Avengers #6 (of 10)

Writer:  Jim Zub, Mark Waid & Al Ewing

Artist:  Sean Izaakse

Cover Art:  Yasmine Putri

I never knew how much I needed Conan the Barbarian and Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch together until I got it.

I had made a joke a while ago after Marvel regained the rights to publish Conan the Barbarian comics about how long it would be before Conan was in the Avengers.  The answer was …not too long.

However, as everything else has been in this weekly event called No Road Home, the issue featuring Conan and Wanda (almost exclusively) was just fantastic.

There was a little bit of the Hulk and Hawkeye (oh, and by the way, the Hulk is just creepy as all get out.  The Hulk has become a real monster…not just a mindless one smashing things.  This Hulk has an air of wickedness, if not evil, about him), but the bulk of the issue was Conan and Wanda heading after the shard.

And, once again, the final page of this issue is jaw dropping.  I love this book after six issues.  It has taken a non-typical Avengers threat and weaved a amazing story with some exceptional character moments.  This blows the current Avengers main title out of the water.  Both books have been doing unconventional stories (this one involving Greek Gods and now barbarians and the other book involving vampires), but this book has not yet failed to deliver something extra special.

The fact that there are only four more issues before this story ends is a true sadness to me.   It is as good as Old Man Hawkeye and as Marvel Knights 20th.  Shortened series with a determined story focusing on more than just fighting… perhaps this is the real way to move Marvel Comics forward.