AVENGERS: REASSEMBLED?
In the aftermath of the Secret War event, there are no official Avengers. But, yet, we have three Avengers comics. What actually spewed from the Secret Wars is an interesting hodge podge of concepts of what the Avengers are in this brave new world. I have read them all up to the new Avengers: Standoff crossover event that includes them all and what follows is simply my opinion. But you know that. What I mean to do here is to give you an overview of what Marvel offers. What follows my synopsis is up to you. I truly believe that one or more of the titles will appeal to you. But what appeals to you may not appeal to me and visa versa.
NEW AVENGERS
Before the Secret Wars and during the Hickman storyline, Roberto De Costa procured the once evil mastermind thinktank, A.I.M. (Advanced Idea Mechanics). Like Hydra, they had been turned against S.H.I.E.L.D. for most of Marvel’s illustrious history. De Costa now tries to turn that paradigm on its ear. Make A.I.M. the heroes. The watchers at S.H.I.E.L.D. were and are a bit skeptical. This hasn’t put any damper on De Costa’s enthusiasm.
In fact, he has moved ahead with a group of Avengers of his own and even been so brazen to call A.I.M. , Avengers Idea Mechanics. This is a ballsy move, but we have come to expect no less from the former New Mutant. He has been on the wrong side of many a hero and their teams all the way back to his day as the King of the Hellfire Club. He thinks outside the cosmic cube as it were. But enough about the New Avengers front man. The team he has put together is as eccentric and remarkably unpredictable as De Costa ever was.
Team Leader: Songbird (Melissa Gold)
Of all the characters in the past twenty years to come onto the scene, Songbird has gotten the most traction. We’ve seen futures already where she was a bonified Avenger and, as a part of this team, she seems to have arrived; although not officially. Her rebirth as a hero started with the revolutionary THUNDERBOLTs comic which re-imagined several of Marvel’s old school villains as heroes partially as rehabilitation. The project has went through many phases, but the original group, as it usually happens, yielded the best results and Songbird is destined to be one of the most important Marvel characters in this post Secret Wars world. She’s proven herself a capable leader in line of fire. Oh, and her Sonic manipulation powers aren’t bad either.
Most experienced muscle: Hulkling (Teddy Altman) and Wiccan? (Billy Caplan)
Saying that these two are the most experienced shows how experimental this Avengers team is and how they definitely have earned the tag ‘NEW AVENGERS’. Both are ‘graduates’ of the Young Avengers team that had a quite a bit of success; So much so that we should expect most members of that now historic team to be the future of the Avengers. The term muscle is a definite. They bring a one-two punch that is nearly unequaled on the team. Between Hulkling’s strength and shape shifting ability and Wiccan’s (He still not really settled on a good code name) ability to do just about anything he needs to do (Yeah!) makes them indispensible. These two young hero’s lineage alone makes them superhero royalty. Hulkling is the unique hybrid son of Skrull and Kree parents and, apparently, space royalty. Billy is the son of the Scarlet Witch and thus how he got his ability to warp reality. Heck, his creation is due to the warping of impossible reality. Watch these two. They’re not going anywhere but up.
Comic Relief: Squirrel Girl (Doreen Green)
Supposedly, the REAL muscle of the group due to her past conquests of such heavies as Galactus and Thanos. She has, of course, become a fan favorite due to here quirky ways, her funny interjections and her relationship and communication with Tippy-Toe, the squirrel.
Dark and mysterious member: White Tiger (Ava Ayala)
She’s a human who has taken the power of a prehistoric tiger deity. She’s brooding and aloof. She speaks in almost robotic syntax much like the Vision. Don’t worry. They get into her abilities along the way.
New Character: Power Man (Victor Alvarez)
Another in Marvel’s long line of rehashing old, successful character names with an absolutely different and non-related character. Yes, you sense a bit of animosity and irritation, but I will save that for a future rant. Ok, get this, maybe Marvel’s running out of super powers, but Alvarez has the ability to turn history and culture into power. Still not sure how THAT works, but he brings a rather human element to this unearthly group.
Other mentionables: Hawkeye (Clint Barton) and POD
Barton is there as a S.H.I.E.L.D. insider and all know it. But you know Barton. He’s the consummate wildcard. POD is a bit of the scientific and I can’t wait till they delve into the human/machine amalgamation in the future.
NEW AVENGERS works as a rogue unit in the new landscape. With a scientific think tank at their disposal, they have James Bond like gadgets with a scifi swing at their disposal 24/7. A team member can’t fly? Gravity belts (not a Legionnaires ring, but close). As much as they look like a bad idea, Songbird have them working like a well oiled machine. The characters are all unique and fleshed out.
Ewings stories ring true to the pitch line: New Tech. New Ideas. New Missions.
This is my least favorite team, to be honest. But I’ve enjoyed the stories more. Strange, it doesn’t usually happen that way. Will New Avengers warm me up to Squirrel Girl, Wiccan and this new Power Man? The court is still out.
Uncanny Avengers
One of the bold moves by Marvel before Secret Wars lives on. The Avengers Unity squad, a…well…union between Avengers and X-men that happened after the devastating Avengers Vs X-Men story line. But this squad has more on its mind than unity. Another story element from before the Secret Wars captures their attention. The Red Skull. And not just the Red Skull but what’s in the villain’s skull; the brain of Charles Xavier! YES! That craziness still lives! Just when you thought you could discuss comics with your uninitiated friends and not sound like a lunatic, Red Skull with Xavier’s brain goes on. I really thought Marvel would have fixed that in the transition.
