Avengers Vol. 3: Prelude to Infinity (Marvel NOW!) Review

Avengers Vol. 3: Prelude to Infinity (Marvel Now!)

Don't know who these are? Nope, you
sure don't.

Writers: Jonathan Hickman and Nick Spencer.

Artists: Mick Deodato and Stefano Caselli

Collects: Avengers #12-17

Background Information:

In the last two volumes of Avengers, Hickman introduced us to the Builders; the guys who... well, built the universe. Their minions, Ex Nihilo and Abyss, terraformed Mars and send devices to Earth to recreate it. That resulted in new races being born, and the coming of Starbrand and Nightmask.

Oh, and there also zebra skinned kids. Best remember that.

Review:

Marvel hates you.

And don't say "yeah, but movies...", Marvel unequivocally hates you.

I mean, why else would they put the two issues that aren't part of Infinity in book that is mostly part of Infinity?

Because... yes.

It's because Marvel, after draining completionists of upwards of fifty dollars, still expect you to pay Infinity trade, I was expecting maybe two or so issues of Infinity in Prelude to Infinity, but this felt ridiculous. And it's a shame, because it's actually an okay book.
twenty dollars for two issues you could get online for ten. As someone who bought the

So, in the first two issues, Hyperion has become a father of sorts to the zebrakids, and the High Evolutionary tries to kidnap them. So now Hyperion and a few Avengers have to get them back. I'm sure Hickman knew that he'd just be writing filler issues before Infinity started, but it's admittedly good filler. I like just how much he's trying to flesh out Hyperion's character beyond "meant to parody Superman", and his bromance with Thor somehow... works.

Then comes the part that bugs me. The main point of the story, which is the prelude to the Infinity event, sees some of the new races on earth attacking humans. After beating them, the Avengers decide that they need to get even bigger than what they already are, and they're pretty big.

YOU PUT HULK IN THROWAWAY VOLUME! SMASH!!!

Okay, gripes aside, there's some fun stuff here. The action is excellently done, which in this kind of story is what really matters, and the dialogue is witty. The problem is, though, is that both stories feel pointless. The battles are entertaining, but devoid of any sense of significance. I don't care what happens to the Avengers here, and that bodes poorly for Infinity.

This is pretty much the shortest review I've ever written, which is why Prelude to Infinity gets a two out of five zebra-children.

**

+ Hyperion is humanised.
- Marvel hates completionists.
- No reason to be invested in the action.

Alternate Option: Any X-Men book.

I'm really preferring the X-books to the A-books, and they need your support. All evidence considered, they haven't got Marvel's.

Infinity (Marvel) Review

Infinity

The subject of only HALF the book.

Writer: Jonathon Hickman and Nick Spencer

Artists: (Breathe in) Mike Deodato, Stefano Caselli, Marco Rudy, Marco Checchetto, Jim Cheung, Jerome Opena, Dustin Weaver, Dustin Weaver and Lenil Francis Yu.

Background Information:

Infinity takes in the Marvel NOW! Avengers and New Avengers. In New Avengers, are crashing together. In Avengers, the team has expanded to a roster of twenty-something in response to an attack on earth by the builders of the universe. They've discovered "new" heroes Starbrand and Nightmask, who represent parts of a universal "system". That system is broken and... okay, your eyes are glazing over.

Review:

If a book can't be good, it helps that there's at least a lot of it. That seems to be the thinking behind Infinity, because while a mammoth twenty-four issues sounds tempting to someone who wants a good long yarn; there's absolutely no reason for this book to be a single volume.

There's no reason for it to be a crossover, for that matter. There are two stories going on here; the adjectiveless Avengers have taken to space to fight the builders, while the New Avengers are staying on earth to fight Thanos who is looking for his illegitimate son.

How to overdo the "Avengers Assemble" thing.

On their own, these stories are quite good. In fact, two separate volumes for both stories would have been far better than what we got. Instead of two stand-alone stories, Jonathon Hickman tries to trick us into thinking that they have anything more than a rudimentary connection; Thanos is attacking earth now because the Avengers are all in space, the Avengers come back from space to beat Thanos, Hickman uses the "meanwhile" trick like it's the word "and". I call them tricks, but they're really fooling nobody. These stories don't belong together and it feels like Marvel is only publishing this as one event to charge you $50 for the paperback version.

And that's a shame, because the stories contained here a pretty decent. Thanos' Cull Obsidian get their due here in ways that I'm suspicious the MCU will never do, and I found these villains to be the best ones in the book. Seeing Captain America lead an intergalactic war team is fantastic; it's nice to see the Captain actually... captain-ing. And the new additions to the adjectiveless Avengers get more entertaining each time.

What I especially like about the Avengers issues is that Hickman, however unintentionally, gives us a decent jumping-off point. Even though Hickman has announced that his runs on books are generally one big arc that really won't end until Secret Wars, if that, this book gave me a point where I could move on to other things without wondering what happens next.

Cap's new Avengers team is a little off the beaten path...

I can't say the same for the New Avengers, though. This volume seems to accomplish only two things; it gives us a whole six issues in which the story doesn't progress (world incursions are still happening) and that, but for the "death" of Black Bolt, doesn't change the characters (they're all still pretty dodgy). In fact, the only thing that the New Avengers seems to accomplish is setting up for the next Inhumanity event. And, for the record, the only thing wrong with setting up a series solely to replace the X-Men because they can't be in the MCU is... everything.

