Avengers Assemble: An Oral History of Earth's Mightiest Heroes

Avengers by Brian Michael Bendis

by Brian Michael Bendis

A brand-new, prose retelling of the history of Earth's Mightiest Heroes--as told by the team members themselves! Written by Avengers and New Avengers scribe Brian Michael Bendis--and featuring illustrations by all-time great Avengers artists including Jack Kirby, Neal Adams, John Buscema and more.

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Superheroes, Graphic Novels, Fiction

120 pages, Paperback

First published March 28, 2012

About the author

A comic book writer and erstwhile artist. He has won critical acclaim (including five Eisner Awards) and is one of the most successful writers working in mainstream comics. For over eight years Bendis’s books have consistently sat in the top five best sellers on the nationwide comic and graphic novel sales charts.

Though he started as a writer and artist of independent noir fiction series, he shot to stardom as a writer of Marvel Comics' superhero books, particularly Ultimate Spider-Man.

Bendis first entered the comic world with the "Jinx" line of crime comics in 1995. This line has spawned the graphic novels Goldfish, Fire, Jinx, Torso (with Marc Andreyko), and Total Sell Out. Bendis is writing the film version of Jinx for Universal Pictures with Oscar-winner Charlize Theron attached to star and produce.

Bendis’s other projects include the Harvey, Eisner, and Eagle Award-nominated Powers (with Michael Avon Oeming) originally from Image Comics, now published by Marvel's new creator-owned imprint Icon Comics, and the Hollywood tell-all Fortune and Glory from Oni Press, both of which received an "A" from Entertainment Weekly.

Bendis is one of the premiere architects of Marvel's "Ultimate" line: comics specifically created for the new generation of comic readers. He has written every issue of Ultimate Spider-Man since its best-selling launch, and has also written for Ultimate Fantastic Four and Ultimate X-Men, as well as every issue of Ultimate Marvel Team-Up, Ultimate Origin and Ultimate Six.

Brian is currently helming a renaissance for Marvel’s AVENGERS franchise by writing both New Avengers and Mighty Avengers along with the successful ‘event’ projects House Of M, Secret War, and this summer’s Secret Invasion.

He has also previously done work on Daredevil, Alias, and The Pulse.

Reviews

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

"It was this country club mentality that the Avengers were some elite club, the 'best of the best.' We weren't. We were a collection of ex-criminals and mutants and lost souls. That's what we were. Even our founders: a banished son of Asgard, a drunken millionaire industrialist, a scientist with wobbly morals, and THE HULK!" -- Clint Barton, a.k.a. 'Hawkeye,' on page 83

Shrewdly published prior to the release of the cinematic blockbuster The Avengers in spring 2012, author Bendis (a workhorse writer who has been employed on various titles by Marvel Comics) presented the non-graphic novel Avengers Assemble. Written in the oral history style that has grown increasingly popular over the last fifteen or more years, many of the various past and/or present members of the durable super-heroic team reminisce in a 'talking head' manner about their unique experiences and inner-office relationships. While not meant to be a comprehensive overview - with a staggering 45+ years of comic book storylines involved (at that time) - it was fun to imagine the dialogue in the inflections of the various performers (Chris Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner, Brie Larson, Robert Downey Jr., etc) from the film series. Not necessarily essential reading, but - free from the usual restraints of perfunctory discourse via speech balloon on an illustrated multi-paneled page - it was a unique little endeavor to humanize and flesh out these popular fictional characters.

[Sineala · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting read, actually. It's pretty much a summary of the important events of the first two hundred or so issues of Avengers -- the latest thing it goes up to, chronologically, is Wanda being possessed by Chthon in #186-187, so don't worry, it doesn't actually cover #200. The conceit is that it's a summary from an in-universe perspective, written as a oral history being recounted by the Avengers and various other interested parties.

It was a lot of fun, and there are a lot of cute anecdotes recounted by and about the team, and it's interesting to see them look back on all these defining moments and talk about what it means to be an Avenger. Definitely worth a read if you're a comics fan.

The pacing is a little odd, in that for some reason there are three entire chapters about the Kree/Skrull War, and also there are several moments where they all take the opportunity to say terrible things about Hank. And, I mean, Hank was obviously responsible for a bunch of terrible things, but I feel like it was a whole lot more negativity than this book really needed. Still worth reading, though.

