Customer Reviews

Avengers: Clear & Present Dangers

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

 

 

See other reviews for the stories here. My gripe is the poor materials used in these Marvel collected works. Like Thor:Across All Worlds (and every review there mentions this fault) the pages started falling out after the first read. Sub-standard glue and binding result in a book that just crumbles in your hands. Appalling quality control from the normally reliable Marvel. I've stopped buying any of these glossy page, black and white spine editions. Been burned twice now, that's plenty.

I've owned the collection for several months now. The plot is good, it follows Avengers history for the most part. The art is superb and just grabs you. Although the best storyline in this collection I feel is the one with the GRIM REAPER, it is still such a treat when you see THE MIGHTY THOR in action against PAGAN.
HERE'S THE BREAKDOWN:

WRITING: 3 STARS
PENCILLING: 5 STARS
INKING: 4 STARS
BOOK BINDING: 3 STARS

All in all, I loved the AVENGERS roll call in this collection.

The highlight of this collection is the comeback of the Grim reaper, which was mostly handled well, while the guest star of the beast was an enjoyable story. However, overall, I must say that this collection isn't very impressive.

There is minimal character development, the villains are mostly inconsequential or annoying, the fights border on mundane, and the endings mostly predicatable. The most enigmatic of this collection is the Triune understanding, which you simply come out hating.

The Moses Magnum fights I thought were ridiculous, I hated them. The clashes between Pagan and Lord Templar got increasingly boring and repetitive, as they mostly ended as fistfights between the superstrengthed and the steroid pumped.

I'd avoid it unless you're on a hunt (like i was) to beef up your collection of Avengers past issues that you don't have. It doesn't add much to your collection.

Kurt Busiek gives another 'I Can Learn To Read' story of the Avengers. It's predictable, and gives a weird echo of previous Avengers runs (especially Perez's first run on the team about twenty years ago). It's simple superhero stories, and the overall collection suffers because of the clumsy juggling of the characters and stories. The Triune story comes out of nowhere, as if it were more a convenient argument for Busiek's clear reluctance at developing minority characters (a long-argument in the Avengers). The Grim Reaper story seems to be rehashed from a few other Grim Reaper stories.
The art is easily the best thing about the book. Perez cares a lot about the team and is able to bring an extraordinary amount of detail and beauty to each page. While his character designs are a bit lackluster (Triatholon and the Triune look particularly dated), he still is able to show newer characters like Firestar and Justice in as good a spotlight as old favorites Scarlet Witch and the Vision.
I would recommend the Avengers Visionary book reprinting Perez's first run.