EMH; a particular recomendation

[mushroom2703]

Today, i got the Avengers : Earth Mightiest Heroes Hardback by Joe Casey and Scott Kolins that collects issues 1-8 of the mini-series. I really enjoyed it and i just wanted to make a thread about it so it jutts out in peoples minds. Set during the Avengers' early years, instead of specifically retelling the stories we already know, Casey uses them as templates to fill out their characters, motivations and fears during the early years, while potraying their world in a more modern world than the 60s. We get to see the Avengers' struggle against the Govt. to get the security clearance to help the world sufficiently. As the first gathering of super-heroes, the Avengers were a potential international threat if they decided to say, conquer the world, and the suspicion from Government and media shines through.

Another particular highlight was the focus of Cap coping with this new world for the first time where it seems America's values have all gone to waste, and what he once stood for, may not exsist anymore. Due to the recent revelations in Cap's solo title, its nice to see a fresh take on his awakening to the death of Bucky all those years ago and his muddled memories.

Kolin's art is top notch here, probably the best i've ever seen it, and he manages to keep the class feel of the the Avengers while updating their surrounding to a more realistic world.

Simply put, i passed this mini up when it was coming out in the shops, and i'm glad i took the time to look back at it. Its just a really fun fresh book that classic fans hopefully appreciate ( Casey says he wrote it for the die-hards ) and it proves suffecient for the new fans to pick up the basics of the original books. Great stuff.

[Shellhead]

How does it compare to JLA: Year One?

[mushroom2703]

How does it compare to JLA: Year One?

Sorry, i haven't read or heard anything of JLA year one ( not a reader of the DCU ). I'm under the impression its a different beast, but whether or not tis even the same kind of direction, you'll have to wait for that answer. I'm sure someone will offer up an opinion on it.

[Gaz]

How does it compare to JLA: Year One?
Pretty well, I'd say, although they serve different functions. JLA:Y1 was the post-Crisis origin of the team, and had to establish exactly what happened and who the characters were and how they related now. EMH is a riff on the existing origin and is almost the "deleted scenes" of those stories.
It's a hoot to see Thor saying "Nurse! Tis a GSW to the chest!" though. :D

[hbkabdul]

i thought the series was a nice nostalgic look back at the original avengers and it did well to fill in things behind the scenes. only nitpicking here but a lot of stuff seemed out of place for that era like cellphones and reality tv.

[Gaz]

i thought the series was a nice nostalgic look back at the original avengers and it did well to fill in things behind the scenes. only nitpicking here but a lot of stuff seemed out of place for that era like cellphones and reality tv.
Well, the theory is that while it took place 40 years ago for us, it's only been about 8 or 9 in the MU.

[pureclint]

i thought the series was a nice nostalgic look back at the original avengers and it did well to fill in things behind the scenes. only nitpicking here but a lot of stuff seemed out of place for that era like cellphones and reality tv.

I think he updated that to make the Avengers feel more contemperary (sp?).

I disliked the Characterization of a few Characters by Casey, especially some of Cap and the Wasp. Also, some of the words Casey put into the mouths of the characters were just him letting out some political venom.

The art of the series was very nice as was the use of Thor and Iron Man. Yet, I do not think it was even close to the league of JLA: Year One.

[Gaz]

I think he updated that to make the Avengers feel more contemperary (sp?).

I disliked the Characterization of a few Characters by Casey, especially some of Cap and the Wasp. Also, some of the words Casey put into the mouths of the characters were just him letting out some political venom.

The art of the series was very nice as was the use of Thor and Iron Man. Yet, I do not think it was even close to the league of JLA: Year One.
IMO, he dealt with the aftermath of Cap's defrosting in a way that Stan never did. And Wasp really was written that shallow back then, and she did start as Hank's sidekick, pretty much, remember.

[mushroom2703]

I think he updated that to make the Avengers feel more contemperary (sp?).

Yep, that was one of the main points. Like Iron-man, Black Panther and other origins of recent, this moves the time frame forward; we get to see Cap dealing with cable networks etc. They are not out of place; this is like it happened in our surrounding today. It gives the stories a fresh feel, and we get the media speculation, which has a much bigger impact these days than it did in the 60s. We have the internet. Word of mouth is spread electronically. All these kind of issues are brought up, and it amkes alot mroe sense compared to the world they're fighting in our comics today. The choice is to update and have the opporutnity to show things in a different light, or to make most of the heroes 80 or dead. I'm ok with this option.