REVIEW: New Avengers #1

[PupsOfWar]

This review is absurd, no one complained that Avengers 1 felt like an Iron Man or Captain America book. This was fantastic. I actually think it was better than Avengers 01, and I loved Avengers

Perhaps more to the point, nobody complained that JH's Fantastic Four/FF was just a Reed book in disguise, even though it began with a Reed-centric arc.

Heck, I would argue that there's a strong case to be made that F4/FF was a Reed book in disguise.

[AcesX1X]

"the devil himself."

i am going to love this comic so much.

[infernohara]

LOL, how sad. A reviewers distaste for a character hampering their ability to make a nonbiased review. Wakanda feels off when applied to an Avengers title? Well yeah, it should since this isn't really "Avengers" in a traditional sense. Its only by title just like Avengers Arena is.

[chariset]

This issue WAS Panther's story. There's no denying that. It might have been better for #1 to be a double-issue and not double ship in January. But that's how these Defenders-type stories go. One person discovers the threat and has to spend time getting everyone together to stop it. Next issue is when all the interpersonal fallout starts happening and people talk over one another as they try to decide what to do about a woman who goes around offering worlds to the hungry god.

[Just Endless]

So far, I feel that Avengers is good, but maybe biting Morrison-style a bit too much. Hickman seems to do that sometimes, and it doesn't really make for his best work. What does, well, this. This issue was a complete story, that while maybe a little poor at showing what the series is going to be about, sure made me want to read the series. Good enough for me.

Single tear death in arms was a little much though.

[havok1977]

Man, reviewers are going to give a hard time to a first issue that centers on the character that will bring the team together; I really dont see how that can be such a big deal but well...

All I can say is that Im looking forward to picking up my copy, Hickman sold me on this series when he was doing his Q&A thread in these very forums and he posted this:

The Illuminati (NEW AVENGERS) are the exact same Illuminati that Bendis / Maleev introduced a few years ago. Beyond things that could not be casually explained (Cap having an Infinity Gem -- there's no getting around that), it's meant to be a direct continuation of that extremely conceited concept. I think I answered the Beast thing above somewhere, but he was the best suited, and available, plugin for Xavier when he got killed (which happened because I put Xavier back on the table in AvX 6, so it was kind of my fault -- I screwed myself, like an idiot).

Continuing, "Best and most influential minds in the MU" is the kind of flowery, non-threatening, gibberish that we use to sell books instead of the honest "A group of brilliant and powerful men that took it upon themselves to control the direction of the Marvel Universe." The deception is intolerably shameful, but necessary, which is why I only write my solicits when I'm completely drunk. SERIOUSLY.

Regarding your concerns, I'll only say that there's an intentional contrast being setup between the books. That one is a progressive, more global group (Avengers) and the other is essentially an old boys network (New Avengers) is worth noting. There's a point being made. Perhaps I'm going to hammer you over the head with it. Perhaps that's why I'm not worried about it.

Hope that helps some.

And:

I will offer this: The most 'important' book in the most successful corner of the Marvel Universe will be New Avengers, people just don't know that yet. It may not sell quite as high as Avengers, but the things going on in that book will affect the broader MU, and it's a good thing for the character that BP is in there.

So yeah that picks my interest...

I usually find Comicvine's reviews somewhat lenient with their rating (its hard to find a review with less than 3 out of 5 stars there) but I really appreciate what is said in their take of this issue: http://www.comicvine.com/new-avenger.../staff-review/

[Voss]

As someone who was really excited about this book, I was thoroughly dissapointed with this issue. In the CBR review I didn't notice any complaint about the dialogue. Am I the only one who hated the way characters spoke to each other? It was just so unnatural and lame, they were just running down fact checks and plot points, it was exposition in disguise. That to me is so bad, when a comic book reads like a......comic book and not something that feels natural and fluid. Uck.

The team of scientist was so pointless, why did we spend so much time with them? Why did we have to know that dude was the grandson of a BP, and this other dude was blah blah blah, what was the point? This is a map of so and so, I'm so proud of this person that the reader doesn't know, more boring unnatural dialogue, etc. The action scenes and the art were really bad, in a "what's going on?" type of bad. The motivation of the antagonist and the guy with her wasn't clear, the device they had wasn't explained, and the most stupid scene is when there is a gun shot and BP just sits there, doesn't take cover or anything. I didn't understand what was going on but more importantly, I wasn't given a reason to care. Really disappointing book. I don't agree with most of the negative points made in the CBR review but I do agree with the score. 2/5 seems about right. This book makes Avengers Arena look like a masterpiece.

tl;dr-
Everyone was written like a robot
Motivations weren't clear
Confusing actions scenes
Art sucked
How about taking cover if your under gun fire?

[willforthrill]

So why is this book given the title New Avengers?
1. The New Avenger concept is no longer new.
2. This is not an Avengers book, it is an Illuminati book. I understand that putting the Avengers logo on a book will make it sell better but it is still frustrating.
It is obvious that Hickman loves Black Panther and Wakanda so I don't see why Marvel doesn't give him an ongoing. I would check that out and I know several creators at Marvel would probably be interested.

[Moriarty]

CBR reviews really are a joke. does anyone really take them serious? they are usually so far off the mark it isn't even funny.

[FriendRoss]

I think 2,5 is too much. Never had any positive feelings about black panther.

then you sir have a future reviewing this book

[DeadXMan]

yeah this was kinda meh....

And why the hell aren't the wakidians trying to kill namor?

[AcesX1X]

yeah this was kinda meh....

And why the hell aren't the wakidians trying to kill namor?

they would be executed for trying to assault an honored guest.

[Rheged]

yeah this was kinda meh....

And why the hell aren't the wakidians trying to kill namor?

Enough self-preservation not to commit suicide.

[USERNAME TAKEN]

It seems a lot of reviewers are having trouble with the book because its Black Panther focused. It also seems that a lot of them have a problem with Black Panther as a character.

That's really disappointing.

The original Ultimates title didn't even feature the full team into a couple of issues in and yet no one complained back then. Same with Hickman's run on Fantastic Four that focused solely on Reed Richards in its first issue.

Really disappointed in the review as this was a very good book.

[Etoma]

yeah this was kinda meh....

And why the hell aren't the wakidians trying to kill namor?

They're more pressing issues than more Namor.