Publisher’s Summary:
“Power-mad Norman Osborn thought he was a match for the might of Earthbound Asgard. He was half-right: The reassembled Avengers drove him back, but the Realm Eternal lies in ruins. In the wreckage, former Captain America Steve Rogers, Iron Man and Thor find themselves squabbling over old wounds. As they quarrel, unstable magics cast the heroes-at-odds into the scattered Nine Realms. Separated, and with no clear path home, they quickly realize the world in which they’re trapped is not how it should be. Have their actions somehow caused a rift in the natural order? Can they come together and put it right? Their bittersweet reunion may be short-lived, with Hela – Norse Goddess of Death – waiting in the wings!”
I’d say that I deny the existence of Civil War, but to do so would be to negate the sentiment; therefore, I am willfully ignoring it. (At least until I’m living in a headspace that is emotionally capable of handling the fallout. Considering the fact that I’m still riding oh-so-very high on the new extended Avengers trailer that day is a far, far, far way off.) So had I known going into Avengers Prime that it took place in the aftermath of Siege, another storyline that continued to see the Avengers at odds, well…I would have still read it. Because, sure, things may not be all shiny, happy people holding hands in Prime, especially at the outset, but…Tony fleeing in all his Stark naked glory from a dragon! Steve being all like, ‘I will save you, Tony; make like Godiva and get on the back of this horse with me!’ And Thor being all ‘Brothers! We shall save Asgard and then hug!’ I mean…Just. C’mon.
Damn it, lady, you couldn't have made him finish that sentence?
Indeed, that’s a gross oversimplification of what transpires in Prime. (And, obviously, extremely biased towards what gets my fangirl motor revving. Indulge me; let me be giddy and just a little cheeky before getting down to business. Please.)
Yes, I need to go back and read Siege – diving in the way I have, it feels like I’m going about everything backwards, but I’m having too much fun to care – because the majority of references regarding what led up to Prime meant unfortunately nothing to me. Naturally, I had questions. Like, for instance, why and how Asgard came to be stationed on? removed to? Earth. That seemed rather important. Without that background information it was just, Oh, look at that! People are blaming Thor for the realms being out of whack. We have conflict and…action! Yes! That’s it, Steve, give ‘em what for!
See what I mean? Still. I knew enough to get by, and being clueless about the rest did absolutely nothing to impede my enjoyment of the story I was reading.
After all, Tony was ridiculously charming (“Thor, if they made a greeting card that said: Congratulations to you on your army gathering skills…I would buy you one.”) and endearingly arrogant (“What were you before you became my tool of destruction?” Tony: “I was—argh—Stark employee of the month, three months in aaagh!” Tony has sassing people while being tortured down to a science. And look who we’re talking about here. Right? Also, see page below). Steve was all manners and I’m-going-to-kick-your-ass (which he did, in spades. That’s my super soldier!). And Thor was…Thor: Wielding Mjolnir as though he were the only one capable of lift—oh, wait; smiting ogres and Goddesses of Death with equal fervor; and comforting Tony when Steve kissed another—oops, there I go again. In any event, the Trinity (which is how we refer to Captain America, Iron Man and Thor in my house) is my bread and butter, which is a good thing considering how little we see of any of the other Avengers in this book (and, Clint, I really would have liked more of you).
"The rest of you are going to feel that very special pain that comes with the God of Thunder hitting you with a very large bolt of God lightning." Oh, Tony. I'd say put some clothes on, but everyone reading this knows I wouldn't mean it.
(I really need to improve my taking pictures of individual pages with a cell phone camera skills. Cripes, that one’s lousy. At least you can still read it. Mostly. If you squint. Or click to enlarge. I’ll work on it.)
Essentially, Prime could have been written just for me. And since I know how things look around the bend after the events in Siege, I’m less likely to have an anxiety attack while reading it. A nice little bonus, that.
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