Avengers: Endless Wartime

Marvel OGN

by Warren Ellis, Mike McKone (Illustrator), Jason Keith (Illustrator)

An abomination, long thought buried, has resurfaced in a war-torn land. But now it wears an American flag. Faced with another nightmare reborn, Captain America will not stand for yet more death at the hands of a ghost from his past. Haunted by his greatest shame, Thor must renew the hunt for a familiar beast. At their side, an assemblage of allies united to end the threats no one of them could face alone. They are soldiers. Warriors. Comrades-in-arms. Mighty heroes led by a living legend, stronger together than apart. They are the Avengers.

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

116 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2013

About the author

Warren Ellis is the award-winning writer of graphic novels like TRANSMETROPOLITAN, FELL, MINISTRY OF SPACE and PLANETARY, and the author of the NYT-bestselling GUN MACHINE and the “underground classic” novel CROOKED LITTLE VEIN, as well as the digital short-story single DEAD PIG COLLECTOR. His newest book is the novella NORMAL, from FSG Originals, listed as one of Amazon’s Best 100 Books Of 2016.

The movie RED is based on his graphic novel of the same name, its sequel having been released in summer 2013. IRON MAN 3 is based on his Marvel Comics graphic novel IRON MAN: EXTREMIS. He is currently developing his graphic novel sequence with Jason Howard, TREES, for television, in concert with HardySonBaker and NBCU, and continues to work as a screenwriter and producer in film and television, represented by Angela Cheng Caplan and Cheng Caplan Company. He is the creator, writer and co-producer of the Netflix series CASTLEVANIA, recently renewed for its third season, and of the recently-announced Netflix series HEAVEN’S FOREST.

He’s written extensively for VICE, WIRED UK and Reuters on technological and cultural matters, and given keynote speeches and lectures at events like dConstruct, ThingsCon, Improving Reality, SxSW, How The Light Gets In, Haunted Machines and Cognitive Cities.

Warren Ellis has recently developed and curated the revival of the Wildstorm creative library for DC Entertainment with the series THE WILD STORM, and is currently working on the serialising of new graphic novel works TREES: THREE FATES and INJECTION at Image Comics, and the serialised graphic novel THE BATMAN’S GRAVE for DC Comics, while working as a Consulting Producer on another television series.

A documentary about his work, CAPTURED GHOSTS, was released in 2012.

Recognitions include the NUIG Literary and Debating Society’s President’s Medal for service to freedom of speech, the EAGLE AWARDS Roll Of Honour for lifetime achievement in the field of comics & graphic novels, the Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire 2010, the Sidewise Award for Alternate History and the International Horror Guild Award for illustrated narrative. He is a Patron of Humanists UK. He holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Essex.

Warren Ellis lives outside London, on the south-east coast of England, in case he needs to make a quick getaway.

Reviews

[Jeff · Rating 2 out of 5]

THEME !

That’s one of those words that my college professor used to toss around a lot in my screenplay writing class. Like DRAMA. CONFLICT. ANTAGONIST. PROTAGONIST.

“What’s the underlying message of what you are writing? It has to have a THEME. Good vs. Evil? Man’s inhumanity to man? When you submit your script ideas next week remember: I not only want to see a THEME, but I want you to be writing about something you can bring some experience into.”

Imagine my surprise when my script treatment entitled “Cthulhu vs the Man Eating Succubi Porn-Bots” was rejected.

I thought the theme was pretty self-evident.

I’m sure Warren Ellis was sitting in the back of that classroom furiously typing taking notes because he’s got his whole theme worked out. It’s even in the title - War it’s endless, cuz even some of the sanest peeps are enthralled by it and, as a consequence it goes on forever. Endlessly.

Ellis has the theme down pat, but trying to make heads or tails of this story will be daunting. Something about a living alien Nazi weapons factory on a Nordic island. What does that have to do with the Avengers?

“Nazi” – Captain America, he used to beat them up! - Yowzah!

“Weapons – Tony Stark aka the Ironman, THE weapons guy - Yeppers!

Nordic – Thor, Norse God of Thunder – Game, Set and Match, ya punks!!

Start posting some damn gifs, Jeff!



What the …? Has Thor been dipping into those huge casks of Asgardian mead again?



Whoa! It’s TENSION -> CONFLICT -> DRAMA! And what the hell is eating you Wolverine? Are you waiting for lil’ Bub to “regenerate”?