[Riley Epley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book reads like a series of tv confessionals where the Avengers describe what happened in those events. Captain America, Thor, Hawkeye, Iron Man, Henry Pym and the Wasp are the principal characters, although Reed Richards also makes a few key appearances. This book has many themes of that with power comes responsibility. It also illustrates that even super-heroes can have real-world problems to overcome. My only complaint is that the book was so short. Why not take a little more time to fill in even more of the gaps? I would have loved to have a book like this that starts from the beginning, and brings you up to speed with the creation of the New Avengers.

[Katsuro · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful book. I honestly don't know why it hasn't been done before—an interview book with the Avengers is a really interesting idea. One big plus is that it focuses on the earliest part of the group's history—roughly 1963-78, counted in real-life years.
This is a plus in several ways.

First of all, this period is more iconic. Every major Avengers member—Captain America, Iron Man, Hawkeye, etc.—they all joined during this period. Sure, later members are iconic in their own right. But they're not iconic Avengers members. Spider-Man's famous, but when you think "Avengers," you don't think "Spider-Man".

Another plus is that it gives us some exploration about what the Avengers were feeling back then. Comics were more plot-focused in the old days. Sure, people had emotions, but they didn't get as much focus as today, unless it was for melodrama. Plots moved faster, and there wasn't as much room for introspection.

Then there's the way comics were sillier back then. And I don't necessarily see that as a bad thing in itself. Superheroes are silly almost by definition. If it wasn't for silliness, none of our favorite heroes would exist. (Except for the Punisher, but I think he'd lose the skull shirt.)

But anyway, things were sillier. You could get away with stuff that won't fly today. Some examples are obvious. Spider-Man's radioactive spider-bite giving him superpowers, and the way he went and invented his web-shooters right afterwards, like he just needed some incentive. Or Tony Stark building an Iron man suit in captivity, without even having to order any custom parts.

Those are fairly well-known examples, but there's another area too—human behavior. In the old comics, almost every supervillain acted extremely hammy and bombastic. And sure, some of them still do, like Count Nefaria or Doctor Doom—the ones where it's part of their characterization. But it's not a given the way it used to be. And the plots could be much sillier. Did you know, for instance, that the first meeting between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin happened when the Goblin, in his Goblin suit, met Spider-Man and claimed to want to hire him for a movie?

In modern super-hero stories, including this book, there's more of a demand for at least a pretense of realism--characters need to act more like real people. Or there needs to be an explanation for when they don't. And that's part of what's so fun about this book: The characters are written in the more modern, psychologically realistic way, but they're still acknowledging and discussing events that, as they themselves admit, were really, really weird when you stop to think about it.

Another thing before I go: I really, really love the way the dialogue is written. Critics say that Brian Michael Bendis has one style of writing dialogue, a fairly realistic one, that he has all his characters use regardless of who it is that's talking. Now, that's not completely fair. Partly, but not completely. Sure, you can tell his Thor from the Thor of, say, Walter Simonson. I won't deny that. But it's still Thor. It's still Thor who's talking, and not Reed Richards or Clint Barton.

So yeah, this was a really interesting book to read, and I wish they'd have published more of them. One focusing on Spider-Man would have been great. I know that idea wouldn't work--the Avengers have public identities, for the most part, but there are too few characters who are public about knowing Spider-Man to make the concept of an in-universe interview book work.
The X-Men, maybe? I can always dream...

[Heri · Rating 4 out of 5]

buku ini menulis kisah super hero Marvel yang tergabung dalam Avengers dari sudut pandang, pikiran dan pendapat pribadi masing-masing tokoh, ditambah sejumlah penjahat super dan orang biasa yang mengenal mereka.

karena ditulis dalam bentuk oral alias narasi dari masing-masing tokoh, isi buku ini terasa beda dan pembaca memahami secara langsung dari sudut pandang orang pertama yang memahami langsung reaksi para tokoh dengan lebih mendalam, bukan sebagai pembaca pasif yang melihat aksi para jagoan melawan penjahat.

Avengers mulanya dibentuk untuk mengatasi kekacauan yang dibuat Hulk aka Bruce Banner, kemudian mereka melawan penjahat super lainnya seperti Kang, Ultron, Magneto dan lain-lain. anggota yang bergabung dan keluar karena berbagai alasan, pendapat satu tokoh terhadap tokoh yang lain.

tokoh super hero dan penjahat super yang kurang dikenal dan belum muncul dalam film MCU atau mungkin tidak akan muncul selain di komik dan film animasi, menambah pengetahuan siapa saja tokoh yang selama ini belum dikenal selain penggemar setia komik super hero Marvel.

karena ditulis dalam bentuk tulisan dan pendapat pribadi para tokoh, perlu perhatian ekstra pada apa yang diucapkan dan membayangkan sendiri kejadian dan perasaan yang dialami para pahlawan super. buku ini lebih cocok untuk orang yang suka membaca narasi panjang daripada peminat versi komiknya

