Avengers World #8

History

Avengers World launched in January 2014 as part of the third wave of Marvel NOW!, conceived as a companion title to Jonathan Hickman's main Avengers run, with the explicit goal — articulated by writer Nick Spencer — of exploring what the Marvel Earth looked like beyond New York and space, covering Europe, Asia, and Africa. Spencer served as the primary writer on issue #8, with Marco Checchetto providing interior art and Gabriele Dell'Otto supplying the cover, and editor Wil Moss overseeing the issue. The series was structured from the outset to run parallel threads simultaneously: the A.I.M. Island / Smasher plotline, the Madripoor / Shang-Chi / Gorgon thread, and the Italian necropolis / Morgan Le Fay storyline that reaches a critical juncture in issue #8. Checchetto was a recurring artistic collaborator on the series, handling issues #6, 8, 10, 12, and 14–16 alongside Caselli.

Trivia · 7 facts

• Written by Nick Spencer with interior art by Marco Checchetto and a cover by Gabriele Dell'Otto; edited by Wil Moss under editor-in-chief Axel Alonso.
• The issue is part of the ongoing 'City of the Dead' storyline: the Avengers squad of Nightmask, Spider-Woman, Hawkeye, and Star Brand encounters the Euroforce — a European super-team — inside the mystic necropolis below Velletri, Italy, where Morgan Le Fay has seized control.
• Morgan Le Fay's occupation of the Velletri City of the Dead is the central threat: freed by her daughter Caroline Le Fay from mystical imprisonment, she uses the necropolis — originally a spirit trap constructed by the Cult of Entropy — as a base to raise undead armies across Europe.
• Sebastian Druid (son of Doctor Druid, former member of Nick Fury's Secret Warriors) is introduced as magical support by Maria Hill aboard the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier Iliad, explaining that the Cities of the Dead are Cult of Entropy constructs where tormented souls are unable to pass on.
• Star Brand discovers that the souls trapped in the Velletri necropolis include victims of the catastrophic accident that originally gave him his powers, adding a layer of personal consequence and guilt to the arc.
• The Euroforce — including Black Knight, Swordswoman, Tumult, Tiger, Sliver, and Baby Killer — team up with the Avengers against Le Fay's forces in this issue, though Morgan immediately counters by unleashing undead armies from multiple European Cities of the Dead simultaneously.
• The issue belongs to the larger Hickman/Spencer Marvel NOW! architecture directly leading into Time Runs Out and Secret Wars (2015), serving as one of the key chapters that expands the scope of simultaneous global crises the expanded Avengers roster was created to address.

Full credits

Key issues in Avengers World

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#7 1st appearance — Devastator