The idea of Marvel launching a new Avengers series is an exciting prospect. Marvel is teaming some of their most popular heroes together for a new Avengers title that picks up in the middle of a story and races to a conclusion. Iron Man, Captain Marvel, Thor, Captain America, Black Panther, Spider-Woman, Spider-Man and (friends) are teaming up for this new Avengers series. Marvel has an interesting creative team for “All-Out Avengers” #1 including newer comics writer Derek Landy and longtime artist Greg Land contributing the art to the series. Marvel is likely looking to welcome some newer comic book readers with “All-Out Avengers” carrying more condensed approach. However, is Marvel able to pack “All-Out Avengers” #1 with enough content to make it feel worthwhile to huge comic book readers?
Written by Derek LandyCover by Greg Land
Penciled by Greg Land
Inked by Jay Leisten
Colored by Frank D’Armata
Lettered by VC’s Cory PetitIntroducing: the all-new Avengers series that starts in the middle of the explosive action and races to a shocking climax! An alien attack. A missing piece of wormhole tech. A city warped, its citizens transformed into hideous creatures loyal to an Empress from the far side of the universe. And a certain Captain Marvel, looking to her fellow Avengers with murderous intent…Plunge into the action and take a deep breath because you will not be allowed up for air as a thrilling new series kicks off in the strongest, strangest way possible.
In the space of comics, some writers seem to find the urge to try and tell stories that wrap-up in the span of one issue. Telling a story that has a beginning, middle and end in the space of just 22-pages is difficult. While “All-Out Avengers” #1 opens with an interesting cliffhanger, the creative team for the issue slowly manages to deflate the tension until the final page wraps up the series. It is disappointing that Marvel took on such a potentially large story that ends too abruptly to be meaningful in “All-Out Avengers” #1. “All-Out Avengers” #1 does a solid job establishing a threat at least at first. An invader begins to try and spread murderous intent to Avengers characters.
One of the major reasons why Marvel’s “All-Out Avengers” #1 misses the mark is through the redundant Avengers dialogue. Readers have gotten a lot of exposure to the Marvel characters from more mediums than comics alone. Hearing Thor say “I would have words with thee” in yet another comic book feels incredibly derivative of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While I’m glad this issue is a little easier to understand than your average Marvel Comic Book, I don’t think it offers enough content for longtime readers. Also, the sparse nature of the writing and abrupt ending for the issue is so problematic that newer readers may even recognize the flaws in the writing.
Sadly, artist Greg Land does not cohesively tie this package together. Land’s characters are still posing in overly familiar stances. The facial design and expression for Captain Marvel matches the redundant look from Spider-Woman’s face. Spider-Woman barely looks like she is able to express how she is feeling. The storytelling from Land is where the art in the issue starts to become problematic. Land poses Captain Marvel in inappropriate manner on the opening page of the issue that feels incredibly forced. The anatomy is imprecise on Carol Danvers as well. The expression that Danvers has is inappropriate for the scene she is in. Danvers is knocked back at one point and almost looks like she is falling asleep. The other problematic aspect of “All-Out Avengers” #1 pertains to the colors in the issue. Frank D’Armata blurs the color tones and puts a sort of glossy film on the characters. When you combine the odd sense of shine on the characters with bizarre facial expressions it starts to become clear just how messy “All-Out Avengers” #1 is from the perspective of the art alone.
The most disappointing part about “All-Out Avengers” #1 is how fast author Derek Landy brings the issue to a close. This robust team of Avengers doesn’t even wrap up the threat from the issue before the abrupt last couple of panels. The ending happens so fast that I feel like Spider-Man had access to the script in order to crack a joke at just the right time. Even if another issue picks up the thread from this story, it still won’t make readers interested in coming back for more “All-Out Avengers.” Marvel Editor Tom Brevoort gave an interview explaining that the premise of this series would justify Marvel publishing a fourth Avengers series — I’m unsure how Marvel came to this conclusion after reading the debut issue of “All-Out Avengers.”
At the end of the day, I don’t think the quality in Marvel’s “All-Out Avengers” #1 was able to justify its existence. The book ends almost as quick as it starts. While the opening cliffhanger is a solid way to immerse readers into the story, there’s no follow-up worthy of exploring the cliffhanger further. This series also has a questionable art team that make a lot of strange storytelling choices in these pages. The odd hues of D’Armata’s colors bring out some of the worst parts of Greg Land’s interior art. Greg Land also appears to be using forced poses for his characters. If Marvel continues to utilize Land, I would love to see Land switch over to a more natural illustration style. If Land focused more on the storytelling in comics, there would be immense potential for this series in terms of the art. I hope Landy is able to do more with the fascinating opening concept in future issues of “All-Out Avengers.”
Final Verdict: 4.0 – “All-Out Avengers” #1 is a good idea with poor execution.
