I recently read the "absolute" JLA/Avengers and found it to be one of the most entertaining and beautifully drawn superhero books I have ever read. I read it twice that first weekend and carefully pored over the references in the Compendium.
So, I quickly purchased Avengers Assemble 1-3. I just finished Vol 1 last night, and. . .ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. I was completely nonplussed. I felt Perez's work was not as good as his genius other stuff (like Titans, WW, or JLA/Avengers).
And Busiek just tried too hard: Let's get every character, even the dead ones. Let's make sure there's "real conflict" (for Crom's sake, Hawkeye, quit whining about not being in charge before I put an arrow throw my own eye!). Let's bring back Squadron Supreme and laugh about the previous plotlines while repeating them again. Let's build up the "legends" by having Vance worship them. Let's have Wanda romantically torn between a ghost and a hologram. Let's have Cap struggle as leader (WTF??!!). Let's have Iron Man at all. (since CW, I have been growing less interested in any version of Tony) Let's go to the moon because we need to be cosmic, not just earthbased. Let's have a major crisis so a bunch of other heroes can make cameos, even the X-Men.
What I liked:
1. Firestar -- liked this character since the old cartoon days. Her character had real drama here, and she has potential.
2. Hank/Jan -- they have finally started growing on me, and KB decides they should be part time characters?
3. Thor -- hard to go wrong, and he is well-written here. He's presented with a simultaneous lightness and gravity of attitude that works wonders.
4. Wanda (somewhat) -- like her new bellydance/gypsy costume as a change. I like the mystery of her powers growing, but I know where it leads. Er, thanks, Busiek, for laying the foundation for both House of M and Disassembled. . .
5. Jarvis -- always fun; he and Alfred rock, in my book! I liked that he was shy about the letter Thor found, and the reason behind the letter makes me smile while fitting his character perfectly.
Er, that's about it. I know that in the intro, Busiek admits to trying too hard. But I just found the book to be boring -- "okay" at best. Vol 2-3 are still shrinkwrapped. Unless you guys can convince me that it gets EXTREMELY better from here, they're going back to Amazon. That same $40 will buy me Atlas TOS or the new Doc Strange Variant MW. . .
So, I quickly purchased Avengers Assemble 1-3. I just finished Vol 1 last night, and. . .ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. I was completely nonplussed. I felt Perez's work was not as good as his genius other stuff (like Titans, WW, or JLA/Avengers).
And Busiek just tried too hard: Let's get every character, even the dead ones. Let's make sure there's "real conflict" (for Crom's sake, Hawkeye, quit whining about not being in charge before I put an arrow throw my own eye!). Let's bring back Squadron Supreme and laugh about the previous plotlines while repeating them again. Let's build up the "legends" by having Vance worship them. Let's have Wanda romantically torn between a ghost and a hologram. Let's have Cap struggle as leader (WTF??!!). Let's have Iron Man at all. (since CW, I have been growing less interested in any version of Tony) Let's go to the moon because we need to be cosmic, not just earthbased. Let's have a major crisis so a bunch of other heroes can make cameos, even the X-Men.
What I liked:
1. Firestar -- liked this character since the old cartoon days. Her character had real drama here, and she has potential.
2. Hank/Jan -- they have finally started growing on me, and KB decides they should be part time characters?
3. Thor -- hard to go wrong, and he is well-written here. He's presented with a simultaneous lightness and gravity of attitude that works wonders.
4. Wanda (somewhat) -- like her new bellydance/gypsy costume as a change. I like the mystery of her powers growing, but I know where it leads. Er, thanks, Busiek, for laying the foundation for both House of M and Disassembled. . .
5. Jarvis -- always fun; he and Alfred rock, in my book! I liked that he was shy about the letter Thor found, and the reason behind the letter makes me smile while fitting his character perfectly.
Er, that's about it. I know that in the intro, Busiek admits to trying too hard. But I just found the book to be boring -- "okay" at best. Vol 2-3 are still shrinkwrapped. Unless you guys can convince me that it gets EXTREMELY better from here, they're going back to Amazon. That same $40 will buy me Atlas TOS or the new Doc Strange Variant MW. . .
