Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* The flagship title of Marvel's three-pronged Avengers re-launch (the other tines are Secret Avengers and New Avengers), The Avengers is a flat-out, action-packed superhero blowout of epic proportions. Perhaps the most influential comics writer of the last decade, Bendis (Ultimate Spider-Man, Powers) brings his rapid-fire dialogue and punchy characterizations to a cosmic adventure that puts Marvel's hottest characters, including Spider-Man, Wolverine, Thor, Iron Man, and Captain America, in conflict with time-traveling despot Kang and invincible robotic tyrant Ultron in order to set right the future and the destiny of the Avengers' own children. Bendis' indie genes help bring out character nuance, personal conflict, and a level of ambiguity welcome in such a large-scale adventure. Romita Jr., channeling both his father's clean designs and Jack Kirby's unbridled enthusiasm and energy, renders a scintillating phantasmagoria of cosmic action that, while occasionally an awkward match with Bendis' Mamet-inspired dialogue, is an unbridled delight. The ever-popular, tediously ubiquitous Spider-Man and Wolverine are clearly shoehorned in for the sake of sales, and continuity-conscious fans will get more out of it than the average reader, yet the general mixture of elements produces fun from beginning to end. Modern mainstream superhero adventure does not come any bigger or more bombastic.--Karp, Jess. Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
