I Didn't Plan on Buying The Avengers #1 But I Had To And Now I'm Glad I Did

As you may have figured out, I'm primarily an X-Men guy. On the DC side I read Batman and Wonder Woman, but most of the Marvel titles on my pull list are X-Men related. I don't think I've bought an Avengers book since Remender was writing Uncanny Avengers. Having said that, I always get hooked by great cover art. So today as I was picking up my books from Twilite Zone Comics, I see this book out of the corner of my eye and it starts screaming, "Buy me!"

The reasons are pretty clear just from the cover.

1. It's obviously an Alex Ross cover and it doesn't get much better.  If Alex Ross wanted to make millions, he should turn his art into wallpaper so that comic book nerds could paste it all over their houses.

2. Mark Waid is writing it. His Fantastic Four run is considered one of the best ever and his writing on Daredevil won him both an Eisner and a Harvey. Need I say more?

3. Mike del Mundo art. I can't explain how much I love this guy's artwork. His cover art for the 2013 X-Men Legacy series is mind boggling (it also won him an Eisner).  If I had a spare wall for artwork (my wife only allows me to decorate my office), I'd frame every cover of that series and put it in a grid from floor to ceiling.

4. Spider-Man: okay. Captain America: it's Avengers, right. Wasp: sure. Thor: fine. Vision: that's cool. HOLY SHIT! Is that Hercules back in the Avengers!?  I couldn't be more happy.  Hercules needs this. He can be such a great character.  Dan Abnett just gave us six wonderful issues making him more than just a drunken oaf with big muscles. I hope Waid makes him a contributor instead of just the muscle.

If those weren't enough reasons, after reading it I can tell you that this initial issue has a great hook involving Kang the Conqueror. Waid does a great job of mixing the formation of the new team (though we still don't know how Civil War II ends) and the introduction of the story thread for the first arc. The pacing is perfect. Maybe that's Waid's script or del Mundo's layouts but it works seamlessly.

Mike del Mundo's artwork is amazing as usual. Based on this book, I'm not sure anyone else should be allowed to draw and color someone changing size unless they've taken lessons from del Mundo.

See what I mean?  Here's another.

The only unfortunate is that this issue was $4.99 though it is oversized. 34 pages I think. I'm assuming the price is because of the #1. At $3.99 for future issues, this series just got added to my pull list.

The X-Men Title You Should've Been Reading All Along

If you had told me a year ago that X-Men Legacy would be on my pull list, I'd have told you to go pound sand.  Then you'd say, "But, it's really cerebral and it follows Legion."  Then I'd say, "Forget what I said about pounding sand, go eff yourself!"

Well, it's a year later and I can tell you that X-Men Legacy is one of the few books that I read the day I bring it home.  The others are Thor, Uncanny X-Men, and All New X-Men.  Though Bendis is creating a monumental run on the new big 2 X-books, this one is not to be missed.  Written by Simon Spurrier, Legacy has filled the vacuum left after Rick Remender's X-Force run ended (more on this later).

The premise of the book is that Legion is trying to get control of his powers.  The short, short version of Legion's history is that he's a bit crazy.  At the same time, he's making an attempt to fulfill as best he can the Professor X (his father) legacy.   But not as Legion describes it by "wearing spandex."  He's a loner and is the character that Quentin Quire wishes he could be.  Legion's way of fulfilling his father's dream is not to preach peace like the new Uncanny Avengers or kill all enemies like the old Uncanny X-Force.  Instead he uses the necessary technique for whatever threat he is facing whether it be subterfuge, violence, or diplomacy.  Fortunately, he has many powers at his disposal.

This title without announcing it takes us to some dark places.  In reality, Legion's proactive mission to neutralize threats to mutants is even scarier.  In Remender's X-Force, the villains were overtly evil.  Spurrier's villains though are more frightening because they are human and familiar.  Some of them look like your neighbors or uncles which is a credit to Tang Eng Huat's artwork.  The other common theme in both series deals with good intentions, Machiavellian methods, and unintended consequences.

I also love the fact that Spurrier apparently has his pick of the less seen mutants throughout the Marvel Universe.  There's not another book where you can see characters like Blindfold, Chamber, Pixie, and Pete Wisdom.  I am a little sad that Spurrier's run will end with issue #24, but apparently he'll be on a new title that's been teased with the word "Offensive." I have no idea what that means, but my dream is that Legion is somehow cajoled into working with a new group in MI-13 led by Pete Wisdom.  For other insights into X-Men Legacy and Spurrier's thoughts check out: http://xmenlegacy.tumblr.com/.  Even without the great writing and art, the Mike Del Mundo covers alone are worth more than the $2.99 cover price.