Avengers/Invaders (TPB) – Revuew

Plot by Alex Ross and Jim Krueger, Written by Jim Krueger, Penciled by Steve Sadowki, Patrick Berkenkotter, Alex Ross, and Jack Herbert

We’ve all gotten those miniseries or events that have just too many issues and there’s easily one or even two issues that didn’t even need to be there. Avengers/Invaders is not one of those series. There is just a ton of stuff happening in this graphic novel that if anything, there’s so much going that there’s no room to breathe.

So what is Avengers/Invaders about? A lot. It starts with the American people so distraught over Cap’s death (this is after Civil War, before Secret Invasion) that their psyches, channeling though the villain D’Spayre, manipulate the cosmic cube and pull Captain America, along with Namor, Bucky, the Human Torch, Toro, and some poor soldier named Pau Anselm, out of World War Two and into present day. Their arrival is frickin’ amazing. They land right in New York interfering with a fight between Spider-Man and the Thunderbolts and the Invaders tear the Thunderbolts apart. Krueger’s script isn’t exactly cinematic, because if as much happened in these twelve chapters (and they do call them chapters) happened in a movie, I think the cast, crew, and director would commit mass suicide. It’s more like season for Lost, when they had to shorten the season due to the writer’s strike, so shit happened every single episode (except for that one crappy Juliet episode). In fact, Avengers/Invaders is much like Lost but with superheroes and you get answers at the end. The Invaders are stranded in our time, and then someone tries to change the past, screwing up even more than they fixed. But where it is most like Lost is in the character interaction. This series has a huge cast. The New Avengers (Dr. Strange, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Ronin, and Echo), Mighty Avengers (Iron Man, Black Widow, Spider-Woman, Ares, Sentry, Ms. Marvel, Wasp, and Wonder Man), and the Invaders (the ones listed before as well as Union Jack and Spitfire) are all represented and each member of the team truly get at least one moment to shine, one of my favorites being when Echo takes down D’Spayre. D’Spayre’s power is based on manipulating his opponent’s fear by basically telling them everything they don’t want to hear. As it turns out, Echo can’t hear anything and just walks up to him and punches him in the dick. Okay, so maybe it doesn’t quite happen like that, but you get the idea. Sure, some characters get a little more love than others, but none of them get robbed in any way. The only part of the story that I thought could be scaled back a little was the Life Model Decoy attack on the Avengers. I’d go more into why and who was behind it but, though it’s kind of obvious who it is, I don’t want to spoil it.

Avengers/Invaders #5 – Review

By Alex Ross & Jim Krueger (Writers), Steve Sadowski & Patrick Berkenkotter (Pencilers), and inLight Studios (Colorists)

The Story: The beginning of the book is the same as it was for the first four issues, where the Invaders have been brought forward in time. And as it inevitably happens in these situations, they get into a big fight with the Avengers. In this issue, Iron Man and Captain America are finally talking to each other and working things out, while Doctor Strange focuses on sending the Invaders back where they belong.

What’s Good: With the Avengers and the Invaders starting to reconcile, Krueger and Ross throw in a bizarre twist toward the end of the book. I won’t spoil it, and I’m not even sure it will work, but it’s certainly intriguing. A link between SHIELD and the Holocaust was the last thing I was expecting.

What’s Not So Good: Well first of all, you read the credits right, there’s no inker on this book. Some artists are so tight and so good that scanning directly from their pencils can work (take Frank Quitely on All-Star Superman for instance). As for Sadowski’s and Berkenkotter’s pencils, unfortunately they are simply not that good. In fact, I think this is the ugliest artwork in a mainstream comic today. I know others will disagree with me, but I hold comic art to a high standard, I recognize it’s a visual medium. A comic can survive mediocre writing, but not mediocre art. Secondly, as with the Earth X and Justice books, Krueger’s script is full of sweeping generalizations and awkward non-sequitors. If not for Ross’s beautiful covers, it would be easy to mistake this for fan fiction.

Conclusion: Krueger writes with the subtly of a sledge hammer. Look at the third panel of the next-to-last page. It’s ridiculous, unlikely, and unnecessary. But this book has the Avengers, the Invaders, and SHIELD; and if you love the Marvel Universe, you kind of have to buy it. It remains to be seen, however, if this series will be remembered fondly once it’s over, or if we’ll all want to sweep it under the rug as quickly as possible.

Grade: C+

– Andrew C. Murphy

Avengers/Invaders #2 – Review

By Alex Ross and Jim Krueger (Writers), Steve Sadowski (Pencils), and inLight Studios (Colors)

This issue succeeds in building on the promised outlook we received last time around. The story is broken down into three main parts: The inevitable fight between The Invaders and the Mighty Avengers, the build up to the fight, and the reactions to the fight. In the opening, we see Iron Man and Ms. Marvel discussing what needs to be done with the returned Invaders. Of course, the conclusion they come to is that they must be detained and sent back to their own time as soon as possible. As the story turns to The Invaders, we see them questioning whether this new world around them is actually real, or a Nazi trick. Eventually these two teams meet, and when Captain America mistakes the Avengers attempt to detain them (he sees this as a Nazi ploy to recapture them), the battle ensues.

I won’t reveal the outcome, but an all out battle between Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and the war superheroes of yesteryear is sure to draw attention, and any public doubts to The Invaders return are squashed. Perhaps the most interesting reactions are the New Avengers, who surely mean well, but their hinted plan certainly looks to throw a wrench into getting The Invaders back where they belong.

Even more ominous than this, we see that the actions of one of the common soldiers brought through time. This may have huge consequences on the time line. On a lighter note, we get a touching (albeit brief) scene with Bucky learning about his old partner’s return. I also think this is the first time New Cap has appeared outside his own book. Hopefully, he will play a bigger role in this series as it moves on! So in terms of plot, we get a great balance between “talking heads” and action.

As for the art, Steve Sadowski’s pencils are simply stunning. Whether it is his conveyance of action, or the looks of each individual character, his work is more than satisfactory throughout. I can also honestly say that he draws the best Ms. Marvel that I have yet seen! Get this man to work on Mighty Avengers immediately! His artwork really seems to be all about the characters, with each person getting a significant amount of detail. All together, this issue picks up steam from last month, and I’m certainly aboard this train to see what comes next! (Grade: B+)

-M. Staples

A Second Opinion

This is definitely a better issue. The pacing is just right, the story is entertaining (with the exception to the end), and the art isn’t muddled down with darkened night scenes or that gritty, brown war look. There’s quite a lot of color throughout this book, and because of that, the characters shine. M. Staples is right on the money when he says Steve Sadowski painstakingly makes each character look unique. All his interpretations are pure eye candy except for Namor who seems to always look like his head’s about to explode (heh).

I still have big time reservations regarding the continuity of this book. While I enjoy this story taking place within current Marvel continuity with many nods to Civil War and other events, it still feels out of whack. The other problem I have is the pollution of the time line. Cap and Namor seeing the Avengers is sure to cause problems down the line, right? And the lone soldier meeting his older self? That can’t be good.

Jim Krueger’s script is tight, overall, and he works hard to make us believe that this book is “dated” correctly. But he overdoes it a few times like when the World War II version of Bucky says, “I’d give my right arm to fight with Cap again!”. Awful pun, Jim. I don’t care what year these guys were from.

The fight is really the highlight of this issue, and it’s handled very well. The Avengers make short work of The Invaders and that’s how it should be. What’s bound to happen next issue seems very forced and I’m actually not looking forward to it. (Grade: B-)

– J. Montes