REVIEW :: Avengers #1

June 25, 2010 at 4:43 pm By:

I’m liking the Avengers right about now.

In case you hadn’t heard, after the Siege limited series, Marvel Comics decide to relaunch the entire Avengers franchise, canceling all the team’s books and then rolling out five new titles: The Avengers, New Avengers, Avengers Academy, Secret Avengers and Hawkeye & Mockingbird.

I managed to read the first issue of each book, and, I’m happy to report, they’re all off to great starts. The art and writing are top-notch, and — although five titles seem like maybe three too many, each title offers a unique angle on the team-book concept.

The Avengers seems tailored for fans of the classic crew; Thor, Iron Man and Captain America are members here. New Avengers is the home to Luke Cage, Iron Fist and the Thing (among others), and seems to be a slightly offbeat take on the group. Secret Avengers is spy-centric. Hawkeye & Mockingbird throws a splash of sexual tension in the mix. And Avengers Academy is a cool take on all those “superheroes-in-training” types of books.

So that diverse mix of flavors is cool. What’s not so cool are the team lineups — especially when it comes to the Bendis-written books: Avengers and New Avengers. I mean, do we really need Wolverine and Spider-Man on two teams? And is Hawkeye on two teams, too? Maybe it’s too early to ask these questions, but lineups are big reasons why readers gravitate toward certain books. So, I hope we get some clarification on these rosters ASAP. (At least they managed to steal the Beast away from the X-Men and stick him on Secret Avengers. Yay.)

Anyway, as I said, I’m liking the Avengers. I’ll be picking up all of these books for the foreseeable future. You do the same.

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