Avengers Volume 1: Avengers World (Marvel Now) Paperback – 25 Feb. 2014

Great read and introduces some interesting characters into the Avengers lineup, recommend to any Avengers fan

Having brought his high-concept, plot-heavy style to Fantastic Four, the Marvel NOW! relaunch sees Jonathan Hickman assigned to Avengers and New Avengers. This interlocking storyline forms the backdrop to every Marvel title in the stable at this point in its history. The 'incursions' of other universes into the Marvel Universe are known to Iron Man, although this volume begins after the Illuminati have wiped Captain America's memory, so although he is having some nightmares about Mr Fantastic, Namor and Black Bolt looking at him menacingly, he's unable to remember exactly why it is that, for instance, Hyperion has made his way to Earth-616 after his world was destroyed.Driven by Iron Man's knowledge of the new threat and by dread of what might be coming, the concept here is that the Avengers are planning to "get bigger" - essentially, powering up the roster in order to meet future challenges. The core team is that made (more) famous by the MCU Avengers films, but there are a whole host of others, not least a Doctor Octopus-possessed Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Captain Marvel, and an insanely powerful Captain Universe - who has shown up a number of times before in Marvel history, but who here has chosen to inhabit a woman who fell into a coma after a car crash a decade ago.Hickman gets the ball rolling well enough - with the core Avengers called upon to head to Mars after strange biological bombs fall from it to Earth, changing the landscape in various revolting ways. Immediately, the team is subdued by three new characters: Abyss, Ex Nihilo, and a robotic Aleph - creations of an ancient race of Builders who were the first sentients in the cosmos. Sent back to Earth defeated, Cap "wakes the world", assembling the enhanced roster and taking the fight back to Mars.This volume tracks that first engagement, as well as the ascension of a new Smasher into the Shi'ar Imperial Guard, a looming cosmic threat that has reached that empire's borders, and a bit more exposition about Captain Universe. At its conclusion, Hickman reaches back to Warren Ellis' 1980s newuniversal series, with the occasion of a White Event and the identification of Abyss and Ex Nihilo's child as a Nightmask.As I said, it's high-concept. Hickman begins a plot here which runs through 45 issues of Avengers, 35 of New Avengers and into the massive 2016 crossover, "Secret Wars". If you liked his Fantastic Four run; his style of narration; his willingness to tell huge, overarching storylines; and his sometimes opaque style (the new alien characters here often talk in Builder "machine code", and you'll find yourself flicking back and forth between the panels and the cipher at the back to find out what they're saying), then you'll like this Avengers run. If you prefer something more akin to the Avengers of old - perhaps a bit more episodic; characters with more familiar beats - then you may find this particular period of Avengers history a bit more of a challenge.Personally, I like Hickman, I like Jerome Opeña (Adam Kubert, who illustrates two issues here, I find slightly more bland), and I like how this series tries to elevate the Avengers concept and marry it with Marvel's fine tradition of cosmic storytelling. Worth your time.

Personally found this a good read

Great loved it

I'm not overly familar with any of Jonathan Hickman's previous work (I dabbled in FF a couple of years ago), but being a fan of the Avengers already I kept the title I've been collecting for 3 years. Honestly, I'm not sure why Marvel relaunched everything with a new Marvel NOW revamp - there was nothing wrong with the status quo, but revamp they did and this is one of the results.This new direction is a bold step. Tony Stark confers with Steve Rogers and tells him that due to bigger threats, they need a bigger team. This is entirely reasonable and makes good sense, and I enjoyed the part where he's kind of recruiting his new team members, many of which I'm not at all familar with (Hyperion, Capt Universe, Manifold, Cannonball, Sunspot and Smasher).But then a threat emerges from Mars and I started to yawn a bit. I perservered, and am still collecting the title (at the time of typing we're at issue 16), but it's been tough going if I'm honest.I've spent quite some time trying to put my finger on what bothers me about the new story. I think it's simply the new members of the team, and the new "bad guys". Hickman is tellng me that the universe and all the worlds within are created by some super beings called Builders. This is like Ridley Scott telling me that the Earth was created by Engineers in Prometheus. There is a similarity here, and it bothered me about Prometheus.I'm happy with the art and colouring, which is of a high standard. I'm still coming to terms with the storyline. It isn't terrible - it's just a new concept for me. Remember when the bad guys were Norman Osborn or AIM or Hydra? That's probably what bothers me (although AIM do appear later on in this title - probably around Vol 3).I'm led to believe that Uncanny Avengers is the better title, where our familiar heroes (again with a couple of extras after the fallout of AvX) battle some familiar foes - I probably should have collected this title instead. However, if you do perservere with this title, it all leads to something bigger and the entire series is growing on me, so don't despair.After the Marvel NOW launch, we have Avengers, New Avengers, Uncanny Avengers, Avengers Arena (an absolutely dreadful comic), Young Avengers, Avengers Assemble and probably a couple of others I've missed out. I'm hearing good things about Uncanny Avengers, and New Avengers is on my next hit list to be reviewed as that is not bad either. If you're worried about Avengers Saturation, I'd recommend the plain old Avengers title, as it has definitely grown on me.

Bought as a Xmas present l, loved it.

I wanted to read the present slate of Avengers comics and I bought this once I realised it was an important prelude of sorts to Infinity, a recently concluded Marvel crossover event. I was not disappointed at all. Featuring a number of new characters and the usual heavy hitters, I enjoyed reading this. Would recommend this to any fan who will read Infinity at one point or another.

Great Product very pleased with the service.