Avengers Assemble, Volume 1

I was probably about 8 years old when this series started, and it was at that time I began getting into comics. Going to the local comic store every Wednesday and picking up a handful of Marvel comics with whatever allowance I had. This series WAS my introduction to the Avengers, and what an introduction it is. Throwing you in with a bunch of different heroes and villians. I recently bought this hardcover hoping it was as good as I remembered. I'm pleasantly surprised that it holds up pretty well. This series is not perfect by any means, but Kurt Busiek does show a great understanding of how to write the characters (which I've always considered to be the backbone of solid comic writers). And George Perez...you really have to love the guy, yes sometimes he draws too much on one page, but other times that's why he's so great, chock full of details and love for the characters and their surroundings. These hardcovers ARE becoming harder to get, if you're interested, buy now.

"Avengers Assemble" is the first volume collecting the Avengers' most recent line of comics. This series re-started with a new number "one" issue immediately following the whole "Heroes Reborn/Heroes Return" thing from a few years back. The key to this run's success is twofold: Kurt Busiek and George Perez. Busiek is a comic writer with a historian's knowledge of the past, yet a contemporary tone accessible to all readers. George Perez is on the very short list of great Avengers artists...only John Buscema comes to mind, although Kirby, Byrne and others had some stellar runs, and Neal Adams provided three classic issues. But no one can fill a page with a multitude of costumed characters like George. The tome opens with a three-issue Medieval adventure, the villainess being Morgan Le Fay. We get re-introduced to all the characters, setting up plot lines that extend through all eleven issues (plus an in-continuity Annual nicely drawn by Carlos Pacheco). We get an old-fashioned "kickball team" issue. Every so often, there's a story where it's time to pick a new team. Some people make it, some people don't, just like back in the day when you waited to get picked to be on somebody's kickball team. It always ends with a group shot, everyone looking either up into a non-existent camera or out to an adoring throng, usually with the words "Avengers Assemble" emblazoned across the bottom. The Squadron Supreme return for a few issues. The "soap opera" aspects are nicely incorporated into the heroic goings-on. Binary/Ms. Marvel's little "problem." Scarlet Witch's nascent powers AND the whole thing with the resurrected Wonder Man. Hawkeye still doesn't like being second fiddle. Vision's still floating around. Thor still talks funny. The New Warrior recruits, Justice and Firestar, serve their purpose, and by the end of the run, felt like part of the team, as opposed to a Rick-Jones-like add-on. There are a few surprise appearances that I won't spoil. The physical book itself is lovely (except the reproduction of the last issue in my copy was a bit fuzzy or out-of-focus). All the original covers, many variant covers, covers to the trade collections, posters and pin-ups are included. The first issue is reproduced at the end in its' original pencil form. There's a script too. This is another stellar example of the Marvel Renaissance. When they say they don't make them like they used to, this is exactly how they "used to make `em."

The Avengers have always been my favorite Superhero team going back to the early 1970's. They've had consistently good stories without the never ending sub-plots and sub-sub-plots of the various X-men titles. This hardcover graphic novel collects the first 12 issues of the Avengers Volume 3, the current series. With stories by Kurt Busiek and art by legendary George Perez, these are some fantastic stories. The Stories in this set are: The Morgan Conquest from Avengers # 1 -4, "Supreme Justice" from avengers # 5 - 7, and "Clear and Present Danger" from Avengers # 8 - 12. There's just nothing better than George Perez on the Avengers!