Avengers #34

This has been a serious, complex story - and while it's not for everyone, it's an amazing, thoughtful and carefully devised work, and well worth sorting out. Read Full Review

The Original Sin tie-in ends on a great note. Read Full Review

And it's all masterfully drawn by Yu, of course. Sometimes his style might be a little too heavy on the black lines, but he captures all of the emotion and tension in place in this great issue. I almost don't want to see the world jump ahead 8 months, because I want to see the Avengers vs. the Illuminati right now! Read Full Review

Honestly, you knew beforehand whether or not you are going to pick this up. Either you are following Hickman's Avengers or you're not. There is no jumping in now. That said, this is a really good issue of the Avengers where important decisions are made that will affect the book from here on out. Read Full Review

Avengers #34 strikes a great balance of conceptual time travel chaos and character driven story as the book heads toward Time Runs Out. Hickman is building toward something of an Infinity-level scope again, and I can't wait to see what it is as the events of the end of this issue start to have an impact on the Marvel Universe as a whole. There are big things coming, Marvel fans, and they start right here in Avengers. Read Full Review

Seriously, since its inception I've been trying to fall in love with Hickman's Avengers titles the same way I did his Fantastic Four ones. And it's been a little disappointing or just straight up confusing at points but it seems to be finally coming together. Hickman is crafting a ludicrously huge storyline in his two titles and they are finally beginning to boil over. This might be an overstatement but if "Time Runs Out" really does reset the Marvel Universe, I would be totally fine with this being the story that does the deed. Read Full Review

Leinil Francis Yu handles the artwork once again, and his style certainly works well with the "end of the line" type of setting that is featured throughout the majority of the issue. For all of the inherent craziness of the story, Yu does a great job of keeping the story easy to follow visually. Read Full Review

The Machine may be broken, but Cap will never let go of the dream, nor will he suffer Tony Stark's machinations any longer. Avengers #34 may not be the most team-heavy issue, nor will it ever be considered one of the best Avengers comics of all time, but it will definitely stand as a major highlight of Jonathan Hickman's intricately plotted run. The high-concept sci-fi coupled with a fantastic understanding of what makes Steve Rogers just so heroic melds together into a satisfying superhero comic experience that would soften the heart of even the most critical of Cap readers. The greatest thing about comics is that you can throw characters like Steve Rogers into impossible situations just to see how things shake out, and Hickman has done just that, without losing sight of exactly why Captain America is Captain America. Read Full Review

Not much of a jab at the book itself, but this is NOT an issue to just pick up off the shelf. A ton of backstory has happened, and even though there is the obligatory recap page at the beginning, this issue is the culmination of a lot of storytelling. I have been enjoying AVENGERS as of late, as well as NEW AVENGERS and UNCANNY AVENGERS. All of these titles have been building this bigger storyline, which is leading towards the new event, AXIS. So if you haven't been up to date on Avengers stories thus far, I definitely recommend buying some issues prior to this one as well, or at the very least getting the story synopsis from the internet. Read Full Review

This was an exceptional character piece focusing on Cap, yet it never lost track of the story, which could have easily happened given the time travel nature of the story. Hickman did an exceptional job keeping this story tightly focused and moving forward through time. Hickman's run on Avengers could be some of the best Avenger's stories in the franchise. With the last page, it looks like the next arc will be equally as compelling. Read Full Review

This story ain't over yet, but it sure feels over because the time travel fun has ended. It all ended for a purpose, but you'd think the battle between three Kangs and Cap would end a lot more interestingly than with a simple shield toss. Read Full Review

Leading on from a moment of personal and moral victory, the Captain's self-righteous anger at what the Illuminati has done ultimately gives Avengers the spark and sense of purpose that it has sorely missed, in a story that is greater than the sum of its parts. Bogged down by diversionary arcs and brand-wide tie-ins in the past, Hickman clears the cogs somewhat here, leaving us in a relatively good place for the rapidly approaching Time Runs Out event that begins next month. Read Full Review

Demarcoa

Aug 27, 2014

I was pretty sold on this when a certain someone shows up. Then the rest of the issue happened. Best Hickman Avengery comic I've read thus far. Not too sure about other people's ambivalence towards this. The character driven dialogue of this comic really knocks this out of the park for me.

Ryan

Dec 18, 2018

From here on out in Avengers and New Avengers are some of the greatest Comics ever

Nomadic Avenger

Aug 30, 2014

It doesn't get much better than this. Both Avengers and New Avengers are spot on right now, cant ask for more!

JBL Reviews

Sep 02, 2014

First issue I've understood in months. Great cliffhanger ending.

havok1977

Sep 14, 2014

Awesome run

Psycamorean

Aug 30, 2020

This was a solid wrap up to an uneven arc. There was definitely a reason I didn't remember it.

Synthozoid

Aug 31, 2014

Progress! One "temporal" but no "atemporal." Hickman, for real dude, lay off the time travel and multiverse jumping for ONE FRIGGIN' ISSUE. Let the Avengers fight Ultron or something. Let someone crack a joke. Make with the fun.