The art here.. sigh... it's looks very nice and suits the cinematic storylines, but Marvel is known for their diverse artwork. Every artist on this long list of talent draws exactly the same way. Plus; it look consistent. Minus; it looks consistently same-old-same-old.

I actually liked Infinity, but can't recommend it to anyone. The length is perfect for a long plane trip, but the book has so many flaws. It gets a two and a half out of five captains captain-ing.

** 1/2

+ Avengers storyline feels like a great jumping-off point.

+ Stories are actually pretty decent.

- New Avengers storyline feels like it goes nowhere.

- Book shouldn't have been one volume.

- Good art looks the same as all good art

Alternate Option: Hickman's individual Avengers books.

Sometimes, Hickman, less is more.

Avengers Vol.2: The Last White Event (Marvel NOW!) Review

Avengers Vol. 2: The Last White Event (Marvel NOW!)

Even The Adams Family gets a gritty
reboot.

Writer: Jonathan Hickman

Artists: Dustin Weaver and Mike Deodato

Collects: Avengers #7-11 (mmm… slurpies…)

Background:

In the last volume, the Avengers ran into Ex Nihilo, a naked guy with horns and a god-complex. He was busy sending machines called “origin bombs”- devices which change areas and their inhabitants into something more “advanced”. The team came back with Nihilo’s “Adam”, a man who calls himself Nightshade. Nightshade is convinced that something called “the system” is broken and that “the last white event” is coming to earth.

Yep, that’s a LOT of quotation marks.

Review:

While he was in the shower, the Avengers
stole his clothes.

The way I understand it, Hickman is known for telling long stories. The kind that take up multiple volumes and cross over more than one massive event. Heading all three major Avengers books, he’s kinda’ had total control of the Marvel universe since the beginning of Marvel NOW!. As such, The Last White Event reads very much like a cog in the machine- essentially useless on its own, but not something you’d want to read Avengers or the massive Infinity event without.

So the last white event hits earth and has granted someone the Starbrand- a tattoo that allows its bearer to destroy entire planets.

That someone is Kevin Conner- a relative nobody at his college thrust into the new planetary crisis. When that thrust comes from him accidently destroying said college and everyone in it.

It sounds like a simple story; but that’s something I have to admire about Hickman; he can take a plot that some writers would finish in five issue and add so much depth and detail to it that even though his version of the same story might be fifteen issues longer, it certainly doesn’t feel dragged out.

Hickman also does an admirable job at handling such a massive cast of characters. The previous volume, Avengers World gave us a roster of 17 characters as opposed to the traditional 5-8 heroes. This should be a daunting task- it would be easy to make this book all about the movie roster and delegate the other 12 characters to the B-team. Somehow, though, Hickman avoids this; giving us a trade paperback that uses all characters to the point where none of them feel like they’re just there.

Therein, though, lies the problem with this trade; by being equally about everyone, it somehow ends up being about no one. Thanks to that, we have a story that’s event-driven rather than character-driven. You have to wonder, therefore, if this story couldn’t have been served equally well by the Guardians of the Galaxy, the Fantastic Four or even the X-Men (kidding, of course, Marvel doesn’t own the film rights to the last two). In fact, does Captain America need to be involved at all?

"My abs and I are here to dust your clock!"

A word of warning, also, to new readers; this isn’t a trade that you can read on its own. Not only do you need to read the first volume, but there won’t be a satisfactory end to the series unless you buy the Infinity collection (and that costs around $50 in paperback). So if you just want a taste of the Avengers, best not go to Hickman’s books.

Art here is great, though. Kevin Conner is drawn in a way that perfectly portrays the power contained in a body that looks so feeble otherwise. Weaver and Deodato also do a great job of portraying the strange events spiralling out of the origin bombs, which continue to become more and more interesting.

The Last White Event should not be read on its own, but taken with the whole, it’s an entertaining chapter in a larger saga. It gets a three and a half out of five quotation marks.

*** ½

+ Hickman shares the spotlight amongst characters.

+ Doesn’t feel dragged out.

- Hardly a character-driven story.

- Not recommended unless you want to commit to Avengers.

Alternate Option: Avengers: Avengers World

Start with this.

Avengers Vs X-Men Review

Avengers Vs X-Men

When you're showing teeth it's either a
smackdown or a massive overbite... not
sure which one this is...

Writers: Jason Aaron, Brian Michael Bendis, Ed Brubaker, Jonathon Hickman, Matt Fraction, and Jeph Loeb

Artists: Frank Cho, Ed Mcguinness, John Romita Jr., Oliver Coipel and  Adam Kubert.

Collects: Avengers Vs X-Men #0-12 and portions of Point One #1

Background information:

The X-Men have had it tough over the years. In House of M, the mutant population was culled to only 200 and the X-Men became desperate survivors. They saw a glimmer of hope (no pun intended) in Second Coming, where a possible messiah emerged in the form of Hope Summers, and separated in Wolverine’s and Cyclops’ X-Men in Schism.

So now we have a situation where Wolverine is trying to raise X-Men who are ready to live in the world, and Cyclops is preparing for war.

This should be interesting.

Oh, there are Avengers in this book too.

