Superior Avengers # 6

 By Mark Rodriguez

Kristoff, Son of Doom, has use the Time Platform to bring in a team of future heroes to prove to the world that Doom's reign will be a good thing. These Superior Avengers actually come from a future ruined by Doom, and they finally killed him, he took all of the world's magic down with him. This left their world vulnerable to Annihilus. After stealing several magic artifacts and powering up an Arcane Warhead they intend to use against Annihilus, it turns out that the creature has been controlling Abomination the whole time and has followed them to the current era! What will happen next??

 

"Goeth the Fall" opens with the Annihilus Dragon attacking Doc Ock as Onslaught tries to keep it back. Killmonger says if the dragon does not emerge completely, it might not conquer this world as well. Kristoff and Ghost arrive through a portal. Kristoff is surprised by what he sees. Ghost says they're too late as the Superior Avengers have brought Annihilation to them.

 

The Annihilus dragon crawls completely out of Abomination's mouth. Kristoff uses his magic to fight the giant monster as its wings break through the castle walls. Killmonsger sees that the Time Platform is still open and says this era is no longer their concern. They can escape back to their timeline and leave the monster behind.

We flashback to the era Anno-Doom + 128 as the group of villains have just killed Doom. Bullseye asks Killmonger if she believes in Doom's threats upon his death regarding 'wolves at the door'. Doom's body suddenly burns to a crisp and Yellowjacket confirms that Doom did take all of the world's magic with him as he died. Killmonger suggests that they destroy the castle in case there are several traps left behind.

Just then Onslaught feels something. Yellowjacket asks if he was affected by some sort of physic tripwire. Onslaught said he just felt thousands of lives being snuffed out at once, but he can't pinpoint the cause. It was this point that the Annihilus Dragon appeared in the world. Onslaught tells the others they shouldn't stick around to see.

Back to present day, the Superior Avengers try to escape as they are now outside due to the castle walls being destroyed. Doc Ock asks Killmonger for help as she broke a few ribs. Her request falls upon death ears as Doc Ock turns to see the dragon behind her. The monster devours Doc Ock.

Kristoff is surprised that Killmonger just let her die. Ghost says all she cares about was using that moment to buy her more time to escape. Kristoff says they have to stop the dragon before it threatens all of Latveria. Kristoff says the dragon can't be stopped, calling that a lost cause, but she can at least stop Killmonger. Doom appears and says that no cause is lost as long as you believe in Doom. Kristoff says he can explain. Doom say he will, but later, and asks him to follow.

 

Malekith fights against the monster while Onslaught uses his full power to hold it back. Doom sees Malekith and commends Kristoff on assembling suitable tools for the task at hand. Doom uses his magic to tear Malekith in half, pulling the All-Black and All-Weapon apart. Doom says the golem was unpredictable when left to its own free will and a steady hand was needed to guide the weapons. Doom asks Kristoff to choose his weapon. Kristoff asks if Malekith is still aware. Doom says not to concern himself with such questions. He tells him not to think of the sword as a way to slay the dragon but to consider it as a key to lock it out of their world.

Doom sees Onslaught and recognizes his helmet as one that prevents physic intrusions. Onslaught tells him now to break his concentration. Doom yanks his helmet off and says a mutant telepath of his stature should be on an even playing field with the dragon. Doom touches Onslaught's skull and Onslaught is overwhelmed by such bottomless nihilism as Annihilus tries to control him. Doom says true power means peering into such voids without weakness or hesitation.

Kristoff sees Abomination as a conduit for the dragon. The monster slashes him across the back, but Kristoff says he won't fail his father again. He uses the All-Weapon to slice the monster where it is still attached to Abomination. Onslaught gets taken over by the Annihilus Dragon and Doom smashes him with the All-Black weapon that had taken form of a large meat grinder mallet. 

