Avengers, Volume 2 - World Tour
Author: Jason Aaron
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Publishing Date: 2019
Pgs: 160
Dewey: YA 741.5973 AVE V.2
Disposition: Irving Public Library - South Campus - Irving, TX
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REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

Summary:
A new team gathered in the throes of the invasion of the Final Host of Celestials has arisen. And now in a new headquarters underneath Arctic ice, within the body of a long dead Celestial, the Black Panther leads the Avengers as new/old threats emerge. Namor is on a rampage and Atlantis girds itself for war. A regathered Winter Guard is intent on spreading Russian influence. And in America, Agent Coulson has gathered the Squadron Supreme of America. The world is a boiling pot with a lid fitted on too tightly. The Panther’s Avengers and Agents of Wakanda are everywhere trying to find the threads, trying to save the world...one crisis at a time. And, if that weren’t enough...a vampire civil war is coming.
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Genre:
Comics
Graphic Novels
Marvel Comics
Superheroes

Why this book:
I always love a good Avengers story.
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The Feel:
This is very much a stage setter for things coming later on. Nothing is really resolved here.

Favorite Character:
Gorilla Man and Broo. Yes, they’re support staff. But awesome support staff.

Least Favorite Character:
Agent Coulson...if that’s who that is wearing his face.

Yep, definitely don't like this Phil Coulson.

Favorite Concept:
I like the idea of Ghost Rider in The Avengers. It's an evolution.

Hmm Moments:
You're a demon of vengeance, 20-something who drives a flaming muscle car and you find Odin throwing-up drunk in your garage. Welcome to the Avengers, kid. It’s a Tuesday.

WTF Moments:
Uhm...THAT GUY, Loki, and the Celestials...really?

Meh / PFFT Moments:
Well, I was hoping that it wouldn't be Wolverine's dad or whatever Romulus is in modern Marvel Comics, but I prefer The Wendigo as a white furred eating machine that's only word it’s own name.

This Namor's look is meh. He almost looks like he should be a sparkly vampire.

I HATE it when writers treat beloved characters like they belong to them. There's no damn reason to make Phil Coulson start acting like a fascist nutjob, ala Peter Gyrich, when there is already a Peter Gyrich in the Marvel Universe. Meh. Super Meh. Mehvengers.

Juxtaposition:
Namor going rogue again didn't make sense, until suddenly it did. Feeding Stingray to the sharks still doesn't jibe. But I understand that part of the story better with more pages and more backstory worked in. Still...woof, that was harsh.

The Unexpected:
Damn...when Namor unleashes the shark squad on Stingray...just damn. Glad that much, much later in the book they stipulate that Stingray survived, though it didn’t look like he was going to after the attack. Every character is somebody’s favorite character...or more properly a character that they like and don’t want anything bad to happen to them. Every character is waiting for a writer who loves them to come along and make them a star in their own right.

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Pacing:
It works in this format but if I was having to wait for these to come out every month I don't think I would be enjoying it. This was all set up for stuff that is going to happen in the next volume, so...yeah, it woulda sucked to be getting this monthly.

Things I’d Like to See:
Self contained stories that are told over the course of a graphic novel.

Author Assessment:
I want to see how this turns out. I’ve already got the next volume.
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Sure, there are some skirmishes with Namor and a silly group of fish-people he has assembled called the Defenders of the Deep to give a little action in this volume, but as one character says early on, "Oh, Namor. Don't tell me your doing this again. You know that whole "Atlantis Attacks" thing never ends well for your people."

Meanwhile Russia is reassembling its Winter Guard to assert itself on the world stage. America is assembling a new team of heroes now that the Avengers seem to be run by Black Panther as a Wakandan enterprise. And Black Panther is assembling a new team of secret agents to support the Avengers and replace SHIELD. (This issue especially feels like a back-door pilot.) All this assembling results in over 70 heroes and villains crammed into one slim volume.

I have high hopes for some really good stories in future volumes now that all this housekeeping is done. (Please be done with the housekeeping.) ( )