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While many of Marvel Comics‘ most celebrated stories take place in the world of Earth-616, the main universe for fans’ favorite super-powered heroes, there are a plethora of stories set in alternate universes, parallel timelines, and mirror Earths that are just as good as any of the mainline tales.
One of the very best in recent memory was the six-issue miniseries Avengers: Twilight, a story set in the near future of an alternate Marvel universe where the Avengers and other heroes have been shunned from society following a public tragedy. The miniseries, written by superstar scribe Chip Zdarsky with awe-inspiring art by Daniel Acuña, is one of the best comics that Marvel has produced in at least the last decade.
Avengers: Twilight Wisely Focused On An Older Steve Rogers
An Aging Captain America Was The Centerpiece of An Emotional Superhero Tale
In a future world apparently devoid of major crime, super-powered villain activity, or any need for a team like the Avengers, Steve Rogers finds himself adrift—a man without a purpose. The star-spangled hero’s glory days are behind him in the pages of Avengers: Twilight, and while he might not recognize or appreciate the new world of the future around him, it seems that it truly no longer needs him or other heroes like him. It’s a striking setup for an emotionally potent and deeply engaging story that pits Captain America against the future itself.
Slowly realizing that the world around him is not all that it seems, and that there is something much more nefarious and fascistic bubbling up under the surface, the elderly Steve Rogers decides to once again don the mantle of Captain America, re-dose himself with the super soldier serum, and fight back against the oppression that this future Marvel Universe is quietly suffering under.
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The beauty of the world that Chip Zdarsky and Daniel Acuña created in Avengers: Twilight lies in the terrifying and insidious nature of the evil at the book’s core. For the vast majority of the miniseries’ setup and early beats, the villain is far more ambiguous and far less defined. It leaves the readers with a disquieting sense that perhaps the issues are too widespread, too baked into the world, for a superhero to simply punch the bad away.
Luckily, Captain America is so much more than a hero who punches bad guys and serves at the whims of his country’s leaders. He is a man who refuses to sit down and be quiet. He refuses to stand idly by while injustices are perpetrated. He is a symbol of the righteousness and justice that humankind can achieve. He is the ultimate Marvel hero, and he is the heart and soul of the Avengers—something that Zdarsky clearly recognizes with Avengers: Twilight. Despite its title implying a wider focus, the miniseries’ core rests squarely on Steve Rogers’ shoulders. He is the crux of the book, and he’s what makes the story succeed on an emotional level.
The Book Shows Captain America and The Avengers At Their Very Best
The Excellent Characterization and Stunning Artwork In Avengers: Twilight Elevate the Standard Superhero Fare
While the Avengers roster has changed repeatedly over the years, Steve Rogers has been a major component of the team for decades, and through dozens of roster shifts, he has remained a steadfast pillar of the group. Despite the fact that he was not technically a founding member of the superhero team, Captain America has become the face of the Avengers since his first appearance on the team in The Avengers #4 in 1964.
Avengers: Twilight‘s story and future concepts are complex, often overtly political in nature, and the way in which the book tackles the ideas head-on is absolutely commendable. Easy solutions like grand speeches to the public or unveiling the conspiracy behind the curtain would ordinarily signal a victory for the good guys in a typical Avengers tale, but here, there is no such thing as an easy solution.
The world is messy and frightening and seemingly too far gone in a myriad of aspects. Characters like Kamala Khan, Thor, and Tony Stark have all drifted away from their hero personas in their own ways. Thor left Midgard after the fallout of the mysterious “H-Day”, Kamala Khan retired as a superhero, and Tony Stark seemingly died before being revealed as being kept barely alive by his misguided son James.
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Rising from the ashes, the team of Avengers returns to bring superheroics back to the Marvel Universe, as well as a sense of genuine hope for the future. With each subsequent issue bolstering the roster of the newly reformed Avengers, Twilight gave readers an emotional and psychological connection to these alternate Avengers, particularly Steve Rogers. Their triumphs and their failures were equally emotional in the eyes of readers, and what they signified for a divided world, both within the pages of the miniseries and out in the real world , was nothing short of earth-shattering. Avengers: Twilight is the best Avengers story in years, and it is simply one of the very best Captain America stories of all time.
“}]] The alternate universe Avengers Twilight story is one of the very best Marvel books that has been published in the last ten years. Read More