 

Meanwhile Killmonger made it to the Time Platform, saying she will not die in Latveria after all she's been through. Ghost grabs her and phases through the floor with her. Killmonger calls her a coward and backstabber and lunges at her, going right through her. She tells her not to speak as if she knew what she endured. Ghost says she doesn't care what she's endured. She tells him she's 30 feet underground in an isolated air pocket. She has seen the horrors she caused others so this feels like nearly enough punishment. 

Ghost unmasks herself and Killmonger realizes that she is not Ghost and asks who she is. Ava says she is every person that she and her acolytes have crushed. Ghost floats towards the ceiling and says she is the last face she'll ever see. Killmonger yells that this won't stop her. She says she's a survivor and she will make her into a true ghost. Ghost runs off and says she'll have to find her first.

 

The dragon has been killed and Kristoff is glad of his victory. Doom asks if he is proud of the damage the monster caused, or of the team he recruited that amounted to nothing. Kristoff apologizes. Doom says not to dishonor both of them by apologizing for his failures. He is not angry, but disappointed but this is no less than what he expected from him.

 

We flashback to Anno-Doom + 47 as Doom prepares to leave the mortal coil. He tells Kristoff that he had been loyal just as Doom has protected this realm for almost 50 years. In doing so, he has learned all that he can as Sorcerer Supreme of Earth and there is so much more beyond their plane of existence. He asks if people will accept another ruler since they bow to Doom. He is now beyond such Earthly concerns and leaves everything to his son. Doom vanishes, saying the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme will now belong to him and he knows he will not disappoint him.

Kristoff says the world needs a Sorcerer Supreme and it shall have one... but the world will also need Doom.

Back to present day, days later in Doomstadt, Kristoff leaves a recording with one of the Doombots addressing his father. He says that by the time he gets the message, he will be atoning for his misjudgements. The monster the Superior Avengers brought from their future was an alternate version of Annihilus that was obsessed with killing Doom. He hypothesizes that their actions in their timeline exposed Annihilus to energies that will alter how he will evolve. The only course of action is to find and destroy Annihilus now before he can adapt. He is, after all, the son of Doom and he will prove it. Kristoff opens a portal with the Time Platform. He leaps through it armed with both the All-Black and the All-Weapon.

 

 

My Thoughts- 

So this a fun read though like I said before, I would have liked to have seen further adventures. At the very least, having them run into the modern versions of their namesakes. 

The major character throughout the series is the woman who would become Killmonger. This is mostly her story as we see her origin throughout the issues. A woman doing what she can to survive in a hellscape, and as taught by Doom, crushing whoever gets in her way. She is deadly, manipulative, seductive and cold-hearted. In contrast, Ava is a woman surviving the attacks of Killmonger and her acolytes, doing what she can to survive, possibly save her son and make her hellscape somewhat less of a hellscape. She was forced to commit atrocities to maintain the facade but unlike Killmonger, she is burdened by the weight of her actions.

So in the end, the Superior Avengers are dead except for Ghost and Killmonger. It's not clear if Ghost ever went back to her future era, but it seems Killmonger is trapped in our timeline. Will she escape and return down the line?

I am curious about this version of Malekith? They mentioned he was a golem imbued with both the All-Black symbiote and the Undrjarn the All-Weapon... but where was the golem or host? When Doom ripped him apart it seemed he was literally was both entities fused together and it just gained some sort of personality modeled after Malekith... for some reason. This would be as if Venom was ripped off his host but there was no host underneath. 

Finally we get the reveal that in a certain way, Killmonger and her crew never got their revenge on Doom. Doom has long left his mortal coil, and it turns out the Doom they all killed was actually Kristoff that had taken on the mantle. I guess we can say Killmonger got to stab Kristoff twice, or at least two variations of him.

As for the original Doom, he took care of business like a boss. It's funny he was so busy he never got to actually meet and talk to any of the Superior Avengers until it was time to take them out. 

 

Overall, I enjoyed the story as we found out more and more about their true motives and their backstories. I didn't know it was going to be a six-issue mini-series, but I'm glad I was able to get all six issues, especially when I lost two of them during the big move to the new house. Maybe we'll see these takes of Killmonger and Ghost again down the line somewhere?