Review:

Dear readers;

Please stop liking X-Men as we no longer have the movie rights to them. Like The Avengers instead. Look, here they are fighting the X-Men and they’re totally going to win because they make us more money they’re the better heroes.

Sincerely,

Marvel.



"Sorry, I can't. You're burning my face off with space-bird fire."

At the end of the day, Marvel might as well have done this. Don’t get me wrong, Avengers Vs X-Men is still good to read, but the very explicit agenda behind the book (that I already raved about in my last RealRelevance article) hurts what is otherwise very entertaining.

Okay, so the phoenix force has come to Earth and now the Avengers and the X-Men have to fight. That’s basically the plot. Sure, there are machinations and motives that add volume to the story, but that’s basically it.

It’s not a deep story by any means. As Noel Thorne, a blogger that I’ve come to respect has said (albeit about another book) "I know my brain was eating junk but sometimes a Whopper is just what you want!" And that’s pretty much the way you can sum up the plot here. There are some great interactions between characters; Hope Summer and Scarlet Witch are stand-out great ones, and Professor X was done well as the attempted voice of reason to a militant Cyclops. The rest of the characters, though, are same-old-same-old.

And pretty bland.

Captain America has pretty much no personality in this book. Spidey is fun, but no more than Spidey normally is. Wolverine is very… stabby. Cyclops is a twit. Emma dresses like she has a second job during the nights, and that’s her entire personality. Namor is very angry. Colossus and Magik… actually, who cares. And Iron Man uses smarty-smart talk. It’s not bad by any means, but none of these characters really develop beyond Scarlet With and Hope, and we get a lot of everyone else.

Thankfully, you don’t read event comics for character development (excluding Civil War, which I really loved). You read them for action and world-changing moments. Thankfully, Avengers Vs. X-Men delivers in that area. The action is plentiful and the results of this event changes a lot in the Marvel universe in preparation for Marvel NOW!



Why is there no Hawkeye initiative for Emma Frost's new costume?
EDIT: My mistake, there is one.

If you’re a new reader; consider yourself warned: the only reason you will want to read this book is to give context to the X-Men NOW! book you’re currently reading. Understanding what’s going on here requires knowledge of a LOT of X-history. Thankfully, you don’t need to know much about Avengers, but consider yourself warned.

Art here is done by a number of artists that somehow manage to all look the same. That would be bad if there were multiple titles that I was reviewing, but here, it helps the book to feel coherent. It looks like standard comic art, but that’s fine, because what these artists draw tends to be more impressive than how they draw it.

At the end of the day, though, it’s hard to get over that feeling that there’s a marketing agenda here. Marvel loves the Avengers now more than it ever has, and those that aren’t keen need to get used to it. Thankfully, Avengers Vs X-Men is a fun marketing ploy even if it is nothing more than that. It gets three out of five movie rights.

***

+ Hope and Scarlet Witch are great

+ It’s junk, but enjoyable junk.

+ Does what an event comic is meant to do.

-  Not-Scarlet Witch and Not-Hope are bland and all-too frequent.

- DO NOT BUY THIS AS YOUR FIRST COMIC! I CANNOT STRESS HOW IMPORTANT THIS IS.

Alternate Option: Any Avengers or X-Men Volume 1 in Marvel NOW!

Event comics aren’t meant to be jumping-on points. That what first issues are for (and hey, Marvel does heaps of those).

Avengers Vol. 1: Avengers World (Marvel NOW!) Review

Avengers Vol.1: Avengers World (Marvel NOW!)

Insert Queen's "We Will Rock You"

Writer: Jonathan Hickman

Artists: Jerome Opena and Adam Kubert

Collects: Avengers #1-6

Background Information:

So, apparently Avengers is a thing.

Yeah, who knew, right?

For years the Avengers, in multiple forms, was written by Brian Michael Bendis. Now that Bendis is working on the Guardians of the Galaxy and X-Men titles. The Avengers books are now being taken by Jonathan Hickman, who used to write for Fantastic Four and FF. Whereas a lot of Bendis’ titles were based on fairly grounded local threats, Hickman’s more about the interstellar and the strange. So you can expect something a little different from what happened before.

Review:

Marvel NOW! is supposed to be about helping new readers into Marvel comics. Keywords are supposed to. I’m not sure that all of these titles are all that good for getting people’s feet wet. All-New X-Men and Uncanny Avengers require you to have read Avengers vs X-Men to really understand and if you want to get Superior Spider-Man, you’ll need to read Dying Wish.

Thankfully, Hickman’s adjectiveless Avengers doesn’t have the same problem. In fact, if you want to start reading Avengers books, Avengers World is a really good starting point.

PUNY HULK!!!

So the Avengers  have decided that they need to “get bigger”; meaning that the usual roster of Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Hulk, Hawkeye and Black Widow aren’t going to be enough. The team expands the roster to include more Marvel heroes such as Spider-Man (the Superior one), Wolverine, Shan Chi and others. A roster of six becomes a roster of eighteen.

And a big Avengers is just what’s needed to face a big threat. That big threat comes in the form of a character called Ex Nihilo who’s a… uh… a… uh… it’s kinda’ hard to explain. All I can really say is that he’s trying to recreate the earth in preparation for what I can only assume is… something.

