Avengers #1
"Assemble" Part 1
Writer: Chip Zdarsky
Artist: Marco Checchetto
Colorist: Matt Wilson
Publisher: Marvel Comics
The long-awaited, heavily-hyped Avengers #1 has arrived—the culmination of everything Chip Zdarsky has been building towards for more than a year. Now that it's here, the question becomes: is it good?
Yes. Yes it is.
On a Day Unlike Any Other...
Hell is under new management. (See recent issues of Captain America, also written by Chip Zdarsky, for the whole story). The new Lord of Hell, Victor Von Doom, has rendered all of Mephisto's contracts null and void.
Yes, that one too. We'll get there.
It's Election Day in New York City, and Mayor Luke Cage is running for re-election against an anti-powers opponent. Supers aren't real popular right now after the events that culminated in Red Hulk exploding all over Russia (see Avengers Armageddon for the whole story), and the United States is now the only place where powered individuals aren't outlawed. Needless to say, it's been an uphill battle for Mayor Cage, given that he and First Lady Jessica Jones are powered individuals themselves.
Elsewhere, people all over who made deals with Mephisto are getting killed off by apparently celestial beings. Spider-Man, Daredevil, Captain Marvel, Wolverine, and David Colton all find themselves in the thick of it all along with Luke Cage. The arrival of a mysterious woman and her strange talking book makes things very personal when she reveals that Spider-Man had made a long-forgotten deal with Mephisto himself—one to save the life of May Parker—and now the devil won't stop until she's dead...
Team Building Exercise
That's right, it looks like we're going there. The undoing of "One More Day" has been teased.
I'm not sure I believe they'll go through with it, but I'm down to find out.
I've got a lot I want to say about this issue. Actually, I'd like to talk about our cast individually:
Spider-Man (aka Peter Parker) - He's our central viewpoint here, and signs point to him being the leader of this new team of Avengers. I've said this in other reviews, but I cannot get enough of how Chip Zdarsky writes Spider-Man. Too often, when you put Spidey around other heroes, it's really easy to go too far with him. To make him too immature and childish. To make him too self-doubting. To forget that he is one of the smartest people in the Marvel universe, plus he's an experienced hero, plus he's way more powerful than most people give him credit for.
Zdarsky doesn't do that. His Spidey is mature, experienced, and capable of taking command when the situation calls for it. He's a man. When he gets into a fight with David Colton and finds out just how powerful Colton is now, he could have run off with his tail between his legs. But instead, he doubles down and fights even harder. Because that's what he does. Even though his Aunt May has completely forgotten their life together (see recent issue of Amazing Spider-Man), he still wants to be a part of her life. And now he's going to fight to save her from Mephisto's forces.
Mayor Cage and First Lady Jones (aka Luke Cage and Jessica Jones) - Luke became mayor of New York towards the end of Zdarsky's run on Daredevil, following the "Devil's Reign" event. So it's fitting that he's back in Zdarsky's hands at what looks like the end of his term. I really don't see him getting re-elected after getting involved in a big super-powered brawl with Spidey and the others on Election Day. Here Luke knows that it isn't over until it's over, and he's still trying to give the job his all while he still has it—even when one of his biggest donors gets her heart ripped out because she made a deal with the devil years ago. That probably isn't going to sway any undecided votes towards him.
Daredevil (aka Matt Murdock) - another character that Zdarsky has a lot of history with, having written a lengthy run just a few years ago. You could know nothing about the character other than "he's blind and has a radar sense," and by the end of the bar scene with Carol Danvers you would know everything you needed to about him. How he's a little bit self-destructive and prone to his own kinds of addiction. How despite all that, he's a loyal friend who is always there when you need him. Also, he makes really bad decisions when it comes to women.
Captain Marvel (aka Carol Danvers) - power-wise, she's a fraction of the person she once was. Following the Red Hulk's explosion, she is at maybe ten percent of her total power level. This means she can't fly, and even though she's still bulletproof, she can actually feel them now. She's also a former alcoholic who's dealing with a lot of guilt right now and would really like a drink. It means she's a little more vulnerable than we're used to seeing her, and it apparently also means she's a little more prone to bad decisions.
Wolverine (aka Logan, aka James Howlett) - ends up in New York because he's looking for Colton. It pretty much is his fault that Colton has his new powers, which basically means Logan is indirectly responsible for everything the man has done. Not sure he sees it that way, but at least he's trying to check up on and help David. Logan would know better than almost anyone what it means to be consumed by rage, and to feel out of control. And again, it's pretty much his fault anyway—he's the one who dragged Colton back into the thick of things, and he opened the Mystery Box to save David's life (see Wolverine: Weapons of Armageddon for more, although the Mystery Boxes actually originated in Ultimate Incursion—but I wouldn't recommend reading that).
