(This review originally appeared on Dave Medinnus' Star Spangled Site.)
CREDITS: Kurt Busiek, Norm Breyfogle, and Richard Howell
Four and a half shields
SUMMARY: The newly-resurrected Patsy Walker (see Thunderbolts annual 2000) appears on the television show "The All-New It's Amazing" to promote her recently released tell-all autobiography, entitled "Gidget Goes To Hell." Patsy gives the viewing audience a quick rundown on her eventful past, starting with her days as the inspiration for the "Patsy Walker" romance comic books, her first encounter with the Avengers, her adopting the costumed identity Hellcat, her joining the Defenders, her marriage to Daimon Hellstrom, her strange death, and finally, her rescue from the underworld by the Thunderbolts. Whew! The hosts of "It's Amazing" then bring out a surprise guest: Hedy Wolfe, Patsy's old friend/rival, and the current head of Patsy Walker Properties, Inc.
Hedy takes Patsy back to their old hometown of Centerville, where all her romance comic book tales were set. Hedy relates how, to save the town from bankruptcy, she transformed it into an amusement park of small town Americana. Hedy is clearly thrilled with the direction she has taken Centerville in, but the shocked Patsy is not certain what to think! Patsy is reunited with her old friends & family, and she meets Centerville's new mayor, Mr. Nicholas, and the town manager, the creepy Russell Daboia. Patsy takes a walk about town, but she soon becomes uncomfortable with the strangely odd residents who keep mobbing her. Suddenly, Patsy experiences a vision that the citizens of Centerville are actually demons! Uttering the expletive "Cheese and crackers!" Patsy flees, with the demonic townspeople in pursuit. Patsy wishes she was in her Hellcat costume and, to her surprise, it instantly appears on her. The demons pursue Hellcat to the roof of a church where, looking down on Centerville with her newly discovered magic vision, Patsy discovers the entire town is possessed by demons.
Meanwhile, at Avengers Mansion, Iron Man, Scarlet Witch, and Captain America are running a combat simulation. They are interrupted by a psychic projection from Moondragon, who authoritatively orders them to proceed to a set of coordinates. The three Avengers fly a quinjet to the coordinates, where they are met by Moondragon, as well as Thunderbolts' members Hawkeye and Songbird. Moondragon reveals that she received a telepathic cry for help from Hellcat, who she once trained. The six heroes quickly proceed to Centerville, only to find that everything appears normal. Patsy, Hedy, and a group of citizens greet the Avengers, and Patsy explains that her cry for help was just from a nightmare, and she apologizes for sending the Avengers on a wild goose chase. However, the Scarlet Witch immediately sees through this deception, exorcises the demons that have possessed Patsy & Hedy, and has Moondragon levitate them all out of the town.
The newly freed Patsy tells the Avengers what has happened to Centerville, and Hedy realizes that somehow she has caused the town's possession by her commercializing of it. Patsy turns into Hellcat, and leads the Avengers to the center of demonic infestation, beneath the town rollercoaster. Hedy, feeling guilt-stricken, secretly follows them. In a subterranean temple, the Avengers discover that the white supremacist group the Sons of the Serpent are invoking the demons to possess the town citizens, as well as all the visiting tourists, enabling the Sons to have demonic "sleeper agents" throughout the country. The Avengers charge in to stop the Sons' mystic ceremonies. The leader of the Sons reveals himself to be Russell Daboia, who promptly transforms himself into a giant serpent creature. He summons a group of supernatural beings, the Salem's Seven, to battle the Avengers. Naturally enough, a big fight erupts! As this takes place, Daboia cackles that he and his master are using the Sons of the Serpent as pawns to mystically subvert the country. Hedy, who followed the Avengers, overhears Daboia' explanation, and decides that she made a definite mistake when she hired him!
