Avengers go weekly for a massive event!
Creative Staff:
Writer: Mark Waid, Al Ewing, Jim Zub
Art: Pepe Larraz
Colors: David Curiel
Letterer: VC’s Cory Petit
What They Say:
AVENGERS goes WEEKLY for the stunning sixteen-part saga that will write the end of an era! The Earth has been STOLEN! The sky burns while mysterious cosmic objects crash down from above, wreaking havoc across the world! The Avengers are the last line of defense between Earth and the mysterious forces threatening to tear it apart. It’s time to ASSEMBLE! The teams you know and love from AVENGERS, UNCANNY AVENGERS, U.S.AVENGERS and OCCUPY AVENGERS come together to face a threat beyond any they’ve faced before in a weekly epic adventure that will define the future of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes!
Content: (warning, section may contain spoilers)
Avengers #675 is the beginning of one of the biggest stories in their history. The book starts off with a scene featuring former Avenger Lightning (formerly called Living Lightning). the bust he’s attempting quickly gets overshadowed however, when we cut to Falcon and a strange phenomenon- an object that appears to be a solar one is smashing into New York City! It’s not just new York either. Earthquakes and other disasters have struck around the world, and The Avengers are struggling to even keep up. Up in space with Carol Danvers and Alpha Flight, things are quiet, but not a good quiet. In a stunning mystery, The Earth is missing! The Avengers are also beginning to lose communication, so this disaster is rapidly amping up.
Avengers teams are active across the globe to deal with these events, but tragedy strikes as Jarvis ends up taking a fall while saving civilians, and he is gravely wounded. As we check in with teams of Avengers across the world, a new phenomenon begins: what I term the “Suspended Costume” event. Big name heroes and even villains are suddenly freezing, ceasing to move with a pale blue color surrounding them like they’re frozen. A massive meeting of Avengers is called with all un-frozen (and some frozen) heroes there. The main gist of this issue seems to be setting up this big disasters and bringing what Avengers are available-all of them- together to figure it out. It does that. Quite well in all honesty. The threat presented here, though unnamed as of yet, definitely does it’s job of presenting a dire situation for the heroes, and the heroes try to deal as best they can. They do need someone to lead them here though, and the book sees fit to bring back a very old Avengers team member- Voyager!
In Summary:
This is a pretty good start to the first issue of sixteen. We already have our disasters within the first few pages, and things steadily decline for our heroes after that. The way things just keep going wrong, with communications failing, Earth not being where it should, and heroes and villains being frozen tells me that this is an event that’s only going to get bigger before it’s all over. The writing by Waid, Ewing, and Zub flows rather well, and honestly came out very cohesive, even if things were happening fast. Pepe Larraz’ art, while indicative of the way most Marvel books look and feel now, ads a feel of panic and epicness to the book, such as the two page spread of Falcon witnessing the object hitting New York or the shot of all the Avengers gathered together later on. The colors really come out here, and it’s just what the book needs. My copy even had a variant cover featuring the original Avengers! Dialogue is done well, representing each speaker well. It’s not the best start to an event ever, but it is fast-paced and action filled, so it does have stuff going for it. If you’re a Marvel fan or want to see if this is what will draw you back, I’d actually recommend giving it a try.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Marvel Comics
Release Date: January 10, 2018
MSRP: $4.99
