Superior Avengers # 5

 By Mark Rodriguez

Doom's son Kristoff has brought forth the Superior Avengers, heroes from the future that will prove to the world that Doom's rule is a good thing. However it turns out that they are villains from a world destroyed by Doom. One of them, Ghost, turns out to be a woman named Ava who killed and replaced Ghost, infiltrating the Superior Avengers. She tells Kristoff of their actual agenda. Meanwhile, the crew has unleashed Annihilus on Wakanda so they can look like heroes as they resolve the problem they started themselves. What will happen now? 

  

"Behold! The Nightmare!" opens in Wakanda as Shuri and Okoye fight against the Annihilus Wave invasion. With T'Challa currently in another world, Shuri says they have to hold the line until the Avengers can arrive to help. Okoye says they don't have the privilege of being picky at the moment. For better or for worse, the Superior Avengers are here.

Abomination is fighting with Annihilus directly and Doc Ock reminds the team to pretend they care since royal eyes are upon them. Onslaught is holding Annihilus' full power back telepathically but he can only d it for so long. Killmonger is sneaking around in one of the buildings and tells Doc Ock that Onslaught boasts about being an Omega-Level mutant so he should prove it. Onslaught can hear the conversation telepathically and tells them he has feelings. Killomonger says nihilism isn't a feeling.

The Dora Milaje guards catch Killmonger and tell them she is not the Black Panther and forbidden from entering that chamber. Killmonger stabs one of the guards and tells her that she is not her Black Panther and she can go where she pleases. After dispatching the guards, Killmonger tells Doc Ock that she has secured the magical weapon she sought after. 

Malekith flies towards Annihilus but he throws Abomination into him. Shuri tells Doc Ock that her Avengers team is failing to stop Annihilus and hopes the real ones show up (where are they anyway?). Doc Ock activates a portal that opens right above Annihilus, Killomonger drops through it and stabs the creature in the back, slamming him into the ground. Doc Ock will work on containing the defeated Annihilus.

Shuri recognizes the blade as Skybreaker and asks how she obtained it and what happened to the guards protecting it. Killmonger says they were probably killed by some of Annihilus' bugs. Shuri finds it strange how they showed up so soon to face this threat... just like they did when DC faced the exact same type of threat. Shuri also does not trust someone using the Killmonger mantle. Killmonger says she is not here to earn her trust, but she does belong in Wakanda.

We flashback to the time era Anno-Doom + 112 in Wakanda where Killmonger had made it to the heart of the city alive. Doom arrives to see this for himself. He says she might consider the rumors that this false oasis offers sanctuary, but he considers this to be a test. He calls out this challenger.

The woman who would become Killomonger leaps out towards Doom armed with a broken harpoon, and Doom freezes her in mid-air. She spits on him and Doom tosses her aside. Doom says insolence can't go unpunished, but he does respect fire and passion. He says whether it stems from love or hate, he can mold it just the same. He asks her if she wishes to just survive, or if she has the potential to thrive.

 

Later on the Doombots help rebuild the damage in the Wakandan city. Killmonger apologizes to Kristoff for their unauthorized danger but she felt the danger was too great to wait and they couldn't reach him. She sets her hand on Kristoff and says Doom would be pleased to see how they took care of the Annihilation Wave and the Wakandan government is grateful, despite Shuri's protests. They are even considering allowing her to present Doom with Skybreaker as a symbol of cooperation.

Abomination comments on how Killmonger is honored to touch the son of Doom. Onslaught remarks that he didn't figure Abomination for the jealous type. Kristoff says Doom is busy but he doubts he would expect nothing less of these sorts of accomplishments from him. Doc Ock warns the others to be ready since Killmonger is about to make her move. Killmonger draws her blade and says it's a pity he couldn't get his father's approval at least once before the end.

Killmonger suddenly grabs Kristoff and runs Skybreaker through him. She tells him that the Son of Doom getting killed by the sacred blade of Wakanda should provoke Doom's wrath and draw attention away from them as they complete their real plan. She explains that they came to this era to extract resources and he is no longer a useful resource. She thanks him for playing his part on getting them what they needed. 

Kristoff asks if they were getting what they needed to slay their dragon. Killmonger confirms that Ghost did go to him. She says they do have a monster waiting for them back home. They have escaped Doom's reign once but they'd rather face a monster than live under a tyrant.

