Avengers The Avengers by Jonathan Hickman discussion (spoliers)

Friday

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2004
Messages
8,903
Location
Washington, PA
Gods on Mars.

The Illuminati have done something to Captain America.

Hyperion.

The New Universe.

The core Avengers captured.

Assemble at dawn.
 
Re: The Avengers (Hickman) Discussion: Spoliers

This was easily the most interesting issue of Avengers in years.
 
Re: The Avengers (Hickman) Discussion: Spoliers

This was easily the most interesting issue of Avengers in years.

It didn't feel like an Avengers book to me. It felt bigger.

This was pretty amazing and special. It felt special. It felt like the opposite of whatever Avengers story we've been getting over the last few years. Something big and important.

Lots of set up but I really enjoyed it. I am very intrigued and eager for the next issue.
 
Re: The Avengers (Hickman) Discussion: Spoliers

I love Hickman's circles and symbols.

I think this is the most pumped I've been over a Marvel comic since Brubaker took over Daredevil.
 
Re: The Avengers (Hickman) Discussion: Spoliers

A couple questions, I obviously missed a bunch of background story, or I'm merely asking questions before we know the answers to any of them.

Is this a version of Hyperion we have seen before, or do we know if this is? Also, was that AIM we saw at the beginning pulling him out of his universe?

Who is Captain Universe this time around, or is she someone knew

Any of these villains anyone we should know? They all seemed knew to me.
 
Re: The Avengers (Hickman) Discussion: Spoliers

I didn't really know anything of what was mentioned in it, but I got that there were things that were cryptic I wasn't meant to get; all that stuff about Ex Nihilo and Hyperion and 'the fall' are setting the stage and scope of the series. They're clearly cryptic glimpses into the backstory and the future of the story.

The one thing I didn't get was why the Avengers went after Ex Nihilo (whoever he his) and where they went. Was it Australia or Mars? On the second reading I got that they went to Mars because Ex Nihilo sent some terraforming bombs to Australia. This wasn't clear because we didn't actually see the bombs hit Australia. It happened off-page (which is a stupid mistake) and we didn't get any establishing shots of the settings they were in (which is also a stupid mistake) which made it more confusing than it needed to be, which is problematic as the damn thing is already crazy incoherent. I didn't have this problem with his FANTASTIC FOUR which spent it's first three issues keeping its focus rooted on Reed.

I was also disappointed that clearly Hickman left THE ULTIMATES, took his ideas for that series, and has brought them over to THE AVENGERS. Ex Nihilo is so obviously Ultimate Reed I find it hard to be interested since that story ended with Tony Stark defeating a city with a brain tumour.

We'll see, but I'm not impressed with the incoherence and repetitiousness so far. :(
 
Re: The Avengers (Hickman) Discussion: Spoliers

I want the last page as a giant poster. Narration box, Avengers symbol and all.
 
Re: The Avengers (Hickman) Discussion: Spoliers

I got a whole Ultimates feel with it as well.

It felt like what Ultimates could have been (or should have been). We're so far removed from what Ultimates was that I can't even reconcile that in my mind.
 
After reading it again I think I can articulate what I like about it a little better.

It feels like this is the middle of something important. And that is how the main Avengers book should be - the center of the whole universe with the biggest stories of the most importance. Hyperion being rescued from a dying universe seems big, important, and a precursor to something even bigger and more important, and this is the book in which something like that should happen. I don't think that has been the case with this team or book at least in all the time I've been reading comics.

It might seem like that's a big conclusion to draw from one issue but that is just how it seems to be.
 
Re: The Avengers (Hickman) Discussion: Spoliers

After reading it again I think I can articulate what I like about it a little better.

It feels like this is the middle of something important. And that is how the main Avengers book should be - the center of the whole universe with the biggest stories of the most importance. Hyperion being rescued from a dying universe seems big, important, and a precursor to something even bigger and more important, and this is the book in which something like that should happen. I don't think that has been the case with this team or book at least in all the time I've been reading comics.

It might seem like that's a big conclusion to draw from one issue but that is just how it seems to be.
I agree wholeheartedly with you.
 
Re: The Avengers (Hickman) Discussion: Spoliers

Also agreed - 100%

Hickman doesn't spoon feed.
This issue additionally felt to me like a "You'd better be paying attention" issue - Hickman is going to put a LOT of thought into every aspect of his comics (from story to character to graphic design and layout). He challenges the reader to make HIS comic be YOUR comic.

