Avengers #2 Review

Writer: Jason Aaron / Artist: Ed McGuinness / Marvel Comics Entertain a little personal background to set up my reading of Avengers #2 by Jason Aaron and Ed McGuinness. My exposure to comic book characters growing was the same as a lot of nineties kids. Cartoons. The X-Men (and later, X-Men: Evolution), Spiderman, and Batman animated series were the heavy hitters. But my dad was also a nerd growing up, and he had amassed a huge collection of comics from the 1970’s. Occasionally, I would carefully remove an old Avengers comic from its bag and board and read it. Those comics were definitely from a different time. Like reading Shakespeare, my young mind found the dialogue campy and childish, like a caricature of the cartoons I was enjoying. Even today, mature enough to appreciate the prose of Shakespeare and Stan Lee, the love is on a more academic level. That’s the feeling I got reading Avengers #2. Jason Aaron really embraced the classic feel of a older Marvel comic. Not without a sense of self reflection, the comic is narrated by an unknown, hidden voice who could easily be referring to the characters from the perspective of someone in the comic or from the outside with their cold sneering critique. I found myself sneering alongside them at the simplistic, cosmic level threat facing our heroes. “I get it. Infinity War came out, and we need a comic with the relevant characters alongside it’s release . . . and Ghost Rider”. Ed McGuinness’ art tempered my cynicism into childish glee. The man draws a beautiful comic. Between the characters and the landscapes, the art in this book is God-tier. One particular highlight was Jennifer Walters aka She-Hulk glowing red from the fire of Ghost Rider’s car; a subtle nod to the Red She-Hulk. For all the criticism that a “big-threat” cliche in these kinds of books gets, it undeniably allows talented artists to shine.

8 “THOOM!’s” out of 10

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