We flashback to Anno-Doom + 114 as we see Killmonger train in Doom's arenas. We skip to Anno-Doom + 117 where she now leads a team of Doom's forces to burn down a camp that violates sovereign territory. Later in Anno-Doom + 123, Killmonger has killed the last of the Iron Corps and thus the last opposition in the western hemisphere. Doom says she has rarely disappointed him, as he raised her in his image as he had hoped. 

Back to the present as Kristoff lays dying, Doc Ock tells them crew it's time to leave. She says the Wakandans will note she blacked out surveillance in their current chamber, and she also alerted Doombots to find Kristoff and alert Doom, so they really shouldn't be there. As the Superior Avengers leave through a portal, Killmonger tells Kristoff that he never stood a chance, but neither did she. They leave as Kristoff is bleeding out.

Once everyone is gone, Ghost appears and asks if there is a point in not letting Kristoff bleed out or will Doom just kill them both. Kristoff tells her to remove the blade. Ava says all of Ghost's files tell her to not pull a weapon out of the puncture wound. Kristoff says Ghost's files don't mention magic and he can heal himself. He wants to follow them. Ghost asks why he would care since they will affect a future he won't experience. He can just tell Doom that Annihilus' bugs ate them and he wouldn't lose anything. Kristoff says he is the son of Doom and pride is enough reason.

 

Later on at Doomstadt Latveria in Kristoff's lab, the team prepares the Arcane Warhead. Doc Ock tells the others that they only have one chance to send the fully loaded bomb through the Time Platform at the precise time and location while not detonating in front of them. Malekith finds it thrilling to be on the tipping point of triumph and obliteration. Killmonger comments that they have different ideas on thrills. Doc Ock has Onslaught put the bomb into position and tells everyone to stand back.

Abomination suddenly starts walking towards the bomb. Doc Ock tells him to back up since is about to start the sequence. Malekith asks if they're about to have a mutiny. Killmonger tells Onslaught to stop him, but it's too late. Abomination raises his shield and slams it into the warhead. This causes a huge blast (though not one I'd expected from a magic-powered warhead). Killmonger says they never should have enlisted a Doom loyalist into their ranks. Malekith says he doesn't think it's Doom that Abomination is loyal to. Abomination is under control of Annihilus and tells everyone to embrace annihilation and to embrace the end of all things. 

 

We flashback to Anno-Doom + 128 as the crew has finished another battle against the Annihilus bugs. Killmonger says Yellowjacket and Crossbones are dead and she asks if Abomination is still with them. Abomination gets up and we see that one of the creatures has crawled into his mouth. Somehow Killmonger missed this.

Back to present day, the team is surprised to see that the Annihilus dragon somehow followed them to this era. Doc Ock says that Doom seemed to have gotten the last laugh. When they killed him, he says he was the only thing standing between them and annihilation. The monster starts to crawl out of Abomination's mouth. 

My Thoughts-

Looks like there's infiltration all over the place with this team. First Ava kills and replaces the original Ghost and now one of the Annihilus bugs has been controlling Abomination the whole time it seems. I have no idea how Killmonger didn't notice this since it looked like one of the creatures was crawling into his mouth right in front of her.

I guess Annihilus can turn off his one-track mind of 'embrace annihilation' long enough to let Abomination act as his usual Doom-obsessed self... or he was a sleeper agent set to wake up once the Arcane Warhead was complete. I am confused by it seemed that the Annihilus-controlled Abomination slamming his shield into it only caused a small explosion rather than taking out everyone in the room along with a big chunk of Latveria.

We get to find out more about the woman who would become Killmonger's origin. The last time we checked she has ventured out to Wakanda seeking safe-haven, only to find it also being destroyed by Doom. Now we see that Doom confronted her and took her in to mold in his image. As we can see, no matter how loyal she seemed to be, she was always waiting for the moment where she can stick in that knife. 

Next issue wraps up this story, which is a shame because I would have liked to have seen more of these guys and what else happens beyond this mission. Normally I hate these new series which turn out to be mini-series or just have short runs. There are several of these I'll have to catch up on. In this case it makes sense seeing as once the One World Doom Under Doom story ends, this series would also follow suit. 

One thing I would have liked to have seen is having these guys encounter their modern day counterparts. They have faced villains like Diablo and Graviton, but it would have been cool to see them meet the original Doc Ock, Abomination and Killmonger. I'm sure modern-day Malekith trying to steal the All-Black symbiote and the All-Weapon from his future incarnation.

 We'll see how this all wraps up next issue.