Avengers #4
Avengers Vol. 5 #4 (March 2013) delivers the first extended origin story for Jonathan Hickman's reconceived Hyperion — the last survivor of a universe destroyed by an incursion — cementing one of the central character pillars of the entire Marvel NOW! Avengers run and planting the multiversal 'incursions' concept that would fuel the long road to Secret Wars. As the first standalone-ish chapter after the three-part 'Garden' opening arc, the issue also demonstrated Hickman's anthological approach to his enormous expanded roster: each new Avenger would get a character-defining spotlight that doubled as mythology-building for the larger saga. That structural method, alternating cosmic team action with intimate character portraits, distinguished this run as one of the more architecturally ambitious Avengers runs in the title's history.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
Jonathan Hickman launched Avengers Vol. 5 in February 2013 as part of Marvel NOW!, moving directly from his celebrated Fantastic Four tenure to take over from Brian Michael Bendis as the Avengers writer. Issues #1–3 were drawn by Jerome Opeña; starting with #4, Adam Kubert stepped in as the interior artist for the next arc (issues #4–6), giving the book a different visual register as it shifted from the large-scale Mars battle to character-focused standalone chapters. Editor Tom Brevoort was central to shaping the series' design philosophy, including the interconnected Dustin Weaver variant cover programme — originally planned to span all six opening issues but trimmed to the first three, with a second panoramic set revisited later in the run.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Issue is part of Avengers Vol. 5 (2013), written by Jonathan Hickman — his first Avengers series, launched under the Marvel NOW! publishing initiative.
- Interior art by Adam Kubert, who replaced opening-arc artist Jerome Opeña beginning with this issue (#4); Kubert handled issues #4–6 of the series.
- The story is titled 'The Secret Origin of Hyperion' and delivers the first extended origin flashback for Hickman's new Hyperion (Marcus Milton), the last survivor of a universe annihilated by an incursion event — distinct from all prior Hyperion incarnations.
- The flashback establishes that AIM scientists pulled Hyperion from the interdimensional void after his universe was destroyed, then imprisoned him; he was later freed by Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor and recruited into the expanded Avengers roster.
- The issue introduces the character Dr. Deeds (first appearance), an AIM scientist who appears in the Savage Land subplot.
- The main present-day plot follows Captain America and Captain Marvel discovering a previously unknown seventh impact site from Ex Nihilo's Origin Bombs in the Savage Land, where AIM operatives are illicitly extracting alien biological material.
- Hyperion observes small humanoid beings emerge from pods near the impact site and chooses to let them gather around him rather than destroy them — an early signal of his protector ethos and his thematic role within the run.
- The issue is collected in Avengers by Jonathan Hickman: The Complete Collection Vol. 1 (which collects Avengers #1–5 alongside New Avengers #1–6) and is also included in the Avengers by Jonathan Hickman Omnibus Vol. 1.
Reprints
Reprinted in Avengers #1 (2014), Avengers by Jonathan Hickman: The Complete Collection #1 (2020)
Key issues in Avengers
Other variants of Avengers #4 (1)
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