It sounds like I’m making fun of the collection, but I’m not; not really. See, Hickman has a habit, apparently, of writing insanely long story arcs- the kind that can’t fit into the rigid structure of “only 5-6 issues per trade” that Marvel seems desperate to stick to. And to be honest, the trade isn’t so much about the bad guys as it is about showcasing the twelve new avengers. Hickman does a pretty good job at this, giving the reasons for each character’s reason for joining the team and crafting a story that essentially gets most of the team out of the way so we can see the new guys in action. It’s fantastic to see that Hickman has this kind of confidence in the characters he writes. Considering the success of the Avengers on the big screen, I imagine it would have been all too easy to write a story focussing on the movie characters, but I’m glad we got something with a slightly different flavour to it.

All the same, the story seems to go largely unresolved. I’m not the kind who demands that every loose end be tied up by the end of the first trade, but you’d think Hickman would at least tie up one of them. The point of this volume, unfortunately, seems to be only to set up the next and that never ends up being truly satisfying.

That helmet, for the record, looks stupid.

Art here, though is great. Between Opena and Kubert we get some fantastic depictions of characters. Hulk returns to his ape-like form and while that can sometimes look a little goofy, it really works in terms of showing us the vast difference between Bruce Banner and the less-than-jolly green giant. The real credit though, has to go to the colour artists, who are too numerous to mention here. The paints in Avengers World just do so much to capture the grandeur of the situation and really helps to add gravitas to the story.

Avengers World is great fun to read, and excellent as a jumping-on point. It gets a four out of five… somethings.

****

+ Good jumping-on point.

+ More focus on the characters you didn’t see in the movie.

+ Art looks phenomenal.

- NO loose ends resolved.

Captain America Vol. 1: Castaway in Dimension Z Book 1 (Marvel NOW!) Review

Captain America Vol. 1: Castaway in Dimension Z Book 1 (Marvel NOW!)

"When Captain America gives everbody
stinkeye!!!"

Writer: Rick Remender

Artist: John Romita Jr.

Collecting: Captain America #1-5

Background Information:

In previous iterations of Captain America, the star-spangled avenger faced some pretty ground-level threats. Recently, though, the Marvel NOW! initiative has taken a swathe of Marvel heroes and put them in new, status-quo-altering situations. For Cap, this means his stories are about to get a lot wierder

Review:

Castaway in Dimension Z has all the elements of a book I thought I would hate; it’s Captain America, who never really grabs my attention if he isn’t on the Avengers, it’s a story about alternate dimension, which is usually too weird for me (I even found DC’s Earth 2 hard to swallow) and it skips forward in time by a decade at one point.

But when reading this trade, I found the unthinkable happening: I was enjoying this book. In fact, I was really enjoying this book.

Okay, so in case the title doesn’t give it away, Captain America is trapped in an alternate dimension, caring for the stolen child of Arnim Zola, who I can only assume is an evil tellytubby (I’m not sure on the spelling, and that doesn’t bother me in the least) from mainland Europe. It sounds simple, but Castaway in Dimension Z  peppers it’s story with a tale form Steve Rogers’ rather terrible childhood, which adds plenty of extra complexity and character development.

Even more interesting, though, is seeing ol’ Cap become a father figure to Zola’s son, Ian. Ian’s a great character, and caring for him helps Captain America become a far more fleshed out character than he’s ever been before. As Steve protects Ian from all of the dangers of Dimension Z, writer Rick Remender somehow turns the WWII hero into an even better soldier, more hardened than previous versions of the character. It’s great to read and it actually makes me care about the super-soldier more than I did before. That’s not saying much, I realise, but I’m actually starting to like the guy now.

The book’s villain may look ridiculous, but both he and his daughter/sidekick feel very fleshed out in this volume. Zola’s hatred for Captain America evolves over time. He moves from simply hating the first avenger for opposing him, to believing that Steve killed his son to believing that Steve kidnapped his son out of some sick desire to torment him. It’s nice to see heroes progress and develop, but villain development is infinitely more satisfying. Zola’s Daughter Jet, also feels oddly fleshed out, considering she only makes major appearances in the last two issues.

My only problem with this story, is that the support characters, bar Ian, are bland beyond belief. I felt no remorse when they died, because the characters didn’t beg sympathy. Thankfully, the cast of supporting characters is kept to a minimum though, so they don’t exactly get in the way of things.

John Romita Jr’s art suits this weird new world like a glove. Harsh lines and exaggerated shapes abound here along with bold dark colours to make this whole world look strange and forboding. The book is littered with strange creatures as well as unfamiliar, alien landscapes. In short, you know you’re not in 616 anymore (note: 616 is the main Marvel universe). Usually, that would be a turnoff for me- you can only get so weird- but here it got me hooked. Each page feels like an act in exploration and it makes me wonder why I didn’t pick this book up sooner.

Castaway in Dimension Z Book 1 is a beautifully crafted book that takes a 90-year-old character and somehow keeps him feeling fresh. It gets a four and a half out of five evil telletubbies (seriously, how do you spell that?).

**** ½

+ Awesome Character development

+ Art presents a gorgeous new world

- Supporting cast is bland

Alternate Option: New Avengers: Everything Dies

Somehow Captain America is in the 616 universe as all of this unfolds. Heh, beats me.

New Avengers Vol. 1: Everything Dies (Marvel NOW!) Review

New Avengers Vol. 1: Everything Dies

So... wanna form a boy band?... Guys...
GUYS?!?

