This ten chapter middle portion of the book, is seat of the pants gosh wow stuff with some extremely clever plotting. Steve Epting and Barry Kitson deliver suitably grand art, and even a really poor showing from the usually reliable Juan Bobillo doesn’t drag things down. It involves, Galactus, the Inhumans, the Kree, not just one, but two invasions of Earth, the Celestials, the four cities introduced in the previous volume, the Avengers, a dramatic return, Doctor Doom and even more. Reading further, though, one arrives at the real conclusion, which is nothing short of spectacular and surely conforms to the expectations of all who’ve been following the plot. When everything looks to be drawing together there’s a disappointingly mundane big battle with much remaining as you were, which is far from satisfying. Hickman first diverts into events occurring centuries previously involving the Kree Empire, which resulted in the Inhumans, who then arrive to complicate the plot still further. It provides a glimpse into the scope of what Hickman is setting up in his major story arc, and how far back those seeds originate.

The previous omnibus collection of Jonathan Hickman’s work ended rather disappointingly with multiple plot threads still in play, and these aren’t addressed immediately, but when he does conclude them it’s a spectacular sequence occupying the middle third of the book.Īs with the first volume, reading the chapters in big chunks is a far more satisfying method of consumption than either monthly comics or the shorter collections.

Avengers jonathan hickman omnibus vol 2