SHIELD Mission Report
STEVE ROGERS (a.k.a. CAPTAIN AMERICA) and BRUCE BANNER (a.k.a. THE HULK) joined with S.H.I.E.L.D. at the request of MARIA HILL to be Avengers Liaisons in creating a response team for large threats the world over. On their first day, three crises exploded around the globe. Using their combined resources, S.H.I.E.L.D. neutralized the threats and saved the day.
But a new, terrible day has dawned. Steve Rogers was drained of his Super-Soldier Serum, and rapidly aged into an old man. Bruce Banner is lost, replaced with a Hulk who calls himself Doc Green. On top of that, a strange event occurred on the island of Genosha, causing heroes to act like villains and villains to act like heroes. The few heroes who remained have all gone missing.
Who will protect an Avengers World that is Avengerless?
So the plot focuses on Doctor Doom, who, due to the inversion, has seen the error of his ways and is trying to right his wrongs. He has abused the power of the now villainous Scarlet Witch, and knows she will come for revenge. He decides the best course of action is to work with S.H.I.E.L.D. to assemble a new team Avengers, who are recruited by Valeria Richards and Agent Coulson. The new squad consists of Elsa Bloodstone, U.S.Agent, Valkyrie, 3-D Man, and Stingray. (Coming into this issue, I didn't know who Stingray or 3-D Man were, but I looked them up in my trusty Marvel Encyclopedia, Updated and Expanded.)
Once the new Avengers have been recruited, it's time for them to assemble. But none of them seem to agree on the hierarchy of the new team. But Valeria, apparently now part of the team, shows up to lead them into battle. And I haven't been able to find the image on Google yet, so I'm going to scan this completely badass image on here, because the whole internet deserves to witness this awesomeness. I give you, Armored Valeria:
Aww yeah!!
Then finally Scarlet Witch makes an appearance, shooting purple lightning out of her hands and telekenetically controlling a hoard of Vision drones, which attack the Avengers (?)
So there you go. My opinion, this is one of my favorite comics that I own. The action, characters, and set up so amazingly well, and the art is great. I've only been collecting comics for a short time, but I think this one is really worth checking out. It's priced at $3.99 US dollars.
