10 Reasons Why Kang Dynasty Is The Best Avengers Story Ever Written

10. There Are Real Stakes And Consequences

In comics, when creators promise "stakes" and "consequences", readers usually take such hyperbolic statements with a pinch of salt.

This collective apathy is not so much a failing of the creators themselves. The problem lies with Marvel and DC who have conditioned audiences to believe that once a creator's tenure on a title is over, all the toys will go back in the box just as they came out.

To some extent, this is understandable as you can't expect a publisher to kill the goose that laid the golden egg. If, Spider-Man or Superman were to die, then no one expects them to stay that way for longer than 12 months. Loss of life is why the events of the Kang Dynasty feel so significant. Kurt Busiek is smart enough to know that while he can't kill off Vision or Iron Man, the average citizen of the Marvel universe is fair game.

Whether it's individual deaths such as security liaison Duane Freeman or the people of Washington D.C, the Avengers' actions feel as if they have real consequences. Every decision they make may result in very real deaths. This kind of storytelling gives the whole thing an unusual sense of gravity.