. I especially find his treatment of Captain America and Captain Marvel to be quite engaging. Hercules is a standout as well. If I had one complaint for his character work it would be that he has Wasp as the team’s chairwoman, but she does little in the way of actually leading them. Captain America seems to fill that role (and even he remarks on that himself).

The bulk of the art is provided by Stern’s collaborator John Buscema. Buscema’s style is quite unique within the realm of Avengers’ artists. It has a more whimsical quality to it and is certainly a style I associate with fantasy comics (Buscema’s lengthy tenure on Conan the Barbarian and The Savage Sword of Conan is probably why I think that way). There’s a rougher texture to his art and his anatomy falls on the more realistic side. As such, reading these stories gives you a slight sense of watching an old movie. It’s truly quite nifty. Of all the characters he draws, Captain Marvel and Hercules are the standouts for me. There’s this sense of confidence and unadulterated exuberance that he provides Captain Marvel. From her posing to her usage of her powers, she draws the focus in every panel she’s in. Similarly, Hercules’ impressive form is hard to miss given how little clothing he actually wears. It allows the reader to truly observe how dynamic the body can be due to Hercules’ musculature. John Byrne provides some art as well, but is filtered through the hands of others via finishers. As such, the art lacks his characteristic style and ends up looking quite generic.

The Avengers: The Legacy of Thanos fits neatly into the storied history between Earth’s heroes and the Skrulls. This arc sees a détente in their usual conflict and instead features them working together to fight a common enemy. It’s refreshing and thrilling at the same time. Given the amount of issues collected here, it’s understandable that the quality varies. Overall, the tone is consistent and there’s plenty of action to enjoy. However, it’s tedious at certain points and doesn’t quite fulfil its potential (which I blame mostly on the imposition of Secret Wars II).

RATING: B-