Avengers #14 had a lot of setup, setup, setup, so too does New Avengers #7, but it is just done a lot better here. The pacing is more deliberate and there is no editorial drive to jam in every possible Avenger into the story. I feel while Avengers suffers from too many characters, New Avengers has no such limitation and as such it reads much better and more like Hickman's previous work on Fantastic Four.
We get a quiet issue this time, no more incursions which puts Reed and Stark on edge. We have Beast learning from the Black Swan and Terrax quietly brooding. Strange and Reed have a spirited dinner date with Dr. Doom, where Doom asks about what is going on and the Illuminati members feign ignorance. We get a wink about Reed being in space-time and on this team concurrently, which was cool. Black Bolt is having Maximus the Maker working on some terrible machine whose purpose (destruction) is unknown (in scale only).
That leaves Black Panther and Namor who have both been enduring something of a cold war between Atlantis and Wakanda. Namor offers a peace deal to T'Challa, but we all know that T'Challa no longer controls his nation. That responsibility lies with Shuri, T'Challa's younger sister and current ruler of Wakanda. Tensions rise as small skirmishes lead to bigger conflict and Shuri is forced to declare war on Atlantis despite T'Challa urging her to accept peace from Namor.
Lots of good stuff to enjoy in this issue. Lots of intrigue and character moments. Even when we are given a quiet issue there is always conflict. Next issue promises more developments on what Black Bolt is up to. I cannot wait.
