The Good

Infinity marches on in its more character-focused book, and this issue lets Jonathan Hickman explore the Earthbound characters (no, not Paula or Ness) defying Thanos’ assault. And while the battle against the Builders in space may be turning, Thanos and his Cull Obsidian (I can't emphasize enough how much I love that name) remain a force to be reckoned with and, with little regard for their own troops’ lives, have finally breached the Golden City’s walls. While Wakanda suffers a similar fate, from a different source, as their rivals in Atlantis, the Illuminati travel to an incurring Earth and meet another group of, seemingly more calm-minded, Builders. Hickman, again, has an amazing command over the cast of this massive event, but nowhere is this more evident than in New Avengers, where the characters are front and center and in this issue that is most evident as they’re faced with a dilemma that has no right answer.

Mike Deodato continues to deliver the goods, handling all of the artistic duties masterfully and not cutting one single corner. Either a lot of this was drawn well ahead of time, or Deodato is a MASTER of efficiency because every issue, every PANEL, has looked as good as the last. His ability to frame every panel and get the facial tics of every character in them down to such minute detail is truly a sight to behold. From the broad, sweeping expressions to the mundane, tiny expressions, Deodato nails it in every panel.

The Bad

We’re still not sure if Thanos has any greater reason for wanting his son dead beyond his usual “I want everything to die so Death will kiss me!” logic. He’s also, obviously, looking for one of the Infinity Gems, and the logic behind that makes sense without explanation, but his obsession with his son is still strange and unexplained. If he just wanted to find him, that would be one thing, but he wants Thane dead without even having to meet him.

The Verdict

This issue introduces an amazing idea near its end that I won’t spoil here, but it’s one of the most thought-provoking ideas to be put forth in a massive event book since the legitimacy and morality of superhero registration. I can’t say enough how good this book has been and how well it’s fit into the Infinity narrative without overpowering it, or being too critical to the overall story. It adds to the event without shackling the reader to it. I actually think it’s going to read amazingly well in trade whether or not you’ve read the other titles in the event.

I knew this would be the sh%t!

This book continues to be the best part of The Infinity Event. I can not wait till the next New Avengers to see what mad plans they come up with.

I lucked out in the order I read Avengers, and New Avengers. This one tied in so well to it being the 2nd read of the titles, and the ending was great. What a great story. I usually hate cosimic stories, but this has been so good, being what it is on so many battle fronts.

I was a bit confused, Who blew up the other earth? The builders or what?

Hickman tweeted this afternoon that you need to read this week's Avengers before this week's New Avengers.

The Builders

Ha glad I read Avengers first I would have been so confued if I did this reverse order. I had a feeling this new avengers would be a good pick guess imma pick up the up coming tie ins now.

I thought the Infinity chart in the back of the main comics would have made the reading order pretty clear. Avengers is closer to the main line and New Avengers is far off, implying Avengers comes first.

Guess not.

@stevencarver_ said:

Funny, that's exactly what I did.

Aaaaand because I somehow always pick wrong in a 50-50 chance, I did the opposite.

@

You old faithful, much praise to you!

I feel like this was a big issue with the Infinity event regarding the builders but I was kind of confused of what this issue actually represents. Is it that there are actually more builders from another universe in which they are not as aggressive as the ones the Avengers and such are currently fighting in space? Also, I didn't really understand why the builders destroyed their own planet.

LOVE this book, and love Deodato... but his new Beast looks like Donkey Kong! Awful! And farrrrr too large.

@louiexiiith: Same builders, just different approach. Because of today's Avengers issue, we know that the Builders in 616 are now going to fail at destroying Earth. This Builder in New Avengers has learned of this from the one that escaped to his reality. He then acknowledges that he cannot destroy 616 Earth because their ships can't travel between realities, so he is basically asking the New Avengers to do it for him just saving their Builder's the effort because they can't anymore.

I really hope Thanos has a better motive than getting Death to love him, I mean doesn't Thanos Rising kind of make it apparent that he should do something else?

I was confused as well, thanks for clearing that up. I still liked this issue a lot. I want more Wakanda.

what if the builders are right and the earth has to be destroyed to save the universe and the avengers are the bad guys !! mind = blown ,

Yes, this is exactly how Hickman is trying to portray the situation. He's flipping the traditional role of the 'superhero concept' on it's head. It's been done before, but this is the best I have ever seen it done. I think what Hickman is also trying to do is: make 616 the main focal point for all the Marvel realities where all the incursions are happening because of the events of Age of Ultron cracking the timeline apart. It makes sense if you consider the way the events have been portrayed in the past few issues of Guardians of the Galaxy which involve a conversation between Starlord and Thanos before he invades Earth, for those that don't know.