Open Mike Night: All-New, All-Different Avengers #1/ Avengers (1963) #1

by Mike Maillaro & Mike Weaver

All New, All Different Avengers(2015) #1

Written by: Mark Waid
Art by: Adam Kubert
Colored by: Sonia Oback
Lettered by: VC’s Cory Petit
Cover by Alex Ross

Published by: Marvel
Cover Price: $3.99

Maillaro: After reading this book, it occurred to me that this is the first ”Post Secret Wars” look we’ve gotten of a bunch of these characters.  Not like it matters all that much. As far as I can tell, not much has changed since the last time we saw these characters before Secret Wars.  Talk about a wasted event.  Well over 200 comics just to tell us “Hey, Miles Morales and Old Man Logan are in the “616” Marvel universe now.”  

I have been looking forward for this book for a while.  I am a huge fan of Mark Waid, and his work often has an old school feel to it.  Just look at his work on SHIELD.  Each issue has been stand alone, and you get a ton of characterization and story in each issue.   I was definitely expecting something like that from ANAD Avengers. Unfortunately, at times this issue fell way short of that.

We have said this before, but I feel strongly by the end of the first issue of any team book, you should know the whole team and understand how they came together and why.  By the end of this issue, they haven’t even introduced quite a few of the characters. Captain America, Iron Man, and Mile Morales end up in the “right time, right place” to face off against one of Nova’s enemies who is looking to destroy the world.  The issue goes “To Be Continued…” just as the fight is about to start.

We see Nova and Ms Marvel off having a separate adventure in a back up story.  And no sign at all of Thor or Vision.

Weaver: I thought there was a lot of potential in this issue, and I think that it might be “written for trade,” so I’m willing to give it a couple more shots.  As far as Thor and Vision, they have enough natural ties to Iron Man and Captain America to make introducing them not too hard.  Speaking of Iron Man, I’m not really understanding his whole financial situation.  He had to sell the tower and has no liquidity...but still has super armor and a flying car.  Are we to believe he’s essentially living out of his flying car?  Because that would be awesome.

There were flashes of characterization in this issue, especially with everyone making assumptions about Cap’s motivations after he saved people from a car accident and Sam’s way of fixing that situation.  The biggest let down to me was the first page, which has Kamala telling Nova “You’re a jerk!”  I assumed the main story would build to that, since it was all “twelve hours earlier” and everything, but no.  Even the side story doesn’t quite get there.  That’s the type of foreshadowing that usually has a payoff about halfway through the issue, if that long, and we never get it.

Maillaro: Yeah, even in Invincible Iron Man, Stark’s status has been real bizarre and not clear.   Just by selling the building, that means he has assets.  Seems like Stark should be able to come up with three inventions before breakfast from the capital from selling the building that would keep him flush.  It does feel like we are supposed to believe Stark’s broke JUST BECAUSE THE STORY SAYS SO.  I always hate that.

Marvel’s reliance on back up stories to pad their books is beyond frustrating.  Yeah, it was nice to see a focus on Nova and Ms Marvel...but not at the expense of the main story.  And certainly not for $5.00.  Both Nova and Ms Marvel have their own books, this story would have been a far better fit for one of their series.  At the very least, they should have tied it into the main story in a tangible way.

I think you hit the right word here. This book shows a lot of potential.  BUT, it never comes anywhere near reaching it.  Granted it’s just the first issue...but one I spent $5 on.  If it takes three or four issues to get really started, I’m already out the cost of many trades.

Weaver: I was wondering the exact same thing...why that story wasn’t in Ms. Marvel or Nova’s solo books.  It seems like probably a better fit in Ms. Marvel’s, since her supporting cast tags along, but it could work in either, and give it a bit of a backdoor pilot to ANAD Avengers.  Although, you’d think an Avengers book has more built in appeal than either Ms. Marvel or Nova, so maybe it was an attempt to feed readers back to the solo books.  If so, it never really told me anything like that.

Money and comics seems to be the thing we discuss every week.  There’s still a speculator market, so there’s still interest in #1 issues, plus everyone wants a clear jumping on point, but continuing to overcharge people for those first installments doesn’t seem a sustainable strategy, especially if you also “overcharge” by decompressing.

Maillaro: You know...come to think about it,  the scenes with Captain America and Iron Man might have fit better in Cap’s book too.  There was a lot of interesting things to deal with there, like Cap realizing that if he happened to approach the one black girl in the crowd how it would look in the press.  Also, we get some hints about Cap’s fall out with Steve Rogers.   In a lot of ways, I was reminds of Morrison’s JLA run where the characters’ single books had a major impact on what was going on in the team book.

