Avengers Academy #16 Review

Hank Pym puts a beat down on Absorbing Man.  Veil works to save a life, but pays consequences.

Avengers Academy #16

In Dubai, Hank Pym encounters an enemy he recently stuck down in Absorbing Man, but his enemy isn’t what Hank remembers.  Absorbing Man has become Greithoth, Breaker of Wills and he’s really really powerful.  While Hank has his hands full with Greithoth, Justice is taking a beating from Titania, who’s become Skirn, Breaker of Men.  Despite Absorbing Man being much more powerful than Hank, it’s Pym’s mind that wins the day by sucking the duo into a far off tundra.  In Washington, D.C., Veil and Finesse are evacuating survivors.  Veil finds a little girl looking for her mother.  The mom is trapped under rubble.  The pair get out before the building ultimately collapsing.  However, after a relieving mother and child reunion, one of Sin’s mechs shoots the mother to death.  Out of anger, Veil kills the mech’s operator, but the real damage is knowing that little girl will always be haunted by the heroine’s failure.

Wow.  Let’s just point out that everything I’ve liked about this series from the beginning is played out tenfold in this tie in to the larger Fear Itself story.  Christos Gage has pushed these younger characters in interesting and exciting ways.  Last issue, we saw Mettle kill an enemy because he really didn’t have another choice.  This time, Veil lets her anger take charge of her and finds her using her power to poison a guy.  The best part of all this is that as shocking the moments of both deaths are, neither are forced.  The mother’s murder in front of her little girl was heartbreaking enough.  But Veil, the undisputed “good girl” of the group, killing the attacker is heart wrenching on a whole other level.

Then, we have Hank Pym’s growth (no pun intended) as a character.  He’s steadily become more confident since the end of Secret Invasion, but still flawed in some ways.  Gage has taken this to a new level of interest as well.  He’s become a pretty tough guy.  He might be a bit overprotective of the students, but he’s erasing what we’ve always thought of him as being a breakdown waiting to happen.  Hank has become a joy to read instead of making me feel like I need to seek professional help.

It’s come to a point that I cannot understand why anyone wouldn’t like this book.  There’s so much good characterization and interesting stories it has quickly become one of my favorite books in stores.

All Fear Itself reviews:

Fear Itself: #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 |

Fear Itself: The Home Front: #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 |

Fear Itself: Spider-Man: #1 | #2 | #3 |

Fear Itself: Youth in Revolt: #1 | #2 | #3 |

Journey Into Mystery: #622 | #623 | #624 | #625 |

Invincible Iron Man: #503 | #504 | #505 | #506 |

Avengers: #13 | #14 | #15 |

New Avengers: #14 |

Secret Avengers: #13 | #14 | #15

Avengers Academy: #15 | #16 |

Thunderbolts: #159 | #160 |

Uncanny X-Men: #540 | #541 |

Hulk: #37 |

Iron Man 2.0: #7 | 

Fear Itself: Black Widow: #1 |

Fear Itself: Deadpool: #1 | #2 |

Fear Itself: Wolverine: #1 |

For more visit our Fear Itself tag @ acomicbookblog.com/tag/fear-itself

Tags: Avengers Academy Avengers Comics Books Avengers Reviews Christos Gage Fear Itself Marvel