In the wake of the regular Avengers disassembling, the Great Lakes Avengers are the only ones who can stop Maelstrom from ending the universe. Assuming the GLA can avoid falling to pieces themselves. Not just because four team members die (not counting however many times Mr. Immortal offs himself, it's a lot). Most of the others are thinking about giving up for one reason or another. It's hurting their career, or it just doesn't seem like they're making a difference. Everyone has to decide what really matters, and whether anything they're doing matters at all.
It's not a serious mini-series. The first cover is an homage to New Avengers #1, except one of the lightning bolts is hitting Mr. Immortal while most of his team looks on in surprise or embarrassment. Grasshopper joins and get killed four panels after he accepts the offer. Squirrel Girl joins the team, but her partner Monkey Joe gets killed by former team member Leather Boy (see in the picture above), who has dressed himself up like Dr. Doom in that leather armor he made of his lover's skin in Waid's FF run. Mr. Immortal saves the day by tricking Maelstrom into a suicide pact to stave off loneliness.
Paul Pelletier's art works for the classic superheroics. The Kirby Krackle energy around Maelstrom's machine, the fights against Batroc, Zaran and Machete (who are unwitting hired help to their own extinction). He can also do the humor bits, or the attempts at humor, anyway. The after effects of Mr. Immortal's attempts to kill himself. The "Monkey Joe Says" panels with the squirrel as a cartoon rather than a more realistic squirrel.
But it's kind of an odd book. I could see the old "it's satire!" defense, but I don't know if it fits. Slott does this thing throughout where he makes what I assume is supposed to be a joke, then there's a small panel with Squirrel Girl's at that time partner, Monkey Joe, making some bit of commentary. For example, Big Bertha's secret identity is a super model. Slott and Pelletier do a bit where the way she gets rid of all the mass from her superhero identity is through. . .throwing up. In the lower right corner of the panel where the title of the issue is spelled out in projectile vomit on the bathroom wall, Monkey Joe reminds us bulimia is never funny. OK? It feels like when a comedian says something controversial, then immediately backpedals with the "I'm just making jokes here!" to downplay any backlash.
Slott establishes in the first issue that Dinah Soar's species lives a long time, and they can soulbond with one person who will then be able to understand them. She chose Mr. Immortal, and the idea they'll be together for who knows how long - centuries? longer? - is comfort to both of them.
Maelstrom kills her one panel later. Pretty much so Slott can send Mr. Immortal into a tailspin for the next 2.5 issues. Because Mr. I is sick of Deathurge (who he can see) keeps taking everyone he cares about, but never Mr. Immortal. But eventually he learns an important secret about himself and accepts this fate. Dinah's death is kind of pushed aside. Is it commentary on killing female characters in a perfunctory fashion so male characters can be sad about it, or was it just a case of killing a female character in a perfunctory fashion so a male character can be sad about it? Or the fact Mr. Immortal repeatedly tries to kill himself out of grief and loss, but it's shown as a joke. Is that about how superhero stuff is always melodramatic, or is the reveal that Mr. Immortal has some great purpose a comment on the fact that once you're dead, whatever you might have achieved is gone. Never to be realized.
Before this 2005 mini-series, the Great Lakes Avengers were second-stringers (at best), but taken at least somewhat seriously as well-meaning heroes who maybe didn't save the world, but did their bit to keep their corner of the U.S. safe. Hawkeye and Mockingbird even trained them for a time. Sure, it was kind of silly when the GLA changed their team name to "The Lightning Rods" to capitalize on the T-Bolts' popularity, only to find out they were copying villains and decided to hunt them down. But Kurt Busiek played off that and wrote them as actual competent heroes the main cast underestimated. Not the most powerful, but a team who spent half that comic working well together and kicking the T'Bolts' disorganized asses, then helped them face down Graviton.
After this mini-series, they're pretty much a running gag. All the jokes about the high mortality rate of their roster, Mr. Immortal sort of succeeding at committing suicide (he dies, he just doesn't stay dead), Squirrel Girl joining the roster? Far as I can tell, this is where all that starts. Is that better than never getting used at all? I guess if you're the character who can't stay dead (until Al Ewing tries to make some big point about his Hulk mythos), it's not so bad. Everyone else is potentially fucked.
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