The fabled “white event” is upon us. Will the Earth’s mightiest heroes be able to handle what comes next?

Here is the summary from Marvel:

“WORLD BREAKER” The Avengers must scramble to deal with the threat of another Universal SYSTEM.The New Adam is transformed, and his true self revealed.And the most dangerous hero on Earth is created.

All the pieces that were laid out in issue 1 are starting to come together. The “white event” has reached Universe 616. The “new adam” who was brought to Avengers tower in issue 3 has begun to move. Captain Universe bringing him to life to accept his responsibility as a “Nightmask” a forerunner of the change brought upon by the “White Event” (which is a signal of a world on the verge of ascending on a universal scale) and of course it is Earth that is hit. However something about the event is “broken” and the Avengers are put on the hunt for a person possessing the “Starbrand” which gives this person the power to defend an entire planet…or destroy it.

Jonathan Hickman puts the pieces of the puzzle together very well (despite the slightly confusing “universal ascension” babble). The identity of the Starbrand is handled well, as he provides a few red herrings in the forms of very different people at the college where the brand touched down, this being illustrated in flash backs a few hours before the event occurred.

Dustin Weaver is the artist this issue (man this book goes through artists like a man in a strip club goes through his paycheck) and he does not disappoint. He illustartes the scale of the issue nicely, giving vivid imagery of the event ripping through other universes before coming to 616. He also uses Hickman’s red herring technique in the issue to good effect, keeping the real branded one in the background but still making them focus at the same time. Each character is also detailed very well, the use of light pencil strokes to make things stand out.

Avengers #7 is another good offering from Hickman and the ending is a nice harbinger of things to come. Such as this final line: “Why are there only certain types of people that were given the starbrand? It’s a planetary defense system…defending a planet requires having the ability to break one. Now imagine that power in the hands of someone who has pent his whole life being ignored.”

4/5