Writer: Jonathan Hickman

Artist: Steve Epting

Collecting: New Avengers #1-6

Background Information:

The New Avengers, contrary to what the title may suggest, are not a set of replacement Avengers, rather, they represent Marvel’s Illuminati. Here, that’s not group with a strange obsession for conveniently-placed triangles. Here, they’re a group that rule the world in secret made up of Black Bolt, Namor, Reed Richards, Iron Man, Captain America, Doctor Strange, Black Panther and formerly Professor Xavier. Six of them possess one of the infinity gems each. These gems are important because together they form the infinity gauntlet- one of the most powerful tools in the galaxy.

Review:

What was wrong with calling this book, The Illuminati? This team, despite featuring both Captain America and Iron Man, is about as far from the Avengers as can be fathomed. It’s still a great team and it’s still a great book, but be aware that these are not the Avengers in any sense of the word.

So the Illuminati are called together with the kind of insanely massive crisis that you would expect to be worthy of gathering the world’s rulers; the multiverse is falling apart, causing multiple versions of earth to crash into each other. This presents the Illuminati with a bit of a moral quandary; these other earths are also populated, so the choice becomes one of destroying your own world or destroying someone else’s. It’s a great question that gets fairly well explored, with the ultimate answer being that sometimes tough decisions need to be made.

While  Everything Dies presents some great moral questions, the answer isn’t really satisfactory. These people are meant to be heroes, they are meant to be able to save someone against incredible odds, but that doesn’t happen. Isntead, Everything Dies reads like the first part of a two-part story. This is something that has been bugging me about Marvel NOW!’s trade paperbacks; so many of them feel unfinished; the majority of them collect about five issues. Compare that to DC’s 6-10 issues on average per trade and it’s clear which one is the better value for money. I like what I’m reading in Everything Dies, but I can hardly say that I’m satisfied with what I’ve read.

But that’s a small problem as what really seems to be on display here is the relationship between these characters. There is some great headbutting between Captain America, Black Panther and the rest of the Illuminati. My real problem here, though, is that none of these characters seem really likeable. They’re intriguing, they’re not people you can find yourself supporting. I mentioned before that this team are the furthest thing from the Avengers that you can imagine- that’s because thse characters just aren’t heroic. In fact, the only heroic character in the team gets removed from it fairly quickly. The result is a bad feeling in your stomach as you read.

That said though, there is some excellent action here, the pinnacle of which has to be the fight between Dr. Doom and a group called the Map Makers. If you want to know how big a claim that is, this is following a fight between the Illuminati and a servant of Galaktus- the big dude who eats planets. Let that sink in for a while.

The art here is fantastic. Epting manages to use a colour palette that allows him more detail than David Aja, yet still manages to feel minimal in its use. The result is a book where in multiple pages you sometimes have to pay attention to realise that Epting is using more than one colour. It’s not a criticism, though, it helps to book to have a kind of consistency that is very pretty to look at. The character designs in Everything Dies are also brilliant- Captain America looks better here than in his own book, and even ridiculous costumes like Black Bolt’s looks good.

Everything Dies is not a book about heroes, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a passable yarn. It get three out of five conveniently-placed triangles.

***

+ Engaging morality tale

+ Art is great

+ Some awesome action scenes

- Characters are profoundly un-heroic

- Unsatisfying ending

Alternate Option: All-New X-Men

One of the best NOW! books I’ve read- you need to check this out.

Uncanny Avengers Vol.1: The Red Menace (Marvel NOW!) Review

Uncanny Avengers Vol. 1: The Red Shadow (Marvel NOW!)

"So, who's the tall guy taking this photo?"
"Shuddap, we're Avengers!"

Writer: Rick Remender

Artists:  John Cassidy, Oliver Copiel, Laura Martin.

Collects: Uncanny Avengers #1-5

Background Information:

Marvel NOW! really got kicked off by an event called Avengers Vs X-Men- it’s exactly what it sounds like. The X-men, through contact with the phoenix force (remember in the third X-Men movie how Jean Grey went nuts? It’s the force that makes that happen), became a little more nasty than usual and the Avengers, being the more popular franchise, save the day by defeating them.

Uncanny Avengers is the first official book of the Marvel NOW! line and focuses on the fallout of Avengers Vs X-Men. The world now hates mutants even more than they used to and the man most dedicated to stopping that, Charles Xavier, is dead.

Dead as a doornail.

A dead doornail.

Okay, I’m drifting off a bit. Back to the review!

Review

Much like Justice League in DC’s New 52, Uncanny Avengers is Marvel NOW!’s flagship title. And like  Justice League Vol. 1: Origin was enjoyable, but less-than stellar, The Red Shadow is entertaining, but ultimately feels like it’s going nowhere.

No matter what powers other heroes may
have, they'll NEVER be able to throw
Optimus Prime at bad guys.

So humans hate mutants. That’s bad, in case you were wondering. And you know what? Captain America thinks it’s bad to. So he assembles a group of Avengers made up of equal part mutants and superpowered humans- a symbol of human/mutant unity. In the meantime, though, WWII baddie the Red Skull has removed the brain of Charles Xavier and is forming his own team to spread hatred and intolerance for mutants.

Call it a spanner in the works.