Ellis does bring the funny, but self-effacing humor is really not something I’d associate with Tony Stark.



Way to channel Matt Fraction here, Warren!

Bottom line: Ellis does let his humor flag fly here, but it’s the only compelling reason to pick this up. There’s an introduction to this volume written by Clark Gregg (aka Agent Coulson in the media) that’s pretty sweet in which he talks about growing up reading comics with his brother and about how thrilled he was to be in Iron Man and beyond.



We have a name-calling Hulk. Sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will ….. Oh, Hell, Hulk Smash!!!

[Baba · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the comic books Avengers #13-23, and Endless War. Hickman's flagship Avengers book really picks up in New Avengers, Volume 3: Other Worlds and New Avengers, Volume 4: Perfect World as the Captain America led team finally, truly gets involved in a pan universal war. Meanwhile this volume Warren Ellis's Avengers: Endless Wartime is a great comic/movie Avengers hybrid with the team out to stop some sentient Nazi war machine that appears to be owned by SHIELD! 7 out of 12 for these overall.

[Craig · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an okay story that incorporates elements of the MCU and print universe; it would be okay as a kids-oriented comic book, but it fails to live up to its billing as the first volume of their hardbound original graphic novel line for twenty-five bucks a pop. There are some cute/good individual lines, but the writing is too simplified and doesn't sound much like Ellis at all. The computer-generated art is very disappointing and looks like it belongs in a coloring book or web cartoon. Thor and Captain America face a mashup of old foes...SHIELD is untrustworthy...Hawkeye and Wolverine and Captain Marvel and Black Widow and Iron Man tag along, but don't look like themselves...Bruce Banner shows up wearing brown trousers, but when he turns green and gets large his pants are purple...Cap is old...war is bad...Avengers Assemble...

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I kinda thought it would be a little deeper, considering Ellis was writing it. Then again, at times it seemed a bit overly dramatic. Huh. How is that possible?
Not sure.
Anyway.
Buckle in, 'cause this plot sounds really weird...

Back before Cap was a popsicle, he went after a group that was building some kind of A.I. super-weapons. They blew up before he could get to their evil factory.
Simultaneously, Thor was battling a mythological creature that escaped from under the World Tree. He blew it up.
Fast forward a buncha years, and now there are these A.I. demon things that are spawning in the same area that our intrepid heroes fought those original battles.
Anyone want to hazard a guess as to what happened?
Yes!
You are correct!
The blast from Thor's hammer squished the two things together, and now there are organic robotish things running around.
Avengers Assemble!

Don't go into this expecting a slice of amazing pie, and you'll probably have fun reading it.
Or at least, I did.

[Gavin · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was one of the most disappointing reads I've had in as long as I remember. I think because it was Warren Ellis, writing the Avengers, that I had high expectations. Sadly, this is not up to par when you know what Ellis is capable of. Add to that that the art is terrible, and it looks like the artist has never seen most of these characters before (I mean Thor looks ridiculous, and why does Wolverine wear black leather to suit up?, Tony's Iron Man suit is a very odd colour, almost orange).

If that weren't enough to turn you off, the storyline is stupid: Cap wants to investigate some monsters he was going after in WWII that he thought were done; turns out Thor was at fault for not defeating them properly or some shit. On top of that, the monsters are the worst drawn things ever; I can't tell what's the head, ass, arms or what; they just look like grey blobs, as though the artist either had no time, or just didn't give a shit.

I have a very hard time believing that Warren Ellis wrote this book. If he did, I just hope he was having an off time, and that this isn't a sign of things to come. The characters all snipe at each other, and not in a playful banter way, more in a we don't like each other and we're only here for contractual obligation way. Also, since when does Wolverine shy away from a fight? Apparently these monsters are so spooky, he isn't going to jump down into the Earth to fight them...Also, he and Cap seem to strongly dislike each other, apparently over Cap pretending he never killed anyone in WWII. On top of that, Captain Marvel seems to think she's in charge of the team, giving orders to Cap, and then telling him she outranks him??? WTF? Even Clint Barton is insulting Cap in this one.

