Mighty Avengers #21

Overall- Before I give a review of what I just read, allow me to get a little something off of my chest first... F###, F###, F###!!!!!!!!!!!! I HATE/ABHOR/LOATHE/DETEST/DESPISE(add any other negative verb you want)that f###ing a##hole Amadeus Cho! If not for the inclusion of that a##hole, I really, REALLY would have enjoyed this comic. But, as Cable would say, "What is, is.", so on with the review.

Anyway, my bitching aside, this was an... Interesting comic book. The Scarlet Witch, remember her? She's that Avenger Brian Michael Bendis character assassinated a few years ago during "Avengers Disassembled"(WOW, I'm in a foul mood tonight...). Anyway, it seems that Wanda is going around collecting Avengers while the world descends into magically caused chaos. In New York, the streets are running red with blood, San Fransisco is trapped in amber, the Atlantic Ocean is literally burning, etc. Wanda manages to collect Vision and Stature from the Young Avengers, U.S. Agent, and the Hulk.

While this is occurring, Hercules and that a##hole Amadeus track down Jarvis, the Avengers long time butler, in the hope that Jarvis can help them assemble a team of Avengers to combat the bizarre forces engulfing the planet. Jarvis, Hercules and the a##hole wind up finding Jocasta and Hank Pym, who has decided to call himself "Wasp" now... That's kind of creepy... I'm sorry, it weirds me out that Hank has decided to give himself the code name of his dead ex-wife. After some soul-searching, Hank decides to join up with Herc and company, and lead these so called "Avengers".

Hank realizes that the source of the magical energy messing up the Earth is located in Transia, or more specifically, Wundagore Mountain. Hank transports himself and his motley crew there and he is met by Wanda, who says she wants to help combat the magical threat affecting the planet. With that, she brings forth the Avengers she collected, and the two teams join forces ready to tackle who/whatever is responsible for the magical attacks.

By the time this comic ends, we discover that the person responsible for all of this trouble is Modred the Mystic. Modred has used the powerful Darkhold book of magic in order to transport his evil God, Chthon to our plane of existence, in the body of Quicksilver, who just happens to be the brother of the Scarlet Witch. Well, that should make things interesting!

Wow, Modred the Mystic??? Dan Slott never ceases to amaze me with his ability to pull the most obscure characters out of the Marvel Universe and use them to further his stories. Hell, I barely remember Modred! I do recall him from a few OLD Avengers comics from, I think the late 1970's or so. I may dig those books out to make sure of that though. Anyway, the main storyline was sound, but I had ALOT of serious problems with the make-up of this Avengers team.

First off, Wanda Maximoff was confirmed to have lost her mutant powers after the debacle known as the "House of M". I guess Dan can circumvent that by stating that Wanda was using magic, as opposed to her actual mutant powers. Besides that, with the exception of Stature, "Wasp", Vision and Jocasta, I really don't like this team. I've never liked the Hulk. With the exception of the Grey Hulk, the Hulk has never appealed to me. U.S. Agent I can take or leave. I guess he'll fill the obligatory "hothead" role on the team. You know, the guy everyone hates. I think I made my feelings on Hercules and the a##hole pretty well known... And then there's Wanda... Brian Michael Bendis did such a hatchet job on poor Wanda that it's going to be hard for me to see her on this team. I mean, Wanda single-handily destroyed most of the mutants on Earth. Decimation was one of the single worst ideas in comic book history, and Wanda was the catalyst Bendis used to enact Decimation.

I'll definitely pick up the next couple of issues of this series, due mainly to the fact that I think Dan Slott is one hell of a writer. BUT, I don't know if I'll be able to stand reading this comic book unless Dan changes up the team roster SOON. In the end, I liked this story, but the inclusion of the a##hole really, really hurt my enjoyment of this comic book. For that reason, I'll give this comic a score of 6 1/2 out of 10. PLEASE Dan, I'm literally BEGGING you, get Amadeus Cho out of this comic book as soon as possible. Either that, or kill him off in the most gruesome way imaginable. That would work too!