[Ross Vincent · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the history of the early days of the Avengers - told from their point of view.
Written in a style where each member contributes their thoughts, feelings, and impressions of the team, it looks back on the earliest days, to when the team merged into a unit with the help of Captain America, to the 2nd gen of Avengers (Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Hawkeye, etc). Along the way, we watch as Ant Man becomes Giant Man becomes Goliath becomes Yellowjacket- and all the issues that goes along with this. We see the addition of Black Panther, Vision, Wonder Man, Hellcat, Ms Marvel, Captain Mar-Vell, Beast, and others. (Think of this is sort of a take on the past 10 years of Marvel Movies.)

I have to say, it was amusing in places - in particular, Hawkeye and his...issues with authority, living up to the legend of Captain America, and his issues with the ladies. ("This is going to be a thing" always amuses me when it was time of Hawkeye and Spider-woman to hook up).

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are new to comics or only have the most basic of ideas of what’s going on, this book is a great resource. It’s the Avengers telling their own origin story in an oral history format (such an effective storytelling device!). The various art pieces are a bonus. We get a basic overview of some of their biggest storylines (all the players involved, some of the motivations and conflicts, etc). Well worth the read.

[Rachelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book #27 of the EBN challenge at my Library.
Challenge Topic: A book with Pictures.

The artwork was great. I really enjoyed that. The format for the story wasn't to my liking. It was a history of the avengers told by the Avengers taking turns telling the story. It was a little distracting for me. Others may really like it.

[Nicholas · Rating 3 out of 5]

A totally adequate, incomplete history of the Avengers

[Indah Threez Lestari · Rating 4 out of 5]

68 - 2021

Earth 616 Avengers interviews.

[Alastair · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great concept, disappointing execution.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting take on the history of the Avengers by letting each member of the team who was there from the beginning tell the story in their own words.

[Nathan Dehoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

The conceit of this volume is that it's presented as a series of quotes and conversations from the Avengers themselves, which is pretty interesting. There are also illustrations by several different Marvel artists. It's a good overview of the team over the years, including a lot of information I didn't know, although long-time comics fans might well know it. I didn't know much about Black Widow, who's only spoken of second-hand (within the fiction, she didn't agree to be interviewed), as she was originally portrayed. Here, she's presented as a mysterious and sexy figure no one totally trusts. In the movies, she's still really attractive and a bad-ass fighter, but if this book is any indication, she's been toned down a lot in other respects, to the point where she's quite friendly with the other Avengers. Maybe part of that is due to her replacing the Wasp as the original sole female member of the team.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Avengers Assemble: An Oral History of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes
By Brian Michael Bendis
Publisher: Marvel Worldwide Inc
Published In: New York City, NY
Date: 2012
Pgs: 170

REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

Summary:
A prose history of the Avengers, the mightiest heroes of Earth in the Marvel Comics universe.

Genre:
fiction, comics, superheroes, superhero teams

Why this book:
I’ve loved the Avengers, forever.

This Story is About:
courage, working hard, doing the right thing, friends, love, family, duty

Favorite Character:
Captain America...cause he’s Captain America. He’s apple pie. And he’s old fashioned. And he’s good in his heart. And he’s well portrayed here by Bendis.

Edwin Jarvis. His nobility and strong character are the backbone of the Avengers. And he’s awesome.

Quicksilver because he is such an unrepentant ass.

Least Favorite Character:
Hank Pym. If he could have just embraced his identity instead of having it be such a moving target, he would have been an incredible character. He comes across as awesome at points only to fall into deplorable conditions and decisions repeatedly.

Character I Most Identified With:
Hawkeye. He’s as close to an everyman as you are going to find on the Avengers.

The Feel:
The sense of history that the Avengers has. They have a huge publishing history and this was a good snapshot of that.

Favorite Scene:
When they discuss the discovery of Captain America and the impact that it had on them as a team and as individuals.

When Pym gives his kumbaya style talk about man discovering that we aren’t alone in the universe. And Hawkeye does the counterpoint of how every time they encounter a new species from the stars or an alternate universe or somewhere, they try to conquer Earth and humanity.

Settings:
New Mexico; New York; Avengers Mansion; Arctic Circle; Wakanda;

Pacing:
Flows well.

Plot Holes/Out of Character:
Some of the Avengers not remembering the Space Phantom who masqueraded as the Hulk in the early days of the team.

Last Page Sound:
I wish there was more.

