Comics are $5 now, so it stands to reason that we have to be picky about what we read these days. This week, two brand new #1's stood out for me enough to have a look-see. So what I got myself into? Read on!
Avengers #1 is just one (heh) of a long line of first issues that establish the team in its current iteration. It will hold no surprises for longtime readers, but for people who decided to pick this up as their first comic this fortunately brings them up to speed on what's been going on in the greater Marvel Comics universe. I haven't followed Marvel Comics events in a while, so some of the revelations here were eye-opening.
It's also got everything a good first issue needs to hook you in. There's incredible action courtesy of C.F. Villa's art and Federico Blee's eye-popping colors, where every panel is bursting with kinetic energy -- even the talking parts! Jed McKay delivers on the witty banter and superheroic storytelling as a kaiju-sized supervillain called Terminus wreaks havoc to get to a source of energy that could spell disaster for the world, the perfect kind of Avengers-level threat to showcase what each of these badass superheroes can do.
There have been many Avengers books where you go "Really? These are the people you recruit for Earth's Mightiest Heroes?" Fortunately, Marvel opted to go iconic with their choice of team members. These are some of the heaviest hitters of the Marvel U., and so the book has that ensemble-cast blockbuster feel that I absolutely love.
This is how you get people to pay $4.99 for a comic book. I'm looking forward to what else McKay and co. have in store for us. This gets a 5 out of 5.
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On the other side of the pond, DC Comics' The Vigil #1 is something new. A book featuring characters you've never heard of before, doing things you didn't think DC Comics would allow, created by a diverse team of award-winning Indian writers and artists.
It's a volatile mix. Thankfully, Ram V has been absolutely amazing in Detective Comics, and The Vigil #1 is no different. Here, he tells the story of a clandestine team of operatives known as The Vigil, whose metahuman abilities and training make them able to do things no ordinary soldier can...or would. It's pretty edgy stuff, something I would expect from independent comics and not in the Big 2. It's a good think that Mr. V writes a compelling comic book, and the diverse cast is a breath of fresh air. Lalit Kumar Sharma's art and Rain Beredo's colors handle the material really well, with exciting panels and sequences that give each team member of The Vigil their own Big Damn Heroes moment.
There are still some things Ram V isn't telling us about this team, but fortunately he's got us wanting to know more. The Vigil #1 is an intriguing issue, and where it goes, I'm very excited to find out. This gets a 4 out of 5.
Two heavy hitters with good first impressions? Yeah I'll take that any day! What did you think of the comic books this week?
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