Comics Review: Special Avengers Edition

Avengers #3
Story by Jonathan Hickman
Art by Jerome Opeña
Cover by Dustin Weaver, Daniel Acuña, Adi Granov, & Esad Ribic

Uncanny Avengers #3
Story by Rick Remender
Art by John Cassaday
Colors by Laura Martin
Letters by Chris Eliopoulos
Cover by John Cassaday, Laura Martin, & Simone Bianchi

Young Avengers #1
Story by Kieron Gillen
Art by Jamie McKelvie & Mike Norton
Colors by Matthew Wilson
Cover by Jamie McKelvie, Skottie Young, & Bryan Lee O'Malley

So as a change of pace this week I have decided to give my thoughts on the three Avengers titles released this week under the Marvel NOW! banner. 

First off Avengers #3. Jonathan Hickman picks up from the anti-climactic end of issue two and drops the hammer. The first issue was a perfect opening story with action and intrigue and small character moments in between, issue two was all about the set up and now with issue three Hickman gives us the payoff. It's what an Avengers book should be, Hulk brainwashed and fighting against the newly recruited Hyperion, Thor released from his shackles by Wolverine and laying a smack-down on God-like "villains", and Avengers, for the first time I can remember, acting like soldiers, setting up a perimeter and using tactics.

Hickman is all about the cosmic, grand canvas and with the Avengers that's exactly what you need. This particular iteration of the team has some heavy hitters and Hickman's biggest challenge will be finding ways to challenge such might. The story he is weaving promises to be epic and his ability to weave intrigue, to bounce around in time and always have the end goal in sight is one that I think will work out to an epic Avengers run. It's a great method, one which Hickman employed in Fantastic Four to great effect, I'm hooked.

Uncanny Avengers #3 surprised me. Rick Remender is a real talent and I've known this since I started reading FEAR Agent, but even knowing what a talent he is couldn't prepare me for such awesomeness. The Red Skull, an old Captain America villain has been given a breath of fresh air by Remender who has escalated him to an Avengers level threat by giving him the brain of the world's most powerful psychic, the recently deceased (and exhumed and autopsied) Professor Xavier.

The Red Skull is the perfect villain for this new Avengers/X-Men hybrid, he brings his Nazism of the 1950's (where he is from, comics!) and simply applies it to the modern world, pitting man against mutant with his formidable psychic powers and ragtag band of villains, including my favourite new villain, Honest John the Living Propaganda.

This book is at once bombastic and poignant, and while full of action, Remender is still able to weave delicate character moments between the beatings and genocide. My pick of the week was almost assured after I read Avengers but then I read Uncanny Avengers and I changed my mind. I mean come on, Red Skull was drinking whiskey served by his underling during genocide in New York! Brilliant!

Young Avengers is the latest collaboration between Phonogram creators Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie and as Gillen says himself, the boots of series creators Allan Heinberg and Jimmy Cheung are big indeed. While I'm not sure Gillen pulled off a great first issue I am interested in the characters he is playing with here.

Young Loki is of particular interest, after reading Gillen's Journey Into Mystery arc where he turned the much maligned villain into a Godling of such character and humour it was hard not to love the little scamp and it will be interesting to see how Loki bounces off the other members being assembled for this book.

Of course it wouldn't be right if I didn't mention Jamie McKelvie's art. The guy is one of a kind and a true treasure, pop art doesn't come any finer and this book will continue to be on my pull list as long as McKelvie is drawing it. 

After years of Brian Michael Bendis controlling the Avengers realm it is such a treat to have three new writers taking the reins and hitting for the fences. Jonathan Hickman is crafting a story in his Avengers and New Avengers titles which has me completely enthralled. Rick Remender is focusing his Uncanny Avengers on shaky human/mutant relationships following the events of Avengers VS X-Men using the Red Skull in a way that blows my mind and from what I understand we have Kang (my favourite villain of all time) and Apocalypse to look forward to in upcoming arcs, exciting. And Kieron Gillen has taken his Young Loki to the Young Avengers who are finding out what it means to be adult heroes (or so Gillen said in his letter at the back of the book).

Marvel are stacking their premiere, billion dollar movie making, Avengers titles with their star talent and I feel like a lot of things are being done right in The Avengers office. Avengers itself has a rotating art roster of Jerome Opeña, Adam Kubert, Dustin Weaver and Mike Deodato, while I'm not a fan of Deodato I am hugely impressed by the work of Opeña and Weaver. Uncanny Avengers has been plagued by John Cassaday's turtle like speed on interiors but this will soon be remedied by the introduction of Daniel Acuña as the regular artist and Young Avengers has Jamie McKelvie, nuff said.

With this crop of books it is a good time to be an Avengers fan.