Avengers: Time Runs Out, Vol. 3

Avengers (2012) (Collected Editions)

by Jonathan Hickman (Writer), Stefano Caselli (Illustrator), Kevin Walker (Illustrator)

For Earth's Mightiest Heroes and the Illuminati, it has all been building to this. After two years of carefully crafting his cataclysmic saga, writer Jonathan Hickman jumps ahead eight months to the grand finale, the honest-to-goodness immediate future of the Marvel Universe...and the day of the Final Incursion! After the revelation of the Illuminati's desperate, world-destroying actions, the Avengers are fragmented! What has become of Earth's Mightiest Heroes over the past eight months? What will happen when the Avengers, Illuminati and Cabal clash? And have all the battles they've endured, and the sacrifices they've made, prepared either group for the inevitable moment where time runs out for everybody? The third act of the astonishing climax to Jonathan Hickman's legendary run is here!

COLLECTING: AVENGERS 40-42 & NEW AVENGERS 29-30

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction

136 pages, Hardcover

First published May 26, 2015

About the author

Jonathan Hickman is an American comic book writer and artist. He is known for creating the Image Comics series The Nightly News, The Manhattan Projects and East of West, as well as working on Marvel Comics' Fantastic Four, FF, and S.H.I.E.L.D. titles. In 2012, Hickman ended his run on the Fantastic Four titles to write The Avengers and The New Avengers, as part the "Marvel NOW!" relaunch. In 2013, Hickman wrote a six-part miniseries, Infinity, plus Avengers tie-ins for Marvel Comics. In 2015, he wrote the crossover event Secret Wars. - Wikipedia

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Re-read 2016
100% less ranty than the original review!



This was easily my favorite volume of this event, so far. Easily!
All of the individual stories finally started making real sense (to me), and as it all came together it made a cool and (mostly) coherent story about all this Incursion stuff.
So many surprises in this sucker! There were even a few times that I did the GASP! thing out loud.
Especially when it came to Namor!



Not sure what else I can say without giving spoilers to anyone (like me) who is reading this stuff late.
But...yeah.
Best of the bunch, and it got me excited to read the last volume!




Review from 2015

Oh...fuck you, Marvel! Fuck you, and your stupid labeling!



I just finished Vol. 1: Avengers World & Vol. 2: The Last White Event...just so I could FINALLY read this one.
And guess what?! I opened it up, and NOTHING looked familiar.
Why didn't volume 3 of the Avengers title match up to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Avengers title?
Because THIS! Who the fuck thought it was a good idea to label this shit...like THIS. Why? What the ever-lovin' monkey fuck is wrong with you idiots at Marvel?!
Goddamnit! Now I've gotta go back and find the rest of this shit...
*snarls, snorts*



FINE! I'll do it. But I'm not happy.



Real review once I've eventually caught up to this goddamn volume.
Fuckers.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hickman’s Avengers Time Runs Out saga is drawing to a close, so you’d think it’d be much simpler to actually follow what’s going on. Right?

Nope!

At least Melville dumped the whaling industry info crap early on in Moby Dick, here, Hickman just doesn’t know when to quit.



Goody. Let’s throw in an even bigger threat to the multiverse. They’re of the I-eat-Galactus-for –breakfast-and-crap-out-nebulas variety. For readers not in the know, Galactus dietary requirement are planets. Lots and lots of planets.

And if you think it’s difficult for the reader to follow this obtuse plot, just think how old man Steve Rogers feels.



Cap, nobody would blame you if you took a nap.

If we’re taking a poll as to who’s the most reliable, stable character to send out into the multiverse to investigate cosmic stuff and have his mind blown, I think it’s safe to say this guy wouldn’t make the top ten:



Yep, Hank Pym, who’s had more nervous breakdowns than Stan Lee has gall stones.

Other developments: A big ol’ target has been put on our Earth, by its former allies. Kree bastards!!

And If you’re going to kill Namor and his Cabal, you’d better make sure that they are in fact, dead. Sloppy work indeed.



Fashion commentary: The Mohawk looks terrible on Storm, what genius assumes it would be an attractive look for the Hulk.



