written by Mark Waid
drawn by Adam Kubert (issues #1 to #3) and Mahmud Asrar (issues #4 to #6, back-up story in issue #1)
colored by Sonia Oback (issues #1 to #3) and Dave McCaig (issues #4 to #6, back-up story in issue #1)
Recent events have fragmented the Avengers. Tony Stark is broke, Steve Rogers' age has caught up with him, and the various other members have gone their own separate ways. However, circumstances conspire (as they often do), and soon Tony, Sam Wilson, once known as the Falcon, now known as Captain America, and the Vision, find themselves banding together with a handful of new recruits, the new Spider-Man (Miles Morales), the new Nova (Sam Alexander), the new Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan), and the new Thor (Jane Foster) and forming an altogether new Avengers team, to face an extremely formidable threat: Kang the Conqueror. Worse still, he's conscripted a number of people to help him, like the murderous Warbringer, the mercenary Cyclone, the time-hopping Equinox and a shocking surprise recruit, which, all told, may prove too much for the newly-formed team.
I had wanted to review this arc issue by issue, especially after reading the much-hyped issue #4 (featuring the kiss between the new Thor and the new Cap) but couldn't get around to it, but I still think the arc as a whole is worth reviewing, especially for those on the fence about collecting this title.
The good news is that Mark Waid is in top form here, writing a pretty organic story as to why the various heroes involved should get together. It plays out better than the way Brian Bendis set up the "New Avengers" back in 2005, especially in terms of how he shoehorned Wolverine into the lineup, a fact which Waid pokes fun at in this series. The inaugural story arc is divided into two three-issue mini arcs and the whole thing is a very engaging read. Each of the four "new" Avengers gets ample "hero time" over the six issues, and it was nice to see Waid playing to each character's strengths. In particular, I really liked how Miles Morales used his brain to beat one of the bad guys in issue #6.
The even better news is that the artist lineup is superb. The nigh-legendary Adam Kubert lends his talents to the first three issues, but for me the real find is relative newcomer Mahmud Asrar, yet another recruit from the independent comics scene, whose work evokes Stuart Immonen and, in some instances, Adam Hughes. It's hard to find artists that have a handle both on action and character moments, but Asrar has them down pat. This new generation of artists like him, David Marquez and Sara Pichelli truly are taking comics to new visual heights.
As a flagship Avengers title, this one isn't bad at all. I have a hard time keeping track, considering there are three of them (one of which even has Deadpool, for some reason). I hope Marvel at least lets the team have a decent run before it inevitably reboots the title, as they have been wont to do for the last several years.
8/10
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