Writer: Jed MacKay
Artist: Valerio Schiti
Color Artist: Federico Blee
Cover Artists: Valerio Schiti & Federico Blee
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: StoryBabbler
Dr. Doom his Sorcerer Supreme, and he’s taken over the Earth! Legally! But the Avengers aren’t going to stand for that and have taken the fight to Doom personally, but they’ve made poor choices along the way. Like teaming up with the Masters of Evil. And now, some of the new Masters of Evil plan to follow through and live up to their name in Avengers #25.
Review:
Okay, so in the midst of Dr. Doom’s legal, global takeover of the Earth, the Avengers grew so desperate that they decided to ally with a new iteration of the Masters of Evil to fight him. Naturally, this was a terrible mistake and this issue shows how it’s going to blow up in their face. Sort of.
See, half of the Masters of Evil are actually fighting with the Avengers as part of their basic plan that also ends up blowing up in their faces in One World Under Doom #3. While that’s going down, the other half comprised of Dreadknight, Mr. Hyde, Exterminatrix, and Madcap led by the Mad Thinker decide to basically raid the Avengers’ new HQ, the Impossible City. But during the fight on the ground, Sam Wilson, aka Captain America, gets hurt and teleported to the Impossible City for first-aid, but that’s right when the new Masters arrive and hijack the place.
The majority of the comic is showing the Mad Thinker’s plan in motion while paralleling Sam and the City’s side of things as they get their bearings, plan their counterattack, and get right to fighting. There is action, to be sure, and Sam gets a new suit with the City riding shotgun as his personal AI assistant. Admittedly, the fight is between Sam and Madcap, so it goes by pretty quickly, but Valerio Schiti and Federico Blee do an excellent job with the fight and brutal action.
Now, there are positives and negatives. The first positives are the character writing and dialogue, Jed MacKay does a solid job giving each of the Masters of Evil distinct voices and strong personalities. No individual feels like the other, and the same goes for Sam and the City, who feel helpless at first but encourage each other to fight with all they’ve got. The second is the pacing since there’s a solid sense of progression in the plot. The third positive is the artwork from Valerio Schiti and Federico Blee, who deliver on everything from the character designs, their facial expressions, the paneling, environments, and the action feeling like it has a sense of momentum to it.
The negatives come pretty down to the new lineup of the Masters of Evil being very uneventful odd choices. Mad Thinker makes sense since he was introduced earlier in the series and planned this whole thing, and his mad ambition is pretty engaging for this story. It’s everyone else where things fall apart. Mr. Hyde is a staple of the Masters of Evil but he’s been a hit or miss kind of villain in recent years, so here’s hoping he’s a hit this time. Dreadknight makes sense if they were directly fighting Dr. Doom, but since they’re not, he just feels like a waste here. Exterminatrix adds a ruthless and sadistic element but she doesn’t have much beyond her guns and the dominatrix thing. Then there’s Madcap. Enough said. The plus side is that MacKay is doing a fine job giving them each unique character voices, so they’re at least entertaining to read.
Final Thoughts:
Avengers #25 begins a new story in the midst of One World Under Doom. While the Avengers are away on Earth, some of the new Masters of Evil decide to launch an home invasion of their new HQ and take it for themselves. The new lineup is a mixture of hits and misses, but the writing for them is solid as each villain feels like their own distinct character. The art team of Valerio Schiti and Federico Blee deliver excellent art with the paneling, faces, and the action with Sam Wilson.