Marvel Rundown: AVENGERS #1 kicks off a new era

Once again it’s Wednesday and that means it’s time for another edition of the Marvel Rundown. Our main review tackles the latest Avengers #1 by Chip Zdarsky and Marco Checchetto. Meanwhile out Rapid Rundown takes a look at Wolverine#29 and the debut of Friendly Neighborhood Mary Jane #1.

Note: the review below may contain spoilers.If you want a quick, spoiler-free buy/pass recommendation on the comics in question, check out the bottom of the article for our final verdict.

Avengers #1

Writer: Chip Zdarsky

Artist: Marco Checchetto

Colorist: Matthew Wilson

Letter: vc’s Cory Petit

It’s hard to believe it’s been over 20 years since Brian Michael Bendis disassembled the Avengers with David Finch. He destroyed the team in 5 issues only for to reassemble new group with <a href="https://comicvibe.com/blue-box-x-sanrio-characters-premiumshop-at-pop-culture-style-ikebukuro/” title=”Blue Box × Sanrio Characters PremiumShop at POP Culture Style IKEBUKURO”>characters from Marvel’s movies (and Spider-Woman). This would be the norm for the next five years until the mega hit Marvel Studios film would usher in the Jonathan Hickman era. That particular time would end in the epoch defining Secret Wars mini series that wrapped up several of Hickman’s long running plotlines.

In his current role as steward of the team, Chip Zdarsky seems to follow a path taking the best bits of both writers. He opened his run with two mini series Wolverine:Weapons of Armageddon and Avengers: Armageddonthat played with the idea of how dangerous a superhero can be. He even went so far as to introduce a version of Miracleman, a character that served as a late Cold War metaphor for nuclear weapons and abuse of power, into the Marvel universe. Zdarsky clearly has a healthy fear for godlike super beings. He fills his team line up with a group of Marvel hitters. All of this is very much in the vein of Bendis.

With Avengers #1, he goes the Hickman route with a new Avengers team that takes on very big ideas. He continues to ask “why does the world need superheroes when they can destroy whole countries?” but he also has his team fight the fabric of the universe. The two previous series had as much as fun as one could have with plate clearing to set up a new status quo. Now he can finally get to the stuff he really wants to do.This first issue sets up what seems to be a fun team book where our heroes have to tackle the kind of problems that only the Avengers can handle.

Aiding him considerably is the long running artistic collaboration between artist Marco Checcetto and colorist Matthew Wilson. The two are coming off their excellent work on Ultimate Spider-Man and it’s great seeing the two take on a new challenge. Like their work on that book, this is an exciting superhero comic. Checcetto gets to stretch his wings here. Drawing a team book is never an easy task and he once again gets to prove why he’s one of Marvel’s best artists. Wilson gets to use a more vibrant, lively color palette than he did on Ultimate Spider-Man that adds to the action here. Once again, they’ve created a great looking superhero comic.

But ultimately, this feels like Zdarsky’s book. He draws on threads he’s seeded through his other books. Luke Cage’s mayoral run from his Daredevil days. The ongoing David Colton story he started in his recent Captain America book and that book’s concern for superheroes abusing their power. Yet there’s also a sense of fun here sort of missing from the seriousness of those books which the team of Checcetto and Wilson aid him to create. Team books should be a diverse mix of interesting characters and big massive threats, and these collaborators understand that perfectly.

Wolverine #29Wolverine’s been a soldier, a samurai, a secret agent, and in this issue, writer Saladin Ahmedhas Logan become a sommelier. Ahmed’s run on Wolverine has had Logan face off against the memory of his dead mother, fight living adamantium, and recently have a set of his claws broken. He eventually gets to the point where he overcomes his personal trauma and has the adamantium on his bone claws replaced so that he can continue being the best at what he is. And this issue is a perfect example of Logan’s luck being drawn into the most outlandish schemes, as the Arakkii mutant Solem forces him to use his mutant senses to confirm a bottle of wine lives up to its reputation in an underground auction. Of course, Solem’s not the only bad guy with expensive tastes trying to get this rare vintage wine, the Rose and Madame Masque are also in attendance. Let the shenanigans begin. Besides being a fun book, artist Julius Ohta’s action is top-notch, with solid anatomy and dynamic storytelling. The book moves, and when the auction turns into a royal rumble, we get our money’s worth. The art is enhanced by color artist Jesus Aburtov‘s funky texturing, especially the cliffhanger ending. This team is having fun with this zany mcguffin for everyone’s favorite mutant. Can’t wait to see what happens next. – GC3

Friendly Neighborhood Mary Jane #1
Friendly Neighborhood Mary Jane #1, written byAshley Allen and with art by Phil Noto, attempts to fix Marvel’s growing redhead problem by trying to figure out what to do with Mary Jane. Editorial doesn’t want her married and fans aren’t exactly into the superhero aspect. But considering that she’s one of Marvel’s flagship characters and this is her 60th year since inception, something had to be done with her. And Allen and Noto decided, why not make her a producer. So far this decision isn’t an awful one, MJ using her connections to start something she wishes she had is a great plot setup. And I do like how they’re attempting to evolve her character in a mundane way, but all the bits about Venom and her having a mini-symbiote jacket was my least favorite part of the Mary Jane special. And somehow it has returned. I’d much prefer the drama of her starting a production company over a really stilted and boring fights against established Spider-Man villains, especially where the stakes feel nonexistent.  That’s largely my biggest issue with this opener, despite the attempt at a cliffhanger, there doesn’t really feel like there’s much at risk for MJ. That may happen in the next issue, but I’d prefer if this one was better set up to tease us on what kind of character journey MJ is going to go on. Rather than just wasting time showing us how cool her new jacket is. — LM

Read past installments of the Marvel Rundown here!And check out the Beat’s other recent comics reviews!