I'm sorry, but when you throw in Bruce Banner/Hulk at the end as nearly an afterthought, it really makes one wonder if Ellis was told to include him.
Thor, Cap, Iron Man (who is more useless here than I care to believe), Hulk, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Captain Marvel and Wolverine (who is referred to as Logan the entire time it seems). There are too many characters here, and by focusing on Cap, it kind of makes having some of the others a waste. Thor's supposed to be important to the story too, but ugh.

It's just a mess, not pretty to look at, and the characters have no appealing qualities here.

Avoid this, read something else by Ellis or some other Avengers book. You will have a better time, I guarantee.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Midgard Serpent has been set loose and with Thor sort of leading it's up to the Avengers to stop it and something far worse. This turned out to be better than expected though that doesn't mean I felt it was perfect.
Nice artwork especially of Captain Marvel.

OVERALL GRADE: B to B plus.

[Sam Quixote · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing Marvel original graphic novel from the master, Warren Ellis. It's a dull story that never really takes off and, sorry but, Mike McKone's art is just not good. Read the full review here!

[Nicolo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I enjoyed new Warren Ellis project a little too much. It reads like an Ellis novel more than an Ellis comic. I do appreciate that he took the effort to make this as accessible as possible to comic readers and movie goers. This story works for either continuity quite well.

Instead of revolving around the movie cast, Ellis adds Captain Marvel to the mix and it works great. A strong female character who can put Captain America in his place would be the breakout character in the next Marvel film.

[Jesse A · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh

[RG · Rating 2 out of 5]

My friend reccomended this and dropped it off this morning raving about it. Im a huge Warren Ellis fan so I was quite excited. Severely disaapointed. I found the plot quite simple to the point of non existence. There didnt seem to be any point to the story. It completely felt disjointed. The artwork pretty average, Ive seen alot better. Being new to the graphic novel world I didnt have a great 1st experience with The Avengers.

[Sud666 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I tend to like most things Warren Ellis writes. So when I saw his Avengers I had to check it out. It's not bad, though not great.

Endless War feels a lot like the Ultimates storyline. At least in how Warren Ellis chooses to portray the group dynamics of the Avengers. There is humor and an underlying tension that is evident amongst the team.

In the made up country of Tblunka two terrorists shoot down what they think is a US drone. But it is the nature of the drone that alerts the Avengers, in particular Steve Rogers. Apparently this was based off of a WWII top secret Nazi wonder weapon. But this weapon also has a deep connection for Thor. More than that I shall not say-read it yourself.

The artwork is good throughout and Ellis does a great job of getting into the heads of the primary Avengers. I enjoyed his take on Cap, Thor and Logan. Logan is very well done and I liked the conversation he had with Cap and Thor about being a killer. Well said.

I enjoyed Ellis' Avengers and will try to look for more of his Avengers run. If you are an Ellis or Avengers fan give this one a try.

[Richard Dominguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

“You may be done with the past, but the past may not be done with you.” Jennifer Dwight.

Avengers: Endless Wartime by Warren Ellis turned out to be a fantastic story whose underlying message was not lost on me.
The story reminded me of the original Star Trek movie "Star Trek" and the protagonist in it "Vger".
An abomination from Captain America's past, an abomination he thought he had bought to an end.
Thor haunted by his greatest shame, a beast from his past, a beast he thought long dead.
A place Tony Stark once vowed to make safe for it's people, an attempt at redemption.
These 3 moments somehow joined together 70 years later reappear, wrecking havoc, death and destruction and this time it wears an American Flag.
I found the story engaging and it's premise very intriguing. The plot builds quickly from the start, bringing together memories that were best not remembered. The Avengers are joined by Wolverine whose wit and charm rivals that of Tony Stark. Agent Romanoff (Black Widow) has a great one liner about Banner that had me laughing out loud. The dialog is re-pleat with the sense of humor that comes from hazardous circumstances and one the writers take full advantage of.
Man-kinds never ending search for a bigger better weapon to end war, instead of looking towards peaceful methods brings us to the title of this graphic novel "Endless Wartime". The end of one war only promises the start of another.
The characters (Avengers) all bring the usual fanfare and the banter between them is both genuine and refreshing. Stark's recounting of his attempts in Slorenia and why he was there I found heartfelt. While Captain America as leader always stoic and in control emotionally, his need to close a past open wound relays a lot about the aspects he would rather not display, that of feeling left out in a world he no longer belongs in. This is very apparent as the story opens with a conversation Steve has with Jarvis about coffee.
As always Marvel keeps the action "high octane" and full speed ahead, but I really liked that there is a real story here. We go through our lives not worried about the past because, well because it's past. But the past has a way of slipping right you into tomorrow and reminding you that all is not well or done.
I also really like how human the 3 main characters of the story felt (Steve, Tony and Thor), reminding us that they may be Avengers, but there is a humanity to them that makes sometimes makes them strong and other times reminds them of their weakness'.
The book opens with an introduction written by Clark Gregg, the actor who played S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Phil Coulson in both the movie(s) and TV series.
An excellent addition to my library and one I could easily recommend.