Hulk smash puny barber!

Bottom Line: In his efforts to amp the action and suspense, Hickman fails to do either as his grand epic storyline draws to a close. Also: I realize this storyline depicts the possible end of all of existence, but would it kill you to throw in a joke or two. My theory: he lost his sense of humor at band camp.

[Sam Quixote · Rating 2 out of 5]

At the end of the book, Rocket Raccoon calls the Avengers “idiots” to their faces and I totally agree with his assessment! This whole series has been idiotic.

Time Runs Out, Volume 3 is a largely expositional book. Hank Pym’s back from the edges of spacetime or something with a whole load of info to dump on everyone about the Beyonders and what they’re up to - turns out, bad things because they’re the bad guys! What disappointingly generic motivations. Pym’s entire speech is emblematic of Jonathan Hickman’s Avengers run: convoluted, boring and esoteric - it’s just bad sci fi.

There’s the end of The Cabal - Namor, Thanos and The Black Order - at the hands of the Illuminati. Which I don’t understand. It’s like Britain and America allying with Russia in World War Two but, instead of focusing on the Nazis, Britain and America immediately turn on Russia! Wha… morons! You’ve got bigger fish to fry - fight each other AFTER the much more pressing issue of the planet-smooshing!

I don’t know why The Cabal had to be taken care of now. And it’s done so poorly too. Namor buzzes off while Thanos and the others stand around gawping instead of doing anything. It’s like Hickman had to write them uncharacteristically brain-dead in order to pull it off.

And speaking of writing out-of-character characters, Black Panther comes off as a total douche in this one. Cap’s still dumb as a post except it’s underlined still further just how little he knows is going on and how utterly useless he and his stupid conflict with the Illuminati is. He looks like an idealistic fool instead of the calm pragmatist that Reed and his guys clearly are.

It’s indicative of how poorly Hickman writes the heroes that I ended up liking one of the obvious villains the most: Ultimate Reed Richards, aka Maker. He’s come off very cool in this one plus he’s one of the few actually capable of addressing the major problem of universe collapse. It’s a shame there’s not more of this character here.

My patience has almost run out with Time Runs Out but then there’s only one more book left so let’s see this mess to the door. Like the preceding two books, Avengers: Time Runs Out, Volume 3 is still more pointless nonsense!

[Kemper · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll do a longer review about the entire Hickman run once I get through the last one, but at this point what started out as seeming like a mishmash of wild sci-fi stuff and B-characters has rapidly turned into a story that I'm really starting to enjoy. Despite how epic the scope is it seems to get better the closer down to the major characters Hickman takes it like how Captain America continues to be in a mouth foaming rage at the Illuminati members for daring to take action he disagreed with when faced with the potential end of the Earth and/or universe. There's some good twists and a shocking betrayal here, but all of it feels earned at this point. Bonus points for the Guardians of the Galaxy showing up with Rocket letting all the Avengers know exactly just what kind of idiots he thinks they all are.

[Sesana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I'm finally starting to get the hang of it. I honestly think that this is some of the best Avengers work that Hickman has turned out, and it's partly because this volume pauses to brings things down to a more personal level more than once. And also, I think, because I'm starting to get the feeling that it's all finally coming together. More like 3.5 stars, but I'm rounding up because I have a great deal of respect for what Hickman is trying to do and how much work he's put in to get here.

[Jesse A · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series, man! Kudos to Marvel for letting Hickman go full Hickman!

[Cheese · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant volume.

Here we finally get to see black panther get his revenge on Namor.

[Subham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its all coming together!

When the surprising guest comes out and we find what Namor plans to do they send the cabal to another earth putting their differences aside for a moment but then we find the cross plan that BP has planned and its one of the best scenes ever and finally brings it full circle. Also have to attest the fact that the confrontation between Steve and Reed is something and finally we have the focus on 1610 and we find what the maker has been doing and his new allies: the Cabal. Plus we finally find the Ivory Kings and Yellowjacket who finds out about them has a big story about them which is one of the coolest revelations and mind boggling things.

