New Avengers #34 *Spoilers*

[chariset]

Well, this is the end. How do things all wrap up?

spoilers:

We jump straight in from the last issue, where Daniel scoffs that Strange would challenge him when he has an entire team of Avengers to throw at him -- people Strange wouldn't want to hurt. He accepts, of course. Strange's opening salvo is the move from the preview pages -- he binds everyone in the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak, stating again that he didn't want Jericho to die. Daniel, in the body of Thor, brings the lightning to disrupt the spell (and Strange), and now it's Strange vs. Everyone. We get a flurry of one-page specials from various artists showing Strange fighting and disabling Avengers one at a time -- Red Hulk, Spider-Man, Thing, Cap, Thor, Captain Marvel. Carol is the only one to win. As Strange is knocked down, bruised and bleeding, and the Avengers move in for the kill, two voices start commentating from 'above'. They turn out to be Daimon Hellstrom and the Ancient One. Daimon demands that the other do something to stop this, but apparently it is a test. Vision pulls himself up and tries to stop this. Daniel can't possess him, so he possesses other Avengers to try to force him to stand down. The Avengers start to fight back, but Daniel is too fast for any of them to resist. But Strange has an epiphany and departs for the astral plane. Enter Luke Cage, who also joins the fight against Daniel only to get possessed. Strange comes back to his body... At this point it's hard to tell what's happened, because only Vision, Luke Cage (possessed) and Strange are visible in an otherwise empty world. Strange tells Daniel he had to "stop by a friend's house and look something up." Daimon Hellstrom starts cheering him on. This won't be pretty... Strange explains that he understands why Daniel killed Daimon and Jennifer Kale -- two dark sorcerers. Perhaps Daniel thought Strange was above using dark magic himself. Daniel was wrong. Cue pentagram. Cue several unspeakable spells from the Scrolls of Damnation. Strange tells Daniel that, what he might not do as Sorcerer Supreme, he is perfectly willing to do now, especially since Daniel hurt and killed his friends. He asks Daniel for any last words but doesn't really wait to hear them. One spell of astral form disintegration later and Daniel is no more. Back to the real world, everyone recovers as Strange tells them it is over, apologizing profusely. Daimon tells the Ancient One (or someone, or several someones) that the world needs a Sorcerer Supreme. Suddenly there is a burst of light and the Ancient One and Daimon appear. The Ancient One tells Strange that he has passed the test, by protecting his friends and the world, and by using dark magic without letting it control him. He reinstates him as Sorcerer Supreme, giving him back the Cloak of Levitation and the Eye of Agamotto. At this one, bless Bendis, there is no lengthy period of stammering and stuttering and I'm-not-worthy-ing. The very next page shows Strange in his glory, wearing his Cloak and the Eye over his new costume, with his smiling friends looking on. Daimon and the Ancient One depart. Hellstrom really is gone, but he assures everyone that you can't kill a Son of Satan. The Avengers regroup and try to get back to normal. Some time later, Avengers Mansion is restored and Victoria Hand has her statue. Spidey, of all people, quips that he wished Daniel's destruction would have brought her back, but that isn't how it works. Luke Cage sells the mansion back to Tony -- for $5, to make a profit. Another nice Bendis touch. He, Jessica, Squirrel Girl, and the baby say their goodbyes and make their exit, with only one last look back. Squirrel Girl makes an endearingly awkward speech about how they have a right to be proud of how far they've come. It appears they're going to start a new Heroes for Hire, with Squirrely staying on as their au pair, and we end on another page of string-of-pearls Bendis dialogue as they mosey down the street.

end of spoilers

The End.

[EXCELSIOR 2.0]

I thought this was a good ending all things considered. The random artist each page send off wasn't as good as it was over in Avengers, but it was still pretty fun. Obviously yay for Dr. Strange! And boo for Victoria, I was starting to really like her, she had gumption. And the Deodato splash of past adventures was cool too.

[aNamored]

YAY!!!!

I did buy this issue, but I have no idea when I'll get it (I'm on bi-weekly subscription at my comic shop.)

Sounds like a very well thought out way for Doc to go...

Thank you for the thorough post chariset. What's your opinion on how this was done? Did you enjoy it? etc.

[PlanetaryDevastation]

Yay for Strange but since when was Kale a dark sorcerer? Also I'm not sure how I liked him having the scrolls to end all of this since Bendis was supposed to be laying down the "rules of magic". The good doctor was pretty boss though.

Edit: Wait a sec. What about Agamotto turning evil and the Vishtai disbanding? All that is still left unresolved.

[BrotherUnitNo_4]

Two issues I have. He didn't revive Jennifer or Jericho.

And yeah. There's no way you can actually get rid of Daimon. At best, he just goes back to Hell.

