Customer Reviews

Avengers Legends, Vol. 1 - Avengers Forever

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Avengers Forever is the be all, end all story of Earth's Mightiest Heroes. This is one of those stories that no matter how many times you read it, no matter how many years pass, you'll always find something you didn't catch the first time around. This epic covers over 35 years of Avengers history, making the bad stories good, and the good stories great, fixing all sorts of continuity flaws and bolstering weak points in past stories. Kurt Busiek, Roger Stern, and Carlos Pacheco really pull out all the stops on this one.

The story takes place in the past, present, and the future as Immortus, lord of time, is assigned by the Time Keepers to kill Rick Jones, the sidekick of the Hulk, Captain America, the first Captain Marvel, and Rom the Space Knight; the same Rick Jones who inadvertently led to the formation of the Avengers. Rick possesses the Destiny Force, a latent psychic power that will evolve in humans over the centuries. Welcome to the Destiny War!

To stop Immortus, Rick recruits a ragtag team of Avengers from different eras. From the present, Giant Man and the Wasp, who becomes the de facto leader of this team. From the future, Songbird--a reformed Avengers villain whom they do not trust--and the third Captain Marvel--the son of the first one--who is withholding pertinent information from his allies during this struggle. And, mining his rich knowledge of Avengers history, Busiek uses Captain America, who is demoralized and disillusioned with his country; Hawkeye, who returned to his bow-slinging ways after a brief stint as the second Goliath; and Yellow Jacket, a.k.a. a mentally unstable Hank Pym, who will become the Giant Man of the present. If there isn't enough dissention in the ranks, the Avengers must team up with two of their deadliest adversaries: the Supreme Intelligence and Kang the Conqueror, who is destined to become Immortus one day, a fate he hopes to prevent.

In the final battle, every single Avenger from every different timeline battles Immortus and his legion of evil Avengers. Some characters were created exclusively for this series, but the majority of them have been seen before, some briefly, some you never thought you'd ever see again like the 1950s Avengers and the Egyptian Avengers (read the book). There are so many references throughout Avengers history that there is a page of footnotes at the end of every other chapter. This one has it all! Even Lex Luthor (like I said, read the book).

A stickler for continuity, Busiek clears up the origins of both the Vision and the original Human Torch, something that really needed to be addressed. He also manages to work out a few bugs from "The Crossing," the Avengers storyline of five years ago where Iron Man became evil, not to mention threw continuity to the wind. He does all of this with respect; no story is desecrated (i.e., such as the wretched Spider-clone storyline, which is still hurting Spider-man to this day) but improved and clarified (i.e., the aforementioned Vision/ Torch storyline and the classic Kree-Skrull War, which in many ways, inspired this tale). Since Marvel seems to have no continuity these days, it would behoove them to make Busiek their continuity editor.

Pacheco's art is phenomenal; he really gets a chance to strut his stuff, placing long-lost characters here and there, as well as making a few in-jokes, too (i.e., pay attention to a future version of Rick Jones' poncho and belt). He really gives definitive Avengers artist George Perez a run for his money by drawing a lot of characters in the story without making it feel cluttered.

And, of course, co-writer Roger Stern wrote some of the greatest Avengers tales during his long stint on the book from the 1980s. He kept Busiek on course during the creation of this masterpiece and embellished the flow of the story.

There are so many subtleties and references to Avengers and Marvel history that this review cannot begin to do it justice. All in all, a great Avengers story, THE Avengers story, something every Avengers fan must get their hands on. If you read just one Avengers story ever, this must be it!

If you don't know Avengers history, you *may* not enjoy this magnificent yarn as much as a long-time fan. Kurt Busiek, the modern master of continuity, teams with one of the best modern artists, Carlos Pacheco, to weave a "can't-put-the-book-down-till-I'm-done" monumental story. Like the great "Kree-Skrull War" of the early 70s, the key character is Rick Jones, whose dormant mental power (first awakened in the K-S War) is deemed a threat to all existence. Avengers from past, present and future are whisked together to team with Kang the Conqueror to stop Kang's "older wiser" self Immortus and the so-called Time-Keepers from extinguishing "threatening" timelines in which the Avengers have become a destructive force.

