Writer – Walt Simonson 

Artist – John Buscema

This week is a double shot of the Avengers! This issue is an official Inferno tie-in starring Edwin Jarvis – the last Avenger?

That’s right! The Avengers have disbanded and Edwin is living with his mother in New York City. Mrs. Jarvis is sitting watching studio wrestling when all of a sudden, the T.V. conks out. Edwin decides he’s going to get the T.V. repaired. What he doesn’t know is that a simple task such as this is going to be one of the most adventurous and action-packed days of his life.

When I opened this issue up, I was shocked to learn that Walt Simonson wrote this issue! Mr. Simonson is well known for his legendary runs on Fantastic Four and Thor. I was surprised to learn that he got a chance to helm Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

In my review of Avengers #280, I spoke about how important Edwin Jarvis is to the Avengers. In this issue, we see how Jarvis’ time spent with the Avengers impacted his life. Mrs. Jarvis is angry how the Avengers going their separate ways ultimately cost Edwin his job as their servant. Edwin tells his mother that money isn’t an issue as he was given a full pension but the lessons he learned from the Avengers in self-reliance and working as team was the greatest gift he ever received from them.

Those lessons Jarvis learned will come in handy once he leaves his house. After going to the T.V. repair shop and learning all of the technicians are busy on service calls helping other customers, Jarvis decides he’s going to spend the day at the museum. As he boards the subway and heads toward his destination, the doors of the subway car open mid-transit and a woman almost falls out of the vehicle. Jarvis grabs hold of the lady and pulls her back inside. As the train car stops dead on the tracks, Jarvis leads the commuters to safety by leading them to the nearest emergency exit. As the people disperse, a woman comes up to Jarvis and introduces herself as Glory Garsen and gives Jarvis a big kiss on the lips as a sign of gratitude for saving her life. Jarvis, nervous at what just transpired, leaves abruptly and carries on toward the museum.

If you are a fan of Stephen King’s Maximum Overdrive, then this issue is right up your alley. The plot of the rest of the issue is very similar to the sci fi/horror movie. There is also a nod to the Transformers/Gobots in the issue as well. Jarvis ends up crossing paths with everyone’s friendly neighborhood Spider-Man in a cameo you have to see to believe. When Jarvis starts to realize things are getting out of hand and beyond his control, he places a phone call to an Avenger. Jarvis ends up getting some back up, but I don’t want to tell you who answers his call for help. Before I forget…yes, Jarvis does indeed end up fighting a robot as seen on the cover art of this issue.

This is one of those perfect “day in the life” issues where we learn a lot about a long-standing character often seen in a secondary role thrust into the spotlight for a change. I like the contrast between Jarvis’ cool and calm demeanor versus his mother’s foul mouth and over the top personality. Jarvis’ fashion and fighting style is very reminiscent of Mr. Steed of the British television show The Avengers. Both men know how to do some damage with their trusty umbrella.

The best part of this story is the overall message – a person doesn’t need superpowers in order to be a hero to help save the day or to protect others in the face of life-threatening danger.

I give this issue 5 out of 5 feather dusters.