More GoodReads reviews: Avengers Assemble and more

Avengers Assemble, Vol. 1 by Kurt Busiek

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
There are some elements of cheesiness, and a '70s/'80s throwback style, that are occasionally stumbling blocks for the Busiek/Perez (and later Busiek/Davis and Busiek/other artists) new millennial run of Avengers.

However, as someone whose definitive Avengers was the Roger Stern/John Buscema era, who still thinks Mark Gruenwald wrote the definitive Captain America, who would hold up the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition as one of the best comics Marvel ever published? Well, that's me, and that means this stuff was pretty much up my alley. Certainly more than the all-new, all-different (and sadly, all-so-much-better-selling) New Avengers Marvel is currently peddling.

I've got my problems with this run, including the awful new characters of Triathlon and Silverclaw, the obsession with "fixing" Hank Pym and any use of Morgana Le Fay, who was interesting in the Arthurian myths but sucks as a supervillain (no matter what universe she's in). But it's also got gorgeous art, makes use of the classic Avengers while also trying to move things forward a bit (true, Busiek's version of New Warriors' Justice and Firestar is a bit grating to long-time fans, but at least he tried to move them up to the big leagues) and is generally solid slam-bang superhero action.

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Graphic Novel A Day: Avengers Assemble Vol. 4 HC

Writer: Kurt Busiek
Artists: Jerry Ordway, Steve Epting, John Romita Jr., Alan Davis & more
Company: Marvel Comics
Price: $34.99 ($23.09 at Amazon)

It's funny, I didn't wholly appreciate how good Busiek's Avengers run was at the time. I mean, I loved a lot of it, but I fell off several times, and I seem to recall loving some of the issues collected in here and being lukewarm on some of the others. But looking at this hardcover, which collects the Avengers vs. Intergalactic Federation story Maximum Security and the post-Perez Avengers segueing into Alan Davis' all-too-brief run, all I could think is that this is sort of the baseline I'd like for the Marvel Universe. Fun for all ages but not dumbed down, loaded with continuity and characters but not restricted to only longtime fans, packed with action and respectful of the style of the superhero genre. The heroes are heroic, but their struggles still have tension, the stories are action-packed but they don't leave out characterization. It's really the closest the Avengers got to what is to me the untouchable greatness of Roger Stern's run. I loved this book, and hope there's at least one more on the way to finish out Busiek's run on the book. The only sadness is that reading this, I realized that the type of superhero shared universe I want is probably dead and gone, replaced by the Civil War/Identity Crisis-tinged modern universe that, quite frankly, usually holds little to no interest for me.

Graphic Novel A Day: Punisher First to Last HC

Writer: Garth Ennis
Artists: John Severin, Lewis Larosa & Richard Corben
Publisher: Marvel
Price: $19.99 ($14.19 at Amazon)

This is the hardcover that convinced me to go back and buy the other two Punisher hardcovers. And it's the best of the hardcovers thus far, even with it being the smallest. It collects three one-shots - The Tyger, The Cell and The End - that represent the beginning, middle and end of Frank Castle's life. The legendary Severin illustrates a tale of 10-year-old Frank first learning about mob violence and vigilante justice in his old neighborhood (along with interesting glimpses of Frank's parents), the legendary Corben illustrates a dark and amazing story about Frank Castle loosed in a post-nuclear exchange to seek revenge and justice on a scale he's previously never attempted. And the not legendary, but still exceptional Larosa, illustrates a tale of Frank infiltrating a prison to get at some very big mob bosses and soldiers. Gorgeous art, compelling and dark stories, this is basically the underpinnings of Ennis's view of the MAX version of the character, and I like it. The only shame is that they didn't include Born, the Vietnam era tale that represents the other underpinning of the character, as well. Guess that ought to go on my reading list next.