Written by: Mark Waid (Avengers) and Charles Soule (Inhumans)
Art by: Mahmud Asrar and Frank Martin (Avengers) and Brandon Peterson and Justin Ponsor (Inhumans)
Publisher: Marvel
When it was announced, The All-New, All-Different Avengers got a lot of people talking due to how fresh this new team was. Comprised of Sam Wilson’s Captain America, Kamala Khan’s Ms. Marvel, Miles Morales’ Spider-Man, Vision, Sam Alexander as Nova, the new female Thor, and Iron Man (who may or may not be Tony Stark, although there’s a hint that they aren’t getting Stark money so we’ll see!). It’s a fresh crew of new faces with a few still being children.
This issue does a nice enough job at showcasing all the new characters. There’s little references so this being a new Avengers squad and they do a pretty good job of introducing everyone’s powers to those who are unfamiliar with the characters. The problem with this, however, is that it comes across as corny at times as characters basically announce their powers out loud during their fights.
Marvel may also alienate some fans with their choice of treating the newcomers like newcomers. Miles, Nova, and Kamala are all fairly new heroes, but at this point I don’t exactly expect that either of them need their hands held by Iron Man to hold their own in a fight. And as Captain America jokingly mentions that he has t-shirts older than Kamala, I found myself groaning at Mark Waid’s need to even include such dialogue. We get it. Some of these heroes are teenagers. But it comes across as an annoying Dad Joke and not like the joke of a mentor attempting to teach these new teammates what being an Avenger is all about.
There is so good action and some great set up for future issues but this Free Comic Book Day tease was merely OK. It just felt like as soon as everything started actually getting good, one of the more seasoned heroes stepped in to make an annoying joke on behalf of their newer team members. Which is especially odd considering Thor hasn’t had nearly as much time being a hero as Miles or Kamala (if we want to go by their current runs and issues because let’s be real, Marvel’s timelines are all over the place). I do appreciate a large focus on the younger crew though, and their chemistry and teamwork works wonderfully. Waid does great with writing the kids but not so much with the older set of heroes.
Mahmud Asrar’s art is stellar and is a great fit. It can sometimes be difficult to create a new series based off of existing characters because everyone’s art is so different. I had a lot of fears that Kamala might look too out of place considering her series’ softer art but Asrar has adapted her well into his own style. Colors are vibrant (thanks to colorist Frank Martin), attacks are drawn great, and characters are expressive. It’s a great looking comic and fans shouldn’t have any complaints.
There’s also a new teaser for the new Uncanny Inhumans series and it makes for a nice little glimpse into the upcoming Marvel universe. While we previously reviewed issue #0 which focused on Black Bolt, this issue kicks us straight into the new team and gives us plenty of juicy plot to go with it.
To loosely sum things up, a cloud of Terrigen is going around and mutating people into Inhumans. Our Inhuman squad has decided to more or less follow this cloud and take these newly mutated people under their wing as they struggle with learning their new powers. I’m pretty sold on the overall idea, especially once it’s revealed that Hydra is also following this cloud in the hopes to capture new Inhumans for themselves.
Charles Soule writes wonderfully (as he usually does) and this teaser does a phenomenal job of getting us interested in the story rather than relying on our cast to sell us the story. Soule sells us on these newly mutated people who may end up being great heroes themselves (or potentially villains) and I expect to see some great origins and characters come out of this series. And once Medusa gives her little speech about protecting all Inhumans, I couldn’t be more excited about seeing this team evolve over the course of the series. I hate to say it, but the Inhumans may have outshone the Avengers.
Brandon Peterson has some pretty great art here. He pays some tremendous attention to detail, and I specifically found myself absolutely enthralled by the way he draw’s Medusa’s hair which makes it truly seem like a living force of its own. Peterson also uses some extremely interesting shots for his work, specifically the action shots, that makes for something a little bit different. His use of perspective is amazing, with many characters seemingly popping off the pages. At one point he even showed a close up of female Hydra agent’s perfectly painted nail to showcase her pulling a trigger which was a great surprise for an action that’s so common.
Justin Ponsor’s coloring is already a great match here and the entire comic mostly uses dark shades with the occasional splash of brighter colors (primarily yellow and green). It sets the mood and it looks great. My only complaint with the art is that some of the art looks oddly like CGI or 3D models on occasion. I have no idea if that’s due to the shading or the thick outlines that appear throughout, but items and characters look almost out of place on multiple occasions, as if they were spliced from another piece of work. It doesn’t really look bad (it honestly looks nice) but it looks out of place and distracts from the panels.
There’s also a preview of Max Ride (which we have also reviewed) but it’s so short that it’s barely worth mentioning. Made up of only 3 panels, there’s not much to mention although the artwork is quite beautiful. But let’s be real here, there’s probably no one picking up this FCBD issue to get a 3 page preview of Max Ride.
If you’re a Marvel fan this is still a must just to get some insight into the future of the Marvel universe and to see what strikes your fancy. Before I read this issue I assumed that I would be way more into the new Avengers arc than I would the Inhumans but after reading both I’m way more interested in keeping up with The Uncanny Inhumans.
Free Comic Book Day takes place Saturday May 2nd at participating stores. For more information about Free Comic Book Day and a list of stores participating in events, go to FreeComicBookDay.com.
