This comic should be the equivalent of comics porn for longtime fans.Anytime you provide a crossover between two super-teams, most superhero fans will start salivating. For a longtime Marvel fan, the idea of the modern-day Avengers meeting the World War II-era Invaders sounds fantastic! (Of course, it's happened before, and past events were fun.)
The comic has lots of great characters, lots of story possibilities - and it's the brainchild of painter Alex Ross, who sits at the top of most "fan favorite cover artist" lists.
So why am I not enjoying this comic? Where should I start?
The biggest problem is the plot, which is what's known as an "idiot plot." In other words, it only works if everyone involved keeps acting like an idiot. From the first meeting of the teams, it's been the old Marvel standard "heroes meet, have a misunderstanding, fight, then figure it out and work together." Unfortunately, five issues in and we're still stuck on level #3 (fighting). Let's move things along, shall we?
The story falls somewhere before the Secret Invasion, so you have the Mighty Avengers being opposed by the New Avengers - a storyline the Invasion has apparently put an end to, and none too soon - it was a weak idea. And it just rolls on and on in this story, adding yet another level of frustration to the events.
There are certainly lots of differences in America today, but it's scarcely commented on - wouldn't that have made for an interesting storyline? Surely tuning into what passes for television entertainment would be a shock to Cap's system. Maybe it was too obvious.
The main failing of all time travel stories is that we know, in the end, all will be put right, and in this story, we have Bucky and Namor meeting their modern-day counterparts, who say, "I remember this." Neither one seems particularly worried about the turn of events.
For time travel stories to work, the writer must keep track of all the time elements - so how does the original Human Torch remember events from 1945 when he was brought back in time from 1943?
Enough negatives - there are good things about this comic. The covers by Ross are great - this one captures that crowded feel of Golden Age covers nicely. The interior art by Steve Sadowski and Patrick Berkenkotter is also very good, and they manage to keep order despite a literal army of characters to deal with.
And while I haven't been crazy about Alex Ross and Jim Kreuger's story so far, the ending to this issue does introduce an interesting plotline involving the Torch.
So I'll keep buying the Avengers/Invaders comic - I just wish I enjoyed it more.
Grade: C-
2 comments:
I'm with you on this, Chuck. I had to drop the same team's (except Sadowski?) Project Superpowers series for Dynamic because it just made no sense to me. This makes a little more sense, but still scenes are juxtaposed with no explanation of when or who or what's happening. I can't imagine another, what, 7 issues to go on this? But so far I'm sticking with it.
The art is problematic to me. I can't tell if it's the art or the coloring, but something just is not satisfying. I did realize I appreciated Sadowski much more than I thought after the Berkenkotter pages started showing up in this issue... boring. The styles, to my eye, do not mesh well. Sadowski manages to throw everything in including the kitchen disposall it seems, while Berkenkotters panels are filled with lots of background nothing. Very unsettling.
We'll see how it goes, but ehhhh.
Pete
Pete, I had the same reaction to Project: Superpowers - it looked great on the face of it, but the story just went nowhere. I dropped it after the second issue.
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