Avengers #1: A roundabout Review

Recently, with all things in my life, it's a pretty sure bet I either have coffee or a comic book nearby.  At times I have both. Empty creamers and sugar packets or plastic bags, boards, and tape at one time or another have littered a table I occupied. Occasionally, when I drink my coffee I remember my youth, but even after entering my fourth decade of life, every so often after closing a comic book, I transport myself into the imaginary world I was just reading.

Every week I buy comic books, it’s a more religious experience than some people’s church outings.  Finances being the way they are I try to escape my "must have" attitude and limit my purchases to what I like aesthetically, this is not only for the appeal of my eyes but the landscape of my mind. At an average of four dollars a book I want my money's worth. I won't get into the price of a good cup of coffee, nor the ten percent the church asks for.

Most recently Marvel Comics is revamping their line with "Marvel Now"; a byproduct of the success DC has had with their new “52”. A red banner across the bottom of the book along with the tagline “Join the Revolution” could subconsciously scream "LOOK AT ME". I whole heartily disagree with a comic publisher’s mentality that the reader, which I am one of will lose interest among the higher number books, so instead of reading Avenger's six hundred and two I'm reading issue #1…again.

SPOILERS AHEAD

I was disappointed right away because it was the Avengers from the 2012 blockbuster hit and not the latest incarnation from the comic book. After looking forward to this book when I first saw the advertisement had my favorite character barreling to the front lines, I couldn't wait to see Cannonball as an Avenger. He wasn't in it, not till the end, in almost the same pose he displayed on the cover. The future tales of Sam Guthrie, Cable’s first soldier, had to wait.

Iron Man, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Thor, Bruce Banner, and Captain America think they are arriving at the red planet with no one the wiser.  They were wrong.  Continuity speaking, when does this happen? Being a number one I would have hoped to have been able to roll along and know everything. Isn't that what these number ones are all about?  Continuity never seemed to be a problem amid the comics I grew up with. To its credit Avengers volume 5 #1 felt like one big blockbuster in itself. I must admit Jonathan Hickman has succeeded in grabbing my attention.
               

Page one looks like it could be from a comic version of the Bible. The second page is a list of the Avengers followed by a three page panel describing when it all "could" have begun. 

Page four was more of a tease with the "Iron Wars?" 

 Page six was a great rendition by Jerome Opena, a single panel of Mister Fantastic, The Sub Mariner, Black Bolt, and The Black Panther. I am drawn in, no pun intended.

               
On Mars, the Avengers are bested by Abyss, Aleph, and Ex Nihilo by means of an “in your face” beat down.  Captain America is knocked to the ground but still refuses to yield. 

They pick him, quite possibly due to his enduring spirit, to send Earth a message “We’ll send him home to write a warning in the heavens”.

I don’t think the trio thinks the message would be a call to arms. Steve’s body heals enough in only three days to "Wake the World". 

The second to last page has Rogers suiting up in what closely resembles the outfit Chris Evans wore in the movie. The code “Assemble at Dawn” is answered, with force. I recognize the majority of the members and look forward to the next issue.  I question the beginning and the ending of the book because it reads that the Earth has changed.  The biospheres of the first two impact zones, by the first two bombs, seemed so catastrophic they would have mentioned it in every one of their books.  Could the reasoning of picking two be slightly symbolic of World War Two? But, why mention the “first” two bombs? Wouldn't that beg to answer how many others were sent? One was fired as the Avengers were in inner planet travel.  They destroy it.

They arrive in a heroes fashion, but how did these heroes survive the change of the Biosphere, were they hidden, were they outside the range of the first two bombs, and don’t we have only one biosphere? This thought alone could probably destroy the last panel of the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes standing before an unaffected city? Wouldn't it have been much more story driven if the building were grown over with moss? The last page is of Captain America with possibly the best Avengers team yet, if not the largest, so much for Peter Gyrich’s limit of six.

After 21 pages of art, four pages of “titles”, five “AR” markers, two advertisements for two more “Marvel Now” titles, a paid ad for Max Payne 3, a back cover for the NBA and a Modern day Stan’s Soapbox fill the pages for $3.99. Before I forget there is also a page dedicated to the Marvel Augmented Reality App (AR) which is on the same page as the sticker covered code for a free Digital Copy. I must admit I enjoyed the book. Yes I picked it apart, but when it comes down to it the only question is do I get the book graded by CGC to preserve the grade I purchased the book in or do I recall my youth in one other way, and read it over and over again.

Thanks for Reading