PREVIEW: Avengers #1

[Emissary of Justice]

Awww... Not bad yeah we lost Cage but now we got Falcon and Manifold

Keywords: "who wasn't completely useless."

Also, Manifold's an aboriginal.

[JaggedFel]

Sunspot is Afro-Brazilian.

But yeah it would be nice to see minority powerhouses on the level of Hulk, Thor, and Hyperion.

[ShaunN]

I think this is a fantastic opening. Really epic scale. One question: is that second figure (who apparently breaks "the Guard" - the Imperial Guard? -on the dead moon) Miracleman? These three figures seem to be incredibly powerful beings (we already know about Hyperion, but the others seem very formidable too), so it looks like the Avengers will have their hands full.

Looking forward to this!

[Emissary of Justice]

Sunspot is Afro-Brazilian.

I know. I meant African-American though.

When it comes to being featured on a regular basis, all Marvel has are Falcon, Luke Cage, and War Machine. Two of those are sidekicks.

[JaggedFel]

Hmm good point.

[Free-Man]

All looks real good. I'm looking forward to seeing what Hickman does with the characters without books like the Falcon, Shang-Chi or Captain Universe. Hyperion was never someone I really thought about but he looks pretty cool.

[theDarkestKnight]

Comixology has the solicitation for issue #2 up. It reads "The Avengers have been captured by a dangerous enemy on Mars. A battered Captain America has been sent back to Earth as a warning to any and all heroes who would dare take the fight back to the red planet. But Avengers aren't big on running scared..."

This is going to be so epic!

[Hulk_Is]

I feel like the atwork is too dramatic (heavy), but that's obviously just me.

[Hulk_Is]

I had been reading the FF since #166 and dropped it with the Death of Johnny Storm issue. That's 1976 until 2011, for anyone not sure.

The reason I abandoned the book after 35 years?

Hickman.

I tend to agree that Hickman is overrated, but he does write a spiel long enough to keep certain folks hanging on until it's over. It's all about being entertained at the end of the day, even if the end results are less than satisfactory.

[jpbl1976]

Hot dang, that is an epic intro. Hickman is so good.

Yes he is. I've read many of his recent work: Fantastic Four, FF, Secret Warriors, S.H.I.E.L.D, Manhattan Projects, Red Wing and Pax Romana and they were all intelligent and enjoyable. Avengers is in good hands.

Plus, that Avengers logo in the middle of concentric circles with circles radiating from the outermost circle (Tony's looking up at it in the last preview page) is quintessential Hickman. He's used that device in many of his books. You actually need to pay attention to it, especially if there's a section in the latter part of the book that has it because it tells part of the story. It's part of the many layers he adds to his stories.

If it wasn't already obvious from the previews, Tony's going to feature quite prominently in Hickman's Avengers run, judging from how he used Reed in Fantastic Four/FF and Tony in the Ultimates Universe. I hope he also gives Thor equal attention -- he gave an excellent portrayal of Thor in Ultimates (far better than Fraction's take of Thor in the 616 at the time) -- and I'm hoping he does the same for Thor in Avengers (though, as a Thor fan, I'm extremely happy with Jason Aaron's portrayal).

Also, we can probably expect really epic stories -- if Hickman hadn't had to rush the end of the People/City story arc in Ultimates, it would've been one of the best "Avengers" stories ever. [Note: if you were reading Hickman's Ultimates, you just know it was rushed because Hickman had to get ahead on his Avengers work -- the pacing of the story took an odd turn towards the end of his run -- almost like he needed at least 3 to 4 more issues to complete his story].

To me, Hickman -- among all of Marvel's current crop of writers -- is Marvel's best counter to Grant Morrison in terms of the ability to conceptualize incredible and original stories. Check out his Manhattan Projects. There isn't another book quite like it out there now. Hickman's stories remind me a little of Neal Stephenson's (circa Cryptonomicon/Baroque Cycle/Anathem -- not circa Reamde).

[Hulk_Is]

Wait...I thought Cap, Thor and Wolvie were going to be in the Uncanny Avengers? All these different groups...just confusing. But is Cable going to be in this book?

I don't know if Cable will show up on an Avengers roster, but he will be co-headlining in Cable & X-Force.

[jpbl1976]

I had been reading the FF since #166 and dropped it with the Death of Johnny Storm issue. That's 1976 until 2011, for anyone not sure.

The reason I abandoned the book after 35 years?

Hickman.

Sorry to hear that. I've been an on-again, off-again FF reader (I read the Byrne, Simonson and Waid runs to completion) and I have to say I really enjoyed Hickman's stories. He brought a different tone and emphasis on Science Fiction than did those other writers. Also, I didn't really think Johnny was going to stay dead (and he didn't -- nor did it seem like he really was dead anyway given the circumstances), anymore than I think that Doc Ock will remain as Peter Parker/Spidey.

[Hulk_Is]

Sunspot is Afro-Brazilian.

But yeah it would be nice to see minority powerhouses on the level of Hulk, Thor, and Hyperion.

Isn't there some cosmic dude like that named Maximum or something like that?

[Emissary of Justice]

That's DC. Marvel recently added a guy named Blue Marvel, but no one uses him.

[Kid Kamikaze10]

Comixology has the solicitation for issue #2 up. It reads "The Avengers have been captured by a dangerous enemy on Mars. A battered Captain America has been sent back to Earth as a warning to any and all heroes who would dare take the fight back to the red planet. But Avengers aren't big on running scared..."

This is going to be so epic!

You know stuff just got real when instead of Thor being the first one to get his butt handed to him, it's Cap.

Can't Wait!