Avengers #23 // Review
Earth’s mightiest heroes continue to deal with the darker end of magic. As one associate is plunged into darkness and the groups entire home base is alive with demonic energy. Dark magics encircle Avengers #23 in an issue called “Hell Race 666.” Jason Aaron tells a fun story that deftly juggles a large ensemble drawn by Stafano Caselli. Colorist Jason Keith adds a bit of supernatural depth to the page of an issue that maintains tension from many different directions at once. Though the central focus DOES lie in Robbie Reyes and the Ghost Rider this issue, there is a very sharp balance between all the heroes in the ensemble.
Avengers Mountain was a bit of a fixer-upper. The place has got great bones, but given that the thing was ancient as hell, there was bound to be some issues. Like any new homeowners, they’re going to need to do a little work on the place. Since they’re the Avengers, though, that work is going to involve the demonic possession of ancient alien tech. Meanwhile, Robbie Reyes is going to have to learn a great deal about the spirit of vengeance. As he encounters original Ghost Rider Johnny Blaze.
Aaron crafts a script that not only balances all the characters quite well but also allows every character in the team to come across as being quite distinct. There’s no exaggerated need on his part to over-amplify their personalities just to keep them all straight. It’s a very deft approach that also manages to reflect the dark magic milieu of the story across a wide array of different characters. This IS an issue about magic and magic in the Marvel Universe DOES get weird. As weird as things get in the course of the chapter, Aaron manages to keep it from ever overpowering the heroism of the team.
Casselli is given the challenge of. Keeping the characters looking distinct even though they’re all largely wearing the same pentagram-emblazoned supernatural hazmat suits. He’s able to preserve every character’s personality in body language and placement on the panels. The action on the page is attacked from multiple angles with a clever sense of kinetic gravity. Even large group shots come across with impact. Which is one hell of an accomplishment given the fact that some of these group shots are so large that they would naturally dilute the action on the page. Rather than drown-out all that action with powerfully radiant energy from the likes of Captain Marvel and Black Panther and all that hellfire, colorist Jason Keith renders the color of the action in muted. Shadowy tones that highlight the dark magical atmosphere of the story.
Aaron and Casselli do an admirable job of keeping everything together in an issue that could have easily disintegrated into a lot of disjointed scenes between different groupings of Avengers. The magical milieu could start to get a bit tired if it carries on for too much longer, but the series seems to be in quite capable hands with Aaron and Casselli.