Author Assessment:
I love the way the expository interview framework that Bendis used worked here. Normally, I would fear that this would lead to stilting or damage the pacing, but it flows pretty well.

Bendis managed to hit three of my favorite Avengers stories in this “interview” format: Antman under the control of Ultron making him attack the Avengers to kidnap the Wasp to use her brain for his bride, the Beast-Patsy Walker-Hellcat-Squadron Supreme-Brand Corporation-Serpent Crown, Scarlet Witch-Cthon.

Editorial Assessment:
Well done. Again, just wish the book was longer.

Did the Book Cover Reflect the Story:
A groups shot showing characters from various eras of the team from the Founder era to the New Avengers/Dark Reign era.

Hmm Moments:
When Captain America and Nick Fury talked about what Cap’s life and return meant to them. It struck a chord, made me think of my grandpa.

Knee Jerk Reaction:
instant classic

Disposition of Book:
Irving Public Library

Why isn’t there a screenplay?
It’s not what the Marvel Movieverse is doing, but you can see the elements scattered throughout.

Casting call:
I had misgivings about the guy who played the Human Torch in the Fantastic Four movies becoming Captain America...but he works. He works well. Good on Chris Evans.

RDJ was the perfect Iron Man.

Chris Hemsworth as Thor was also a near perfect bit of casting.

But, probably the grand slam of casting was Tom Hiddleston as Loki. Kneel before the true king. He didn’t just capture the character. He may have been possessed by the real Loki.

Would recommend to:
genre fans

[Edward Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was apparently acompilation of a back-up feature in the comics (which I did not read prior to purchasing the book). Despite this, the resulting work reads fairly well and breathes personality into characters who often seem flat in the portrayal given in the comics. It is a fun read that unfolds like a VH1 documentary and in a way that draws you in rather than turn you off by tapping the reality show style of presentation.

My only disappointment in the book is that it could have gone on longer to cover the entire Avengers history, rather than end as abruptly as it did. TO have the Avengers comment on certain points in ther established comic book history was an interesting twist that I don't think was tapped deep enough for the book. While it was probabl what it needed to be for the back-up feature on which it was based, I would have much preferred added material to round it out to a more satisfying conclusion. This lack of foresight on how to end a story is why I haven't invested my money in any of Marvel's comics in over twenty years. Good ideas require and demand a solid and satisfying ending, but apparently thisis not disussed as it should be in the Marvel Bullpen. Be that as it may, the book does deliver a different point-of-view in exploring the Avengers, where they came from and how they feel about themselves. That was enough for me to not only give it a two-star rating...but only barely does it earn three stars. That's something to consider when figuring out if this book is for you. If you want your socks knocked off, go buy something else. If you want a read that will just deliver your expectations, but not by much, this is the book for you.

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Are we going to talk about Orka the Killer Whale? Because that is a real thing. A man who dresses up like a killer whale and tries to assassinate people. This really happened. I woke up one morning and spent my day helping beat up a man dressed like a whale." --Clint Barton, Hawkeye

So yeah, oral history of the first 187 issues of the "Avengers" comic book, as told by Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, etc. Fairly humorous and fun to see storylines such as The Korvac Saga, Avengers/Defenders War, and Nights of Wundagore through the team members' eyes.

[Robert Greenberger · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best things Brian Michael Bendis does is give each character a distinctive voice and has a gift for dialogue. As a result, he's the perfect man for this oral history of the team, which does a nice job of collapsing nearly fifty years of stories into the current decade continuity. Handsomely packaged, this is a nice addition for fans of the series.

[Mark Schlatter · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun conceit --- what if there was an oral history of the Avengers? I like Bendis' gift for dialogue, and some of that shines through here (especially with the Wasp, Antman, and Hawkeye). But some characters (Captain America, Thor) fall a little flat. I would love to see a version of this with more art from the original issues and more coverage (the history goes up to about 1980).

[Jack Stubblefield · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It wasn't rocket science. I thought it was a unique way to tell the story of the Avengers. I enjoyed how Bendis managed to give each character a unique voice in the process of telling the story of the Avengers. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to read about the Marvel Universe in prose rather than comic book form.

[Judd Karlman · Rating 4 out of 5]

That was a fun read, going over the history of the Avengers from the Avengers' point of view. It is like the behind-the-scenes DVD commentary to the Marvel universe. I'd love to see more about different iconic Marvel teams (X-men or maybe Fantastic Four).

[Audrey Hacker · Rating 4 out of 5]

very fun to read! although, the conitiguity of the names were off. One chapter it would be 'henry pym' then 'hank pym' in the same one for the same character. I'm not sure if this was intentional or just an editing mistake.