Review: Heroes Return #1
Heroes Reborn has been a bumpy ride of a story. A world where no Avengers have existed and the Squadron Supreme takes the role is interesting. How the series was executed and the specifics were a bit lacking though. The story feels like there’s chunks missing in the narrative that would make the story flow a bit better. Heroes Return #1 wraps things up as the Avengers battle the Squadron Supreme and Coulson decides to get in on the fight himself. It’s a slugfest with the addition of a thin layer of story.
Written by Jason Aaron, Heroes Return #1 wraps things us and gets us back to our regularly scheduled program. It feels like the “thank god” moment where the mistake of an arc ends and we the reader know we can move on to more interesting things. The issue has the Avengers battling the Squadron Supreme and there are individual moments that stand out. Seeing the two teams battle has its interesting aspects as we see how they match up and who does what. How the Avengers handle things is the details that keeps things somewhat engaging. But, the issue, and event, just leaves so many questions out there that aren’t even touched it’s frustrating. Maybe there’s something I missed reading?
Where Aaron’s work really stands out is the Squadron Supreme itself. These are heroes we love to hate and the interaction between Hyperion and Nighthawk is actually engaging. There’s a slight sadness as they both know the world isn’t right but “it’s their world” so they fight and fight hard.
The art by Ed McGuinness works for the issue. It’s mostly a long fight and the characters look good with designs and layouts that are interesting and help bring a pop sense about it all. With ink by Mark Morales and color by Matthew Wilson it looks nice. But, there’s not a lot that really stands out as memorable. The most being the slight moments where McGuinness delivers winks and nods to the Squadron Supreme’s DC analogs.
The most interesting thing about Heroes Return #1 is where it leaves everything. There’s some specifics with the Squadron Supreme that will potentially have a big impact going forward. There’s things with Mephisto especially that will be huge. But, overall, it’s an event that feels more like its point is to get us to that finale as opposed to really telling a solid story. As a whole, it’s an event whose concept wasn’t bad, it just didn’t know how to really execute it.
Story: Jason Aaron Art: Ed McGuinness
Ink: Mark Morales Color: Matthew Wilson
Story: 6.0 Art: 7.0 Overall: 6.0 Recommendation: Read
Marvel provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
Purchase: comiXology – Kindle – Zeus Comics – TFAW
