And so continues the fall of the Illuminati, as what began as a group of men trying to save the universe from an unknown threat, has spiraled out of control and left a group of monsters to hold the world hostage while they have their fun exterminating planet after planet. This is the second issue in the “Time Runs Out” story arc taking place between Avengers and New Avengers, and specifically picks up after the bombshell of a last page from New Avengers #23. Shaping up to be an event story without officially being an event book itself, how does this issue continue the story about the death of the all things?
We begin in Latveria, where Namor is having a very grand meal with Dr. Doom and his son. Namor is feeling rather uncomfortable with the grandeur of the meal itself. After mentioning to Doom that this rather decadent considering the hastened death of the universe, Doom responds in his usual aristocratic tone.
After this little dispute, we learn that during the 8 month time jump (same as Avengers 35) the Cabal has grown uncontrollable. While during the time they have been saving the universe by destroying all the parallel Earths that have appeared, they have also been using this as an excuse to spread as much death and destruction as they can. Not only do they relish the destruction, but they have been doing everything they can to torture every hero who was unfortunate enough to survive the initial assault.
While Namor does not regret taking the road of demolishing the planets, he feels sick about what the Cabal has been doing. So this is Namor’s true meaning for meeting with Doom, to strike up an alliance. Doom does not respond well.
While everything I’ve written may seem like I just summarized the entire issue, this is only half. There is a lot of things going on in this story, and it doesn’t feel rushed or forced. If you’ve been following this series since the beginning, things are picking up even more then they have been the last couple of arcs.
Support For Comic Book Herald:
Comic Book Herald is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn a qualifying affiliate commission.
Comic Book Herald’s reading orders and guides are also made possible by reader support on Patreon, and generous reader donations.
Any size contribution will help keep CBH alive and full of new comics guides and content. Support CBH on Patreon for exclusive rewards, or Donate here! Thank you for reading!
Artwork this time around is done by Valerio Schiti, who does a great job depicting emotions through facial features. His art style is very smooth, clean, and does a great job of setting the mood as well through the use of shadow.
With great artwork and great writing, Time Runs Out is turning out to be far more exciting than Marvel’s past events. If I have one problem with issue, it’s that we did not get to see much of what has happened during the 8 month gap. Similar to Avengers 35, it’s building up mystery by not letting the audience know what all the other characters know, especially if we would have seen the events of the gap period. Small problems aside, this is a fantastic issue setting up a big story that’s going to explode very soon.
CBH Score: 4.5 out of 5
[schema type=”review” rev_name=”New Avengers #24″ user_review=”4.5″ min_review=”0.0″ max_review=”5.0″ ]
Great review!
The last two issues of New Avengers have really roped me back in. Hickman’s grasp on Doom is fantastic (please pardon the superlative, good Doctor). I was less sure about this whole “time runs out” storyline after Avengers #35, but the New Avengers portion with Namor’s Cabal, and now Doom plotting is looking awesome.
I actually loved Avengers #35, especially getting introduced to this new screwed up world. But I will agree that the New Avenger stuff is what really has me hooked on this story overall; and yes, not that Doom has entered the playing field my interest shot up even more.
The third act of Avengers #35 won me over. I’m very intrigued to see it all play out now.