Busiek oozes respect and admiration for those creators who have come before him, and does an incredible job tying loose ends together from Avengers' past history (especially with regards to the Vision and Original Human Torch, and the wretched "Crossing" from various titles' waning volume 1 issues). Pacheco's phenomenal art (inked by the equally talented Jesús Merino) clearly shares a Neal Adams component (who drew the Kree-Skrull War) with an exquisite attention to the most minute detail.

If you only buy one TPB a year -- or ever -- THIS is the one to get, folks.

With Rick Jones sick beyond their ability to heal, the Avengers turn to the Supreme Intelligence, an organic supercomputer for aid. However, little do they know that this is merely the beginning of an adventure, one that will decide the future of mankind. Immortus, the Lord of Time, wants Jones dead, but strangely Kang the Conqueror wants him to live. Jones, together with a misfit group of Avengers drawn from various places and times, must save mankind, and unravel a riddle deeper than they can imagine.

I got this book for my eight-year-old son to look at, but it was way beyond him. However, I must admit that I loved this book! The story was well written; it is extremely complex, and yet did not succeed in losing me at any point. This is a great graphic novel, one that I highly recommend.

Avengers Forever is by far one of the greatest stories ever since The Infinity Gauntlet. The story forcuses once again on hero-sidekick Rick Jones whom awakens from a sickness and finds himself in the middle of a war between Immortus and his younger self Kang. Calling upon heroes from various timelines (Captain America, Captain Marvel 3, Yellowjacket, Giant-Man, Wasp, Hawkeye and Songbird) to save existence from the menacing Time-Keepers. Exploring various realities such as an alternative to Killraven's world which has an aged Black Panther as the leader of the Avengers Tomorrow (Killraven, Thundra, Crimson Dynamo, Living Lightning and a Pregnant Jocasta) or The What If the Avengers had been formed in the 1950's reality. This adventure travels to every part of Avengers history and leads into an epic struggle in an alternate Guardians of the Galaxy universe which include evil Avengers such as Iron Man 2020, Horus (of Forever Yesterday) and The Red Guardian and good Avengers like Spider-Man 2099, Earth X's Captain America and What If #114's Bravado. I definently recommend this book to Avengers fans especially if your a new fan and wants to learn the secrets behind the Earth's Mighteist Heroes history.

Although I must admit when the limited series first came out, I hardly paid any attention to it. But when the trade paperback collection was released, I was astonished to say the least. Flipping througn its 200+ pages, it seemed to contained the best and worst moments in Avengers history, as well as finally answer long enduring questions and paradoxes about Kang, Imortus, The Original Torch and the Vision. Kurt Busiek really knows how to make this time spanning cosmic saga work, Carlos Pacheco, meanwhile delivers his best work ever. A must for any Avengers fan. A good read, great art and revelations galore.

This formula holds true for any other trade paperbacks amazon is offering written by Busiek. The Ultron one in particular is very good.

Unfortunately, Busiek stepped away from the Avengers a few months ago -- his work and genius (not to mention memory) will not be surpassed for some time.

Avengers Forever -- a sort of sideways drift alongside continuity -- shows Busiek at what he does best: keep the Avengers interesting within "the family" as well as punching bad guys.

This book is perfect to turn others onto the other Avengers books as it is more self-contained (although it in itself is a microcosm) -- it can be read without understanding the regular Avengers title. 4 Stars not 5? There should be more Avengers Forever!

AVENGERS FOREVER can be a little daunting for the uninitiated. The modern Marvel Universe dates back to the 1961 release of FANTASTIC FOUR #1. Since then, thousands of monthly Marvel comics have painted an epic tableau of colorful heroes, villains and settings. AVENGERS FOREVER writer Kurt Busiek and artist Carlos Pacheco delve into this tableau without apology, digging out all kinds of obscure Marvel historical factoids, obscure characters and events.

The result is one heck of an awesome story. Seven time-lost members of the Marvel super team, the Avengers, are called upon to save history as they know it. Their old adversaries, Kang and Immortus (the same guy from two different periods in his life--told you it was dense!) are seeking to manipulate history to their ends, Immortus by killing Rick Jones, a normal human who has long been associated with the Avengers and who poses a threat to Immortus' plans.

