See, Jonathan Hickman. Here's how you do it. Here's how you tell a story with an ending that your readers already know but still makes them wonder just how well they know it and marvel at the difficult decisions that their heroes have to make.
I did not see the Human Torch coming. We all knew the Marvel Universe wasn't going to turn into the Cyborg Universe. But, I still wasn't sure how Remender was going to do it. It is, of course, the perfect decision, in part because it proves the large point that Remender has been trying to make: we feel happy that the Human Torch, and not Hawkeye, killed the Descendants exactly because we don't really believe that he's a real person. We worry about the effect that such an act would have on Hawkeye, but we don't worry about the effect (or at least as much) that it would have on the Human Torch, because, after all, does he really have emotions? As Hawkeye said, the Human Torch destroyed the only hope that he had of fitting into a society that didn't view him this way and our emotional response to him (and, again, not Hawkeye) killing the Descendants backs up that point. Valkyrie puts an even finer point on it, stabbing Black Ant through the chest because she doesn't worry about him having a soul. How does something weigh on your soul if you don't have one?
In this way, Remender brings the tragedy of Black Ant and Human Torch full circle. The loss of both of them is profound and, as predicted issues and issues ago, weighs heavily on Hawkeye's shoulders, as the amazing opening few pages show. It's the perfect conclusion to this series and makes me all the sadder that this day has come.
I don't know how Marvel can hype something so profoundly mediocre and gimmicky as "Superior Spider-Man" but essentially ignore probably the most epic story I've read since returning to comics. But, if they're smart, they'll release a TPB edition and, if you didn't read these issues, you should absolutely get it. Thanks, Rick Remender. See you in Cap and "Uncanny Avengers!"
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