Superior Avengers # 1

 By Mark Rodriguez

Doctor Doom has successfully ruled the world, so he finds it fitting that he should form his own team of Avengers. Who will form a team of Avengers worthy of Doctor Doom? Let's see what happens.

"The Everlasting Gaze" opens in Washington DC as Annihilus is chasing down a woman while all sorts of insect creatures and giant worms are attacking the Capitol. The woman trips and falls and is about to get destroyed by the villain, when suddenly she is yanked out of the way. The woman is rescued by a woman dressed like the Black Panther and they land a safe distance away from the action. The woman thanks her, and the costumed rescuer tells her to stay out of the way, as she leaps back into battle.

We see a woman version of Doctor Octopus, who is destroying the insects with her metallic tentacles. Killmonger (the woman dressed like Black Panther) asks if she's seen Malekith and Doctor Octopus tells her than he seems to be enjoying himself. Malekith is destroying any overgrown insect he sees, and Killmonger reminds him to avoid civilians. Onslaught is on the scene and he uses his powers to levitate the humans out of the area. Killmonger checks in on Abomination. Now more human-sized and decked out in armor and shield, he is moving in on the main enemy, as he fights for the glory of Doctor Doom.

Killmonger tells Onslaught to patch her in to Ghost. Onslaught sarcastically says he enjoys being used as a switchboard. Killmonger tells Ghost that they have the drone covered and to move on to the secondary objective. Ghost runs into the Capitol among the chaos.

Abomination throws a punch onto Annihilus. The villain strikes back, sending him reeling back. Doctor Octopus wraps her tentacles around Malekith as he fashions his arms into a lance. Doctor Octopus tosses Malekith into Annihilus as if he were a giant spear. Killmonger tells Onslaught to keep Annihilus from getting back up. Onslaught uses his powers to toss the villain into a pillar. 

Annihilus opens a portal and flies upwards towards it as all the remaining insects follow him. The Senator crawls out from one of the now-dead insects and asks if the monsters are gone. He asks Killmonger who they are. Killmoger, accompanied by Onslaught, Doctor Octopus, Malekith, Ghost and Abomination, as she says they're the Avengers.  

We go back to Latveria, two weeks earlier, as Doom's adopted son, Kristoff Vernard is working on fixing the Time Platform, alongside several Doombots. Just then, a portal opens in front of him. Doctor Doom steps through, and Kristoff asks how things went in Wakanda. Doom says he expected them to wish to remain independent, though some of them have pledged their loyalty to him. He will allow their continued sovereignty since currently all roads lead to Doom. 

Doom asks Kristoff about his latest project, the Avengers Initiative. Kristoff says he finished upgrading Doom's Time Platform so it can search for future timeless where his reign flourished. He plans to bring champions from the future to the modern day to convince the naysayers and doubters. Doom wants to see this. Kristoff says the adjustments he made still aren't stable. Doom reminds him that he is his son, and tells him to show him.

Kristoff activates the Time Platform and it brings forth and older Amadeus Cho in his Hulk form. He comes from the timeline Anno Doom # 44. Kristoff welcomes him as a future subject of Doom, and tells him how lucky he is to witness the genesis of his reign.

Cho says that Doom ruined everything in his time. He angrily attacks all the Doombots, saying that Doom tore the world apart. Kristoff apologizes to his father and says he can fix this. Doom effortlessly roasts Cho to ashes. He walks off, reminding Kristoff that he is the son of Doom. He tells him to show him as Kristoff feels disappointment.

Currently in Washington DC, Kristoff makes a speech, thanking everyone for showing up so soon after the chaos caused by Annihilus. He says the city was not protected by Captain Marvel, Iron Man or the Fantastic Four, who endangered thousands of New Yorkers when Annihilus attacked a year before. He tells the people that these heroes were not the ones that repelled the attack. Under Doom, they will not be without heroes.

Kristoff introduces the new Superior Avengers. They come from a century into the future to show testament of the peace and stability brought by Doctor Doom's reign. He says they might look fearsome but it shows that under Doom the notion of 'villain' is obsolete. They are a vision of what everyone can accomplish together. They are their heroes, they are the future. Abomination raises his shield and says 'Hail Doom' making the crowd applaud. 

