Justice, Not Like Lightning — Reviewing ‘New Avengers’ #1

The Thunderbolts are no more. Gone in a flash, before they could even come together in their shiny new format.

Oh the team isn’t gone, they’re still forming, but the pesky asterisk is gone as the New Avengers have risen in their place. Just in time to take on warped versions of some of Marvel Comics’ heaviest hitters in a debut chapter from Sam Humphries, Ton Lima, Rain Beredo, and Joe Sabino.

Honesty is one of the paramount things I hold to in my life. Especially when writing things like reviews. The whole point is to share my opinions, whether they are positive or negative, with the readers who are making their own decisions about these comic books.

I didn’t expect to really like this series.

Hold on, let me finish. The concept of this being a Thunderbolts team and the whole asterisk thing just kind of made me shrug. Its release is tied to that one-sided corporate synergy that Marvel tends to have, the comics trying to follow what the movies have done or released. There was that chance it would be cheesy or something that might fall flat on its face.

It totally didn’t.

Humphries balances the seriousness, absurdity, and lightness of this story so well. It has a lot of echoes of classic Avengers with the dynamic between the characters. Seeing how they’ll bounce off one another full-time feels exciting, even though we haven’t even seen a portion of the cast arrive yet. How someone like the Hulk fits here with how his own book and his appearance in the current Imperial event should be interesting.

Marvel is playing fast and loose with their own shared universe as of late, for good and for ill. How this book fits into that mix is worth watching out for.

Bucky being done with Thunderbolts and Revolution but still wanting to tackle the dirty things in this dirty Doom controlled world (finally someone else has mentioned it!) works. It’s not the first time that we’ve had a second Avengers book be like a counter to the more heroic one. With how things are going in the universe and reality, might be the perfect time for such a book.

The warped Illuminati has some intrigue to them. A few feel a little less inspired and wildly disproportionate, but I’m willing to see where this all goes. I thought they were supposed to be alternate universe versions based on solicits, but the Jackal and cloning angle here seems to throw that up in the air.

All that being said, I will say Bucky and Widow’s back and forth felt a little off. It’s a bit more overly horny than I would expect from them. Not that I have an issue with characters being horny, go for it you spandex clad warriors, but it just felt off for some reason tonally to the book.

I can’t recall coming across Lima’s artwork in the past, but I like what I see. It has a lot of weight to it with the levels of detail and depth on display. Allowing the spaces to feel authentic and wide, but also very contained when necessary. Characters have dynamic presence, whether in action or not, and their emotional wavelength is powerfully demonstrated.

It’s very superhero friendly but not entirely house style. Rougher textures mingle easily with the slightly whimsical aspects that come into play. All of it is really boosted by the choices made for the paneling. I love the intro page of Wolverine, with the panels showing off her moves and brutality before the full bloody reveal.

Color wise, I’m very familiar with Beredo’s work. I like where this color palette walks the line. It’s not overly dark as one might think such a graphic and heroic characters doing brutal things book might be. Yet, it’s also not overly colorful like a superhero style book is normally done. This rests somewhere in the middle that creates a more authentic sort of familiar reality-feeling palette. Plenty of rougher textures baked in to match the artwork while really presenting a clear view of the series tone with each stroke of color.

Similarly to Beredo, I’m familiar with and review work from Sabino quite regularly. All those moments with character quirks and fun back and forth are gold from conception. They soar even higher once Sabino adds in the little visual elements to give them even more power. Letting the words flow through the pages and hit the right volume and emotional intent at any moment.

New Avengers #1 is now available from Marvel Comics.