Avengers Arena #16
Right now we can surely say that we are in Boss Level with this third part. Arcade has finally gotten these young heroes to do since day 1, fight each other with no remorse to get out of Murderworld. Of course he has to handle his own fight below. Everything that they have went through has been for this moment and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
The surviving contestants are basically in an all-out Battle Royale. With the exception of Cammi they have all had something to lose up to this point and that has broken them. To the point where they stopped caring about each others lives. Hopeless made great progress motivating each of these characters to go down this path. Regret, hate, love, fear, all reasons that they have for surviving or going down with a fight. Then Down in Arcade’s lair, it’s two other contestants vs. Arcade, plus a third. It’s great to see that the two who really could do some good for everyone are put into a position where that opportunity is there to take. Katy is the biggest surprise because she isn’t the same girl we saw trying to kill everyone. It seems that that loss she took from Nico set her straight on what is right and seeing Tim balance her out is smart.
Only problem here I find is that we are approaching the end and Cammi still remains a mystery. We know her background and what led to this point but she hasn’t had that breakthrough moment where you find yourself caring about her. Might be just to make her that logical person who isn’t affected by her emotions, but would like a bit of a connection to such a character.
Aside from this there were some inconsistencies with the art, even though overall it was clean with bold colors and inking. This still doesn’t stop Avengers Arena from having a set up to the finale we have been anticipating. Who will die? Who will be the hero of this story? Will any of them be the same who survive? All reasons to read this book and want to get to that ending.