The Avengers defeat the Salem's Seven and the Sons of the Serpent, so Daboia summons a horde of ghostly serpents to attack them. The Avengers are almost overwhelmed, but still fight on. Daboia realizes he must cast one last spell to finally defeat them but, before he can do so, Hedy rushes in and tips over Daboia's magic cauldron. Daboia's protective pentagram is destroyed, and the mystic forces he summoned immediately turn on him. All the demonic possession he caused are instantly broken, and Centerville is returned to normal.
Later, the Avengers depart, and Patsy is left wondering what to do with her new life. She decides to stay in Centerville, help guide the town's future, and go back to college. Patsy also wants to use her new powers to make certain that the town's troubles are truly over. She knows that Daboia has been banished, but she can't help wondering if Daboia's unnamed, unrevealed "master" still has plans for Centerville. As she walks the town streets, considering all this, she is secretly observed by the true mastermind of the town's misfortunes: Mayor Nicholas, whose dark schemes are far from finished!
ANALYSIS: Avengers 2000 serves as both a follow-up to the events of this year's Thunderbolts' annual as well as a lead-in to the upcoming Hellcat miniseries. Despite this, the issue works remarkably well as a (relatively) self-contained story. Certainly this has been one of the better Avengers stories written by Kurt Busiek. Unburdened by such continuing backstories as the Triune's manipulations, the Scarlet Witch/Wonder Man/Vision love triangle, and Hank Pym's myriad mental problems, this is a very accessible story. Even the continuity-heavy backstory of Patsy Walker is well handled, summarized in a succinct recap that will please both long-time fans and newer readers who are not as familiar with the character. And, once that exposition is out of the way, Busiek writes an exciting, enjoyable, and, indeed, fun adventure.
I liked the inclusion of Songbird in the story. This ties in with her (hopefully) future membership, as forecast in the Avengers Forever miniseries. This also answers a nagging question I've had since the very first issue of that miniseries, namely, would the Avengers involved in the "Destiny War" actually remember those events, or would they forget everything when they were returned to their proper times. We finally find out that they do remember, but only on a subconscious level. Hence Hawkeye brings along Songbird on an Avengers mission so she can get used to working with the team, because of his buried memories of her future membership.
Actually, I have only one complain as far as the story is concerned, and that is the use of Busiek's now-characteristic deus ex machina of an outsider or absent member of the team conveniently appearing at the last second to save the day. Previous examples of this were Triathlon rescuing the Avengers from Moses Magnum's forces in Avengers #8, Giant-Man destroying Imus Champion's doomsday machine the Avengers/Squadron Supreme annual, Justice arriving in the nick of time with a load of Antarctic Vibranium to stop Ultron in #22, and, most recently, Yellowjacket deflecting Kulan Gath's aim in #30. Here, too, is the last minute rescue, as the Avengers, on the verge of being defeated, are saved by Hedy's timely intervention. Timely, and all-too-predictable. It would be nice if Busiek would actually write stories where the Avengers didn't require the cavalry to come in the nick of time.
The art on Avengers 2000 was outstanding. In the early 1990s, Norm Breyfogle was a regular on the various Batman titles from DC. I thought his work was very good then. Now I think it's fantastic. He has improved his already-impressive style and technique, producing some fabulous work. It's been a great pity that his art has seldom appeared since the unfortunate dissolution of Malibu Comics a few years ago. So, for Breyfogle to have drawn both this and the Thunderbolts annual, not to mention the upcoming Hellcat miniseries, is a great treat. Richard Howell's artwork on the story's second chapter also has to be complimented. Howell is a very underrated artist. Aside from his regular work at Claypool Comics, he has had few assignments within the last decade. Kurt Busiek clearly appreciates Howell's work, for he asked him to co-plot the Iron Man miniseries "The Iron Age," and he also requested Howell's art for this annual. Howell's style is perfect for rendering Centerville and evoking the atmosphere and feel of the old Patsy Walker romance comics. One can but hope that Howell will have further opportunities to work with Busiek.
In conclusion, the 2000 Avengers annual, although not without faults, is definitely an outstanding issue, both in terms of story and artwork.