Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes: Ultimate Collection

Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes #1-8

by Joe Casey, Scott Kolins (Illustrator), Will Rosado (Illustrator)

The Avengers--once assembled, few enemies could ever overcome their combined might. But how did five fledgling heroes form such a legendary group? Learn how the team dealt with the Masters of Evil, Kang the Conqueror and more. Then, the Avengers' roster fills out with hot-tempered archer Hawkeye, troubled lovers Goliath and Wasp, mysterious warrior monarch Black Panther, and the team's strange new android recruit, the Vision. With the Panther juggling his kingly duties, Vision striving for public acceptance and overtaxed team leader Goliath quietly descending into madness, could these heroes stay together long enough to defeat the agents of AIM, the Circus of Crime and the Super-Adaptoid? Paying reverence to the original Avengers mythos, Joe Casey and artists Scott Kolins and Will Rosado reveal new stories of the group's earliest trials and triumphs, presented in a thoroughly modern light. COLLECTING: AVENGERS: EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES 1-8, AVENGERS: EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES II 1-8

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Marvel

376 pages, Paperback

First published March 21, 2012

About the author

Librarian note: there is more than one author with this name

Joe Casey is an American comic book writer. He has worked on titles such as Wildcats 3.0, Uncanny X-Men, The Intimates, Adventures of Superman, and G.I. Joe: America's Elite among others. As part of the comics creator group Man of Action Studios, Casey is one of the creators of the animated series Ben 10.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Casey

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

An updated retelling of some key Avengers stories...was okay.

[Don · Rating 2 out of 5]

This started and ended good. In the middle it was pretty bad in spots. It tells the story of the Avengers from the beginning but as if they were founded in modern times, not the 1960s. That part was good. But it skips forward a lot and only really focused on when they brought in new members and their ongoing problems with their government oversight. Really weird way to tell a story. I finished it but parts were cringe worthy, especially the drama with Yellow Jacket and Wasp. It was worse than a soap opera .

[Rick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Retroactive continuity is a tricky business. Add to that updating the story and adding material to "explain" narrative points that were vague or unexplored in the original (debatable) masterpiece and you have recipe for disaster. Unfortunately that is exactly what is served up here, a disaster. Certainly it is not as bad as it could have been, but it still creates more problems than it attempts to solve. This is second time I've read this series and it just loses credibility every time I read it.

[Pturingan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Modern retelling of some of the Avengers earliest adventures. The first miniseries mostly deals with Cap trying to adjust to the modern world while the second focuses on Hank Pym and his various identities.

Not a bad collection at all. 16 issues, 2 complete miniseries in an affordable package.

[HowardtheDuck95 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seems I couldn’t have picked a better time to read Joe Casey’s Avengers trade, because it’s actually dealing with the whole militarization of superheroes stuff. This is a series that goes back to the early days of the Avengers, and shows how the team kept itself together...and fell apart. And how they dealt with government attempts at interference and militarization.

I like how it actually is dealing with Cap’s awakening in a mature way. He slowly gets up to speed, seeing what he missed, figuring himself out. Zemo giving Cap PTSD is given the gravity it deserves, and it is far darker a take I’ve seen on it than ever before.

I also really like how it incorporates Hawkeye and Jarvis. That subplot is very well done and very fun. I’ve always had a soft spot for the character and that’s no different here.

The subplot with their handler is great both as a critique of “should superheroes be beholden to the government” and as a thread showing Tony growing as a character.

Overall the first series is very solid, with great art by Scott Kolins (who’s work on the Flash is a personal favorite). It doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it doesn’t have to. It just embellishes what was already there, and I’m thankful for it.

The second series continues not where the first left off, but after the Vision joins the team. There is a quick recap, though, of the intervening events.

One of the first things to notice is Will Rosado and Tom Palmer’s linework is much different than Kolins. It’s less expressive, but solid, classic style avengers art. The coloring is also less eye catching, but acceptable.

It keeps up the political themes of the first, dealing with the paranoia over the vision’s existence, AIM causing an imperialist international incident with its experiments, and the pressures on Hank Pym as team leader.

