Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities The All Avengers Thread

Yeah, I don't want another retread of Kang, Ultron, etc. I want new and fresh stories.

While I wouldn't mind seeing Count Nefaria again since its been so long, I really hope its in a new and exciting way.

Haven't picked up any of the latest but I'll review when I do.

Final impressions post Secret Invasion:

(1) New Avengers - actually a pretty decent comic book but nothing specatcular. The addition of Mockingbird w/ Clint is interesting and so is the inclusion of the new Cap/Bucky. Bendis is dropping Iron Fist, and honestly he should--he's not one of Bendis' favorites, and it obviously shows because he didn't have him do anything. That's a major Bendis problem.

(2) Mighty Avengers by Brian Bendis ultimately failed IMO. It just wasn't a good comic book. Like the current JLA, a good line-up does not make a good comic book. You need good solid writing and stories. I hope Dan Slott can give us that.

(3) Avengers: the Iniative has moments of greatness but overall is generally pretty mediocre. I hope that changes as well, though I'm a little unsure of how the concept of the book will change in this new status.

(4) Young Avengers - at this point, I can hardly remember why we all liked this so much. Talk about no follow through.

I've not actually really read any Avengers stuff since Disassembled but picked up Mighty Avengers #21 because I liked the sound of it and was pretty pleased I did. I've never really been a big Marvel person and only ever had a few Avengers annuals when i was younger so I really only have a passing knowledge of most of the characters but I thought the issue did a really nice job of introducing each of the characters, saying who they are but not getting bogged down in exposition.

The set up of the story I think is a good start and even though it's very much an introduction issue (and to all intents and purposes a relaunch of the title as far as I can see) we actually got plot and character development trhough out the issue. Since I don;t have any real past experience of the Avengers to any great degree using old villains doesn't bother me either, as long as Slott writes good stories I don't mind. Also since he's using mostly well established heroes there's no reason that using well established villains should be a bad thing either.

I certainly interested to see where he goes with the line-up as well. I know the only confirmed member past the first story arc is Scarlet Witch and it's been pretty strongly implied that Iron Man is only around for the first one, but of the ones featured in the first issue I think I'd be happy for any (or all) of them to stick around. I suspect teh characters with solo titles are less likely to be on the team permanently but since lott has said he's going for a rotating cast with a core team that should work well in terms of characters coming and going as the story needs them.

As for the art i really rather liked it. I think the inking is a little inconsistent but I think Pham has a style that fits very well with the title. He reminds me a little of Coipel or Jimmy Cheung (which is a very good thing) but possibly just needs a bit more experience to become a really great artist. I did think the colouring was lovely though. Bright and clear without swamping the line art.

All in all a ncie little read and enough to keep me on the title at least for the next few issues to see where it goes. I'm not adding it to my pull list yet but what with half the other titles I do have in there being cancelled at the moment I can certainly afford to add it if it proves to be enjoyable.

Okay, read the latest New & Might:

Might Avengers - I thought it was a solid, good first issue. Intriguing storyline, and Slott does a good job organizing the characters together. I don't think the Hulk will be around long (or Iron Man for that matter), but I like seeing them here. I'm a huge fan of Hank Pym, so I'm glad Slott is intending to make him a major player here--I thought he was very well-written. I kind of like Jocasta being around, but hopefully Slott plays off readers fears to make it seem like it *could* be weird, rather than actually making it weird. I'm loving Herc and Amadeus Cho in their own title and am loving their inclusion here. I actually quite like Herc's mannerisms and speech patterns lately. Jarvis being so involved rocked. Loving Wanda's role here. I'm pretty 'meh' about US Agent, so we'll see what happens there. I'm interested in what happens to Quicksilver. I also love the setting of Wundagore Mountain because of the sheer history there.

All in all, a solid good first issue to start. We'll see where it goes.

New Avengers - the latest tied up the Luke Cage /baby storyline, and further force-fed us more Norman Osborn and his Dark Avengers. It was...not bad. Nothing spectacular, but it wasn't horrible. In a weird way, Bendis makes Cage out to be a really big liar. Obviously the readers can understand where he's coming from, but its odd that Bendis wrote it that way (I wouldn't use the word dishonorable, which would be overly harsh). One of the things I think Bendis has done very right is show how much sacrifice it takes to become a parent, something which my father has told me about on several occassions. You end up sacrificing a large portion of yourself to ensure your child has a happy life--obviously, skrulls and superpowers take this to an extreme, but it kind of goes with that theme.

