Avengers Arena
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''Avengers Arena'' is a
comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...
series published by
Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...
that debuted in December 2012 as part of the
Marvel NOW! Marvel Now! (stylized as Marvel NOW!) is a comic book branding for the relaunch of several ongoing comic books published by Marvel Comics, that debuted in October 2012 with new #1 issues. The relaunch also included some new titles, including ''Un ...
relaunch. The series shows 16 young heroes from the
Marvel Universe The Marvel Universe is a fictional shared universe where the stories in most American comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Comics take place. Superhero teams such as the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Guardia ...
and pit them against each other in a kill-or-be-killed, reality-show-like scenario in Murderworld run by
Arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated video, pinball, electro-mechanical, redemption, etc., game ** Arcade video game, a coin-operated video game ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade video game's hardware ** Arcad ...
. The series ended with issue 18, and was followed by a sequel titled '' Avengers Undercover'', in which the surviving characters infiltrate the
Masters of Evil The Masters of Evil is a supervillain team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first version of the team appeared in '' The Avengers'' #6 (July 1964), with the lineup continually changing over the years. Publication ...
.


Publication history

In September 2012, Marvel Comics announced that ''Avengers Arena'' would debut with a December 2012
cover date The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the true date of publication (the on-sale date or release date); later cover dates are common in magazine and comic book publishing. More unusu ...
, by the creative team of Dennis Hopeless and
Kev Walker Kevin Walker is a British comics artist and illustrator, based in Leeds, who worked mainly on '' 2000 AD'' and ''Warhammer'' comics and the collectible card game '' Magic: The Gathering''. He is now working for Marvel Comics. Biography Walker b ...
. The series ran 18 issues, and was followed by a sequel series, ''Avengers Undercover''. The comic has a
battle royal Battle royal (, also battle royale) traditionally refers to a fight involving many combatants, usually conducted under either boxing or wrestling rules, where the winner is the one who registers the most wins. In recent times, the term has been ...
e theme, notably inspired by the Japanese novel/manga/film '' Battle Royale'' and the American
young adult In medicine and the social sciences, a young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence, sometimes with some overlap. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages ...
dystopian A dystopia (lit. "bad place") is an imagined world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives. It is an imagined place (possibly state) in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmenta ...
novel/film series ''
The Hunger Games ''The Hunger Games'' are a series of Young adult fiction, young adult Dystopian fiction, dystopian novels written by American author Suzanne Collins. The series consists of a trilogy that follows teenage protagonist Katniss Everdeen, and two ...
''.