On the note of Hank Pym, it deals with the Yellowjacket arc. I like how it presents it as a mix of Hank’s pressures, insecurities, and the chemicals he inadvertently inhaled. It’s a fairly nuanced portrayal of how stress and toxic masculinity can really screw a man up. And by toxic masculinity, I mean how he feels that he’s not enough for Jan, in both his responsibilities overwhelming him and his nebbishness compared to the rest of the avengers. This is channeled by his Yellowjacket persona being brash, confrontational, and macho, everything Hank isn’t, and he believes Jan wants.

I know everyone knows the one time Hank whacked Jan, but I think people kinda give her a pass for marrying a mentally ill dude while he was not in his right state of mind. This story gives more context to that bizarre occurrence, softening its edges and giving it a more modern understanding of psychology than the original version.

Meanwhile Black Panther’s subplot as a teacher in an inner city school is surprisingly relevant; and the Vision’s arc uses the Super Adaptoid as dark mirror briefly, but quite effectively. That said, the real unsung hero in this book is Hawkeye. Not only does he provide a little levity, he is the bridge between the two books, and his development from cocksure rookie to being the elder statesman of a new era, while losing none of himself, is a fun journey.

Overall these are two really solid Avengers stories woven from the rich tapestry of their early history by Joe Casey, and I highly recommend it for those looking for the old school, messy Avengers charm.

[Fraser Sherman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two excellent miniseries combined into one TPB.
The first follows the Avengers from right after they form through the transition to "Cap's Kooky Quartet," showing what was going on behind the scenes — Cap dealing with some PTSD over Bucky's death, Iron Man trying to secure government backing.
The second is a much smaller slice, from the Vision's debut through Hank and Jan departing for a while. It does a good job explaining some addlepated plotting, such as the Pyms' wedding (suffice to say, Roy Thomas' original story arc was bonkers).
I thoroughly enjoyed this.

[Judah Radd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly very boring, with a few cool parts. Not worth your hard earned money.

The art is boring. The dialogue is mostly wooden. It does a good job of exploring the characters, but doesn’t follow the “show me, don’t tell me” rule. The expositional dialogue seems very dated.

I had to struggle to finish it. I considered giving it a 2, but some of the moments were fun, though those moments were few.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

This, like Avengers: The Origin modernizes the original comics and fills in some of the characterization and plot holes in Stan Lee's early comics.

They're a bit more coherent not, albeit a lot more decompressed.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some interesting stories, perhaps changing previous history?!

[Ubalstecha · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a collection of the origin stories of the Avengers. Clearly aimed at the new reader, this is Marvel's attempt to introduce all the people attracted by their movies to comics to the wide variety of characters out there. The problem is that there is no through narrative. You don't get the stories before, you don't get the stories after, so you are missing important bits of information to put the stories in context. Like who was that woman Hawkeye was sad to break-up with? Why was that important.

This book is a little like a clips episode of a TV show you don't watch. These may be important bits, these may be the best bits, but without the context, the new reader has no clue on either.

Skip it.

[Gavin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a great, fantastic book. Obviously an attempt to get younger readers/new readers caught up on the origins of the Avengers without them having to invest as much time/$$ in the original books.
The modern art and approach to the classic storylines could have been a disaster, but instead I think it took the core essence of the Avengers and brought it forth to the new generation. I also like how it did a better job with expressly showing when members left or joined, as when I was little I was always confused as to why there were different faces on the cover (in the little Marvel box) in the next month's issue with nary a word as to why...
Strongly recommended reading to all Avengers/Marvel/Comics fans in general.

[Gerard Rinaldi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never get tired of reading new stories and different takes on the original and subsequent new Avengers. The whole Hank psychosis had a back story that was presented here. Poor Hank is still dumped on by Marvel. Would have liked to see more of Iron Man in his original bulky gold armor though and the short period of time the Hulk was with them. There could have been more stories hidden that could be written. Maybe someday. Anyways this was worth the read. I collected every issue and the trade. I grew up reading the Avengers in Marvel Triple Action and reprints as well as the current Avengers at the time.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first series, covering the first year+ of the Avengers is an astonishingly deep look at the team’s origins, that adds character to the heroes and explanation to the plots, really filling out those stories in meaningful ways [9]. The second series isn’t quite as strong, because it puts more emphasis on fights (particularly the couple of issues fighting the adaptoid swarm), but where it focuses on character, it does a great job [7.5].

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one compared to the old versions. It is a new spin, and was jumpy as hell at times, but I tried the classic silver age stuff and gave it up quick.

[Erik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wish this was a ongoing book