Duck Fox

Superhero comic storylines generally fall into one of three categories:

1. The one-off: A single issue that explores a specific subject. A story is crafted and completed within a single issue. Usually the more trivial stories are tackled this way, and sometimes they're used for PSAs in a "very special episode" kind of way. 
2. The arc: A series of issues tie together to form a cohesive, but independent unit. Most comics since the late 80s, early 90s take this approach. Most people probably credit this almost soap operatic style to Chris Claremont as he mastered it on the X-Men books of the 80s-90s. 
3. The event: Usually a crossover of several books; long lasting ramifications for the status quo, or at the very least, starring character's personalities, powers and/or motivations, are in store. Often events have a lot of hype and lead up only to leave people underwhelmed or frustrated that the arc being done before the event was interrupted.

Jonathan Hickman, however, pulls the narrative structures of all three into his increasingly faster paced epic duo of books, <i>Avengers</i> and the darker <i>New Avengers</i>. And while I may have said this book was not for everyone a few months ago, the past few issues have picked up the pace and paid off on dangling plot points in a major way, making it a must read if you have ever liked any of the main characters.

When we last left off, the Illuminati had just seen into the past of another world-- Earth 23099-- as the heroes there faced destruction. Ultimately it proved to be a lesson for our 616 heroes, and they kicked their otherworldly spying into high gear. Most of the past seven issues since then have focused on the group getting more prepared to do what may be necessary-- destroy another Earth to save their own. Amidst the preparation, Bruce Banner figures out what's going on and has a hold-your-breath confrontation with Tony Stark about it. Eventually Tony is convinced to let him in on the whole Illuminati thing, and now Bruce is working to ensure they never have to use Tony's antimatter bomb devices. The real meat of things, however, comes in issue #17, when The Great Society is introduced. These guys are a group of alternate dimensional heroes with clear inspirations from DC's Justice League.

The current issue has an epic fight between the two groups, with Doctor Strange ultimately stepping in to calm things down using mystical powers that are a fair bit darker than what we've witnessed him using before. Summoning a Cthulian horror, Strange ends the most recent New Avengers by using this monster to turn the tide against the Great Society.

But New Avengers 20  pales in comparison to the mindbending annual. The first annual in Hickman's New Avengers run brings us another Strange centered story, this one exploring his distant past, his not-so-distant past, and his present. First going back to when the good Doctor was merely an MD, arrogant and unstoppable with his surgical prowess. Stephen Strange had never met a tumor he couldn't excise. Never believed the best course  of action was to simply provide hospice for a patient. Just as the current Doctor Strange doesn't believe in the inevitability of death--of a young Princess brought to the monks that imparted wisdom to him long ago, or of his Earth. The annual brings the common themes together, showing how Strange is willing to sacrifice a little piece of his metaphysical self by taking the demon plaguing a young princess sent to learn the ways of monks within him. The "B" story explores the reverse of this theme-- Strange encountering the inevitability of a patient who has a cancerous tumor. Against advice, Stephen attempts to remove the malignancy, only to fail and be left in a crumpled heap.

Doctor Strange's journey across these couple of issues highlight one of the reasons such a seemingly all-powerful character can remain so human and interesting. Even though Stephen has always fought to protect the innocent, using his skills as surgeon or mystic to ward off evil, pain and death, he's also toyed with dark magic. And now it's threatening to eat away at the little bit of Stephen Strange that is left.

So while New Avengers has always been epic, the current arc, exploring Doctor Strange's slow descent into darkness is a definite reason to start reading.