I already cringe everytime Norman Osborn shows up in a comic. Tony Stark syndrome is setting in.

I know what you mean about seeing too much Osborn. Marvel's use of a shared universe used to be fun, but now it's like it has a stranglehold on their titles. I want to see the Avengers do something other than deal with the strife of their own lives.

Yeah, you shouldn't pick up the latest Avengers/Invaders.... *cough*ultron*cough*

i miss heroics too.....

I'm surprised to read that, given the high esteem in which you hold the Harras/Epting era, where Herc was at his most Shakespearean.

If the current Herc were an organic evolution, I could grudgingly accept it, but it feels like an arbitrary re-invention to me.

I'm actually finding the current Hercules very refreshing and fun. His history in the MU has always been spotty with some good eras here and there (I love him during the Silver Age, by Roger Stern and in the Harras/Epting era, but hate so many other interpretations for him).

Really, there's a sense of fun for Herc right now, particularly in his friendship with Amadeus, that I'm liking. I also like the 'ladies man' aspect, and I like his enjoyable embrace of his long, multi-millenia wide history. There just seems to be a lot of positive going on in Hercules world, probably moreso than ever before. I'd rank his solo title in the top ten best comics being produced right now.

I don't mind a different interpretation of Thor or Hercules speech patterns or mannerisms so long as it feels 'good', which this does. So many writers seem to get it all wrong, and it ends up feeling awkward and ill-suited. I'd rather they carve out their own feel for the character.

I'm hoping you warm up to how he's currently being written

I'm going to give this new run on Mighty Avengers a try. I dropped NA after a few issues, and did the same with MA. Neither was my cup of tea. NA is more like New Defenders (it just never felt like an Avengers title to me) and I hated the writing on MA, even though I liked alot of the characters.

Hopefully MA will be the one to draw me back into the Avengers orbit... I miss collecting them.

I've been avoiding Avengers books since, uh, I think the Busiek / Perez run, and the latest 'must have Wolverine' on the team run has kept me happily away.

But Dan Slott is one of my favorite writers, so I gave his first Mighty Avengers issue a chance and so far I'm liking it. Hank Pym has always been a favorite (although I no longer have any idea what history is his and what history is Skrull, so I'm just going to try and forget that he's a pre-existing character), as well as USAgent. I'm not sure about Jocasta or Hercules, and while I like Wanda, the power levels she's exhibiting right now scare me. I fear that, in fine Marvel fashion, something drastic is going to have to happen to her...

As if she hasn't had enough abuse.

Seeing the Darkhold, Modred the Mystic, Wundagore Mountain and Cthon back is certainly a surprise. The out of control mystical disasters were, IMO, over-the-top, but obviously it's all going to be 'set right,' considering how many people died.

And yay for Jarvis!

AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE 22-- Not a fan of the art, here. Sometimes I like Ramos, but with this many characters, highly stylized art can get in the way of the story.

Thor clone is now Ragnarok? OK- it'll be interesting to see him face a real Asgardian or two.. besides Thor Girl, that is.

Trauma, Ultra Girl and a couple of others get some focus-- however, there's sort of a end-of-the-line feel to this title. Don't know if a change is coming or what. With a 'Dark Young Avengers' coming, it seems a tad superfluous. Unless the New Warriors take over?

MIGHTY AVENGERS 22: OK, not as tight as Slott's first issue- but still enjoyable.

Pym, Hercules and Cho stood out for me. Hulk and Tony Stark ate up some storytime that I really would rather have seen go to explaining just what is up with Scarlet Witch.

Jocasta's got me curious, too.

I liked the somewhat offhand end involving Bova and Quicksilver. Anticlimactic? Maybe-- but distinct and character-driven, too.

I thought the new issue of Mighty Avengers was atrocious. It shows every sign of having been hacked up and clumsily sewn back together by Brevoort and his assistant editors. I really want to like Mighty Avengers, because it's been way too long (almost 15 years) since I followed a current Avengers book, but I'm finding it hard to do.