Over at Doomstadt, Kristoff tells his crew that their debut couldn't have been better, He says having them stop the Annihilation Wave was perfect timing. Killmonger tells Kristoff that he is as cunning as his father, while being easier on the eyes. Kristoff stumbles a bit and tell them that he will notify them if other threats arrive.

As the team walk off, Doctor Octopus asks Killmonger if her flirting is a manipulation tactic. Killmonger says their benefactor is the son of Doom, so they should know their place. Doc Ock tells her to drop the act since she turned their quarters into a black box. If Kristoff is able to check in while they're on their actual mission, her cuttlefish drones can fool him. She says the adaptive AI is far beyond what the current era is capable of. Killmonger says not to forget what their hubris cost them once before.

We see a flashback of Doomstadt Anno Doom # 128 as the world seems to be falling apart all around Doctor Octopus and Killmonger. Doc Ock says they had fail-safes against this. Killmonger says the 'old man' won't get the last laugh on them. Doc Ock says things can't end like this.

In the present day, Doc Ock says they all bear scars from the final incursion and they won't forget what they're running from. Killmonger asks Ghost if she deposited the artifact she grabbed from the Capitol. Ghost says she didn't since she's too creeped out to go alone. Killmonger tells her to open the doorway and she does so, creating a portal.

The portal leads them to Prison 42 in the Negative Zone. Onslaught comments that the 'heroes' of that era left behind a perfectly good impenetrable penitentiary lying around. Ghost tells Killmonger that they should hurry. The bugs have gone feral and Doom might have agents in the area.  Killmonger says if their presence made Annihilus feral, then they will either put him down or unleash him upon their enemies.

Killmonger draws her blade upon Ghost and tells her that they claimed this space to keep away from Doom's gaze. She says that they killed Doom once before, and they will burn the entire era to ashes is that's what it will take to reclaim their future.

 

My Thoughts- 

This is an interesting set up so far. Kristoff brings 'heroes' from a century into the future to prove that the world is prosperous under Doom's rule. Naturally Doom's supreme arrogance convinces him there is no downside to him ruling the world. It also didn't strike him as weird that every member of this new Avenger team is modeling themselves after super villains. Naturally these guys have their own agenda, since it turns out that Doom actually wrecked their timeline, just like he wrecked alternate future Cho's timeline.

We get a cool mix of villains here to create this new team. When I first heard about the members, I was confused about the female versions of Killmonger, Dock Ock and Ghost... as well as how Abomination got back to normal. Them being from a hundred years into the feature explains the differences, but also raises more questions. So after a hundred years, are all of these guys great great great grand kids of the original, or criminals that wanted to pay homage to the originals? And it just so happened that Kristoff found a team of six people all taking inspiration or paying homage to supervillains, several decades after the fact? None of them went with a different name or at least some variation? Are Onslaught and Malektih really that popular to have their mantle passed down to several generations? I wonder if any of them will turn into the originals and how that will go.

One character to note was Ghost, since not only is she a woman now, she's also based more on how she was portrayed in the MCU movies. First appearing in Antman and the Wasp, she will soon be forming of another team or random characters thrown together in the Thunderbolts movie. She'll be fighting alongside the likes of Winter Soldier, Red Guardian and Yelena (though I'm not sure if she calls herself the White Widow in the MCU).

Good start to the story so far and I'm curious how it's all going to go down whenever Doom finds out that these guys want to betray him. One thing I have to say, it was cool to see Doom completely waste Amadeus Cho as if he were nothing. Sure, he's not THE Hulk, but he is still A Hulk, so burning him to ashes is no small feat. Can't wait for the next issue. I also love the art, the angles and dramatic poses as well as the action we got to see at the beginning.

 

I have to say, between Superior Spider-Man, Superior Iron Man and now Superior Avengers, Marvel sure loves to add 'Superior' in front of evil versions of super heroes.