But anyway, since they’re chasing the Red Skull, it is fitting that the man pulling them together is Steve Rogers himself. This is ANOTHER element of pre-Secret Wars Marvel that I thought they would fix. I’m sorry. But I’m just one who thinks it’s time to move on. How much longer do they think they can drag Steve around? Although his death was mentioned by future Avengers visiting the New Avengers as a catalyst of some sort, so one can hope.
Team Leader: Rogue
Rogue has further chances to prove herself as a leader. Unfortunately, Rogers has decided to bring together some of the most independent, loner, head strong heroes of all time. She doesn’t come across as having any control on this team. She’s also the heavy hitter of the team. If it wasn’t for ammunition and, maybe, Cable’s TK, she would be the only muscle.
Most experienced muscle…I mean guns: Deadpool and Cable
The insertion of Cable helped this team a lot. He brings a heavy punch and combat readiness. Between him and Deadpool, they can clear quite a path. As long they keep fighting things that they can shoot up, they’re fine.
Comic Relief: Deadpool
Who woulda thunk it? Right? But, to be honest, he really is only getting revved up in the issue leading into STANDOFF. The whole Connecticut/golf thing was funny and he seemed to be in his element.
Dark and mysterious character: Brother Voodoo
Ok, here’s yet another black character from the seventies to add to the long list of female and ethnic heroes and villains championed by Marvel back then. Just thought I’d point that out. It seems ‘kids these days’ have a hard time naming more than three comic characters of color. Sorry, I digress. His connection to the dead came in handy and one of the team has him to thank for even being alive. He’s the oddest ball on the billiard table. But he adds a bit of the mystical much like Strange did for so long.
New Character: Synapse (Emily Guerrero)
She reads and manipulates electrical impulses in humans and animals. She doesn’t do much with her new found Inhuman powers, but she’s learning.
Wildcards: ALL OF THEM!
It’s like they got together and decided to put the most headstrong loners ever on one team. Deadpool and Cable being the kings of independence and anarchy, add to that Quicksilver and the Human Torch and you have a lot of heroes running off in all directions and you just got to pray for success.
This is just that a band of individuals. They haven’t even begun to mesh like a team after 8 issues. I like most of these characters, but together long term? I don’t think so. If it wasn’t for the splash page promising the return of Hank Pym and an old ‘friend’, I would probably pan this comic. As much as I like mutants and Inhumans, this is my least favorite Avengers comic.
All New All Different AVENGERS!
The set of Avengers (who aren’t officially Avengers either) that got the most press early on was the All New, All Different set. The first cover alone was enough to make you come look if not for a possible train wreck. But, to my surprise, it’s one of my favorites. This is what you would expect out of the Avengers. The old heads bringing on the young guns. Young, popular heroes getting their shot at the big time. A massive old school villain pulling the strings in the background. But it’s the one I rolled my eyes at the most in the beginning.
There’s another rant coming soon. I can feel it. It’s about Marvel’s addiction to taking old hero and villain names and simply giving them to younger characters and changing the powers up at times. On the surface it smacks of a lack of creativity. But given time, good writing and a ground swell of fan support, even the most awkward idea can change everything. More later.
The old school muscle: Captain America, Thor, Iron Man and Vision
Any version of Avengers needs a bit of the old school, a founding member or two, even if two of them are alternate versions of said founding members. The Vision is somewhat the same although showing more emotion than Visions past. But both Cap and Thor are a bit different. Right before the Secret Wars, the son of Odin found himself unworthy. This left the hammer vacant. Once it was picked up, it was in the hands of a female for the first time. What came next was genius and proves great characterization and story line. The original Cap is old (See Uncanny Avengers). But, as is the way of the shield, Captain America is a role played by many men (and women in the future). So, having Sam Wilson, aka the Falcon, is an obvious choice and he makes a great leader of the team. And Sam and the new Thor’s relationship is important to the future of the team and entertaining to watch. It helped sell the whole concept of the All New, All Different to me.
New Avengers: Nova, Ms. Marvel and Spider-Man
I know what you’re saying. “Those aren’t new heroes!” But they are when they’re a younger, newer Nova named Sam, Miles Morales Spider-Man is merged over from the Ultimate universe and Ms. Marvel is the fan favorite new kid on the block aka our favorite hero of this modern comic age.
Now, despite them riding in on the coat tails of character names we grew up with and love (MUST NOT RANT....), they hold their own, act their age and, of course become Avengers in, not only word, but deed. This team became my favorite due to the writing of the interactions and relationships of the characters. It's the least united group at the forefront. The old guarde don't know whether to trust the 'kids' on the battlefield. That's the tension in the group. The fun is watching them mesh into something better.
This is an entry level comic at it's best. Just getting to know Marvel and Avengers comics, this is a great starting point. The others, unless you've been an X-Men fan or just come off of the Deadpool movie, you might not understand half what's going on.
ALL IN ALL? They're all decent comics. I enjoyed the missions and storylines of the NEW AVENGERS more, but was vastly entertained by the banter and relationship building of the ALL NEW, ALL DIFFERENT AVENGERS. UNCANNY wasn't bad, just not my favorite of the three. It was a big rough to follow story line wise and the artwork wasn't as engaging as the other two. But, once again, if you like Avengers AND X-Men, this is the comic for you.
BOTTOM LINE? If I were strapped for money and had to make a tough choice (as I have in days past), I'd probably ,keep NEW AVENGERS over the other two. I like the 'NEW' feel. The scifi atmosphere can take them to interesting places. I also like the whole concept of Sunspot buying A.I.M. and turning it into something good. I also like that this team is nonconforming and operating outside of ANY jurisdiction. Hey, they're banned from doing business of American soil! That doesn't stop them, mind you, which makes it more fun.
I personally can't wait to see how all titles pan out. I would also like to see an official team of AVENGERS return in the near future.