Slott's first arc comes to a L-A-M-E climax, but nearly rebounds with a last-page twist ending that works for me.

<span class="spoiler_containter"><span class="spoiler_wording">Click Here For A Spoiler</span><span class="spoiler_text">So Wanda was She-Loki all along. Clever way of tying this team to legacy of the original team.</span></span>

Hopefully, this means better stories are ahead.

I liked this issue more than the second of the initial storyline, perhaps not as much as the first.

As for the climax, I really disagree. I thought Pym's and Amadeus' use of the old Ant-man cybernetic helmet to combat a spellcaster was inspired.

I could've done without Tony Stark completely. He had a funny line or two, and I suppose he played a necessary role in the structure of the storyline, but I'm just tired of him.

The last page was one of the best surprises in years. Outstanding, I thought. And a perfect use of Avengers history.

I wish Bova would go back with the team. She was fun. I imagine Pietro could use her support, for more than one reason.

Love this title, now.

AVENGERS: THE INTIATIVE: REPTIL-- this was an enjoyable character debut. Said character has an interesting superpower (shapechanging into various human-sized dinosaurish creatures and manifesting said dinosaur's characteristics. Flying while changed into a pterodactyl-like shape, for example) and a horrible name. He's a likeable kid, though. One with his own mission that could make for a longtime storyline. And a distinct supporting cast member in his video game-playing grandfather.

There are nice moments for Cloud-9, Batwing and various other Intiative members. And especially for Tigra. It's pleasing to see her taken seriously and proven to be an effective heroine, considering her recent usages in various AVENGERS titles.

She makes a fine mentor (her pregnancy isn't mentioned, but that could make her a tad more nurturing) and a good leader, as well, as she works around the rules of the Initiative.

In addition, a hanging plot from Marvel's recent pass is dealt with in what I found to be a satisfying way. A life is saved, characters are reunited and Reptil gets an offer that he didn't expect, but actually wanted more than the one he did.

Worth a read.

<span class="spoiler_containter"><span class="spoiler_wording">Click Here For A Spoiler</span><span class="spoiler_text">Getting him to talk gibberish, inspired?</span></span>

I can picture Slott sitting at his computer, chewing his nails, desperately trying to come up with something.

Then he phones Jeph Loeb.

Slott's so desperate and so far behind on his deadline that he uses Loeb's first suggestion.

I'm having a better time snarking about this issue than I did reading it.

Maybe it's time I dropped it. I need to make room for Andy Diggle's Daredevil, after all.

Undeniably clever ending to the current issue, though.

On second thought, it's probably a fluke.

NEW AVENGERS #52: Clint Barton takes on a new role (aside from 'Ronin') and makes a suprising move.

Dr. Strange begins the search for the new supreme sorceror, and has a positive encounter and one that's less so.

Young Avenger Wiccan guest stars, but there's something off about his characterization. Maybe it's the art, which was fine elsewhere, but didn't successfully get his personality across, I thought.

The cover's a bit of a misleading image, as only three of the characters on it actually appear in the story, though a fourth is mentioned.

All in all, I find this a pretty interesting premise for a story, for all that I find supremely powerful magicians not so captivating, though the characters themselves often are.

We'll see.

NEW AVENGERS #52-- Dr. Strange is quite likeable, here. He hasn't always been (to me, anyway). I enjoyed how this team sort of foisted themselves on him as he rests for a bit before resuming his search for the new Sorceror Supreme.

Dr. Strange impressed with young Wiccan-- I liked that.

Scared of Dr. Doom-- effective, but in character?

Trembling at The Hood?-- Marvel's working hard to put this character at the center of things, but I don't quite buy into all that yet.

I will say that the sequence with Madame Masque did more to make me like The Hood than anything I've read with him in it. I always liked Whitney Frost, even if she can't decide which side of the law she's on. I think she's fallen for a bit of a loser, but at least he's an interesting one.

However, that scene builds to yet another tease of her removing her mask, drawn in such a way that the reader doesn't see her face. The two-page spread after she drops her mask is completely indecipherable. In the first panel, she kisses The Hood (prompting a 'Wow' from the guy-- reaction to her face or the kiss?). From there, I have no clue. I don't even know what mood I'm supposed to get from that spread. It ends with a big devilish skull-face in an archway. I presume it's Dormammu, since that's who is powering The Hood.

