Before I begin my review for this issue, it should be noted that this comic is pretty much a direct tie-in with SECRET WARS (2015) #1. The events in this book go straight over into Marvel's massive summer event.
Jonathan Hickman isn't just a writer. He's a gardener. He enjoys planting seeds, cultivating and tending to the care of the growth of those seeds into something with a meaningful payoff at the end. In this case, the seeds of AVENGERS #44 started about 18 months ago when Tony and Steve shared a vision for the future of the Avengers. Without giving anything away, I'm not sure things went off without a hitch.
But I digress. Let's look at this issue.
2 Earths are about to merge: the Ultimate Universe and the Marvel 616 Universe we all know and love. Reed Richards and a select few are preparing the creation of a "life boat" of sorts to take part of humanity off planet to preserve the human race.
Meanwhile, Captain America has a knockout showdown with his friend Tony Stark as the world comes crashing down around them.
There's a bit of a BATMAN/JOKER feel to the issue which bothers me a bit. Steve and Tony are both GOOD GUYS (well, maybe at least until AXIS) each with a skewed perspective of how the world works. Steve represents the past and Tony represents the future. And in this case,(wearing Captain America armor that Tony himself designed) the past beats the snot out of the future as the world dies. I mean, Tony takes a shield to the face and gets some teeth knocked out kind of fight and as the image gets farther and farther away, Cap is over him, punching him with no mercy.
I think the book is a terrifying way to finish the series, however, this entire arc needs to go down as one of the greatest AVENGERS' tales since the KREE SKRULL WAR in my opinion. If you want to read the whole thing, you've got A LOT of buying to do, before you buy SECRET WARS #1...go buy this book.
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