Okay, so the first thing to like about The Red Shadow is the choice for the cast of characters. Rather than ride the wave of popularity that characters like Captain America and Thor, Uncanny Avengers really makes this book about the mutants; Cyclops’ brother, Havok takes centre stage as the leader of the new team, while the most character drama happens between Rogue and Scarlet Witch- two mutants who can’t trust each other as far as they can throw each other. Even Wolverine- who has been in both the Avengers and X-Men camps- plays a relatively small role. Don’t get me wrong, Captain America, Wolverine and Thor all have major moments in the book, but this isn’t their book by a long shot.

Choosing Havok as team leader was a really interesting choice. There are a ton of more popular characters in the X-Men that could have lead the team, Beast, Colossus, Storm, Iceman, Gambit, the list goes on, really. It was great to see writer Rick Remender utilise such a left field character and make him feel like he really mattered to the overall story. He goes from not being sure about his ability to lead the group to being annoyed when Captain America tries to lead the team behind his back. It’s a great amount of character development for someone who was always considered to be the less interesting of the Summers brothers.

However, the story feels like it doesn’t go anywhere. This has to be the only Marvel story I’ve ever read where Thor can go mad and attack the rest of the team, where Red Skull can drive the world’s population mad and it still somehow feels like it doesn’t amount to anything. The main story arc is over too soon, and for all of the character development, there’s nothing here that really hooks you on to the second issue.

Hey, you guys remember that story
that is much better than this one?

The art is also a problem here. It’s not bad, but Marvel NOW! has made its mark by letting each artist leaveHawkeye and All-New X-Men feels distinctive and looks fantastic. It seems strange, therefore, that the art in The Red Menace looks like typical comic book fare. This isn’t helped by the fact that Red Skull’s team is composed of possibly the ugliest, most ridiculous-looking supervillains that I have ever seen. Thankfully, some clever panel design alleviates some of the otherwise unspectacular art. One of the best scenes involves Red Skull describing his plans for mutant genocide against a scene that very closely resembles the classic cover of X-Men: Days of Future Past. It’s a nice touch that will resonate with older readers, even if new ones may be confused.

their own distinct mark on the series they work on really look distinctive. The art in books like

The Red Menace is a book with plenty of potential, but it’s far from the best first outing that Marvel NOW! could have had. It gets a four out of five dead doornails.

****

+ Nice to see an Avengers book that doesn’t focus on the main Avengers.

+ Choice of characters is spot on.

+ Havok makes an interesting leader.

- Art looks too standard to be interesting

- Some awful bad-guy designs.

Alternate Option: New Avengers: Everyone Dies

Another Marvel NOW! Avengers book, if you want another one.

How Marvel Films Can Stay Ahead: An Open Letter

Even the most successful superhero films risk losing momentum

Dear Marvel,

There’s no disputing that you’re currently in the lead when it comes to live-action films. You’ve smashed the box office and given Marvel fans something to gloat about. The thing is; DC doesn’t see this as a defeat- even if Marvel fans think it is. They see it as a challenge; one that, if rumours are to be believed, they might just meet.

Last month I wrote an article listing some of the ways I felt that DC could pull ahead of the competition, so it seems only fair that I do one on what you need to do to stay ahead of DC.

The scariest villain we never cared about.

Change it up

So you’ve had a few films leading up to The Avengers, and then... BAM! THE AVENGERS!

It was a pretty successful business model.

But here’s the problem; do something too many times, and it becomes stale- especially if DC does the exact same thing just as well. So keep us on our toes, try not making your single-character films lead-ups to the next Avengers. Try making Avengers 3 right off the back of Age of Ultron. Keep your system varied, and you will surprise your pundits. Trust me, the worst thing you can do at the moment is let this thing get stale.

When the cast for Avengers 3 looks like this, it's
time to stop.

Know when to stop

Indiana Jones was awesome... for three movies. Star Wars was awesome... in the original trilogy. Even Harry Potter started to get a little silly after the third film.

And let’s not even get started on Rocky.

There will come a time when you need to stop creating Avengers films so much. As great as Robert Downey Jr was in Iron Man, you were wise to call it quits after Iron Man 3. Can I go so far as to suggest that perhaps we don’t need an Ant Man 2? That, maybe, you don’t absolutely have to have Guardian of the Galaxy 2? Maybe you do, but will be a time when you need to quit, or at least tone it down for a while. 

The box office is a fickle place, true believers.

Remember these guys? They need help too.

Help Fox and Sony

Okay, it should be clear that you are NEVER getting your X-Men franchise back. Spider-Man? Not likely, buddy. And don’t even try getting your hands back on The Fantastic Four. But that doesn’t mean you can’t push them in the right direction. Send Matt Fraction as a consultant for FF. Get Dan Slott to give his two cents on Sony’s Spidey script. Let Brian Michael Bendis discuss the X-Men with Fox. I know, you’ve got this Avengers thing going now, but you have a lot of prodigal sons to look after. So care for them!

It’s not just because you want to look after your franchises though. Those of us whose memories go back before 2008 remember that there were some pretty awful Marvel movies out there. For every Iron Man, there was a Daredevil. For every Thor, there was a Spiderman 3. For every Avengers, there was a Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. You’ve had a lot of Marvel based movies made, but- and let’s be blunt- not all of them were box-office smashes. There has been a considerable amount of X-Men: The Last Stand and Elektra’s out there.