This arc is fantastic and brings everything full circle and has character moments unlike any other and the revelations, and the epic grandiose nature of Hickmans run finally unfolds and its a sight to behold.

[Sud666 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my 4th volume of this truly epic and wonderful series. It has gotten better and better with each volume. The very 1st one was a wee bit confusing because a lot was going on all at once. Vol 2 began to tie the loose ends together and Vol 3 makes a LOT more sense. The incursion of the multiverses is now down to only a few. The Illuminati have teamed up with SHIELD and have managed to set a trap for the ruthless Cabal. I won't give away spoilers and say who betrays whom but its a stunner. Meanwhile it seems that there is a whole lot more going on than originally seemed. This truly magnificently epic tale brings in Celestials, Beyonders (yeah plural), the Living Tribunal and other cosmic entities. There are many substories going on as each major player from the Illuminati and SHIELD to the Cabal and the cosmic entities and the Shiaar Empire all vying for a chance to save their world from destruction. Different earths (the one with the Ultimates universe all the way to ours) are now attempting to survive and be the ONE earth that will make it out of the collapse of the multiverse into a universe.

I truly enjoyed this volume. I love stories that involve cosmic entities. The fact that the Beyonders have come into the mix, and the hint that the original Beyonder ffrom Secret Wars I & II was only a child was mind blowing. That Beyonder was able to subdue even cosmic entities with ease. I guess this is all going to be a lead up to the new Secret Wars. I'm certainly in. The artowrk in this series seems to have improved, and I'd thought it to be quite good from Vol 1. But the artowrk is simply gorgeous. Mr. Hickman was written a complex, epic and cunning tale of betrayal, honor, courage and a wide range of emotions. The best part is there are no real good or bad guys. Everyone is a little bit complicit in this-since they all want to survive. I look forward to reading Vol. 4

If you love great stories and great artwork. I can't say enough about this series. Best to get all 4 volumes at once and read them in a row-THEN it all makes sense.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this volume well enough, though nothing multiverse-shattering going on. The intersection with the Ultimates Universe would've been more appealing...if I knew or cared anything about the Ultimates.

[Michael Hicks · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume feels like it has a lot of that middle-child syndrome long series arcs suffer from. Volume 3 exists to bridge us from the fallout of Volume 2's big battle, while introducing some new story threads to carry us into the final volume.

I will say, though, that Hickman gives one heck of a payoff to the long-standing feud between the Black Panther and Namor. Way back in Avengers vs. X-Men, Namor, while possessed by the Phoenix Force, made a life-long enemy out of Panther. While they've been uneasily working together in the face of the incursion threats, they've been strange bedfellows with a hell of a lot of tension between them. That finally comes to a head in a pretty wicked sequence here.

It looks like the stage is now properly set for volume 4, with all kinds of threats and animosities galore. Onward!

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

This as the second-to-last book in the run-up to Secret Wars is building up excruciatingly to the moment when Shit Really Happens, and it's hard to keep straight all the threats to humanity that keep popping up with their Mohawks and helmets. Grrrr. I want this to be over but I don't want to miss any of the great moments in store for me.

Nice little moment of poetry and dirty heroism in this book, what with Namor finally getting revenged/killed by Black Panther, at the behest of his sister. I don't say I like what happened. I hate to see well-written antagonists go. Hell, as far as I know I'm someone else's antagonist and I'd hate to see this kind of outcome against *me*. (What, you don't think I could be an asshole? Try me after five hours of meetings. Just try me.)


I was pretty damned excited when I saw that Ultimate Universe heroes started showing up in this storyline:


I mean, I've been waiting for this for a long time - evil Reed vs "good" Reed, our favourite Spideys getting to cross paths again, and the Samuel L. Jackson cool badass Fury coming into the picture?.

Fuck yeah. Makes me drool a little (which is stage 2 of Marvel Zombification setting in, after the glassy-eyed state but before the shambling ham-fisted mashing at my tablet to keep turning pages in the Marvel Unlimited app).

This is when the event really starts to build as far as I'm concerned.

