“All New, All Different?” No, thank you! New things are bad and different things are scary! Instead, why not join everybody’s least favorite super-hero team, the Great Lakes Avengers in their brand new – but not too brand new – ongoing series, Same Old, Same Old, Great Lakes Avengers! When the team gets reinstated as permanent members of the Avengers and uprooted to Detroit, the GLA has one more shot at super hero glory…but can they answer the call? Do they even have 4G coverage here? Find out!

I know writer Zac Gorman mostly from his Rick and Morty comics and Costume Quest so definitly had a sense of what to expect going into Great Lakes Avengers #1. The comic attempts fills the niche of D-list characters banding together for a humorous take on the genre. It’s funny and it’ll be interesting to see where the comic series goes, but the schtick has been done, and done better. Superior Foes of Spider-Man as well as the current comic series The Paybacks both packed more humor into an issue as well as kept things compelling in other ways. This comic isn’t bad. It had me laughing at points, but it also seemed to be somewhere in the middle of being humorous, like the two comics I mentioned and trying to be serious. The comic starts off with Flatman in a scene that’s pretty funny, but the rest of the comic doesn’t quite keep up that pacing of humor and tone.

It’s also not helped by the fact we still have no idea what has happened in Civil War II. That event is months from wrapping up and this series kicks up due to something that happens there. It may have helped in being delayed, but it’s definitely not helped by that being left out there. Without knowing the status of the main Avengers, it’s kind of hard to fully grasp what’s going on and if we should care about the need of another team.

I don’t remember these characters at all, so coming in fresh I was generally interested in learning more about them and they’re entertaining enough, but they’re also really depressing in some ways too. These are the “losers” of the bunch of it feels like they know that and wallow in it. At times it’s like reading a comic about Eeyore as a superhero. There’s also a lot of back history mentioned and I have no idea if this all happened in an actual comic or things happened off the page. It’s just out there like the team itself. What’s their purpose and why is the band getting back together? It’s just kind of out there.

The art by Will Robson is good reminding me a lot of recent releases by Marvel such as Ms. Marvel, Patsy Walker, and a few others that feel like they have similar aesthetics. I think the visual aspect of the series could be helped more by embracing some of the visual aspects of Superior Foes, but like the writing the art doesn’t quite commit to the humor. It’s pretty straight-laced sticking to 3 to 5 panels on a page. There’s some interesting layout of those panels, but nothing really jumps out. Again it’s not bad, it also just doesn’t really jump out to me either.

The first issue is an interesting read, but I am left with a sense it’s not totally able to commit to what it wants to be or just not sure yet. Is it a comedic comic with superheroes? Is it a superhero comic with humor? Is it about the relationships and history? I’m not quite sure, but it feels like it needs to commit and go for it one way or another and if it does, it has a chance to really stand out.

Story: Zac Gorman Art: Will Robson
Story: 7 Art: 7 Overall: 7 Recommendation: Read

Marvel provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review