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

A disappointing start to a possible new line of graphic novels from Marvel. Elements from Thor and Steve Roger's pasts come back to haunt them and it's up to the Avengers to stop them (including a reluctant Wolverine) and in the face of an obstructive SHIELD. The plot is very simplistic, and suffers both from a lack of a credible threat and the absence of an actual villain. Because of the isolated nature of the story there are seemingly no repercussions from the team's actions and no significant character development occurs. Ellis' characterisations are a weird fusion between the movie versions and the regular continuity, that somehow seem less than either. Ellis tosses a few ideas out, but never really explores them, despite the fairly languid pacing of his story. The obvious metatextual theme concerning the characters being trapped in an endless state of conflict, never progresses beyond that simple observation; it would have perhaps made for a more relevant exploration in an ongoing comic than in a standalone work such as this. The artwork is generally clean and competent, though there are a few slightly off character panels and occasional problems with how it flows. The art does nothing particularly interesting, though some of this can be attributed to large portions of the book being made up of scenes where the characters simply stand around and talk.

Overall an unengaging, vaguely depressing story that will have trouble appealing to fans of either the movies or the comics, despite halfheartedly targeting both. While not totally without merit, there is nothing here that warrants the reader's time.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first of Marvel's current run of OGNs (though not the first I read) has a superstar creative team of Warren Ellis and Mike McKone but unfortunately hits more around the 'solid but unremarkable' range in execution.

The story is a decent length, so you could probably read it all in one sitting, but not too long that things get boring. The OGN format also allows for more copious use of splash pages, without feeling like you're being cheated out of dialogue pages

It's the dialogue where things get a little rusty. I know this is basically the movie team of Avengers (plus Captain Marvel and Wolverine) but this is still the 616 universe, so I'm not sure why Wolverine seems to hate everyone for issues they've gotten over numerous times in the past, or why Captain America is more like the Incredible Sulk. Most of the time it's not a problem, then you'll stumble on a line of dialogue that doesn't ring true and it'll pull you out of the story.

Mike McKone's interiors remain amazing as always, perhaps moreso than his current run on JLU since he had a lot more lead time to do this OGN. His charactes are slick and bulky, and apart from one awkward locker room scene with Black Widow, he's not prone to cheescake.

[Chelsea 🏳️‍🌈 · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a wonderful comic this could have been were it not for Ellis' poorly disguised disdain for Tony Stark and Clint Barton. Every time I discover a writer that previously wrote an Iron Man comic hates the character, my heart hurts. I get that Tony isn't everyone's cup of tea but, the way these writers (Bendis, for example) write him just shows they don't seem to have a great understanding of what lies under the surface. Case in point, a lot of his dialogue and interactions with the Avengers in this comic make it seem like Ellis would have rather just had the suit and left Tony behind. Which is baffling considering he wrote Extremis. But... onward.

So, the beginning of this comic was great. It had the Avengers behind the scenes, team dynamic that I love and haven't seen since Bendis' New Avengers. Carol teasing Cap about Air Force v. Army ("Army just means "Air Force Rejected Me Yesterday"), Cap refusing to let Jarvis make him coffee, Clint being hungover and Tony calling Cap "beloved". The premise is interesting enough: SHIELD is using a secret death machine.

There are a few great character moments with Logan v. Cap regarding Cap being too "lily white" and disgusted over what Logan did in wartime. Again, a bit confusing because it's clear Cap had to kill people during WWII. In a way, the comic shows that, as well but, I guess Ellis wanted to posit that Cap was ashamed of his actions in a way Wolverine was not. There's a moment with Bruce feeling sympathy for anyone who was turned into a monster. Kind of bummed me out that he has this speech about getting the autonomy to choose what he attacks when... he really didn't get a lot of say in the matter here. There's a lot of Cap's introspection; a lot of which I found baffling but, I'll get to that in a moment. There's a moment where Tony talks to Cap about Howard and it would have been really sweet were it not for Ellis pretending as though the team very much hated Tony.