And where it gets unrealistically terrifying. When they start talking about beings that can kill Celestials, that are ultimately behind the incursions and collapse of the multiverse, this is a Marvel-wide threat we can really get worried about. And yet...

How the hell deus ex machina are these mere human (and superhuman) Earth-bound heroes and villains possibly going to defeat a power this far above their magnitude? It'd be like an ant colony trying to, I dunno, beat down an army of drones? A nuclear weapon? Or maybe how's about trying to defeat the sun?

Where can this possibly go that won't feel completely cheap and too-clever-for-itself?

I mean, they killed Eternity:

(That's one psychedelic "brain" spatter)

THEY KILLED A BEING WE CALL ETERNITY. WHAT. THE. FUCK. HICKMAN?

[J · Rating 2 out of 5]

***zzzzzzz****

Oh, wait, I'm supposed to wake up and review this book? Really?

OK, we have more of the same. Talky super heroes talk and then talk some more, then nothing gets done except the "heroes" try to kill one of their own. Meanwhile, the victim ends up living and then hangs out with some bad guys who are trying to do something about all these worlds crashing into one another. We get a glimpse of how Marvel is going to destroy the Fantastic Four because they bring in some bad version of Reed Richards (well, bad is a relative term when the regular RR has been murdering billions of people to save his own Earth) who is very interesting and just might survive the upcoming reboot. Hmmm.

Then there is this subplot about the MU alien races going, "Oops! Yes, Earth's heroes saved our collective bacon, but now we have to destroy them because our Brainiac 5 rip-off character was wrong about something!" Yay, can't wait to read all about that.

Can you imagine *paying* $7.98 each month to read this snooze fest? Seriously, get a Marvel Unlimited subscription for $9.99, then read a few hundred comics so you're only paying pennies for this pile of shit. Lots of good Marvel comics out there (looking at you Ms Marvel, She-Hulk, Silver Surfer, Daredevil, etc.) where the characters aren't all super duper murdering schmucks.

Two stars instead of one because there is some good art here, although Steve Rogers varies from looking like the Cryptkeeper to Jimmy Carter. Meh.

back to my nap.


****zzzzzzz*****

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh, alright already. I'm getting really impatient with Hickman's Avengers. We've been spinning our wheels for over a year now. And nothing much has happened. Not enough story going on here.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid story, good art but I'm ready to be done with this dour 5 year running story.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was much better than the previous 2 volumes. things seemed to flow better and makes more sense.

[RG · Rating 3 out of 5]

Has its ups and downs through the giant ride but I'm hoping the end is near.

[Tesutamento · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bir şeylerin yerine oturmasını ve anlam kazanmasını beklerken Hickman olaylara daha çok karakter atmaya başladı. Tonla kozmik varlık hikayeye dahil oldu ve hikaye çap olarak büyüdü fakat önceki şeyler oturmamış ve anlaşılmamışken üzerine biraz daha kat çıkmak gerçekten mantıklı mı? Freni boşalmış kamyon gibi ilerleyen bir hikaye.

Tek güzel kısmı 1610 evreni diğer bir deyişle Ultimate evreninin hikayeye dahil olmasıydı. Ultimate Reed Richards yani Maker tek ilgimi çeken kısımdı.

[Michael Church · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well this is finally coalescing into something coherent. The series is a little all over the place, given the subject matter. I put a pin in it a couple of months ago to catch up on everything pre-Secret Wars before diving back in. Avengers and New Avengers continue to cross over so that they really wouldn’t make sense on their own. This has really turned into the event before the event for Secret Wars. It reads like a true crossover, and at this point we are on volume 3 of 4, so you’re either in or you’re out. It continues to get a little more heady and conceptual with how the Marvel multiverse works. There’s also a nice little throwback to Secret Wars and Secret Wars II.

It’s decently interesting, but if you weren’t reading New Avengers (and maybe Avengers), I expect you would be able to just catch up with Secret Wars. Time will tell.