I also thought it was odd that they say we don’t have any Avengers.  I guess that is technically true, but Sunspot’s team and the “Unity” Squad both seem to be “Avengers” teams.  It seemed like a strange distinction just to try and make this team sound more unique than it is.  And it seems strange that after Secret Wars none of these heroes decided to unite for 8 months...where it seems like nothing happened.

I don’t know.  As I read this review, I realize I am being so negative, and I wonder if a huge part of that was just over elevated expectations.  I love the characters here and I love the creative team.  I think I was just expecting this book to be gold from page one, and it just never got there.

Weaver: They mention the Sunspot team and Unity team, and kind of brush off either of them being actual Avengers, but I’m not entirely sure why.  I dunno.  My expectations were a bit lower, and I still felt disappointed by this, as, well, it doesn’t give a lot to work with, and should give a lot more.  It’s nice to see Ms. Marvel in the first panel...and then not again til a side story after the main story (and an ad).  I feel like I’d read the second issue of this, though.

Maillaro: I kind of feel like this series requires a whole trade to get a real feel for, which bums me out, but I guess it’s just the nature of the beast these days.   I was hoping Waid would buck some of those trends, but I guess it’s probably just Marvel editorial policy.   

Actually one thing that really annoyed me is Miles.  Because we don’t know how Secret Wars ends, and he doesn’t have his own book yet, Miles’ appearance here was real vague.  Stark mocks him as a Spider-Man copycat.  Does Miles remember the Ultimate universe?  Does anyone?

Scores…  I would go a 3.5 for the writing.  What was here I enjoyed quite a bit.  I just wanted a lot more of it.   

The art was solid too.  I liked the Alex Ross cover, which was just a beautiful image of some of Marvel’s new heroes.  Kubert’s work wasn’t particularly exciting, but it did the job.  4/5.

Weaver: I think I’m just going to echo those scores.  They seem fair.  I do wish we knew a bit more of what the issue seems to think we don’t really need to know, but that’s why it’s a 3.5.

Avengers (1963) #1

Written by Stan Lee
Art by Jack Kirby
Inked by Dick Ayers
Lettered by S. Rosen

Published by: Marvel
Cover Price: 12 cents ($1.99 on Comixology)

Weaver:  It’s no secret that I love the Silver Age, and the Avengers, and the Lee/Kirby team-up, but in a lot of ways, this issue was everything that could possibly go wrong with those genres.  Loki tricks the Hulk into wrecking some train tracks, which he gets blamed for even after trying to repair them.  Rick Jones tries to contact Reed Richards, but Loki reroutes the call to Don Blake.  Somehow, Pym and Iron Man get the call too.  Everyone shows up, Thor leaves to track the Hulk, decides that it must be Loki doing this because he’s the only one who can do illusions (I’m positive that Thor’s seen other illusionists in his book by this point), and so Thor goes to Asgard and proceeds to invent new powers at an epic pace to solo Loki.

Meanwhile, our other heroes go in pursuit of the Hulk, who’s working as a juggling clown.  This is something I can’t unsee, and I’m not sure if it’s amazing or terrifying or both.  Anyway.  Eventually, they track him to Detroit, where the Avengers form.  Eat it, New York.  Earth’s Mightiest Heroes start out in the Motor City.

Conflict is resolved when Thor shows up with Loki, lets everyone know he was responsible, then Ant Man and the Wasp suggest everyone team up and join up the group. I’ll let you handle the radioactive waste message (which makes me laugh every time).

Maillaro: For good or bad, they really knew how to squeeze a lot in those Silver Age comics.  You get some focus on each character, you understand how all the pieces come together, you get a fight against another hero.  You get a fight against the bad guy behind the evil plot.  And in the end, a new team of Avengers is formed.   It is just awesome to me that you can get all that done in one comic.  Sure, it takes tiny panels and loads of dialogue, but at least you feel like you get your money’s worth.

Ah.  The Radioactive Waste Truck.  At one point, Loki turns himself radioactive to keep the heroes away from him.  But he just happens to be standing on a trap door that Ant-Man and Wasp open, which just happens to dump him in the back of a truck that is designed for keeping radioactive waste contained.   Hell of a set of coincidences. The Avengers totally need to go to Vegas with those odds.  

