New Avengers 1: Everything Dies (New Avengers: Marvel Now!)

I purchased a bunch of the Marvel Now! trade paperbacks to test the waters on some of the new creative teams and directions of the major titles. I bought the X-Men titles since I already follow the X-Men. I bought Uncanny Avengers because of the blend of X-Men and Avengers characters in that title and the name recognition of Rick Remender, who had already achieved great heights with Uncanny X-Force. This title--New Avengers--I bought solely because the team's lineup consists of the so-called Illuminati, an interesting group concept that Brian Michael Bendis came up with during his previous run on the Avengers franchise. I figured there might also be some X-Men overlap in the person of Professor Xavier, who was in the original iteration of the Illuminati. What did not factor into my decision to buy this title was the creative team, or writer Jonathan Hickman, who in my recollection had previously only worked on a title called Secret Warriors that I didn't read.After reading this, I am now a tremendous fan of Hickman's. He keeps the beat with the better parts of Bendis's concept of a secretive, ethically ambiguous team of representative powerhouses, but he ups the ante with a universe-spanning plot all his own. It's an alternate reality story, but not the typical variety featuring ersatz versions of familiar characters. (There are appearances by an alternate Galactus and Terrax, but their "alternate" nature, if discernible at all, isn't central to what makes the story interesting.) New characters, races, and legends are introduced, and artist Steve Epting succeeds in creating a stunning visual for the recurring image of colliding worlds.Many criticize Bendis for having a poor grasp on writing team dynamics, while excelling at individual character storytelling. Hickman, by contrast, provides the whole package. Character interplay occurs organically parallel to the advancement of the larger story. This first volume opens with three entirely new characters. Despite being completely unfamiliar to the reader, these characters are three-dimensional and immediately relatable. (They'll be dead in just a few pages, but the reader will be genuinely touched by the impact of their deaths, despite barely having known them.) The first "important" character introduced is the Black Panther, arguably one of the least interesting members of a team that includes Iron Man, Captain America, and Mr. Fantastic. While it might have been a risk to use the Panther as the hook to both the series and the inciting incident, it works and serves to demonstrate the character driven underpinnings of the book's events. It injects a dose of realism.There is no resolution to the storyline in this volume, but there are clearly delineated episodes within what will be a larger epic. These contribute to the story's intrigue and lend greater depth and dimension to the threat. It is truly a story that wants to be complex, but not in a superfluous or ostentatious way. Satisfying as a whole, each page still manages to be engaging, and I can admit that I'll be coming back for more.

To be clear, I'm not always the greatest fan of Hickman's work, though I must say, his approach to the Fantastic Four was truly innovational and unique both.That being said, this run of New Avengers is far more different that anything Bendis tried, and on many levels, and in no small way, quite refreshingly so. Taking center stage in this series is the Illuminati, a secret group formed behind the scenes to mold and shape the status of the superhuman world, and this time, it seems that not even these elite heroes may be enough to overcome the imminent crisis that threatens their entire world, and, indeed, their entire multiverse. Not that this will at all stop them from trying, however, which all of them do, in each their own way, even as they are ridden with increasingly dangerous internal divisions and forced to face impossible moral questions that will shake them to their deepest core.The dialogue is excellent and realistic, the plot is well-paced (if possibly a bit slow for some), and the cast of characters, both old and new, are overall very carefully developed and fleshed-out. Not to mention the consistently fantastic artwork by Epting for all six of the collected issues in this book. All in all, highly recommended for any and all Marvelites.

This story is the start to Jonathan hickman's secret wars lead up and I gotta say it's a strong start. Even to read this by itself, it's the best marvel comic showing off all the most capable minds of earth getting together and make impossible decisions that really stay in the back of your head.

Jonathan Hickman's "Avengers" and "New Avengers" run has been a blast of doom and gloom maybe a little bit more on the "New Avengers" spectrum but none the less not only has he crafted a great end of days scenario with the Illuminati but also has put together a great science fiction comic.

Following the Illuminati once more, this time thy go darker than they ever went

... einer der - meiner Meinung nach - besten und interessantesten Marvel-Storylines überhaupt!Everything dies - Alles stirbt... und diesmal ist nicht nur die Erde betroffen, sondern das ganze Marvel-Multiversum! Denn im Fokus von Jonathan Hickmanns "New Avengers"-Serie stehen die Illuminati, jene supergeheime Truppe bestehend aus den hellsten Köpfen aus Marvels Superhelden-Riege, wie z.B. Iron Man, Reed Richards oder Beast. Waren Sie zuvor z.B. für den "World War Hulk" verantwortlich, müssen Sie sich im hier und jetzt mit sogenannten "Inkursionen" 'rumärgern. Eine Inkursion bezeichnet jenes Ereignis, bei dem eine Erde eines Universums mit einer Erde aus einem Parallel-Univerum kollidiert. Wird nun - wodurch auch immer - während der Inkursion eine Erde zerstört, existiert die andere Erde (und das zugehörige Universum) weiter. Im schlechtesten Fall zerstören sich die Erden bei der Inkursion gegenseitig und beide Universen hören auf zu existieren. Aber welche Rolle spielt dabei die mysteriöse Black Swan, auf die Black Panther während der ersten Inkursion der Erde-616 stößt? Wer oder was sind die Sidera Maris? Was löste die Inkursionen ursprünglich aus? Welcher Illuminat macht den ersten Schritt, und zerstört einen ganzen Planeten?An sich wirft dieser Band mehr Fragen auf als er beantwortet. Dies ist aber überhaupt nicht schlimm, sind doch die Interaktionen zwischen den einzelnen Charakteren kurzweilig und enorm emotional geraten, sodass sich der Leser ab und an dabei ertappt, wie er/sie sich wohl anstelle von Iron Man oder Mister Fantastic verhalten würde (... so war das jedenfalls bei mir...). Auftritte von alten Bekannten wie z.B. Captain America, Doctor Doom oder einem aus einem Parallel-Universum stammenden Galactus samt Herold Terrax runden die Sache zusätzlich ab.Man möchte jetzt eventuell meinen, dass dieser Band nur mit Tonnen von Vorwissen zu verstehen ist. Weit gefehlt, denn auch Marvel-Einsteigern erschließt sich die Handlung - etwas Allgemeinwissen über's Marvel-Universum vorausgesetzt - sofort. Klar sollte man auch die Schwester-Serie "Avengers" (auch von Hickmann) im Auge behalten, vor allem beim "Infinity"-Event später wird's etwas komplizierter... ;-) Wer aber auf "Infinity" verzichten will, macht nach diesem Band einach mit Volume 3 "Other Worlds" weiter (am besten gleich mitbestellen ;-)); kleinere Handlungslücken kann man ja dank dem Internet leicht füllen.Fazit: Marvel-Enthusiasten und Neulinge greifen hier gleichermaßen zu, ist dies doch der Anfang einer der besten Marvel-Storylines to date, welche zudem auch Grundsteine für Events wie "Infinity" oder "Secret Wars" legt...

Having been a DC fan mostly in the past this book blew me away , I had always heard good things about Jonathan Hickman and was not disappointed. The story is excellently paced and feels epic without being too convoluted, I also found myself actually caring about l and being interested in the characters whom I wasn't familiar with. Focusing on the 'illuminati' who seem to be an elite /secret group of avengers , this only a small part of a bigger crossover, I can't wait to check out the rest.

Amazing quality! Will definitely order from this seller again

Good present. My son-in-low wating for it.