Written by Chip Zdarsky.
Art by Daniel Acuña; VC’s Cory Petit (Issues # 1-2); & Joe Caramagna (Issues # 3-6).
Cover Art by Alex Ross.
SUMMARY:
Released by Marvel Comics in 2024, this 208-page trade paperback collects the same year’s Avengers: Twilight # 1-6. In a dystopian alternate future, it’s been decades since the catastrophic H-Day where Boston was demolished and countless lives were lost in the Hulk’s monstrous rampage.
Simultaneously, with access to newfound data, Ultron-enhanced super-villains hunted down and eliminated nearly all of Marvel’s heroes (including Spider-Man) by preying upon their secret identities. The few that survived subsequently slid into the public’s shadows or have seemingly vanished altogether. For instance, the fates of Iron Man and the Wasp remain unknown, though they are presumed dead.
The U.S. Government, consequently, has confiscated virtually all of Tony Stark’s advanced technology (i.e. Avengers Mansion) and is using it to pacify or pummel the public into submission through constant surveillance. Hence, thuggish IronCops now roam city streets to remove society’s undesirables from sight. With the U.S. President reduced to a glorified puppet, Kyle Jarvis (purportedly Edwin Jarvis’ brother) and his adoptive protégé: Tony Stark’s orphaned adult son, James, essentially now control the country. Through Stark’s technology, a small group of Avenger lookalikes are now seemingly the world’s high-profile protectors.
In New York City, an elderly and depowered Steve Rogers is married to a physician, Rosa, and stays in contact with Luke Cage and Matt Murdock – both also worn down by age. After his failed entry running for political office, Steve’s two friends are disappointed that he isn’t trying harder to stem America’s ugly downward spiral.
Still, Steve fumes when a Red Skull news retrospective falsely implies that his old enemy was secretly a double agent working against the Nazis. A friend’s subsequent off-screen death and a brutal encounter with IronCops completely lights Steve’s fuse. Jeopardizing both his life and his marriage, Steve risks everything to become the original Captain America once more. Joining a decrepit Luke Cage and his underground band of ninja-like Defenders, Captain America is back in action. Steve then makes multiple attempts to bring the grim reality to the mass public’s attention.
Staying in his way is an ultra-arrogant James Stark – the upstate genius son of Iron Man and the Wasp – who has no intention of letting his surrogate uncle (and, in his mind, a now-useless relic) ruin America’s new way of life. What the younger Stark doesn’t know is his adoptive father’s true identity, and, therefore, an insidious ulterior motive. Steve’s attempts to recruit his few remaining old friends fall short until he confirms Tony Stark’s bizarre fate.
Infiltrating the Raft (now an illicit laboratory), Steve regains his classic shield. A fiery battle with the world’s new Iron Man results in both Thor’s majestic return and Tony’s ‘resurrection’ of sorts. Hence, the classic Avengers trio reunites one last time, with a new female Hawkeye and Kamala Khan’s Ms. Marvel aboard, as well. It all comes down to a pivotal White House showdown where Steve’s vilest enemy has the U.S. military, nuclear missiles, and, once more, the world’s most devastating menace at his disposal.
Even the arrival of one more original Avenger may not be enough to end the Red Skull’s catastrophic final scheme.
Note: This title is also available digitally.
REVIEW:
Elements of DC’s Kingdom Come and Dynamite’s Project Superpowers come to mind when reading Avengers: Twilight.
Specifically, writer Chip Zdarsky delves into a warped future where America’s traditional ideals have been long suppressed in a nightmarish exaggeration of contemporary real-world issues. Not everything Zdarsky pitches is original, makes sense, or is even adequately explained (i.e. what happened to the Ultra-powered villains? What happened to Marvel’s mutants? What are the fates of other Avengers?), but he still concocts an intriguing thrill ride.
Zdarsky gives a grizzled, far older Steve Rogers a similar vibe as Frank Miller does with Bruce Wayne’s middle-aged Batman in The Dark Knight Returns. The same applies to assigning familiar characters like Ms. Marvel, Luke Cage, and briefly Matt Murdock into valuable supporting roles. Extra kudos are merited for delivering this reality’s last Thor vs. Hulk slugfest as it’s practically akin to the climatic Superman vs. Captain Marvel encounter in Kingdom Come. There are some welcome surprises, too, as Zdarsky recognizes how six issues allow only so much. Hence, his sensible yet fewer plot twists (i.e. so few Avengers) should go a longer way with readers.
Zdarsky’s storytelling is admirably reinforced by the art team’s excellent visuals – their only inconsistency is James Stark’s inexplicably older facial appearance near the end. Overall, Avengers: Twilight is likely a must-have for Avengers die-hards, who prefer the team’s Silver Age roster. For most others, however, it’s most definitely a welcome library find.
ADDITIONAL CONTENT:
Each full-page Alex Ross cover precedes its story. The 14-page variant cover gallery consists of:
FULL-PAGE
- Issue # 1 (2nd printing) – artist: Daniel Acuña;
- Issue # 1 (foil) – artist: Acuña;
- Issue # 1 (IronCops) – artist: Acuña;
- Issue # 2 (Iron Man) – artist: Acuña;
- Issue # 3 (Kamala Khan’s Ms. Marvel – artist: Acuña;
- Issue # 4 (Thor) – artist: Acuña;
- Issue # 5 (the new Hawkeye) – artist: Acuña;
- Issue # 1 (the Avengers) – artist: Acuña;
QUARTER-SIZE
- Issue # 1 variants (5): 1. artist: Felipe Massafera; 2. artist: Frank Miller; 3. artists: Leinil Francis Yu & Sunny Gho; 4. artist: Skottie Young; and 5. artist Simone Bianchi;
- Issue # 2 variants (4): 1. artist: Greg Smallwood; 2. artist: Phil Noto; 3. Artists: Sergio Dávila & Arif Prianto; & 4. Superlog;
- Issue # 3 variants (3): 1. artist: Noto; 2. artists: Sara Pichelli & Matthew Wilson; & 3. artist: Taurin Clarke;
- Issue # 4 variants (5): 1. artists: Carmen Carnero & Nolan Woodard; 2. Francesco Mobili; 3. artist: Mark Brooks; 4. artist: Brooks (black-and-white sketch of variant # 3); & 5. artist: Bianchi;
- Issue # 5 variants (3): 1. artists Tony Daniel & Jay David Ramos; 2. artist: Benjamin Su; & 3. artist: Cafu; &
- Issue # 6 variants (3): 1. artist Declan Shalvey; 2. Artists: Yu & Romulo Fajardo Jr.; & 3. artist: Marc Aspinall.
Lastly, Acuña shares four pages of his character designs, including the elderly Steve Rogers; the IronCops; the ninja-like Defenders; the ‘new’ Captain America; Kamala Khan’s Ms. Marvel; the new Hawkeye; Thor; Iron Man; and the Wasp.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 7½ Stars