[Daniel Sepúlveda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sigo confundido pero fascinado. Los dibujos, como ya he dicho en la reseña del volúmen anterior, me parecen muy buenos.
Pasan muchas cosas pero también explican muchas otras. El problema es que a Marvel le gusta hacer eventos un poco complejos que requieren que el lector esté 100% metido en su Universo, cosa que yo no he hecho.
Me gusta mucho como manejan la relación entre Black Panther y Namor luego de los sucesos de AvX, me parece majestuoso!
Buen volúmen, estoy con ansias de leer el volúmen final!

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Avengers: Time Runs Out volume 3. The build up to the big finale continues to build.

The cast of characters involved in this Avengers title continues to grow. The end of the world and multiverse continues to approach. The teams have got that to deal with along with Namor and his Cabal, including the likes of Thanos.

The ongoing mystery behind what is behind the end of the multiverse is also revealed and is very epic in scope. We also get a window into what is happening over in the Ultimate universe.

If that wasn’t enough the Guardians of the Galaxy also become involved.

Epic in scope and execution. However not an ideal place for newcomers to start.

[Benjamin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want to give this five stars. It's an absolutely brilliant read. But it's part of a long-form comic arc that Jonathan Hickman has been tremendously maintaining. I definitely recommend starting all the way back at New Avengers Vol 1 to get the full impact.

That said, this volume really upped the game in anticipation for what happens when "Time Runs Out" (answer: Secret Wars). Characters are getting pushed to their extremes and unexpected twists wait with each page turn. More than a few times my "mind was blown" when grand reveals happened.

I can't wait to get to the next volume and then on to Secret Wars!

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

My head asplode. I humbly admit that there are whole chunks of this entire event that my feeble mind does not comprehend. As Hank Pym says, "At some point, the mind... the mind becomes incapable of fully understanding what it's observing." But the odd bits that I do understand are freekin' awesome!
If I have one quibble, it's that there are times when I feel like I've missed parts of the story. Whether that's because I'm not reading everything that's being put out, or because I'm having brain exhaustion, I don't know.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series continues to be entirely amazing — one of the best superhero comics ever produced. On the one hand we have the story of the Cabal, an epic story of the sort that usually isn't even attempted in the comic, yet it has great character moments too. On the other hand we have Yellowjacket's report of the multiverse, revealing truly amazing sights, and also giving us our first hints of what happened. The final issue of this volume is a bit weak, because it's primarily setup, but otherwise this is another awesome volume of this story!

[Keith Jones · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've asked this before and I'll ask it again? Is there another book where the characters actually attempt to figure out what's going on that I don't know about? This book is very poorly reverse engineered, and half the explanation of what's happening is vomited up in an "oh here's a character we haven't mentioned before and forgot to tell the audience we sent on a mission." Also it is very unclear what happens to the universes that lose the big exploding Earth fight. On the one hand, the book says they are fine while also at the same time the book says they are vanishing. It is very unclear

[Ryan Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Black Panther/Namor hate finally comes to an end and it's great! Pym's quest into the far reaches of the universe reads as a little bit too convenient of a way to provide information to the reader, but still enjoyable. I was never a reader of Ultimate Marvel, but the introduction of that universe's Reed Richards is ridiculously good. Old Cap's wedged that stick out of his ass a tiny bit, but he's still no Captain America.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 2 out of 5]

What is going on here? We've got multiverses colliding, the appearance of Beyonders, the building of a human race space ark.... if I didn't know what was coming up with Secret Wars (which I only kind of do anyways)....

Maybe I'll read this again in a few years as a omnibus and it will make more sense.
Recommend, but with reservation

[Todd Glaeser · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nope reading more didn't help. (See my review of Avengers: Time Runs Out, Volume 2)

[Sarospice · Rating 1 out of 5]

Superheroes stand around gawking at the end of the world. People with amazing powers and abilities drawn waiting around. Suddenly Yellowjacket shows up and you think SHITZ BOUT TO GO DOWN but no, he is also neutered. sad.

[Shawn Ingle · Rating 2 out of 5]

This series is infuriating with all its ups and downs and back and forth. For me, the bad definitely outweighs the good, and with only one volume left before Secret Wars, I'm not optimistic this is going to stick the landing to the point where I'll feel like it was worth the investment.