Every. Single. Interaction Tony has with members of the team (Carol and Cap included) involves digs at his character. Even his interaction with Pepper has her speaking as though she hates him. It's one thing to have a few comments and teasing between Tony and his friends. That's a given since Bendis wrote New Avengers and thought he was being clever with it. When every single interaction has the Avengers joking about pummeling him or killing him or leaving him to die, it's not funny; it's just disheartening. For a founding Avenger that gave so much of his life and his health to the team, for a man that spent years wrecking his mind and body to protect the universe, for a man that gave all of these people a home and showed up whenever they needed him, this is disheartening. Tony Stark is an Avenger in more than name only and it's a freaking bummer that it's been ages since the Avengers have had a writer that seemed to understand that. Kelly Sue DeConnick excluded because she seemed to get it.

Anyway, there's a lot of Cap's introspection and that... was a little off for me. I love Steve Rogers. I've read quite a bit of his comics and I'm still working my way through his back catalog. One thing that's always stood out to me, no matter what I've read: Steve thinks of the Avengers as his family. He constantly tells Tony that Tony gave him a "home", a place to belong. He was alone until he embraced the team. He thinks of them as family. Here, Ellis posits that Steve thinks he has "nothing" and he's all alone. What? Timing wise, this is most baffling.

Also, there's a point where it seems as though Steve blackmails and guilts the Avengers into joining this fight. It doesn't make any sense to me because another thing common amongst every Avengers book I've read: the Avengers would follow Cap anywhere. Why does he need to do this?

Anyway, this is a tough book to recommend. It's decent stuff if you love Wolverine. There's a bit of Bruce Banner here that's pretty cool. There isn't much here if you love Cap because I found his characterization confusing. It's downright belittling towards Tony and Clint.

So... I'll just say "it's a book."

[Artur Coelho · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ellis a escrever aventuras dos Vingadores. Nada de anormal por aqui, apenas deixa cair a pretensão de profundidade e transforma as personagens em caricaturas de si próprias com aquele estilo tão próprio deste autor em verbalizações emocionais robóticas. É divertido ler personagens estereotipadas a comportar-se como estereótipos absolutos. Mas Ellis deixou-nos mais do que um simples caricaturar dos icónicos Vingadores.

O mistério que origina a aventura prende-se com dragões semi-inteligentes controlados remotamente através de implantes cibernéticos. O enredo mistura segredos militares do passado do Capitão América com ocultas falhas nas façanhas míticas de Thor, mas no que realmente interessa temos um obscuro construtor de armas high-tech que mistura biologia e tecnologia digital para criar drones biológicos armados que têm uma tendência inquietante para escapar ao controlo dos pilotos remotos sempre que um herói se aproxima. É por estas coisas que Ellis é brilhante. Oculto sob uma banal história de super-heróis para consumo infanto-juvenil está uma profunda e contemporânea reflexão sobre a ética e a estética da guerra à distância baseada em drones, particularmente acutilante porque publicada num país cujo presidente, prémio nobel da paz, se distingue pela forma como dá uso a esta tecnologia para assassínios extrajudiciais. Devidamente embrulhadinha em quatro cores para consumo infantil.

[Richard Guion · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked up this graphic novel at the library and was glad I didn't pay for it. It's well structured by writer Warren Ellis (who wrote Planetary, Vol. 1: All Over the World and Other Stories and Gun Machine, which I liked) but it feels like he cracked the formula for a standard super-team adventure and applied it to this story. It features the Avengers from the Joss Whedon movie and it's very reader friendly, introducing all of the Avengers gradually. Yet there's no real "passion" for the Avengers, it feels all rather bland and pointless. The best action sequence is in World War 2 with Captain America, after that it's all downhill. A lot of meetings and discussion about what to do.

This graphic novel costs $25 in hardbound. A regular Avengers comic from 60s or 70s cost from 12 cents to 25 cents and almost any single issue had a more rousing story than this one. Yeah I am old and can't change -- blah blah -- what all the modern comic writers use as a defense.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Normal got me on a Warren Ellis reading binge (this is not unusual, as in the past I've done this with Pierce, Bujold and others). So my question about this story is would comic book readers want to read Ellis' take on their characters, but with a more Marvel cinematic continuity approach?

