8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
High-profile project: somewhat fun *yet* wildly inconsistent, December 25, 2006
This review is from: Heroes Reborn: Avengers (Paperback)
Here it is: Image creators return to Marvel- And they get to re-create the Marvel Universe! *The* biggest event of the mid-90s, it sold well, but had very mixed reactions critically speaking. Being a *big* Avengers fan I had high hopes, but this is an inconsistent effort...
-A quick 12-issue breakdown:
-------------------------------------
-1. The government-controlled Avengers find Thor in Norway's ice; they fight Thor & Loki; Thor joins team.
-2. Avengers Island New York: The team gets sent by Nick Fury to face someone attacking NY: it's Kang!
-3. Commander-in-Chief of SHIELD Nick Fury & Avengers continue to fight Kang; conflict gets resolved; Vision hurt.
-4. A newly designed Savage Hulk begins to attack Avengers; Ant-Man & friendly Ultron try to get Vision back on track.
-5. BIG, GIANT PIN-UP style battle between Savage Hulk & Thor, since the other Avengers really aren't up to task.
-6. Industrial Revolution part 1. Interlude in Hulk battle; Avengers, FF, SHIELD, and Iron Man try to deal with Hulk.
-7. While Iron Man & Nick Fury argue over who owns Vision, Loki's scheming against the team blasts full speed ahead.
-8. Jim Lee cover. We near the source of Vision's problems, as battle between Avengers & Loki and "friends" continues.
-9. As the Avengers regain control, Loki still schemes, the Vision's problems are resolved, and a surprise guest drops in.
-10. As the team finally starts to figure things out, they're torn by conflict within. It's all-out Avengers vs. Avengers!
-11. Loki wins! He begins to remake the world in his image. How to beat him now? The solution has to be extraordinary.
-12. Heroes Reunited, part 2 of 4. Everything is wrapped up into a neat little package. See HR: Captain America for finale.
I credit the writers with holding this thing together- *Everything* kept changing throughout this entire TPB: pencilers, inkers, colorists, letterers, writers, plotters & even editors(!). Many big names are attached to this, yet not a single creator comes even *close* to doing their best work here. It's as if nobody wanted to be committed to all 12 issues- strange for such a high-profile project. The art is especially inconsistent; very distracting to say the least. Liefeld only pencils parts of the 1st & 5th issues. The coloring is sometimes great, but is at other times often dark, muddy, and low-contrast, with some pages even being slightly blurry in their reproduction here. Miraculously, I actually somewhat enjoyed this TPB(!), in spite of all the problems. Every now & then, it's nice to see Marvel's famous characters reinvented & reimagined. Interestingly, maybe the best artwork, the cover to issue #8 by Jim Lee, has been chosen as this TPB's cover. Lee does none of the interior art here, and I think people need to know this up-front.
In conclusion: I mainly recommend this TPB to die-hard fans & completists. A high-profile event: inconsistent at best.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Avengers Misassembled, February 19, 2007
This review is from: Heroes Reborn: Avengers (Paperback)
In the mid-90's, Marvel decided to conclude their much maligned Onslaught storyline with the deaths of many of their top tier heroes. The Fantastic Four, Captain America, Iron Man, and the rest of the Avengers, all bought the big one as their respective titles were canned and re-launched with a new direction (allegedly) as Marvel teamed up with Wildstorm (before they became part of DC) to produce some new takes on old stories. Heroes Reborn: Avengers finds the supergroup re-imagined from the inside out. Captain America, Ant-Man, Thor, Scarlet Witch, Swordsman, and plenty of other members all get a somewhat different twist here, as villains like Ultron, Kang, and the Savage Hulk make their mark on Earth's mightiest heroes. There's also some appearances from Iron Man, the Fantastic Four, and Nick Fury to boot; all of which pop up in this incredibly inconsistent TPB featuring a barrage of writers and artists, including the much maligned Rob Liefeld. And, as the previous review has pointed out, don't let the cover fool you. Jim Lee may have done an old cover that Marvel chose to use as the cover of this TPB, but he provides zero art for the book itself. If you want to see some Jim Lee Marvel stuff, check out Heroes Reborn: Fantastic Four instead, which also happens to be the best of the Heroes Reborn lineup. All in all, Heroes Reborn: Avengers may be worth a look for Avengers fans, but this can be easily left on the shelf.
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