Posted in: Comics, Marvel Comics, Review | Tagged: avengers, avengers: no surrender, Eric Nguyen, magneto, Marvel Comics, paul renaud, Pietro Maximoff, quicksilver, quicksilver: no surrender, Rico Renzi, saladin ahmed, scarlet witch, sci-fi, superheroes, wanda maximoff
Quicksilver: No Surrender #3 Review – Running in Place
Quicksilver is racing away from a giant energy beast through the frozen world with an inanimate Scarlet Witch in tow. The creature wants to hurt Pietro's sister, and he will not let that happen no matter the cost. Quicksilver reflects on the lives he and Scarlet Witch have led, and he puts everything into hiding her from the beast. However, he discovers that there is nowhere to run, so he makes a final stand at Avengers' Mansion stop the creature. However, he may not be alone in this fight.
Quicksilver: No Surrender is becoming a harder book to recommend. This isn't because it's less good than the prior issues; it's that it keeps repeating itself while the book slowly advances. It doesn't literally repeat itself, but the idea of Pietro Maximoff being forced to reexamine his life, actions, and personality in a frozen world is the premise of every issue.
That's technically the premise of the story, one could say, and you're not wrong. However, it's begun to feel like I'm reading the same issue over and over.
That's slightly less the case in this third installment, but the difference is measured in margins. We have flashback sequences to things that the ardent Avengers fan already knows, and (spoiler warning) Scarlet Witch becomes unfrozen for a brief time. That brief time is actually where the book shines, as we see how different Pietro behaves when others are around as opposed to the solitary character we've seen for most of the story (spoilers end).
The story isn't bad — far from it. It's an interesting dive into a classic and contentious Avenger. However, the story only advances cerebrally and not physically. There is little change in the landscape and the visuals from issue to issue. In essence, you could probably rearrange the order of some of these issues and a reader would not know the difference. That said, there is some genius in how this book ties the physical threat of the energy creatures into Pietro's personal conflict.
All of this repetition leaves Eric Nguyen's artwork in the awkward place of feeling repetitive while still looking good in individual parts. He does a good job of presenting Pietro in constant motion and showing the blur of the character. The creatures aren't that visually interesting, but they give color artist Rico Renzi the opportunity to liven up the landscape. Paul Renaud joins the book to depict the flashback sequences, and they look great. It is Paul Renaud, after all.
Quicksilver: No Surrender #3 is, on its own, a good comic. The character work done by Saladin Ahmed is compelling. However, it feels like this story is running in place. That may be an intentional motif, but that leaves the series feeling repetitive for the reader. I can tentatively recommend it but only for someone who has really enjoyed the last two issues and/or is a big Quicksilver fan.