AVENGERS BY JASON AARON VOL. 8: ENTER THE PHOENIX Paperback – June 29, 2021

Never a letdown with this series yet

Might as well read this volume next. Not like I've been consistent up to this point. As with all of Aaron's Avengers, there's both good and bad. The concept of the story is itself really good. The Phoenix Force has returned to Earth to hold a tournament to decide who will become its new host. An odd ensemble of characters, many of them Avengers, are chosen to fight and these fights will decide the winner.Avengers (2018) #39Before the tournament can begin this issue flashes back to the origin of the Phoenix of 1,000,000 BC but she really should just be refered to as the prehistoric Jean Grey with a dash of Tarzan thrown in. Her story mirrors those characters' lives very closely but it doesn't appear to serve any purpose. Dale Keown's artwork is good though, serving the story as it needs to.Avengers (2018) #40-44Why do writers choose to tell stories in a nonlinear fashion when it doesn't serve the plot to do so? It really starts the arc off on a bad foot. This should be a simple enough story to tell but Aaron really over complicates it. The individual fights, which ought to be the best part, are kind of repetitive and boring since every contestant is using the power of the Phoenix. Shouldn't the best fighter be rewarded the power after victory? The way in which the final winner is chosen doesn't seem to follow the rules established in the story. Then there's a monumentally stupid revelation about one Avenger's origins you'll have to read to believe. Javier Garrón and Luca Maresca provide the art for these issues intermittently and though neither is bad I couldn't really tell their work apart.Avengers (2018) #45This final issue is supposedly a King in Black tie-in but no. It is however the best issue I've read of the series. It gets into motivations of each Avenger and stops to process everything that has happened so far. The comic also brings a big change to the world and to the team and what it means could be huge. Luca Maresca finishes art on this issue admirably.3/5

I am usually a fan of Jason Aaron's writing and I was very much looking forward to Enter The Phoenix, but I found the action jumped around too much and there was very little continuity. Based on other reviews I am obviously in the minority, but that's okay too. Heterogeneity is good!!

great book