David Colton (aka David Colton, the as-yet-unnamed Miracleman) - the wild card of the bunch. Yeah, I know, it's not Logan? Crazy, right? Colton is a former Captain America from post 9/11 that had some innate anger issues and went sort of crazy. Plus the modern version of the Super Soldier Serum had some flaws and gave him a bad heart. So he got a new one from Tony Stark and quietly retired to a cabin in the middle of nowhere—where Wolverine found him and a series of events ended up giving him his new powers (see Captain America and Wolverine: Weapons of Armageddon). The powers didn't help his anger—they actually made it worse—and he started a series of events that led to the Red Hulk exploding all over Russia and killing thousands, plus turning the whole world against supers (Avengers Armageddon). So now he's trying to figure out who and what he is, with his new powers and what they mean. You might think Reed Richards would be the person to go to for stuff like that, but Colton decides to seek out Tony Stark—who is not home- but David decides to try forcing his way into the building anyway.
He's an easy character to feel bad for, but he's hard to like. The Super Soldier Serum clearly messed him up, and so you do feel for him, but he's an angry, headstrong jerk who has the power of a god and the patience of a child, so you aren't going to actually like him. When Spidey calls him out for his part in the thousands of deaths in Russia, it turns into a fight instead of Colton being reasonable and talking to a fellow hero. And I really hope someone does ask him, "Why Stark instead of Richards? Wouldn't this be more Reed's department anyway?" Maybe someone like Cage or Spidey can become a sort of mentor for him, to bring him back down to Earth some—I know Logan is the most attached to David so far, but I just don't see how he'd be able to help long-term.
I have to say, I'm very impressed with how effortlessly Zdarsky brought the team together here. After introducing everyone into the story and setting up several smaller situations for them, the events all fed into each other, and it made perfect sense that everyone ended up in the same place at the same time. Spidey and Colton's fight brought them near Cage, and Logan was there to find Colton anyway, so that covered him. Daredevil and Carol were at the bar nearby and heard the disturbances, so of course they came to see what was happening. And boom, there's the whole team as depicted on the cover, all at the same place at the same time. "On a day like any other, when Earth's mightiest heroes found themselves united against a common threat," indeed.
As for the actual story of the issue, I'm intrigued. The girl Paige is clearly the product of a deal between Mephisto and her parents, but her father also seems to be more than meets the eye—his red eyes and sword that appears out of nowhere aren't Standard Dad Issue (I kind of wish they were, though. It's just cool). Then there's the talking book Grimsby, that told her to find Spidey and why. And of course, how Peter Parker's deal in particular ties in and is apparently "the key" to what's happening. Very interested to see where that all goes.
The Devil Made Me Do It
Chip Zdarsky has been setting up for this series for well over a year now, since the start of his run on Captain America. Now that we're here, it's "put up or shut up time," and thankfully he does the former. This is a very strong first issue that neatly introduces the cast, gives everyone a moment or two to shine, and pulls them all together without it feeling forced. His character work is strong, with Spider-Man and Daredevil coming across the best—which makes sense, given that he's spent the most time with them previously. The issue is very well-paced, moving from scene to scene relatively quickly but never feeling rushed, and leaving on a strong cliffhanger—especially if you're a Spider-Man fan.
Marco Checcetto has worked with Zdarsky before on Daredevil, so the two creators already have an easy rapport that shows through here. There are several points where the script knows to step aside and let Checcetto's art do the talking, and it has plenty to say. His style is highly detailed, yet just a little bit gritty, which fits the more street-level tone of this book. The action sequences are dynamic and easy to follow, even with all of the characters involved. The celestial beings our heroes face here are a cool visual, with the blank face masks and the wings. They appear pretty angelic in nature—but if they're working with Mephisto, they're clearly the opposite, so I'm curious to see how they are explained.
Matthew Wilson's colors really tie the whole issue together—he doesn't use the same kind of overly-bright-and-glossy palette that titles like Avengers Armageddon used. Instead, he uses heavy shadows when appropriate, and even the brightest colors like Spidey's familiar red-and-blue suit have a little more shading on them. It adds to the street-level feeling the book is going for, with everything having a little extra grit or shading to it—which helps things like the "pure" white and gold colors of the celestial beings to stand out as something different or unnatural.
Let's Make a Deal
Avengers #1 is a fantastic debut issue that, despite being the culmination of over a year's worth of stories, still stands well on its own. You could pick this up with no other background and be able to enjoy it, although being familiar with all of the build-up will add more nuance to the characters and events here. Zdarsky and Checcetto work together well, managing to effortlessly bring together the team while establishing a threat with some pretty substantial stakes. As a lifelong Spider-Man fan, I'm completely invested in what the story here could mean for him, but even beyond that, the threads established here are intriguing, and I'm excited to see where it all goes.