Plot

Sixteen teenage superheroes are abducted by supervillain
Arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated video, pinball, electro-mechanical, redemption, etc., game ** Arcade video game, a coin-operated video game ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade video game's hardware ** Arcad ...
, brought to his latest version of Murderworld, and forced to fight to the death for Arcade's enjoyment. As the games begin, Red Raven tries to escape from the arena, only for her to be killed when an invisible force field breaks her neck. Rebecca Ryker faces off against
Hazmat Hazmat, HazMat or HAZMAT may refer to: * Dangerous goods, hazardous materials and items * Hazmat suit * Hazmat diving * Hazmat (comics) is a Marvel Comics character * ''HazMat'' (film), a 2013 horror film See also * Hazmat Modine Hazmat Mo ...
and then fights Cammi soon after. Cammi gives her the nickname Death Locket. Throughout the first day, Death Locket remembers the past events that led to her being transformed into a cyborg. As the young heroes sleep for the night, they are stalked by an unidentified cybernetic creature. After several days pass, Arcade shuts off the food supply and makes the weather conditions hazardous in Murderworld, but notes there are safe zones at the edge of each quadrant for the competitors to rest, as well as food and medicine in Quadrant 2.
Reptil Reptil (Humberto Lopez) is a fictional superhero character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is best known as a supporting member on ''The Super Hero Squad Show'' and a member of the Avengers Academy in the comics. ...
is injured by an explosion. Hazmat and
X-23 Laura Kinney (designation X-23) is a fictional superheroine appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with Wolverine (character), Wolverine, whose codename she has also used, and the X-Men. The characte ...
take him to the quadrant 2 to get medical supplies for Reptil's burns. Nara,
Anachronism An anachronism (from the Greek , 'against' and , 'time') is a chronological inconsistency in some arrangement, especially a juxtaposition of people, events, objects, language terms and customs from different time periods. The most common type ...
, and
Cullen Bloodstone Bloodstone (Cullen Bloodstone) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Publication history Bloodstone first appeared in issue #1 of the '' Avengers Arena'' series as part of the ''Marvel NOW!'' event ...
discover that Apex is manipulating Death Locket and Kid Briton to her own ends. The trio is then teleported by Arcade to the supply cache at Quadrant 2 just as Apex, Death Locket, and Kid Briton arrive. The heroes begin fighting among themselves.
Juston Seyfert S'Byll S'Byll (sometimes spelled S'byll) is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. S'Byll is a Skrull that was raised on the planet Satriani. She was responsible for curing Super-Skrull of his disease. Si ...
is revealed to have survived the attack from the cybernetic creature, but is now paralyzed below the waist due to the injuries sustained when his
Sentinel Sentinel may refer to: Places Mountains * Mount Sentinel, a mountain next to the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana * Sentinel Buttress, a volcanic crag on James Ross Island, Antarctica * Sentinel Dome, a naturally occurring granit ...
crashed. Distraught at the loss of the Sentinel, Juston salvages its remains and creates a suit of battle armor which he uses to attack Death Locket. After being injured by Apex,
Nico Minoru Nico Minoru, briefly known as Sister Grimm, is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created in 2003 by writer Brian K. Vaughan and artist Adrian Alphona, the character debuted in '' Runaways'' #1 (July 2003). ...
sacrifices herself by staying behind to get the survivors to safety. She is killed by Chase Stein and Juston Seyfert's Sentinel, both of whom are under Apex's control. Reptil turns into a sea dinosaur in order to hunt some sharks for him and Hazmat to eat. The remaining teenage heroes catch up to them and are invited to have shark steaks with them before returning to Murderworld.
Molly Hayes Molly Hayes (also known as Bruiser or Princess Powerful) is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character debuted in the award-winning series '' Runaways''. Like every member of the original Run ...
notices that Nico and Chase are missing and turns to
Hank Pym Dr. Henry Jonathan Pym is a character (arts), character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by penciller Jack Kirby, editor-plotter Stan Lee and writer Larry Lieber, Pym debuted in ''Tales to Astonish'' #27 (Ja ...
for help. Cullen Bloodstone attacks Anachronism, forcing Cammi to try to calm him down. Hazmat and X-23 encounter a Mettle robot with Trigger Scent, causing X-23 to go on the attack. X-23 seriously injures Hazmat, leaving her fate unknown. Cammi attempts to stop X-23, but her attempts are useless. Cullen decides only he can stop her. Upon removing his family's ring, Cullen transforms into a monstrous form in order to save them. As Cullen continues to fight X-23, Cammi, Nara and Anachronism look for Cullen's ring. Nara ends up diving into the ocean to find it. Nara emerges from the ocean with the ring, but is killed by Cullen. Apex uses her ability to take over Death Locket's systems and plans to become Queen of Murderworld. As Hazmat is close to exploding, Reptil swims her out to sea so that the explosion cannot harm anyone. The explosion causes everyone to stop fighting each other. Death Locket kills Apex and shuts down Murderworld. Afterwards, the surviving teenagers are rescued by S.H.I.E.L.D.,
Wolverine The wolverine ( , ; ''Gulo gulo''), also called the carcajou or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species, member of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscular carnivore and a solitary animal. The w ...
, Hank Pym, and
Captain Britain Captain Britain is a title used by various superheroes in comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with Excalibur. The moniker was first used in publication by Brian Braddock in ''Captain Britain'' #1 by writer Chris Cl ...
.


Characters


Collected editions


References

{{Marvel NOW! 2012 comics debuts 2013 comics endings Avengers (comics) titles Fiction about death games