Avengers Assemble, Vol. 2 [Hardcover]

Kurt Busiek (Author), John Francis Moore (Author), Jerry Ordway (Author, Artist), George Perez (Author), Stuart Immonen (Author), Leonardo Manco (Author)

Book Description

Series: Avengers Assemble | Publication Date: April 6, 2005

The European country of Slorenia is dead. Every man, woman, and child eliminated with the cold precision of a machine. And out of the flaming remnants of this tiny Baltic state comes a message from its murderer: Mankind's days are numbered because Ultron has returned! He - or it - is one of the Avengers' oldest, most implacable foes, menacing humanity countless times. But never before has Ultron been this dangerous, this deadly. Now, he stands on the brink of committing global genocide, and rebuilding Earth in his own robotic images. Our only hope is a desperate U.N. strike on Slorenia, led by the Avengers themselves. But will it be in time? Will the strength and courage of Earth's Mightiest Heroes be enough in the face of such overwhelming evil? For the sake of the world, it will have to be! Plus: When you're an Avenger, you're one of Earth's Mightiest Heroes - the first line of defense against the dangers no conventional foe could halt, the threats no ordinary man could withstand. Threats including Dominex, Lord Templar, Pagan, and the Thunderbolts! Collects Avengers #12-22, #0 and Annual 1999.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Marvel Comics (April 6, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0785117733
• ISBN-13: 978-0785117735
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 7.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,457,877 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Reviews on this page may be for another book, April 4, 2005

By 

Roger A. Mccoy (Stockton, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Avengers Assemble, Vol. 2 (Hardcover)

It appears that Amazon.com has mistakenly listed Avengers Assemble Vol. 1 (http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0785115730) and Avengers Assemble Vol. 2 (http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0785117733) as the same product.

Avengers Assemble Vol. 1 reprints #1-11 and Annual 1998.

Avengers Assemble Vol. 2 reprints #12-22, #0, and Annual 1999.

Both books are primarily written by Kurt Busiek and primarily drawn by George Perez. The four-star review is directed toward the first volume, since I have not read the second. Based on other Avengers TPBs by this team, I would imagine it to be about the same quality: Quite good, but nothing exceptional.

The following should give you some idea of how this fits in to the Avengers timeline for any trade paperbacks you may already own for this time period:

Reprinted in Vol. 1:
Avengers: The Morgan Conquest (#1-4)
Avengers: Supreme Justice (#5-7) (also includes Iron Man #7, Captain America #8, and Quicksilver #10, which are not reprinted here)
Avengers: Clear and Present Danger (first half) (#8-11)

Occurs simultaneously with Vol. 1:
Avengers Legends Vol. 1: Avengers Forever (Avengers Forever #1-12) (starts between Avengers #9-10)

Reprinted in Vol. 2:
Avengers: Clear and Present Danger (second half) (#12-15)
Avengers: Ultron Unlimited (#19-22, 0)

After Vol. 2:
Avengers: Living Legends (#23-30)
Avengers/Thunderbolts Vol. #1: The Nefaria Protocols (#31-34 and Thunderbolts #42-44)
Avengers #35-40 (not reprinted(?))
Avengers: The Kang Dynasty (#41-55)
Avengers Vol. 1: World Trust (by Geoff Johns) (#57-62)
(Other "numbered" trade paperbacks continue from here)
Avengers Disassembled (by Brian Michael Bendis)

(Nearly all other Avengers TPBs take place long before any of these books.)

As noted above, Kurt Busiek's Avengers issues are quite good, but a bit unspectacular. The notes contained at the end of Assemble Vol. 1 detailing his original plans for the book are fascinating, and the George Perez rough pencil pages and Kurt Busiek script pages (for "Avengers #1 or whatever it'll be" as Busiek's notes call it) are intriguing as well. If you already own the three trades or the 12 issues reprinted here, it probably won't be worh bying again, but it would be worth browsing through at your local brick-and-mortar bookstore (or library, if you're lucky enough to have them carry it).

Again, I cannot comment in any detail on Vol. 2, not having read it, but having read all of Busiek's other Avengers trades, it seems safe to say that it would receive four out of five stars as well.

For readers new to Busiek, I would recommend the Astro City trades, Marvels, or JLA/Avengers over these books to see what all of the fuss is about. Most of Busiek's works (including Avengers Assemble, but not including Astro City) draw from the rich history of the Marvel universe, and are best appreciated by someone familiar with it, although other readers should still find these works fairly enjoyable.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Just as good, if not better, than Vol. 1, July 15, 2009

By 

Shasta (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Avengers Assemble, Vol. 2 (Hardcover)

I wrote a review for Vol. 1, so see that if you want to hear me gush over Kurt Busiek and George Perez.

Vol. 2 is awesome.

You get great continuing drama in the life of Scarlet Witch, The Vision, and Wonder Man, Issue #14 featuring The Beast (which is a lot of fun), and of course the four-part Ultron Unlimited story arc.

A downside to this hardcover is 3 issues are written by Jerry Ordway, not Busiek, and they're just not as strong. Ordway writes a story about the Wrecking Crew, which is cool, and does a fine job keeping the characters rolling right along...but its lacking compared to the other issues.

For some reason this book has become very very hard to get for cheap. I was fortunate to find it on the shelf of a Newbury Comics, for the list price of $29.99 not too long ago. So keep hunting and good luck true believers!

1 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Messy Re-boot, October 22, 2007

By 

David Keith "FurNTats" (Indiana) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Avengers Assemble, Vol. 2 (Hardcover)

I was hoping that this series would pick up after the first volume, but no, it doesn't really work. For George Perez fans I'd recommend going back to his first run on this series and skip this one.