fadetoblackbolt's Avengers #1 - Next Avengers: Part 1 review

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    The Return of the Real Avengers...Sort Of

    Before you get all mad that I gave this issue 3 stars, I urge you to read my reasons why. 
     
    It's no secret that I hated Siege, and it's less of a secret that I'm disillusioned with the Avengers franchise as of late, nevertheless, I was pumped for this. Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye, Iron Man? Count me in. 
     
    I have a sincere question. Why is Wolverine on this team? Secret Avengers? Yes. New Avengers? Little more obscure, but ok. But the Avengers? The spotlight team? No. His inclusion lacks any logical reasoning whatsoever. The world is not trusting mutants more than usual at the moment, so what shall we do? Put the poster child of mutant violence on the World's Premier Superhero Force. No. That's just stupid. 
     
    Anyway, cast issues aside, let's move on. First of all, the storyline. Adapted from that terrible Next Avengers film, Bendis has straight off the bat brought in a time-travel story starring the time-travel master himself, Kang. I was genuninely shocked by Kang's inclusion in this issue, so major points for that. I did not see this coming. Moving on. Characterisation was solid enough, Thor was a god (not a strong dude with a Hammer which often seems to be the case when he is near other heroes), Hawkeye gave decent reasoning as to why he is no longer Ronin, Spidey was funny, Wolverine was edgy and Stark and Rogers were still a little tense around eachother. So, all in all, good characterisation. 
     
    Now, the art. Dun Dun Dun. When I first saw JRJr's art, it was in Wolverine: Enemy of the State, and I really liked it. I liked it so much I bought World War Hulk because I couldn't think of anything cooler than a JRJr Hulk. I was seriously wrong. I don't know what it is, but ever since Enemy of the State, I have not been able to stomach Romita Jr's pencils, and this issue was the worst yet. His art does not go well with bright colours, and this was a really bright and vibrant issue (props to the colourists). His male faces all look the same, his Spider-Woman was as attractive as the Brood Queen and his Maria Hill looked like a man. I am convinced that had Steve not introduced her as Maria Hill, I would still have no idea who that character was. 
    However, Kang looked pretty cool.
     
    The plot itself is a bit silly, but I'm not sure that's not the intention, to sort of bring in a more silver-age style plot to mark the beginning of the Heroic Age, but either way, it didn't work for me. 
     
    Wonder Man looked (with his mullet), and acted, ridiculous. I'm a big fan of his character and it seems like Bendis is determined to put him on a Sentry route of self-destruction and public-loathing.  
     
    And the ending? That was a big wtf? moment for me, as I'm not sure which timeline it was supposed to have occurred in. Also, why would you skip Pym on the list of Marvel Big Brains? The guy would know more about the concept of infinite space than anyone, but whatever. I'm willing to forgive that for story-telling purposes.
     
    Overall, this was a decent enough comic, but for the Flagship of the Heroic Age, it was disappointing. The plot was hammy, the art was awful, and I still can't justify Wolverine being on this team; but the characterisation was good and it's sure nice to have Marvel's big 3 Avengers together again.

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