Well we’ve been given The New Avengers and the Uncanny Avengers, both titles falling far short of my expectations. And no relaunch would be complete without a main Avengers team book being introduced. When this title was announced, I was most excited to see Thor, Captain America and Iron Man, the big 3, together on this team…but the exciting part was that this is a new Thor and Captain America, both new to their mantles. I was also interested in this line up, a team composed mostly of heroes picking up well established mantles; a bold move for being THE Avengers book…and for the most part, it pays off.

We open to a fairly typical super hero moment with Captain America saving a family from a traffic accident on a bridge. What wasn’t typical about this moment, was us getting a glimpse at this new Marvel Universe we’re seeing post Secret Wars (even though Secret Wars is still going on…yeah I know..) in that the public aren’t just cheering for the heroes, but now taking a step back and looking at them…deciding whether or not to accept these heroes; as one bystander states “that’s not my Captain America”. It really sets the tone for this team and how different is from past assemblages.

What follows is pretty standard stuff…big bad guy appears, swearing vengeance against the planet and its heroes (*yawn* Marvel really needs to lay off the Chitauri for a while) , though this baddie seems to have found an ally who we don’t get much information on.  Big bangs follow, and a few members of what will make up the team arrive on the scene to face the threat, but of course, this shows to be a threat that will require more assistance.

I really did like the characters and the interactions that Mark Waid has given us for this first issue.  He clearly gives me the characters I remember, shows that he knows them; but also shows us that things are not all status quo in this ‘new’ world.  The only downside is that there isn’t much for them to do, just a slow-moving set up.  Adam Kubert’s art was very good in this book; it was engaging and gave us some very nice spreads, but my favourite parts were the details and expressions on the characters; you really felt in the moment with these guys.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. True, it follows a familiar formula for a team book, but after some of the other books I’ve reviewed, this was very welcome. Not exactly All-New, All-Different, but I really enjoyed the characters and how they interacted, and I am very excited to see how the rest of this team comes together.  I definitely feel that this is the Avengers book to keep an eye on.

Story: Mark Waid Art: Adam Kubert
Story: 7 Art: 8.5 Overall: 7.75 Recommendation: Read