After a stellar run on Fantastic Four, -Hickman moved to the initially underwhelming but later excellent Avengers, and the consistently riveting New Avengers; this volume collects issues from both. In the latter, the Illuminati (a secret group including Iron Man and Mr. Fantastic) discover that to save their universe, they must destroy a series of alternate-universe Earths that mysteriously impinge on their own space. But the only one of them willing to commit such genocide is Namor, King of Atlantis. After Captain America discovers the activities of the Illuminati, Hickman wisely avoids rehashing the earlier Cap vs. Iron Man story Civil War by involving other factions, including a splinter Avengers team that wants to broker peace between the two, and the Cabal, a group of villains (including Thanos) formed by Namor to destroy the alternate Earths. As more than two years of plotting draws closer to resolution here, a little contrivance is apparent-but Hickman continues to juggle expertly an immense cast and multiple inventive cosmic concepts while keeping readers engaged via conflict, intrigue, mystery, and surprise. VERDICT Even aside from the Avengers's movie popularity, this is important for any Marvel collection.-S.R. © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.