Weaver: Nuclear waste…”for eventual disposal in the ocean.”  Now we understand the villain from Giant Size X-Men #1 so much better.  Why are they taking it from weapons tests in the southwest to Detroit BEFORE putting it into lead tanks?  And why not head towards the Pacific if we’re just dumping it in the ocean?  Who cares, comics.  I honestly think Stan got confused and thought they were still in the Southwest, because at the pace he and Jack made comics in those days, the editing process wasn’t very robust.  I agree, though, on the odds.  Vegas, baby.

The Silver Age was great at cramming information into issues, but I wonder if continuity made that into a bad thing.  If you have to juggle everything that happens in every comic, it’s better to not have it so dense.  However, as a reader, I really like getting a full story, and this is a full story, massive deus ex machina and random new Thor powers and all.

Maillaro: I wasn’t even thinking about the whole location thing, not to mention the bad idea of dumping all the nuclear waste into the water.  Hell, at this point, I was still stuck on the fact that a circus happened to randomly come across the Hulk wandering in the desert and their assumption was “He’s a robot.  Let’s dress him up like a clown.”  And Hulk went along with this plan.   

I am definitely not saying this was the best of stories, and it relies on a lot of leaps in logic, but I still appreciate the craft that went into it.   All of the characters are given distinct voices, and the comic even goes into dealing with some of the travel issues that comics usual ignore.  Iron Man has to travel across the country, and needs solar panels to keep his power up.  Wasp COULD fly the whole way, but that would be exhausting, so Pym insists they use a relay system of flying ants to travel.  These were just small touches, but it made it clear that the creators cared enough to at least try and make things make sense.  Well...some things at least.

Weaver: I also like seeing Iron Man’s early golden armor, which looks like his Mark 1 except gold.  That armor wasn’t around very long...maybe because the Wasp thought it was fugly.

You can tell that Stan and Jack care more about whether the characters are relatively true to themselves than what powers they have, where they are, or what they’re doing.  I appreciate that.  And yet...there’s so much hot mess around it.  It makes this hard to judge.  I do have an odd attachment to this issue because of a 1980’s Hulk issue I had that has the Teen Brigade have the exact problem that’s the key to this story...except it isn’t Loki messing with it, but just a limit of their antenna.  Instead of getting the Avengers, they get a bunch of really obscure Avengers reservists.  It was a great issue, and definitely structured after this.  So, segue, but it’s still a reason I like this.

I’m going to give the story a grudging 4.  I could go as low as 2 if I’m being a jerk about the problems with the Silver Agedness, or a 5 if I judge it based on how important it was, but I feel a 4 is fair.  I’m giving the art a 4 too.  Sorry Jack.  You don’t get a 5 if you force me to look at Hulk in clown makeup.

Maillaro: I think those are fair scores.  I like Kirby’s art here much more than I did on Uncanny X-Men, where characters had oddly deformed bodies and heads...even when they didn’t seem like they should have.   If nothing else, you have to be impressed that these guys created X-Men, Fantastic Four, and Avengers, three books that have long legacies and have basically always been the center of the Marvel universe.

Weaver: They sort of created Spider-Man too...it was Lee and Ditko, but the outfit used by Spider-Man was created by Kirby.  No doubt that there would be no Marvel universe without them.  So, what’s on for next week?

Maillaro:  Well….Black Knight is getting his own series.  Just for the sheer absurdity of Black Knight having a solo series, I would love to tackle that.  For a classic book, how about someone equally obscure.  Any thoughts?

Weaver: WTF?  Black Knight?  What an odd choice.  I’m in.

I’ve got a lot of ideas for characters that are pretty obscure, I’m kind of tempted to dig up that two issue Hulk story I mentioned earlier, with the Teen Brigade getting a hold of the Almost Avengers (Red Wolf, who showed up briefly in the Kree/Skrull War, was the best known of them).  You know what, I’m going to.  I’ll hit you with issue numbers later in the week.

Maillaro: Sounds perfect.  Red Wolf played a major part in one of the Secret Wars tie-ins.  And I think he’s getting his own series too.  I know he managed to leak over into the “New” Marvel too.  Sounds like a plan!

By the way, Weaver was pretty shocked that we never covered Avengers 1 before this column.  No idea how that slipped through the cracks, as we have covered quite a few random issues of Avengers over the years.

Weaver: I honestly looked through our archive because I couldn’t believe it.  Yay Red Wolf.  I guess.  

Final Scores