Joel Phillips
Jan 6, 2004, 09:33 pm
<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/1103/AVENGERS_76.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/1103/AVENGERS_76t.jpg" align=left alt="Avengers #76 preview"></a>Reviewer: Joel Phillips, old_ky_shark@hotmail.com
Quick Rating: Good
Story Title: Full House
Geoff Johns’ fateful finale, and the end of the line for an Avenger.
Written by: Geoff Johns
Penciled by: Steve Sadowski
Inked by: Andrew Currie
Cover by: Jae Lee & Jose Villarubia
Lettered by: Virtual Calligraphy's Randy Gentile
Colored by: Chris Sotomayor
Assistant Editors: Sumerak, Schmidt & Wiley
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Editor In Chief: Joe Quesada
Publisher: Dan Buckley
WARNING: This review contains spoilers.
‘Full House’ is the final issue of writer Geoff Johns’ run on Avengers. Johns is a very talented writer, one who has turned in some excellent work on a variety of titles, but I don’t think he ever fully clicked on this one. His last two major arcs suffered from some shoddy plotting, poor pacing, and questionable dialogue. As much as I wish it were otherwise, many of these same problems reemerge in this issue. This isn’t a disastrous effort by any means, but for the final hurrah for both a writer and an Avenger it’s a bit underwhelming.
The story picks up where we left off at the end of ‘The Search for She-Hulk’, with the team trying to decide what to do about the serious threat Jack of Hearts now poses to She-Hulk whenever they get close to one another. One of the two Avengers has to go, and the active members gather to discuss who it ought to be. The one problem I had with this particular scene was the fact that, despite Captain America and others attempting to remain open-minded, it really was a pretty easy decision to make. On the one hand you have Jack of Hearts, one of the newest Avengers, who is brash and difficult and only available for duty ten hours a day, as a result of the fourteen he has to spend in the Zero Room. On the other hand is the She-Hulk, a seasoned veteran who doesn’t have a problem with anybody and is available as often as anyone else. Thankfully, the Avengers do realize that it’s an easy decision to make, and they make it.
The rest of the issue surrounds Ant-Man’s daughter, Cassie, who is abducted by some weirdo and held hostage. The process involved in saving her is quick, as you would expect “man with gun vs. Avenger” to be. But it’s not the speed of the conflict that stands out; it’s the speed of the character turnaround. Jack of Hearts does what amounts to an emotional 180 in four panels. I counted: four panels between being ready to head back to the Zero Room and making the decision to, basically, commit suicide. Is it a totally unreasonable decision for him to have made? Not really. But I would have liked a little more legwork in getting us there.
Pacing is my biggest problem with this issue. ‘Full House’, like a surprising number of Johns’ recent efforts on Avengers, can be read and fully digested in about five minutes. That’s a problem with an issue like this one, which attempts to show important things happening. Most readers, and certainly this reader, don’t downshift that fast, and too many of the life altering (or life ending) decisions are made too quickly to feel authentic, or dramatic, or meaningful.
Also, as in issues past, Johns’ attempts at emotion too often come off as overly sentimental and cliché. The second to last page, with Ant-Man looking up at the sky and calling Jack an Avenger, is right out of “how to write emotional scenes 101”. Unfortunately, we’ve all grown past that sort of thing, as we’ve seen it again and again and again. The end result is a scene that evokes thoughts of the device being overused rather than any kind of true emotional reaction.
The issue is not without its pluses, though. Cassie’s dialogue with the boys in the schoolyard, at the beginning of the issue, is cute and genuine, and feels exactly like the sort of thing I could picture a superhero’s kid saying. And the other Avengers, in the discussion scene, are well portrayed.
The art is pretty good in this issue, though there are a few oddities of body shape and proportion. Sadowski also tends to over-muscle most of his men, but it’s not nearly so distracting here as it was in issue #71. I also appreciated the scenes around Jack’s burnout, both where the black spreads across his face and the final page, where he crumbles to dust. The Jack of Hearts symbols, in the corners of the final page, were also a nice touch.
Johns’ run was, for the most part, a disappointment for a writer of his caliber. Chuck Austen assumes writing duties next issue, and I believe it’s safe to say expectations for him are not as high, so hopefully he won’t have any problems delivering the goods as we approach issue #500!
ART:
http://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/avfull.jpg http://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/avfull.jpg http://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/avfull.jpg http://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/avhalf.jpg http://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/avnone.jpg
STORY:
http://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/avfull.jpg http://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/avfull.jpg http://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/avnone.jpg http://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/avnone.jpg http://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/avnone.jpg
OVERALL:
http://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/avfull.jpg http://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/avfull.jpg http://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/avfull.jpg http://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/avnone.jpg http://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/avnone.jpg
Buy this issue online now from X-World and save! (http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=67&cat=AVENGERS)
Quick Rating: Good
Story Title: Full House
Geoff Johns’ fateful finale, and the end of the line for an Avenger.