Is he drawn to the sex? To a female? What?

As always, the group dynamics are the funnest things about NEW AVENGERS (even though Clint Barton in that costume irritates me to no end...) and there's always some mystifying bit.

Or a case of casting some non-recurring character in a completely out-of-character, mostly negative light. Tigra, not so long ago, and now Son-of-Satan.

He appears in the concluding scene (emaciated, wearing jeans with no shirt and chains-- with Fire Lad hair), and looks to be on the verge of being 'taken out'. If so, that's just... lame. Hopefully, I'm mistaken and an inspiring fight scene will ensue next issue. One in which a non-New Avenger acts competently and shows some fight.

INITIATIVE #23-- I'm not a fan of the art. Particularly from the moment Komodo gets shot. Yet another spider-face unmasking. I liked bits with Ultra Girl, Tigra, Doc Samson and the Baron.

There are a ton of great characters populating this title. I'd like to read about them. But the weight of everything Osborn that's permeated Marvel these days is dragging this title down.

MIGHTY AVENGERS #24-- The Cabal, The Young Avengers, Quicksilver, there's a lot going on here.

What I liked--
-- the brief Y.A. appearance. I wish Cassie and Vision had brought along Amadeus, though. He might've liked getting to know the crew.
--Herc's battle-bliss as he fought his 'glorious lunatic' foe, The Swarm.
--Hank mentoring Cassie.
--Amadeus learning to use the cyber-helmet. This should carry over into INCREDIBLE HERCULES.
--Quicksilver's return and Hank's eventual acceptance, and Hank's looking past Pietro's obvoius face-saving lie.
--Osborn's showing his true face. And Loki's little grin. Is this title heading to a THOR crossover? It would seem it would have to.

What I didn't--
-- Dark Avengers? Yawn.
--Jocasta staying behind again? Is she on the team or isn't she?
--Titan. Has this critter been seen before?
--Blackjack. History, please.
--Problems with Pym pockets already? The idea of them hasn't really even sunk in yet.

I liked this issue better than the previous three. It had a snap, crackle, and pop to it that the previous ones didn't quite cook up. I also thought the art and coloring were better.

The most interesting thing with Mighty Avengers right now, though, is that, per the July solicitations, issue # 27 will introduce A NEW VILLAIN!! Said villain has a cool look and an okay, but acceptable name, the Unspoken. Now I just hope Slott doesn't repeat the mistakes Busiek made with his original villains, leaving them to wither in sub-plot land and/or getting them sidetracked by too many stories with old villains.

Let's just hope this new villain doesn't have his sights set on adopting the name/persona of some existing superHERO. That seems to be Marvel's main schtick these days.

The Unspoken does look quite Kirby-esque.

It's a fine line, isn't it? If a new villain appears *too* often, it's a major turn-off. But if they don't get re-used fairly quickly, they fade into the ether.

I hope he's his own entity and doesn't get swept up in all The Hood's/The Cabal's/Dormammu's stuff.

DARK REIGN CABAL: A sequence of short stories highlighting each member of the Cabal, Marvel's villainous recasting of the Illuminati.

An interesting mixed-bag. Doom's portion ends up being a dream, but it had me going there for a few minutes.

I most enjoyed the Namor sequence, where he enacts the role of judge as part of his duties as King of the Atlanteans (ain't really an Atlantis to be king of at the moment, but he's still king of the people who used to live there...) As such, he removes a mutant from the problematic care of his separated parents and promises to take the youth to what has to be Xavier's. If it's still called that in San Fran. Not sure?

Worth a look, as events in titles like THOR, all the AVENGERS, X-Men are touched upon, an will soon be sweeping all up in Marvel's umbrella story of the villains running things.

As with most previous issues, the latest Mighty Avengers leaves me with mixed feelings. On one hand, Slott is hitting his stride and finding his voice (which is more 60s Roy Thomas than 80s Roger Stern, but I'm okay with that.) On the other hand, the puerile behavior of Hank and Reed, bottoming out with Hank's use of painfully trendy slang, is excruciating. This MA vs FF two-parter can't end soon enough.