All-New, All-Investigative Avengers #167 – ‘Dreaming of Funerals to Come’

Posted on by phil.wrede
On the nighttime streets of New York City, Iron Man and the Black Widow pose dramatically, as they await further instructions from Reed Richards (AKA Mr. Fantastic, the leader of the Fantastic Four). The title of this comic, “All-New, All-Investigative Avengers Presents… ‘Dreaming of Funerals to Come’,” is visible at the top of the image.
The Fantastic Four (plus Kate Neville, former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent turned superhero) pose dramatically in the Baxter Building’s lobby. Dr. Octopus and Spider-Man wait in a nearby hallway. Over the intercom, the FF’s helper robot H.E.R.B.I.E. announces that the opportunity to evacuate the building has ended.
Annihilation Reavers swarm through the hallway, while Kl’rt, the Super-Skrull, and his servant Nihilus (who looks like the killer alien symbiote Carnage) face down the FF. Across town, Miles Morales puts his mask on, and web-swings to the site of the nearing battle.
Captain America hands Frank Simpson back his knockoff shield, also in preparation for battle. The Fabulous Frog-Man visits his father, for what may well be the final time. Dr. Clark Connors (“played” by an action figure of Sean Connery from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade) and Emma Frost reunite.
In the secret X-Force base in New Mexico, the mutant heroes watch the events in New York unfold. Wolverine arrives to join them!
H.E.R.B.I.E. coordinates activating the “ripcord system” with Mr. Fantastic. At Midtown High, a worried Ben Reilly (“played” here by an action figure of Tom Holland from the MCU Spider-Man films) is comforted by his grandfather (“played” here by an action figure of legendary comics creator Jack “the King” Kirby), while his friend Joey Gastone (“played” by an action figure of Jacob Batalon from the MCU) seeks consolation from Coach Sink (“played” by an action figure of John Cena, and named for legendary comics creator Bill Sienkiewicz).
The entire Baxter Building shimmers, and disappears from the city skyline!
The Avengers, and some Starjammers, and even a couple of villains, stare up in wonder at the empty space the Baxter Building used to occupy.
The credits for the comic strip, citing the Unsplash users whose photographs were the background images, the use of fonts by Blambot, the ownership of Marvel by Disney, the creation of Marvel characters by actual human beings (including Jack 'The King' Kirby, whose likeness is featured in this comic), and the figure photography/script/lettering by me, Phil Wrede.

Well, we’re finally here, after nearly four solid years of adventures in the Phil Wrede Marvel Action Figure Comic Universe – from the launch of competing hero and villain apps, to the kidnapping of J. Jonah Jameson, to conspiracy-theory-addled protests outside Avengers Tower, to a fresh costume for Wolverine, to a rigged NYC mayoral election, to the discovery of other worlds (and other Spider-Men), to the ill-fated exploration of the Negative Zone, to a not-so-cold war between three separate billionaires, and even the attempted overthrow of the government… we’ve been through a lot!

And now, it’s time to take a break. Kind of. A break from the posting of a weekly comic, anyway. I’ve had a lot of ideas since I dove into toy comic creation with my little Mandalorian series, and since I make these comics in the spare moments in between real life, I haven’t had a lot of time to pursue all those other ideas in the last four years (I’ve started, or at least conceptualized, a few!). I’d like bring some of those to life in 2025, and to be more productive in real life, too. So, don’t expect a new comic every week; my intention is to post more substantial comics less often.

So, we’re taking a break from the Phil Wrede Marvel Action Figure Comic Universe, here. I have every intention of returning to it, eventually! I hope you’re excited to see what I have in store, for the future, and to see what’s happening to the Avengers and their friends, when we return to them.

As always, if this is your first visit to Pizzarat.net, welcome! And, whether you’re new around these parts, or could use a refresher on this story so far, please feel free to click away at the links below:

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