In the end, Everything Dies. It must, because nothing could be reborn. “Secret Wars” has come and gone (or would have! Bwark Bwark Scheduling!) and now we enter the brave new world.
Avengers #0
Written by Mark Waid, James Robinson, Al Ewing, G. Willow Wilson, Gerry Duggan
Illustrated by Mahamud Asrar, Leonard Kirk, Gerardo Sandoval, Kenneth Rocafort, Victor Ibanez, Ryan StegmanThe kickoff to the All-New Avengers line begins here, with new stories of the All-New, All-Different Avengers, Squadron Supreme, A-Force, New Avengers, Ultimates and Uncanny Avengers! Someone is carefully studying the movements of the Avengers and those in their orbit- but do they mean to harm, or help? Find out the first clues in this special launch issue!
All-New All Different Point One
Written by Charles Soule, Al Ewing, Gerry Conway, Skottie Young, Marc Guggenheim
Illustrated by Ron Garney, Stefano Caselli, Paco Medina, Mike Perkins, Felipe Andrade, German PeraltaIn the aftermath of Secret Wars, it’s an All-New, All-Different Marvel Universe, and this is your one-stop entry point to the changes and mysteries that have developed during the eight months that have passed! Featuring new stories of Daredevil, Carnage, Classified, Classified, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Contest of Champions!
How to go about reviewing these two, let’s face it, anthologies was interesting. “Avengers #0” had a short stories for “All-New, All-Different Avengers”, “New Avengers”, “Uncanny Avengers”, “A-Force”, “Squadron Supreme” and “Ultimates” whereas “ANAD Point One” had stories for “Contest of Champions”, “Daredevil”, “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”, “Carnage”, “All-New Inhumans” and “Rocket Raccoon & Groot”.
I’ll give them credit on this: there is some great degree of tone and genre going on here. You want your high concept sci-fi? You got “Ultimates” and “New Avengers.” Character focus? “All-New All Different Avengers” and “Daredevil” are your poisons. World building? “All-New Inhumans” and “Uncanny Avengers.” A bit of humor? “Rocket and Groot” got you covered.
So we’re going to do this review a bit differently. Less on the macro and more of a “buyer’s guide”, if you will. Essentially which of these short stories sold me on the book they’re premiering, which ones will at least get me to take a look and which ones didn’t hit the mark. Just remember, these are opinions:
Buy
“Daredevil” (Charles Soule & Ron Garney)– This is more of an introduction to Daredevil’s “apprentice”, Blindspot. It does a very good job of establishing the character and his situation. And yes, Ron Garney & Matt Milla bring it back to a darker noir setting but Soule doesn’t seem to go into extreme grimmdark. A nice amuse-bouche for the return to this style and my favorite.
“All-New Inhumans” (Charles Soule & Stefano Caselli)– I appreciated this one for its simplicity. Perhaps the least teasing of the stories, but it’s a nice done-in-one to establish Crystal as a character and the current standing of the Inhumans. Plus, Stefano Caselli’s design for Crystal is damn fine.
“All-New, All-Different Avengers” (Mark Waid & Mahmud Asrar)– Like “Age of Ultron #10A.I.” was Mark Waid giving his ultimate take on Hank Pym, this was his great take on the Vision as well as the more stepping stones for the plot threads he started in the Free Comic Book Day issue. Really need to drop the “All-New, All-Different” from the title and just go with “Avengers”.
“Contest of Champions” (Al Ewing & Paco Medina)– It’s essentially the Maestro and the Collector as two fans going “Who’d win in a fight” being written by Al Ewing, who is one of those writers that can actually use continuity to tell great stories. Yeah you buy this.
Try
“New Avengers” (Al Ewing & Gerardo Sandoval)– This was my most anticipated book in ANAD Marvel and it was soooooo close to being in the “Buy” pile. It’s got the writer, the cast, the high concepts and the Maker, one of Marvel’s best villains of the last decade, as the Big Bad. But I’m not going to lie, some places Sandoval’s art works and some places it really doesn’t.
“Squadron Supreme” (James Robinson & Leonard Kirk)– This was perhaps the most surprising story for me. Serving as the framing device for “Avengers #0”, this certainly had the bigger build toward something on the horizon. This creative team was very underrated on “Fantastic Four” and it looks like they’re potentially crafting something special.
Continued below“Rocket Raccoon & Groot” (Skottie Young & Felipe Andrade)– For good or ill, it’s Rocket Raccoon & Groot written by Skottie Young. Andrade’s cartoon work fits the writing style like a glove. Purchasing will depend on your type of humor.
“A-Force” (G. Willow Wilson & Victor Ibanez)– If you liked the “Secret Wars” A-Force mini then you will probably enjoy this since it’s the same creative team coming over. It looks like it may be doing Singularity’s introduction redux, so we’ll see.
“Uncanny Avengers” (Gerry Duggan & Ryan Stegman)– Did you like the Captain America & Deadpool one-shot during “Death of Wolverine”? If so, then you’re probably going to like this. I will say that it surprised me (even though it shouldn’t have) that this story seemed to be more on point with the going-ons between mutants and inhumans.
Avoid
“Ultimates” (Al Ewing & Kenneth Rocafort)– I know! I know! I was really hyped for this one. It’s the same problem with Ewing’s other team book: great writer, cast, concepts but the art really seems to fight the book at points, more so than in the “New Avengers” story. Tell you what: if one of those in the “try” pile doesn’t work for you, then gladly swap it out.
“Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” (Marc Guggenheim & German Peralta)– While it has more of a direction than Waid’s “S.H.I.E.L.D.”, it still not a particularly interesting one, apart from that I thought Strucker was very much dead at the end of “Secret Warriors”. Oh, comics.
“Carnage” (Gerry Conway & Mike Perkins)– Do you like Carnage being Carnage? If so, you’ve got different opinions from me I guess. I just can’t help but think of all the characters that could have gotten a book.
Now comes a bigger question: Are these worth the $12 plus for both ($5.99 + tax each). That… is a hard question to answer. Truth be told, if these anthologies were supposed to serve as introductions and teases for books to come, would it not be better to sell these cheaper? I mean, let’s say you are a new reader who is curious to know about Marvel’s upcoming relaunch. So you’re directed to one of these two anthologies. But then you see a price tag for something you’re already hesitant that is equal to a decent meal for the financially savvy.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s some good stories in these anthologies and some surprises. None of them appear to be essential (which is good. They shouldn’t be). But again, it’s severely hard to justify the price tags.
Final Verdict: 6.0- If you have the disposable income to buy one of them, go ahead, but you won’t miss anything essential if you don’t.