Given my feeling from past Hickman (Nightly News and Pax Romana), and in particular past Hickman SF (Red Mass for Mars), as well as current Hickman (the amazing Manhattan Projects), Avengers won't be a book you can expect to read on autopilot anymore.

I liked the first issue, and will continue buying - I'm hopeful that his style will be a good fit for a brand that I've always liked in theory, but rarely enjoyed in recent practice.
 
Hickman doesn't spoon feed.
This issue additionally felt to me like a "You'd better be paying attention" issue

Yes. That's it exactly. Well put.

If you've read his Fantastic Four (and if not, I HIGHLY recommend it) you saw how he set that up early for a huge story over a long period of time - this is the same kind of feeling, but after only one issue.

I'm really excited for this, and I'm glad that NOW hasn't been the unmitigated disaster I expected it to be.
 
Re: The Avengers (Hickman) Discussion: Spoliers

I've gotten kind of snobby about reading independent comics lately... and about hating on the big 2. Given that Hickman is writing Avengers, I think I'm going to have to send some money back their way.

I read some Secret Warriors and enjoyed it. I didn't read all of SHIELD - Those seemed admittedly good, but not the 'signature' Hickman I've seen on other labels (or, to be fair, maybe I wasn't yet fully acquainted with that signature). For that reason, I didn't read FF, but on the strength of this issue, and given our (E) similar feelings and your recommendation, I'm going to have to get his run on that title in some form (maybe digital so its all collected)

Thanks for the post, because I was kind of on the fence about checking FF out - can you give me any direction? By that I mean that I think FF and Fantastic Four, both by Hickman, were two different titles... did they run at the same time? I guess I'm looking for the best reading order.

Thanks in advance!
 
Start with Hickman's first issue of Fantastic Four. At some point that title got cancelled and FF started. Then they brought Fantastic Four back and the two titles ran concurrently.
 
Last edited:
I've gotten kind of snobby about reading independent comics lately... and about hating on the big 2. Given that Hickman is writing Avengers, I think I'm going to have to send some money back their way.

I read some Secret Warriors and enjoyed it. I didn't read all of SHIELD - Those seemed admittedly good, but not the 'signature' Hickman I've seen on other labels (or, to be fair, maybe I wasn't yet fully acquainted with that signature). For that reason, I didn't read FF, but on the strength of this issue, and given our (E) similar feelings and your recommendation, I'm going to have to get his run on that title in some form (maybe digital so its all collected)

Thanks for the post, because I was kind of on the fence about checking FF out - can you give me any direction? By that I mean that I think FF and Fantastic Four, both by Hickman, were two different titles... did they run at the same time? I guess I'm looking for the best reading order.

Thanks in advance!

Hickman's run starts with number 570. It runs through to issue 588, at which point it was "cancelled" and they launched FF. FF was the main Fantastic Four book through 12 issues, then Fantastic Four 600 came out. From there, alternate between the two books through the end of his runs (Fantastic Four 600, FF 13, Fantastic Four 601, FF 14, etc.

I thought Secret Warriors was just ok, but SHIELD was pretty brilliant. SHIELD, to me, resembles his creator-owned work much more than anything else he's done. As for his creator-owned work...I like it, but none of it is as intelligent as his Marvel work save for Nightly News, which absolutely blew me away when it came out because when it did I wasn't really reading any creator-owned books and the ones I had read before that always just kind of seemed to be excuses to explicit stories or art without really being "smart" about it. The Nightly News is smart.
 
Re: The Avengers (Hickman) Discussion: Spoliers

I enjoyed The Fantastic Four run UNTIL he got into the cosmic stuff. It's like he didn't even read the recent run by DnA when he wrote it, and all he did was revert the cosmic to what it was like before them.

But until then, it was good.
 
Re: The Avengers (Hickman) Discussion: Spoliers

I don't mean to de-rail things here, but I have to put in a good word for Manhattan Projects. I realize that I'm pre-disposed to liking this (I like alternate history, I like WW2-era stuff, I like science fiction, and I like Jonathan Hickman :) ), but it has the feeling of some fantastic ideas swirling into a huge event. At first I wasn't sold on the art, but as the issues progressed, I found it impossible to picture a different style.

Along with Saga, this is the book I look forward to most.
I'm hopeful that Avengers joins the ranks! (see how I brought it back on topic? :) )
 
Re: The Avengers (Hickman) Discussion: Spoliers

The Manhattan Projects is already my favourite Hickman work. It's tied with Saga as my favourite comic of the year.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top