After several months of buildup and solicitations teasing what’s ahead, Jason Aaron’s “Heroes Reborn” has begun. Yet it doesn’t seem too out of the ordinary, with the Squadron Supreme doing its usual thing and fighting familiar villains like Dr. Juggernaut and the Black Skull. I guess it is weird that it focuses on this Blade guy, and talks about side characters like the weapons manufacturer Tony Stark, but unless they’re supposed to play a large role in the next Squadron Supreme movie (wherever it goes now that the Infinity Rings story is over), I don’t see any of this as being really important.
Written by Jason Aaron
Illustrated by Ed McGuinness
Colored by Matt Wilson
Lettered by Cory PetitWHATEVER HAPPENED TO EARTH’S MIGHTIEST HEROES?
A WORLD WITHOUT AVENGERS! Welcome to a world where Tony Stark never built an Iron Man armor. Where Thor is a hard-drinking atheist who despises hammers. Where Wakanda is dismissed as a myth. And where Captain America was never found in the ice because there were no Avengers to find him. Instead this world has always been protected by Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, the Squadron Supreme of America. And now the Squadron faces an attack from some of their fiercest enemies, like Dr. Juggernaut, the Black Skull, the Silver Witch and Thanos with his Infinity Rings. But why is the Daywalker Blade the one man alive who seems to remember that the entire world has somehow been…reborn?
Okay, of course that introduction was entirely facetious, but that is the world that “Heroes Reborn” starts in. We’re immediately introduced to a new version of the Marvel universe, where instead of the Avengers, we have the Squadron Supreme.
As the start of “Heroes Reborn,” this issue serves two purposes: establishing the world and kicking off the plot. It manages to do both nicely through the use of Blade as the viewpoint character, walking us through the world as he explores and takes action.
Rather than using the “Avengers” comic to show us how this world suddenly changes, writer Jason Aaron drops us right into things. It leaves us as uncertain as to how the world changed as Blade is, as he’s the only one who even remembers things are any different. This allows us to see exactly how much everything has changed, as Blade’s internal monologue and attempts to learn what happened guide us through the new world. It’s through him we learn why characters like Iron Fist and Black Panther are nowhere to be seen, and how villains like the Silver Witch came to be.
While the only active heroes are the Squadron Supreme (not counting those we’ll see in later issues and spinoffs), the villains are amalgamated versions of the mainstream Marvel antagonists. Dr. Doom finds the crimson gem of Cyttorak, the Red Skull gets a symbiote, and so on (although I question how the Venom symbiote ever wound up on Earth without Spider-Man and “Secret War,” but I’m sure there’s some way it worked out in the changed history). Even though Thanos is still Thanos, he now has the Infinity Rings, drawing elements of the Mandarin’s Ten Rings of Power.
Through Blade’s journey, we also get to see how familiar characters have changed. Naturally, it focuses primarily on the Avengers, but it gives us a good idea of which ones may be able to play a role in the story sooner rather than later. This kicks of the main goal of the story, as Blade attempts to reassemble the Avengers and figure out what happened to the world.
With all that said, the comic also throws some very blatant clues at us that a character who’s had a very vested interest in the Squadron is somehow responsible, particularly with a re-election slogan saying “Let the rebirth continue.” This makes the reveal near the end less than surprising, especially since anyone reading “Avengers” whenever it involved Squadron Supreme would be able to guess his involvement. It’s possible that this is a red herring, but that remains to be seen.
That all gives us a good balance of worldbuilding, character work, and kicking off the plot. The dialogue can vary, sometimes giving us good banter between characters and providing good establishing moments, while other times falling into all-too-tropey moments like narrating exactly what other characters did. Did Dr. Juggernaut really have to explain how Hyperion “flexed the super-muscles in his neck” to break free of his grip? Not really, Ed McGuinness’ artwork is more than enough to show us that. Yet it feels like an intentional choice, adding to the artificialness of the “Heroes Reborn” world.
Continued belowNow, the art does a perfectly fine job bringing this story to life. Ed McGuinness does great work with the characters, cleanly capturing each of their appearances and styles nicely. They do get a little exaggerated or bulky at times, with excessively bulging muscles that sometimes suit the characters and other times go a bit too far; Thor’s forearm appears to be slightly wider than his head, and Thanos’s shoulders are approximately as wide as he is tall (not to mention his jaw). This works nicely for villains, but not always the heroes.
The designs Ed McGuinness uses for the amalgamated villains are also well-done combinations of existing characters. The Black Skull, for instance, uses the Hydra logo on his chest instead of the spider-like look Venom normally sports, maintaining the spirit of the design while shifting the details to match the new character. The Silver Witch gets the best design, combining Scarlet Witch’s outfit with Quicksilver’s color scheme, and the end of the issue includes examples of the different designs Ed experimented with before settling on the final design. This also includes the designs for upcoming characters, so we can see the thought and little details that went into creating them.
The backgrounds can also vary significantly. Sometimes we get backgrounds that add to the flavor of the scene, like the walls with chain links Robbie Reyes rides by on his way to school, but other times they’re all but absent. Fortunately, in the latter moments, Matt Wilson makes up for the lack of detail with bold colors that emphasize the scene and draw our attention to the action.
Of course, the backgrounds are secondary to the action, and that’s where Ed and Matt can really shine. This issue is packed full of action as we’re introduced to the Squadron Supreme and their enemies, complete with attacks on multiple fronts. The action here is intense, bringing us in close to the characters as they exchange blows to show off the fights in close detail. There’s immense weight put behind each blow (as is fitting the muscular designs), and each scene is fast-paced and fluid. They show off the characters’ strengths and powers nicely, usually utilizing the better part of each page to do so.
Matt Wilson’s color work adds to this nicely, making each character pop and adding to the atmosphere of each scene. The shading and use of light works wonders here, making the bright and bold colors work together without getting excessive. The lighting works particularly well when we get lightning effects or when Blade makes use of the shadows. Overall, it’s all very vivid, which works nicely for the world of “Heroes Reborn.”
All in all, this is a strong start to the new world and new event. We can look forward to seeing where “Heroes Reborn” goes from here without worry.
Final Verdict: 7.5 – A good start to “Heroes Reborn,” with all-around solid work in all aspects of the comic, save for the occasional stumble in the dialogue or designs. “Heroes Reborn” is an exciting new world to explore with plenty of questions left for us to ask and get answered.