I think the answer will be mixed. Ellis is spot on with Captain America and Logan, and in pointing out the differences between. The politics of the story are definitely Marvel CU and not MArvel mainstream (and the politics make sense, I mean S.H.I.E.L.D. would not trust these people). His approach to Iron Man, Black Widow and Hawkeye feels a shade off, but these characters don't have as big an impact on the story.

Because, and avoiding spoilers, the big question is can we end war? Do we want to end war, is the profit from and/or love for war such that war will always be an ongoing state for the human race. It takes a lot of the book to get these questions, and to even attempt to answer them, but I think this is the meat of the tale, not all of the explosions.

[Craig · Rating 2 out of 5]

Movie cash grab; did this need to be hardcover? That used to mean something. Here, it means an overly-designed package with a Contrived plot.

There really was no need for all of the coincidental connections, or to use the name of the book in the dialogue. The same joke is made about Hawkeye umpteen times. When did he become the Johnny Storm of the Avengers?

I give this two stars because I do appreciate the real world questions raised about use of force and cultural invasion. Also, McKone's artwork has come light years from where he started as a weird clone of the likes of Alan Davis.

[Alex Sarll]

Marvel launch a new line of original graphic novels - but the format, the clear yet characterless art, and the simple story with its loose relationship to continuity all remind me of the old UK format annuals. Drop the occasional mild swearing, throw in a wordsearch, and it'd be ideal for a mid-eighties child's Christmas present.

[Skyeofskynet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Naprawdę nie wiem jak ocenić ten komiks, b9 jest koszmarnie niespójny. Po pierwsze ma Steve'a Rogersa, który nie umie obsłużyć ekspresu do kawy jako metaforę zagubienia w przyszłości, a to jest trop, na który mi się nóż w kieszeni otwiera. Serio, koleś ogarnia działanie różnych broni w kilka minut, ale w starciu z nasypaniem ziaren do ekspresu przegrywa na starcie.
Z jednej strony komiks ma niesamowicie przyjemną kreskę, z drugiej uroczy banter między postaciami i na poziomie banteru trzyma się to kupy. Z trzeciej fabuła próbuje mieć nawet jako taki sens, ale już jej wykonanie leży. Z czwartej komiks próbuje chwilami w patos, który ni chuja nie wychodzi, z piątej Toney'emu psuje się zbroja co 5 paneli, z szóstej ktoś próbował zrobić dysfunkcyjny team, a wychodzi team nieudaczników i to najbardziej zgrzyta. Bo to grupa dość ogarniętych fachowców jest, mogą nie działać razem, ale oni nie działają w ogóle. Był pomysł, ale coś bardzo, bardzo nie wyszło w wykonaniu. Pojedyncze panele bawiły mnie bardzo, jako całość wypada blado. Widzę jakie miało być przesłanie, tylko no, ono kompletnie nie działa.
A no i płaczę jak komiks usilnie usiłuje zrobić że Steve'a, cytując Logana, jedynego człowieka, który nie zabijał podczas II wojny światowej, pana czyściutkie sumienie, po to, by we flashbackach pokazać nam, jak wrzuca pas granatów do samolotu wroga.

[Brent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally found a copy after 10 years, and the story by is a sort of timeless Avengers fight. Ellis excels at thrillers, just, oy... .... ... Love the art by McKone. Read twice in a three week period, reading the little Introduction by Clark Gregg: did not realize he was our age, reading 1970s Marvel too. Slight but successful, with less than memorable eldritch villains who look cool and ugly thanks to McKone. Scripted and artist visually refer to 1960s Jack Kirby villains the Sleepers who awake from WW2.
Mild recommendation: thanks to Ollie's for the remaindered copy.

[R J Royer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am amazed by how much I loved this book. It showed that history follows everyone.

[Andrew Sorrentino · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the hardcover presentation. I like the glossy pages. Story’s so-so. Art’s okay.

[Michael E. · Rating 4 out of 5]

(originally posted at http://bairdduvessa.blogspot.com/2013...)

