Avengers World #1 – Review

by Jonathan Hickman, Nick Spencer (Writers), Stefano Caselli (Artist), Frank Martin (Colorist)

The Story: Problems arise in a lot of areas on Earth, as the collaboration between S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers start now.

The Review: I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect when I first opened this issue. With this being a clear spin-off of the larger Avengers narrative of Jonathan Hickman, it’s a bit unclear what makes this book different. While it is detached from the structure that Hickman developed and it does try to connect with some of the A.I.M. threads that Nick Spencer has installed with his Secret Avengers run so far, there is a certain problem that doesn’t make the book what it could very well be.

That problem is a lack of a certain angle. It’s not particularly humorous, it’s not something that displays more character work or even something that tries to implement big new ideas. It might seem like a boring book, but it isn’t at all, despite this particular flaw.

One of the actual strength here is the use of the large roster, with both Spencer and Hickman using many characters aptly as the story is divided in multiple areas in the book. While Captain America and Bruce Banner are on a S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier, many teams with characters like Hyperion, Smasher, Cannonball, Hawkeye and plenty more are put on display, with most of them actually contributing through their voice or action for the story. It’s not the entire team, but it is a bit different from the regular title in the respect that not all of them are window-dressing, which is nice.

Avengers #17 – Review

Jonathan Hickman, Nick Spencer (Writers), Stefano Caselli, Marco Rudy, Marco Checchetto (Artists), Frank Martin (Colorist)

*Spoilers alert*

The Story: The Avengers realize that they have to get even bigger and soon as they make concessions for the greater good.

The Review: Payoffs are nice. Readers crave them, cherishing the situations that escalates to a climax as a resolution or conclusion to a particular problem arrive and lead the story or a character to new areas ripe for development or surprises. Payoffs are what nourish the whole industry and pretty much every stories since the beginning of carefully-written fiction.

Well, it seems like both Hickman and Spencer have a rather tenuous grasp on the concept, as this story does not do much in term of satisfying conclusion to an arc or as a prelude to the upcoming event.* In many ways, the story does use a lot of what has been introduced in the multiple stories by Hickman, yet it does not feel particularly satisfying after what has been basically 17 issues of teasing and hinting at bigger things.

The recruitment of Ex Nihilo and Abyss, two characters that are genuinely interesting and full of potential for further storylines and moral conundrums for the team, it feels a bit hollow in terms of payoff. It makes sense if it’s seen as a series of slow development, yet as far as building up to Infinity and as the conclusion to a good chunk of teasing concerning the fact that the team will have to get bigger and that the universe is still broken. The addition of Starbrand and Nightmask also seems logical and build up naturally to their new role, yet there’s no surprise or twist that makes it fun or merely entertaining. It just happens.

What is perhaps infuriating, or at least annoying down the line, is the fact that despite the fact that several plot points have been handled in this issue, close to none are close to an actual resolution. Worse, Hickman and Spencer continues seeding new subplots and giving us hints that things are coming, something that comes as just annoying now considering that it’s what the title solely did since the beginning of the new volume.

Avengers #16 – Review

Jonathan Hickman, Nick Spencer (Writers), Stefano Caselli (Artist), Frank Martin (Colorist)

The Story: A big robot comes crashing down on the Avengers as we see some development on Starbrand and Nightmask.

The Review: It must be really hard to write a proper team book. Having to juggle with different characters, different personalities that can clash together as they face bigger threats that the members might not be able to overcome all on their own. We can all name some team books that are or were more successful than others, yet what made them so memorable for us? Was it the fact that each characters were important and distinct enough so that we got to see enough of them in order to grow to like them? Was it the numerous large or innovative problems they had to solve? Was it simply the action, seeing the characters display their fighting abilities and powers in ways that were impressive?

Many could argue that it takes a bit of all three elements named earlier in order to make a really good superhero team book. When all these things align, we know that we have something that we’ll look forward to each month. However, does Avengers, by the standard of this issue, possess these elements?

Plot wise, I’d have to say that this issue does deliver in a lot of ways, as both Hickman and Spencer advance several elements that can catch the interest of the readers while advancing the main plotline. Here, not only we catch up with what happened in all those early and confusing issues dealing with what happened to the planet, but we also see Nightmask and Starbrand again, two characters that had been teased as being quite important to the future of this title. While both plotline are significant for their own reason, the writers balance them quite well, giving us the burgeoning awareness of Starbrand and his discovery of what he can do and what he has become with the more action-oriented Avengers part. Of course, the issue also delves into other parts as well, as this arc does use what has been built before in order to prepare for Infinity.*

NewUniversal: Shockfront #2 – Review

By Warren Ellis (writer), Steve Kurth (penciler), and Andrew Hennessy (inker)

Okay, I have officially lost patience with this book. I mean, is it too much to ask that the so-called protagonists of a book actually do something? In eight issues (counting the previous mini-series), this is what has happened: Spitfire has gotten drunk; Starbrand has whined like a six-year-old girl; Nightmask has spoken to the mothership from Close Encounters and teleported to California. Whoopee. Justice, at least, has killed some people, but what’s he going to do next? Kill more people? Not exactly a masterpiece of suspense.

At this point I should summarize the plot of this issue, but honestly, nothing happens. A bunch of people talk to each other. And they’re not talking about their secret pasts or arguing competing points of view, either. No, they’re summarizing all the stuff we already know! Granted, something finally happens in the last few pages, but I’m not going to spoil the only bit of drama in the whole book.

The biggest problem with the “New” Universe (other than the mediocre art) is there’s nothing really “new” about anything in it. Parallel universe? Seen that. A government that hates and fears its heroes? Seen that, too. Murderous vigilante? Ditto. A reluctant hero that never asked for his powers in the first place? If I tried to list every time we’ve seen that cliché, I’d crash the weeklycomicbookreview server.

The only original bit in the whole storyline is the White Event, but the TV series Heroes did it first and did it better. Now, I know that’s not really fair, since the original “New” Universe predates Heroes by a long time, but the reason the first season of Heroes worked so well (and the second season didn’t) is that there was a clearly defined problem (the impending destruction of New York) that all the characters were trying actively to solve. In New Universal, though, I swear I haven’t seen a group this passive since the Enron oversight committee.

Come on, Ellis. You can do better than this. (Grade: C)

– Andrew C. Murphy