[chariset]

Yay for Strange but since when was Kale a dark sorcerer? Also I'm not sure how I liked him having the scrolls to end all of this since Bendis was supposed to be laying down the "rules of magic". The good doctor was pretty boss though.

Edit: Wait a sec. What about Agamotto turning evil and the Vishtai disbanding? All that is still left unresolved.

There were some hints that the Ancient One was an avatar of Agamotto, or the whole Vishanti (at one point he says "we" and the text is a different font for parts of his speech), but you're right, that was never resolved.

Two issues I have. He didn't revive Jennifer or Jericho.

True. The only hint that Jericho isn't really gone is a line where Daniel said he looked for Jericho's soul all through the nether realms and didn't find him.

[Movieartman]

hehehehe one of My Favorite New Avengers Moments



The God of War will let you know when you screw up

[Nomads1]

Two issues I have. He didn't revive Jennifer or Jericho.

And yeah. There's no way you can actually get rid of Daimon. At best, he just goes back to Hell.

Yeah, that does bug me. Brother Voodoo and Jennifer Kale were two too good a characters to be left dead. We need more good magic users (Jennifer Kale being listed as a black magic user really struck me as odd, but, come on, it's Bendis we're talking about). Well, hopefully, someone will eventually bring them back. Daimon too.

And so ends the Bendis era. Finally.
He came to play in my house, he made a mess of my room, broke some of my favorite toys, played more with his toys than with mine (so what was the point of comming over?), was a bit annoying, stayed much longer than I'd have liked him too, however, he did clean up before he left and tried to fix my toys as best as he could. I wouldn't invite him back (unfortunately someone else already did - Age of Ultron), but I'd tell this last part to whoever wanted to invite him to their house (X-fans).
All in all, from what I've read of the sinopses of his final issues, a fitting end for his run.
Good luck with the x-verse.

Peace

Edit: Let the Hickman era begin. May it shine brightly.

[chariset]

Sounds like a very well thought out way for Doc to go...

Thank you for the thorough post chariset. What's your opinion on how this was done? Did you enjoy it? etc.

Parts of it rang a bit false. Strange's line about never using Dark Magic as Sorcerer Supreme, for one -- my favorite Strange arc of all time involved him doing exactly that! With the Ancient One's former rival as his teacher, no less! And the Agamotto/Vishanti issue is still unresolved unless you help Bendis along/squint/no-prize it. Oh, and no reunion scene with Wong.

But the page where Strange is standing, reinstated, patched up, no more blood or torn clothes, and just a faint smile on his face as he looks at himself, is SO right. It healed a lot of bitterness.

[mdg1]

Oh baloney....

Sure, Strange kicked butt, but in the context of all of this, Bendis killed four good characters (Hand, Kale, and the brothers Voodoo) to what purpose? To restore the same status quo he broke? To define the rules of magic as "Use footnotes instead of rhymes"? What was the point of Doctor Voodoo if he was going to backpedal and say "The Ancient One/Vishanti were testing Stephen".

Waste of time.

[StrongGuy]

Good point about Voodoo.

and the random artist pages were horrible.

[StrongGuy]

Parts of it rang a bit false. Strange's line about never using Dark Magic as Sorcerer Supreme, for one -- my favorite Strange arc of all time involved him doing exactly that! With the Ancient One's former rival as his teacher, no less! And the Agamotto/Vishanti issue is still unresolved unless you help Bendis along/squint/no-prize it. Oh, and no reunion scene with Wong.

But the page where Strange is standing, reinstated, patched up, no more blood or torn clothes, and just a faint smile on his face as he looks at himself, is SO right. It healed a lot of bitterness.

And didn't he use dark arts in the World War Hulk story?

[hacman00]

So did anyone get the impression that this issues opens the door for a Dr. Strange Marvel NOW! title?

[mugiwara]

So Kale and Voodoo died so they can show how great Dr Strange is?

That pathetic joke of the character made it to my worst 10 list.

[aNamored]

Parts of it rang a bit false. Strange's line about never using Dark Magic as Sorcerer Supreme, for one -- my favorite Strange arc of all time involved him doing exactly that! With the Ancient One's former rival as his teacher, no less! And the Agamotto/Vishanti issue is still unresolved unless you help Bendis along/squint/no-prize it. Oh, and no reunion scene with Wong.

But the page where Strange is standing, reinstated, patched up, no more blood or torn clothes, and just a faint smile on his face as he looks at himself, is SO right. It healed a lot of bitterness.

When I read that never using Dark Magic line in your synopsis, I thought: **Silly, continuity-ignoring Bendis**

Hopefully Jonathan will touch upon some of the things which were omitted. I'm glad it was a decent fix. Not perfect, but decent.

* That "reinstated page" sounds wonderful.