Some say a comic book is like looking into the mind of its creator, be it the artist or the writer. If that’s the case, David Pepose and Carlos Magnos might just be the oldest children slamming action figures together we’ve ever seen.

And it is nothing short of a delight to see unfold.

Savage Avengers issue 8, The Doomsday Sonata, comes from the minds of writer David Pepose, artist Carlos Magnos, color artist Espen Grundetjern, and letterer Travis Lanham of VC. 

The issue opens with the final stand of the future Victor Von Doom off against Ultron and his Deathlok army. The reader is teased and taunted with a massive brawl of Doombots vs Deathloks, and any other comic would spend the entire issue with explosions and death. However, this took place 8 years prior, and it wouldn’t feature our titular Avengers.

Instead, Pepose and Magnos have the Savage Avengers heading to the base of former Doom 2099 villain Tiger Wylde to obtain a time travel gauntlet. Doom left it there when the Ultron takeover of the Earth happened, figuring that Ultron would never think to look for it there.

Unfortunately, Ultron was smarter than Doom figured. Can the Savage Avengers with their newfound future allies survive against Ultron, much less find a way to victory?

The answer will surprise you.

As an easy mark for nostalgia over Marvel’s 2099 line, it can be hard to be objective over a comic bringing them back. However, the creative team utterly nails the return of many 2099 concepts without feeling like you need to have been reading comics in the early 90s, or going diving into the quarter bins of your local comics shop. Doom is Doom, and Jake Gallows comes across as a character mirroring the Punisher of the modern day without coming off as a knockoff. Seeing how the comic has been dabbling in time travel since the beginning, the use of 2099 feels about as natural as a time traveling crew of Marvel’s most brutal heroes can be.

However, Pepose and Magnos also nail the quiet moments. It’s hard to believe that a comic featuring guys like Weapon H and a Punisher taking on a mechanical nightmare army run by Ultron could have “quiet moments,” but something unique about the current run of the Savage Avengers has been giving the team quiet moments of development, or sprinkling twist son the character that hasn’t been explored before. It’s really quite a delight to see in a comic that, should this have been written a decade or two ago, would have been nothing but grunts, gritted teeth, guns, pouches, and explosions.

That isn’t to say the rest of the creative crew has been coasting either. Grundetjern’s colors are fantastic, easily. From shades of neon green representing gamma explosions to the rusty range of a fried skeleton, this comic pops with colors you wouldn’t expect in a book that features a gray-shaded gamma hero versus a gray shaded robot villain. Not only does Magnos nail the “Kirby krackle” effect that decorates every energy blast in the comic, but Grundetjern is able to make those dots pop with shades of pinks, purples, and any other bright color to accentuate them. This comic is a visual feast for action fans.

Special mention also has to go to the lettering by Lanham. Each sound effect fits the page perfectly, and lets the reader hear every noise perfectly despite the lack of actual sound. If twitter is to be believed, this is also the first time sound effects have caused fans trauma since Amazing Spider-Man 121’s subtle “snap.”

In short, Savage Avengers is the best comic you can find on the shelves that explores what happens if you slam a bunch of Marvel characters together like action figures. The ideas can sound insane, but the execution of those ideas is nothing short of magic.

Grade: A