Posted in: Avengers, Comics, Marvel Comics | Tagged: al ewing, avengers, Champions, HRL, jim zub, mark waid, Marvel Comics, marvel legacy, Occupy Avengers, pepe larraz, u.s.avengers, uncanny avengers

Avengers #675 Review: No Surrender, Not Bad

Something has happened to the Earth. Global disasters are taking place. It's not in its usual location in the solar system. Avengers from around the world are doing everything they can to halt the emergencies spreading like an epidemic across the globe. It may not be enough, though, as things only seem to be getting worse with no explanation in sight.

All Avengers teams are accounted for here: Avengers, Champions, U.S, Uncanny, and Occupy. That's pretty cool on its own; here we have a non-massive crossover story managing to include and balance this many superheroes at once (though it is a $5 book).

It also has a fair amount of heart to it, with some characters getting some pretty nice moments. There are occasional cliched conflicts between Avengers, but the characters feel like the characters. They're likable for the most part, and, with a plot this massive, it's impressive that it manages to remain as character-focused as it does.

The danger is vague and not especially engaging beyond the lead characters' devotion to stop it. That is still a modicum of a compelling quality, but it's still not anything we haven't seen before. Mysterious global natural disasters have oddly become the bread and butter of massive Avengers stories in recent years. It is exhausting to have another grand end-of-the-world scenario. I get that you need something big to unite these teams, but this isn't an especially creative way to go about that.

The introduction of the Voyager is — a thing, I guess. Retconning in Avengers have also become a Marvel staple in recent years. We don't really know anything about her character or personality yet. The introduction isn't a great start, though: "Here's an Avenger! Everyone loves her. She'll save the day. You don't know her, but they do. What's a Sentry?"

Good lord, does this feel like déjà vu to Sentry and Blue Marvel. Hopefully this will be more Blue Marvel than Sentry.

Someone told her that they'd always know she'd be there when they need her most. That's unfortunately hilarious. List your favorite Avengers moments where she could have been there to help down in the comments. Mine is the Korvac Saga, when they all literally died during the course of the fight.

Pepe Larraz manages to give everything a cool texture here, but there are some scenes that look pretty uncanny. Also, I don't know what the hell is going on with Rogue's hair. I think she's absorbed Medusa's powers. However, much of what Larraz puts out here is some solid work, and those moments can be overlooked (even if Rogue's hair does get pretty distracting).

David Curiel puts in some great color work here, giving many scenes some great color gradients to really sell the drama. A lot of panels really pop thanks to Curiel.

It has its flaws, and it has many storytelling tropes of modern Marvel that desperately need to be given a rest, but Avengers #675 is a fairly entertaining and compelling read. I can go on and on about everything hateful and anti-consumer about a weekly book being kicked off with a $4.99 price tag, but I'm here to evaluate the story itself. It works for the most part, and I can recommend it to you if you are a die-hard Avengers fan who can't bring themselves to miss an issue.

Also, if you have to burn $5 a week lest you perish from some Abraham Lincoln-related disease, then feel free to throw those bills at Avengers. There are certainly worse ways to go about that.

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