Yeah, Elektra. Wanna talk to me about how bad Green Lantern was again?

Tony Stark is blown away that The Avengers don't need him.

Let Iron Man be finished

Again, Marvel, Robert Downey Jr. makes a great Iron Man, but four movies later I know I’m getting a little sick of him.

Thing is, his presence in The Avengers kinda usurped the impact of all the other characters. It was Robert’s movie and the others were just in it. Don’t make that mistake with Age of Ultron. By all means use him. By all means give us a couple of witty quips, but if you cop out of Iron Man 3’s ending by giving having Tony Stark construct a new suit because the Avengers “need him” (hint: they don’t they have a WWII hero, a god and a furious rage-monster), you are gonna leave us with a bad taste in our mouths.

Okay, so that’s hardly an exhaustive list, but they’re things that need to be considered. You’ve set up a very competitive environment, Marvel, and we thank you for that but DC’s not going to roll over and die because you put out a couple of good films. You still need to up your game, because I guarantee you, DC is.

Best wishes,

Tom Fulcher

Hawkeye, Volume 1: My Life as a Weapon (Marvel Now)

Hawkeye Volume 1: My Life as a Weapon (Marvel NOW)

Shooting arrows off buildings? Yeah,
that's normal...

Writer: Matt Fraction

Artist: David Aja and Javier Pulido

Collects: Hawkeye 1-5 and Young Avengers 6

Owned as trade paperback.

Background Info:

Whatever some comic fans may say about DC’s new 52, they have to admit that financially, it’s been a big success. And what publisher wouldn’t want to jump on a financial success, right?

In response to the new 52, Marvel launched its own “new-reader-friendly” approach called Marvel NOW. Unlike DC’s initiative, which involved a soft reboot of the entire franchise, Marvel took a large slab of their characters and put them in situations so unlike anything that would be considered “normal” for them that is would have the same effect as a reboot.

What? Oh yeah, about Hawkeye. Writer Matt Fraction tells us little more than this about Hawkeye:

“Clint Barton, aka Hawkeye, became the greatest sharp-shooter known to man. He then joined the Avengers. This is what he does when he’s not being an avenger. That’s all you need to know.”

And, well, it is.

Review:

Sometimes I lament the push for dark and edgy stories. Don’t get me wrong; I loved The Dark Knight as much as the next man, but every time I hear “dark and gritty” get used as an indicator of quality, I die a little inside.

Which is why I’m so glad that Hawkeye: My Life as a Weapon doesn’t play the “hardcore” card. My Life as a Weapon seems to find the perfect ground between being totally accessible to adults and being fun and light-hearted.

As suggested in the background story, this is what Clint Barton, or Hawkeye, does on his time off. And if that sounds like an awful story, you’re going to find yourself pleasantly surprised. Clint, it turns out, gets into a lot of trouble on his time off. He gets takes on nasty landlords, on the wrong side of low-level mafias, busts small-time thieves and tries to get his dog a slice of pizza. It’s all pretty inconsequential-sounding stuff, and if this were written and drawn like a regular superhero book, it would probably be a rather pathetic excuse for a normal superhero book.

Thankfully, this isn’t a normal superhero book, in fact, but for the fact that Hawkeye is kinda a superhero, it’s barely a superhero book at all (okay, let’s make a deal; I am never typing “superhero book” again in this review, starting… now).  In fact, My Life as a Weapon plays out more like a classic cop drama. There are elements here that remind me of Starsky and Hutch, Hawaii Five-O, and other dramas that are difficult to ignore. Regular chase scenes, outfits that look less-than-contemporary and a “partners” dynamic happen again and again in Hawkeye, giving the book this great nostalgia. It’s backed up by artwork that looks like it was from a time when comics weren’t in a financial slump, and as such, looks great.

Matt Fraction does an amazing job writing the two main characters in this trade. If you only read this book, you’d be surprised to find out that Hawkeye was a member of a team like the Avengers. He makes frequent mistakes (one issue is even devoted to mistakes he has made), he’s often out of his comfort zone and talks himself into a hole so regularly that he barely seems like a superhero at all. In the process, he becomes one of the most relatable characters in comics. The real money here, though is the way Fraction writes the relationship between Clint and Kate “Younger Hawkeye” Bishop. Fraction manages to create a dialogue between the two of them that has just enough sexual tension to make it funny, but enough brother-and-sister tropes to stop it from being creepy- Kate is a lot younger than Clint, after all. Kate is a great character in her right, she’s somewhat sarcastic, and enjoys making fun of Clint in ways that actually makes you laugh out loud.

Even the other characters in Hawkeye are handled amazingly. The Russian gang that have become popularly known as the “tracksuit draculas” (even though that’s a name they never give themselves in the trade), speak in hilarious broken English and use the word “bro” where a full stop should be. Clint’s neighbours all ooze personality and even Clint’s dog seems to have life in Fraction’s story.

I have spoken about the art briefly, but it needs to be said again: the art is brilliant. The best way I can describe it is that it’s beautifully understated. Not much bother has been taken with intricate details and lighting, and as a result, it’s one of the boldest-looking comics you’ll ever read. Panelling is also done particularly well, allowing for Fraction’s dialogue to take on extra life. It’s rare that artist and writer work this well together.

