Мстители: Судный День (Avengers: Judgment Day)

Мстители: Судный День (Мстители: День Расплаты, depending on the translation) is a significant, though largely forgotten, storyline in the sprawling Marvel Comics universe, published across several annuals in 1993. It presents a complex narrative woven with themes of legacy, responsibility, and the fallibility of even the noblest heroes.

The central conflict revolves around Terminatrix, also known as Ravonna Renslayer. She orchestrates a devious plan to resurrect Kang the Conqueror, her former lover and the man who inadvertently caused her death in a past timeline. However, her efforts go awry. Instead of Kang, she resurrects a being known as “The Growing Man,” but this one is unlike any seen before. This Growing Man isn’t just a simple android; it’s imbued with the collective consciousness of the citizens of Chronopolis, Kang’s futuristic city. This creates a colossal, sentient being fueled by the anger and resentment of those who suffered under Kang’s rule.

This new Growing Man, effectively a judgment weapon, embarks on a path of retribution against those it perceives as responsible for Kang’s tyranny. Naturally, this includes the Avengers, seen as Kang’s primary adversaries. The storyline becomes a desperate race against time as the Avengers, and other heroes like the Fantastic Four, try to understand the nature of the threat and find a way to stop it before the Growing Man unleashes its full destructive potential.

The story delves into the moral grey areas inherent in superhero narratives. Are the Avengers truly blameless for the devastation caused by Kang, even if their intentions were always to protect the innocent? Did their repeated battles with Kang, however necessary, inadvertently contribute to the suffering of his people and the creation of this terrifying judgment weapon? The annuals attempt to explore these questions, forcing the heroes to confront the unintended consequences of their actions.

Furthermore, the storyline offers character development, particularly for those intimately connected with Kang. Characters like Ravonna, wrestling with her conflicting emotions for the time-traveling warlord, are given moments of nuanced complexity. Even figures like Immortus, a future version of Kang, are drawn into the conflict, adding layers of time-travel paradoxes and moral ambiguities to the already intricate plot.

While not considered a seminal Avengers epic on the level of, say, *The Kree-Skrull War* or *Secret Wars*, *Avengers: Judgment Day* offers a worthwhile exploration of consequence and responsibility within the superhero genre. It forces the heroes to look inward and question the ripple effects of their battles against seemingly insurmountable foes. The story highlights the cyclical nature of violence and the difficulty of achieving true peace when dealing with enemies who manipulate time and fate itself.