As It Stands: Avengers Standoff Recap – Week Nine
By Matt Conner
Welcome to As It Stands, our weekly recap of everything going on in the Avengers Standoff: Assault on Pleasant Hill spring event.
It’s the last week, and a ton went down!
Previously in Avengers Standoff: The All-New All-Different Avengers and the Unity Squad reunited with Winter Soldier, Sam Wilson, and a newly-hot Steve Rogers, ready to put down the prison break in Pleasant Hill. Meanwhile, S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Avril Kincaid met with a mysterious museum curator about a potential weapon that could turn the tide in favor of the good guys.
SPOILERS AHEAD! PROCEED WITH CAUTION!
Avengers Standoff: Assault On Pleasant Hill Omega #1
Steve Rogers rouses the collected Avengers teams with a truly great speech, inspiring them to rescue all the hostages from Baron Zemo. The Avengers fight Zemo’s fellow inmates but no one can reach Kobik, stuck behind a force field. Agent Kincaid reveals the museum curator as Wendell Vaughn, the former Quasar, and inherits the Quantum Bands with his blessing just in time to use them to free Kobik and save the day. Kobik pitches a fit and hurls Winter Soldier, Zemo, and Doctor Selvig out of town. After the dust settles and the Avengers head home, Zemo tells Selvig the good doctor will be forced into service to the mad Baron. Maria Hill is put on probationary clearance by the World Security Council until they can figure out what went so wrong in Pleasant Hill. Steve Rogers finds Rick Jones in a secret bunker and offers him a job. Wendell Vaughn begins training Agent Kincaid to be the new Quasar. And Kobik puts together a new Thunderbolts team with Winter Soldier, Fixer, Moonstone, Mach VII, and Atlas. Finally, Red Skull uses what he’s learned watching Zemo’s failure to pump up recruitment into Hydra, eventually toward the rise of the Nazis.
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Now that this has come to a close, I feel comfortable saying this has been an amazing Captain America story, bringing out the best of Nick Spencer’s humor and intelligence and leaving significant changes in Marvel’s status quo. I particularly love the return of Quasar, a beloved hero and a property that has worked well on a female character in the Phyla-Vell era. But as a crossover, the tie-ins have been dull, incongruent, or both. Readers are advised to get Welcome To Pleasant Hill, the Alpha and Omega issues of Assault On Pleasant Hill, and the Captain America: Sam Wilson tie-ins. The Illuminati chapter is a nice treat but nonessential. It’s probably best to steer clear of the rest.
Catch up on the whole Standoff here!
And be sure to check in next weekend as we begin recap coverage of the entire Civil War II event, starting with Marvel’s Free Comic Book Day offering May 7!