I only have two complaints about this collection. Firstly, after the first three issues, the quality does seem to drop in both art and story. Hawkeye reads best when it feels like a collection of short stories; when each issue has its own story to tell and doesn’t need to fit an “arc”. This is something that was nailed in the first three issues, but issues 4 and 5 seem to take a step backwards, telling a two part “arc” that isn’t anywhere near as interesting as the beginning of the book. What’s more, a different artist in this arc is definitely noticeable; it’s comparatively lifeless. Second major complaint is the shoehorned Young Avengers 6 that finishes this volume. It investigates the time that Kate and Clint met, but it feel unnecessary and it’s conventional style of art clashes sharply with the understated work in the previous issues.

That said, My Life as a Weapon is the perfect antidote for those tired of conventional comics’ “dark and gritty” approach, and for that it gets for and a half out of five superhero books.

…Dammit.

**** ½

+ Superbly written.

+ Light-hearted done right.

+ Art is awesome.

- Quality dips slightly toward the end.

- You don’t need to read the Young Avengers tie-in… like, at all.

Alternate Option: Hawkeye: Little Hits

Not one that I’ve read yet, but the only thing on the market form the big that’s anything like Hawkeye is another volume of Hawkeye.

The Avengers, Vol.3

The Avengers Vol.3

Captain America called all of their
mothers fat.

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis

Artist: Daniel Acuna, Renato Guedes, Brandon Peterson

Collects issues 18-24 and 24.1

Read as trade paperback

Background Information:

In the wake of an event known as Secret Invasion, Green Goblin Norman Osborn took over the Avengers. In an era known as the Dark Reign, Osborn utilised the Avengers to commit awful crimes against humanity. His reign ended when he tried to attack Asgard, and the Avengers once again formed under Iron Man and Captain America.

What you probably also need to know is that the Avengers have always had a rotating door; allowing multiple superheroes to enter the team. As such, don’t expect to see Thor or the original Hulk in this group.

Review:

The Dark Reign cemented Norman Osborn as one of the most interesting villains in the Marvel Universe; he’s manipulative, maniacal and very, very rich. The third volume of The Avengers takes full advantage of this character and does a far greater job of introducing new readers than the first volume of Ultimate Comics: The Ultimates.

Vol. 3 is essentially a new beginning for the Avengers. Captain America assembles a new team of avengers that includes Storm and a newly –rebuilt Vision (think a robotic superman and you’re pretty close). In the meantime, Osborn’s organisation H.A.M.M.E.R, the Nazi spin-off group HYDRA, and the terrorists A.I.M have joined forces to create super-soldiers based on the DNA of various Avengers. It’s a plot fit for the Avengers movie, and is actually a better plot all-round. Bendis’ storytelling packs Vol. 3 full of big cinematic moments- the kind that show giant soldiers attacking jets, Hulk-Spiderman hybrids chasing characters through tunnels and Wasp-powered soldiers making short work of Red Hulk. Admittedly, most of the story doesn’t have much in the way of depth- character development is sacrificed in favour of action scenes and witty dialogue. What I can say for the film is that it’s no less shallow than Joss Whedon’s Avengers film, which actually makes it pretty accessible to new readers.

When depth makes an appearance in Vol. 3 is in issue 24.1, which sees Vision trying to adapt to a world in which he has been dead for many years. He mends his relationship with She-Hulk, who apparently ripped him in two many years ago, he confronts Magneto, his father-in-law and mourns the loss of his one-time wife Scarlet Witch. When reading this issue, your heart has to break for Vision; he’s lost so much that Bendis makes us wonder if being repaired by Tony Stark was really the best thing for the robot. It’s a pity we didn’t see more of this scattered through the issue.

I’m a little disappointed that Storm was so under-utilised in this volume. She gets set up rather nicely in Vol. 3, as a suggest recruit by her husband Black Panther, and she is supposed to be the friendly face of Captain America’s new group of Avengers. For some reason, however, Bendis chooses to keep her only to try and zap things with lightning. It’s a shame, as Storm is one of the most interesting of the X-Men, and including her in the Avengers looked like an opportunity to bring her more into the spotlight. For some reason, though, Bendis doesn’t see it that way, and Storm’s inclusion seems only to be a way to fill numbers in the squad. Instead of the bold, dynamic character that the Queen of Wakanda is, she gets written as more of an afterthought.

I get a little worried when I see the names of three different artists on one book. It usually means that the quality of art is going to vary significantly and that destroys the feeling of unity that a book should portray. Thankfully, in the combined efforts of Acuna, Guedes and Peterson, I really didn’t notice any disconnect in the art. That’s a hard thing to do when there’s only two artists, yet these guys pull it off perfectly. The action is drawn really well and the panelling has some moments that really stick out; case point, in a scene where a jet is crashing, thin, diagonal panels cover the page, creating a “speed lines” effect that fits the moment just right.

Overall, The Avengers Vol. 3 is a great starting point for any new reader- the book offers a fantastic story, and the consistent arts helps that along. It’s just a pity that some characters feel underutilised. It gets a 3 and a half out of five speed lines.

*** ½

+ Plot idea is great.

+ So is the art.

- The story itself is fairly shallow.

- Storm is drastically underutilised.

Alternate Option: Ultimates Comics- Ultimates Vol. 1

Okay, it’s nowhere near as good a title, but if you really want a good starting point for an Avengers story, you could do much worse.