All-New, All-Fantastic Avengers #141 – ‘The Wait is All We Know’

Posted on by phil.wrede
In the Baxter Building, S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Wurmser (“played” here by an action figure of Arnold Schwarzenegger from the movie Terminator: Dark Fate) kneels over the body of the trooper he tried to rescue from the Negative Zone. He’s removed the trooper’s helmet, and exclaims, “My god in heaven. This is impossible!” The title of this comic, “All-New, All-Fantastic Avengers Presents… ‘The Wait is All We Know’,” is visible at the top of the image.
The Thing and H.E.R.B.I.E. stand next to Secret Service Agent Adams (“played” by an action figure of Peter Weller from Robocop, and named for legendary comics creator, and creators’ rights advocate, Neil Adams) in the Baxter Building’s infirmary, as their cutting-edge medical technology attempts to repair the agent’s severed arm. Meanwhile, in Reed Richards’ idea room, Jay Hansen confronts Mr. Fantastic and Iron Man.
As the conversations in the infirmary and the idea room progress, Johnny Storm searches the Negative Zone with the Fantastic Four’s high-tech sensor array, trying to find any sign of life among the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents their retreat forced them to leave behind.
Wurmser’s rage begins to boil over, just as Iron Man starts to overtly threaten Hansen. Sue Storm-Richards tries to reassure agents G.W. Bridge and Kate Neville, who anxiously wait for any news from the Negative Zone.
Intern Miles Morales provides Dr. Clark Connors (“played” by an action figure of Sean Connery, from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade) a drink, as the Thing and H.E.R.B.I.E. patiently wait, while Adams’ treatment progresses.
Reed tries to hold Iron Man back, as he raises a fist at Hansen. Johnny, sadly, reports to Sue that he can’t find any signs of survivors in the Negative Zone. From seemingly nowhere, Hansen pulls a laser blaster on Iron Man and Reed!
Wurmser makes a comment about watching his family die for a second time. The surviving S.H.I.E.L.D. agents collapse into one another’s arms. Hansen tries to make his escape…
…but is stopped in his tracks by She-Hulk, who came to back up the Fantastic Four, just in case Hansen and S.H.I.E.L.D. had a more nefarious scheme. Off to the side, Wurmser quietly admits to Sue that he’s pretty sure the trooper he tried to save was a clone of his late son!
The credits for the comic strip, citing the Unsplash users whose photographs were the background art, the use of fonts by Blambot, the ownership of Marvel by Disney, the creation of Marvel characters by actual human beings, and the figure photography/script/lettering by me, Phil Wrede.

“This week, everything changes, and nothing will ever be the same again!” is a sentiment so well-worn in superhero comics circles that it’s lost all meaning. I’m not going to make such a bold claim here, today. I am, though, hopeful that one (maybe more?) of this comic’s developments was surprising to you, reading friend! I’ve been on the lookout for the right time to drop the Clone Bomb on Wurmser since he was first introduced, if you can believe it. And, the S.H.I.E.L.D. hit squad, well, they’re trained to fight the Avengers, not alien monsters from another dimension!

What do you think? Does Jay Hansen know whose face lies beneath the Iron Man armor, or is he too busy with his own plots and schemes to worry about it?

While this comic nearly puts a bow on the gift that is the latest arc of the Phil Wrede Marvel Action Figure Comic Universe (come back next week, when a few characters try to grapple with what the fallout of this failed outing means), that doesn’t mean it hurts anything to go back and read some earlier installments, for fun, or for additional context! And, look, links to those earlier comics, they’re right here!

  • Part One (wherein Miles Morales starts his internship!)
  • Part Two (wherein Reed plans a trip to the Negative Zone!)
  • Part Three (wherein the trip goes slightly sideways!)
  • Part Four (wherein a fire-y discovery is made!)
  • Part Five (wherein we return to the Baxter Building, after a few months away!)
  • Part Six (wherein the enemy of their enemy is S.H.I.E.L.D.’s friend!)
  • Part Seven (wherein not everybody makes it back from the Negative Zone)

1 thought on “All-New, All-Fantastic Avengers #141 – ‘The Wait is All We Know’”

  1. Pingback: All-New, All-Intelligent Avengers #145 – ‘Nothing Affects Me Anymore’ – PizzaRat dot Net

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