AVENGERS VOL. 1: AVENGERS WORLD (Marvel, 2013; Hardcover)
Collects
Avengers
Nos.
1-6 (cover dates February- April, 2013)
Writer:
Jonathon Hickman
Artist:
Jerome Opena (1-3) and Adam Kubert (4-6)
Colorist:
Various
The
relaunched flagship Avengers title is fairly similar to
Bendis' run on some levels while being tied closely to the movie
version on others. Both Captain America and Iron Man look like their
celluloid counterparts, which is all well and fine. The book jumps
back and forth in time, a Hickman crutc...er, hallmark. Hickman uses
the movie roster of Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Hawkeye,
and the Black Widow as the starting point for the team. His dialogue
is occasionally cringe-inducing, but nowhere near Bendis bad.
Cannonball, Sunspot, Spider-Woman, Captain Marvel, Manifold,
Spider-Man, Wolverine, and the Falcon are brought in as a second
string to save the first team's butt.
Being an Avenger is pretty meaningless nowadays. There are so many teams, it's almost like Marvel threw darts at a board to staff each team. It is incredibly stupid that Wolverine is on both this and the “Uncanny” team. I guess bending space and time must be another of his seemingly endless powers. Or maybe he can do a Madrox the Multiple Man and divide himself up. Captain Universe, Hyperion, Shang Chi the Master of Kung Fu, and a new, female Smasher help bring the team roster to a ridiculously large level.
There are two arcs in this book. The first deals with a robot named Aleph, one of the ancient Builders/ Gardners, who does a service to the universe by evolving species to their utmost potential. Those who are deemed not worthy get destroyed. Aleph and two of his creations, siblings Abyss and Ex Nihlo, have decided to help the apes on a stone three away from a star evolve. The Avengers intervene. The Avengers win. Sorry, I should have added a spoiler tag. My bad.
The second arc is the one that has me excited. A.I.M. Is caught trying to scour the sites that Aleph had sent to Earth. One of them has a humanoid figure who speaks in some strange code. Tony Stark is working on deciphering it when Captain Universe cracks the code for him. It turn out to be (SPOILERS) Nightmask from the New Universe! Oh please Marvel, integrate the New Universe into the mainstream Marvel Universe. I would love to see the D.P. 7, Star Brand, and Psi-Force Classic trade paperback lines completed, as well as a Nightmask one. (END SPOILERS) So that is where we are going forward.
Issue
6 is very Bendis-esque, all talk with some faux witty dialogue. This
wasn't a bad read by any stretch, it's just that Remender's Uncanny
Avengers is head and shoulders above this series thus far.
Junk
Food For Thought rating: 3.75 out of 5.
The
OCD zone- Marvel has switched to a new dustjacket free hardback
for all of their Marvel Now! Premiere Hardcovers. While the MSRP for
five issues seems a bit high ($24.99 MSRP), all of the variant covers
are included as a gallery in the back and there is a code included
for a free digital copy of this book. I honestly don't care about
digital comics, but this is great for the folks who do. What I do
care about, however, is the annoying cardboard code card that is
glued into the binding. It sticks out like a sore thumb towards the
back of the book and makes me unhappy.
The
covers are collected in the back of the book in a gallery instead of
in their proper chapter marker place. This is very annoying.
Paper
rating: 4 out of 5. This book has a decent weight glossy coated
stock. It's not as thick as the stock that Marvel used to use in
these books.
Binding
rating: 4.25 out of 5. These Premiere Hardcovers have glued
binding, but they are on the thin side so they lay reasonably flat
with the exception of the very front and especially the very back of
the book. That stupid digital code card throws a wrench in the
enjoyment factor for me.
Hardback
cover coating rating: 4.5 out of 5. The coating leaves a strange,
filmy feeling on your fingers but is of sufficient thickness that it
doesn't scuff easily. It's not Avatar Press awesome but is pretty
darn good. I'm happy with it. I was initially opposed to the idea of
Marvel foregoing dustjackets, but not any more...at least for these
Premiere Editions.
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