The Avengers chosen for the mission are an eclectic group. Two from the present of the team (Giant Man and Wasp), three from the past (Yellowjacket, a weary Captain America taken from a pivotal point in his career, and Hawkeye) and two from the future (Captain Marvel and Songbird).

The heroes embark on a long journey through time to several crucial moments in Marvel and Avengers history. To the Old West, where they meet several of Marvel's long-forgotten western heroes. To a post-apocalyptic future where they meet a band of freedom fighters (led by an old, wise Black Panther and the brash Killraven, hero of an obscure 70's sci-fi comic series) battling an alien invasion. To the 50's in the McCarthy era. To the distant future. Ultimately the Avengers must do battle with a group of enigmatic beings who have made a judgment that flies directly in the face of the Avengers' very reason for existing.

It's a great story that I think any fan of comics would enjoy tremendously. I know a lot about Marvel history, but I'm no completist. Even though I'm not a walking Marvel Encyclopaedia, I still enjoyed this story tremendously. It's one of the best comic series of the past several years and not to be missed. If you enjoy epic tales and quests with the exploits of heroes and diabolical villains, AVENGERS FOREVER is the book for you.

In Avengers Forever, Kurt Busiek, Roger Stern and especially Carlos Pacheco explore a rich and accurate story of the fabled Avengers. Basically it starts of a little confusing but it wraps itself up so well. You honestly get a great sense of character development even if you haven't been reading the book for the past 30 years. And if you have, the surprises are abundant! *Spoiler Part* It pretty well focuses on the the Time Keepers conning Immortus into eradicating the human race to preserve their own survival. Your basic hypocrisy there. We're led to believe that Rick Jones posseses the Destiny Force. A force that allows humans to reach their full potential. And because of this a good chunk of humanities realities become tyranical universe expanding empires. This doesn't bode well for the preservation of the Time Keepers so they decide to kill Rick Jones and the entire human race in all realities. To defend himself from this, Rick Jones uses the Destiny Force to summon seven Avengers to help him. Yellow Jacket (a split personality of they young Hank Pym), a disillusioned Captain America, future versions of the new Captain Marvel & Songbird, Present incarnations of Hank Pym (Giant Man) and the Wasp, and Hawkeye after his days as Goliath. Basically they are there to protect Jones in the timestream with the help of the most unlikely of allies Kang (who is fighting from turning into Immortus in the Future), the Kree Supreme Intellegence and the mysterious Libra. The Avengers take a run through time and limbo to defeat Immortus and end up altering the face of their destinies forever. This series also spawned the spectacular new series Captain Marvel. So if you're looking for a classic Avengers tale with stunning art and beautiful scripting take a gander at Avengers Forever. Pacheco keeps his storytelling clean and easy while Busiek & Stern pull together the Avengers rich history to make a monumental stroke of sequential genius. Definitely a must for any Avengers fan!

I bought this collection solely on the basis that it was an Avengers book. I'd heard alot of reviews saying that it was very confusing and muddled. I wasn't expecting much. It turned out to be as unforgettable as such epics as the Secret Wars, the Kang dynasty line, the Masters of Evil (Baron Helmut Zemo, Avengers V.1 271-276) and the Kree-Skrull War.
Collecting an unimpressive array of characters (Giant man and the wasp from the present, Song-bird and Captain Marvel [Genis] from the future and Hawkeye, Captain America and Yellowjacket from the past), most of whom I thought couldn't make it as big time Avengers. The tightly packed storyline and constant action led to me being unable to stop reading. The villain was Immortus and the time-keepers, and Kang and the Supreme Intelligence ended up being allies to these time-plucked Avengers!
Long-story short, Rick Jones, harnessing the "destiny force", would have led the Avengers to become universe conquering tyrants. The time-keepers, in an effort to stop them, sent Immortus to kill Jones. Libra, the supreme intelligence and Kang decide to stop Immortus and thus begins one of the greatest story lines.
This story also reveals the origins of the Vision, the past of Kang and offers many startling revalations.
This story is a must have, a must read and a must collect.

i would not recommend avengers forever for the non-comics fan. but if you have general knowledge of avengers history you would be foolish to pass this up.i recommend you read the essential avengers volumes, and if you enjoy them. then i advise you buy this,it is the perfect culmanation of avengers history into one amazing story.