Written by: Geoff Johns
Penciled by: Steve Sadowski
Inked by: Andrew Currie
Cover by: Jae Lee & Jose Villarubia
Lettered by: Virtual Calligraphy's Randy Gentile
Colored by: Chris Sotomayor
Assistant Editors: Sumerak, Schmidt & Wiley
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Editor In Chief: Joe Quesada
Publisher: Dan Buckley
WARNING: This review contains spoilers.
‘Full House’ is the final issue of writer Geoff Johns’ run on Avengers. Johns is a very talented writer, one who has turned in some excellent work on a variety of titles, but I don’t think he ever fully clicked on this one. His last two major arcs suffered from some shoddy plotting, poor pacing, and questionable dialogue. As much as I wish it were otherwise, many of these same problems reemerge in this issue. This isn’t a disastrous effort by any means, but for the final hurrah for both a writer and an Avenger it’s a bit underwhelming.
The story picks up where we left off at the end of ‘The Search for She-Hulk’, with the team trying to decide what to do about the serious threat Jack of Hearts now poses to She-Hulk whenever they get close to one another. One of the two Avengers has to go, and the active members gather to discuss who it ought to be. The one problem I had with this particular scene was the fact that, despite Captain America and others attempting to remain open-minded, it really was a pretty easy decision to make. On the one hand you have Jack of Hearts, one of the newest Avengers, who is brash and difficult and only available for duty ten hours a day, as a result of the fourteen he has to spend in the Zero Room. On the other hand is the She-Hulk, a seasoned veteran who doesn’t have a problem with anybody and is available as often as anyone else. Thankfully, the Avengers do realize that it’s an easy decision to make, and they make it.
The rest of the issue surrounds Ant-Man’s daughter, Cassie, who is abducted by some weirdo and held hostage. The process involved in saving her is quick, as you would expect “man with gun vs. Avenger” to be. But it’s not the speed of the conflict that stands out; it’s the speed of the character turnaround. Jack of Hearts does what amounts to an emotional 180 in four panels. I counted: four panels between being ready to head back to the Zero Room and making the decision to, basically, commit suicide. Is it a totally unreasonable decision for him to have made? Not really. But I would have liked a little more legwork in getting us there.
Pacing is my biggest problem with this issue. ‘Full House’, like a surprising number of Johns’ recent efforts on Avengers, can be read and fully digested in about five minutes. That’s a problem with an issue like this one, which attempts to show important things happening. Most readers, and certainly this reader, don’t downshift that fast, and too many of the life altering (or life ending) decisions are made too quickly to feel authentic, or dramatic, or meaningful.
Also, as in issues past, Johns’ attempts at emotion too often come off as overly sentimental and cliché. The second to last page, with Ant-Man looking up at the sky and calling Jack an Avenger, is right out of “how to write emotional scenes 101”. Unfortunately, we’ve all grown past that sort of thing, as we’ve seen it again and again and again. The end result is a scene that evokes thoughts of the device being overused rather than any kind of true emotional reaction.
The issue is not without its pluses, though. Cassie’s dialogue with the boys in the schoolyard, at the beginning of the issue, is cute and genuine, and feels exactly like the sort of thing I could picture a superhero’s kid saying. And the other Avengers, in the discussion scene, are well portrayed.
The art is pretty good in this issue, though there are a few oddities of body shape and proportion. Sadowski also tends to over-muscle most of his men, but it’s not nearly so distracting here as it was in issue #71. I also appreciated the scenes around Jack’s burnout, both where the black spreads across his face and the final page, where he crumbles to dust. The Jack of Hearts symbols, in the corners of the final page, were also a nice touch.
Johns’ run was, for the most part, a disappointment for a writer of his caliber. Chuck Austen assumes writing duties next issue, and I believe it’s safe to say expectations for him are not as high, so hopefully he won’t have any problems delivering the goods as we approach issue #500!
ART:
http://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/avfull.jpg http://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/avfull.jpg http://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/avfull.jpg http://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/avhalf.jpg http://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/avnone.jpg
STORY:
http://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/avfull.jpg http://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/avfull.jpg http://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/avnone.jpg http://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/avnone.jpg http://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/avnone.jpg
OVERALL:
http://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/avfull.jpg http://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/avfull.jpg http://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/avfull.jpg http://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/avnone.jpg http://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/avnone.jpg
Buy this issue online now from X-World and save! (http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=67&cat=AVENGERS)