Review: AVENGERS WORLD #1
Writers: Jonathan Hickman & Nick Spencer
Artist: Stefano Caselli
Color Artist: Frank Martin
Letterer: Joe Caramagna w/ Chris Eliopoulos
Publisher: Marvel Comics
The overarching theme of Jonathan Hickman‘s Avengers book is that Captain America and Iron Man are on a mission to make this an “Avengers World”. Earth is under The Avengers’ protection. While Hickman lays the groundwork for these massive stories in Avengers and New Avengers, Nick Spencer will use Avengers World to tell more personal stories starring Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.
What I Liked
Stefano Caselli has been one of my favorite artists since he was a penciler on Amazing Spider-Man. I feel he doesn’t get enough props when compared to other monthly artists. My hope is he has a nice run on Avengers World, even if he’s rotating arcs with another artist.
Nick Spencer has a nice moment between Steve Rogers and Bruce Banner early in the issue. Banner and Rogers are commenting on the new status quo between Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. and how similar it is to Banner’s relationship with the government agency. Just about every member of the Avengers active roster is present here, even if its just for a panel. A.I.M. has been a threat looming in Spencer’s Secret Avengers and he brings them along as the threat here. This allows him to send the Avengers off in separate groups to investigate oddities occurring across the globe. Putting the team into smaller groups allow for more personal moments to be sprinkled in using dialogue. Plus I’ll always be a fan of the Cannonball/Sunspont/Smasher trio.
What I Didn’t Like
While I praise Spencer’s use of A.I.M. above, I do have to point out how I’m still not a fan of the group. Even with their own A.I.M. island, I couldn’t make myself care about them. It appears Marvel has big plans for A.I.M. so they won’t be going away anytime soon. If anything, they will keep gaining prominence around the Marvel universe.
Summary
If you want your Avengers book to give insight into the personalities of the heroes and deal less with the big, epic storylines, then Avengers World is the book for you. From interviews its been made clear that Nick Spencer is the featured writer, with Jonathan Hickman overseeing the project to make sure everything meshes with his Avengers books. It’s only a matter of time before Avengers, New Avengers and Avengers World get caught up in some company-wide crossover event, or perhaps even a smaller one confined to these core Avengers comics.
Rating: 3 of 5
This review is written in partnership with Pop Culture Network. They can be found at their website http://www.popculturenetwork.com/
Timdogg
#ComicBookChronicles @CBChron founder. Editor-in-Chief of @thekliqnation. Comic book reviewer, podcaster #RABBLERABBLE
