Saga is a somewhat small story in the middle of a huge conflict, the tale of an interplanetary war told through one couple and their new baby. Jonathan Hickman's intertwining run on Avengers and New Avengers has gone in the opposite direction, building up a truly epic story that's taken in basically every corner of the Marvel Universe and seen an expanded line-up of Earth's Mightiest Heroes teaming up with everyone from Fantastic Four villains the Skrulls to X-Men allies the Shi'ar. All of that has been a preamble to this year's Time Runs Out storyline, where the incursions that first popped up in New Avengers the smartest minds in the Marvel Universe discovered alternate Earths were collapsing into ours, and would end the world if they didn't get blown up began to reach a fever pitch, with the Avengers coming up against alternate super teams from other dimensions, including a thinly-veiled Justice League. During all of that they also went through some pretty major changes, like Captain America losing his Super Soldier Serum and finally looking his age (and lacking in his powers). Hickman should be commended not only for wrangling a huge ongoing saga with a cast of hundreds, but also by managing to make it entertaining, easy-to-follow, and one of the most dramatically effective Avengers comics in years.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