I am not sure how to review this book, I normally do not review comics or graphic novels as a matter of principle. When I do, I usually just send a tweet, using my notorious short sentences.
I forget when I first discovered Warren Ellis, it was probably when I was a teenager when he was writing other Marvel Super Hero books, but I learned to love him when he wrote Nextwave, and the various blogs he was appearing on that I had been subscribed to.
His first novel Crooked Little Vein, is one of my all time favorite novels, one of the few that I reread every few years (which explains the poor condition of my copy).
Never mind my love for FreakAngels, and the (as of yet to be completed) Doktor Sleepless; I get a sort of geek mind boner* whenever he puts out new material.
The fact that in the preview art of this book had Wolverine wearing a FreakAngel shirt made me giddy with glee.

So today since I could not work due to a loss of voice, I wandered into my LCS and saw this book by the register; it was a must buy.

I went in having high hopes of patented Ellis "weirdness", but instead got a pretty much straight by the number story.

Not that it was bad mind you, it is still Warren Ellis, people argue humorously, bio mechanisms play a part of the weirdness perfectly. Thor doesn't say "Tho" It has almost everything you can have of Ellis other than a drug addled, manic person yelling obscenities.

It reads beautifully, the art is beautiful; but it felt, well short.

I know, I know, anyone who has read Vein, or Gun Machine know that his books are not exactly "long", but for a story like this, it felt like there could be more. Just as things start to get interesting, it jumped to a climax and I was left feeling that I was missing something.

For that reason and that alone I knocked it to a 4 star rating compared with a 5 star (based off of Good Reads rating system). It is a wonderful start to Marvel's knew Graphic Novel program, just enough in continuity and just enough outside it for casual readers to be able to read it.

Sure being a continuity nerd (even comics I don't read), I had a few moments of silent mumbling, but overall they didn't affect the stories at all.

If you are a comic fan, or a fan of The Avengers (the movie that is) then you should check this book out.

If you are a fan of Warren Ellis, this could be a cool intro to him; but if you've been reading him for years then you can skip it. Although you really shouldn't.




*for lack of a better term

[***Dave Hill · Rating 3 out of 5]

This Warren Ellis one-shot outing with the Avengers reminds me a lot of Grant Morrison's run on the JLA, many moons ago: lots of big concepts, characters acting askew, sturm und drang,, and, in the end a lot of head scratching.

First things first, it's clear the Avengers here are the cinematic version, rather than from any normal continuity. They're joined by Wolverine and Carol Danvers' Captain Marvel -- who, honestly, serve more to provide more bickering byplay than advance the story.

Ellis' characterizations are all over the map. Cap is the super-soldier out of time, rightly enough, and Black Widow is snarky but competent, and Tony Stark is a pathetic but brilliant source of endless irksomeness. Bruce Banner (and the Hulk), once they appear, also ring true to the movie. Thor bombasts a lot, but seems more a sidebar to the team than a member.

Wolverine's appearance here is as the anti-Cap -- the soldier who kills, and who bitterly resents being looked down on for it. Captain Marvel gets off some snark, blows some things up, and gets to be anal about military procedure. Hawkeye is along as comic relief, disdained by everyone for his general incompetence and low power level (even with a few day-savers along the way).

Throw in some evil Nazi Magic Tech from World War II, now apparently being acquired by SHIELD as a failsafe against the Avengers, and things get ... well, a bit confusing, and a lot dark, and nothing I'd want to see on the screen, nor (despite some superficial similarities to his Secret Avengers run) in comics.

I liked it. I'll probably keep it and reread it, but it's not Ellis at his best, nor is McKone's art anywhere near where he can go, and it really deserves (for its length) a lower price. There is a cute intro by Clark Gregg at the beginning, which is fun.

Entertaining, to a degree, but also disappointing. I liked it, despite its flaws.

[Michael J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun read, but I had much higher expectations considering that Warren Ellis wrote this.
I'm guessing Mike McKone was selected for artist based on his ability to convey various facial expressions, which he's admittedly good at. However, his action scenes are flat and the overall art just doesn't look very good.
This was the first of a planned series of original graphic novels released straight to expensive hardcover, and also an effort to blend the cinematic Marvel universe into the comics to appeal to a broader audience. Maybe Ellis was tripped up by that theme, as this seems to be noticeably absent of his usual social commentary and deep plot threads/conspiracies. There are some subtle messages woven in regarding war, the military/industrial complex, etc - - but as I said, subtle. Not the usual Ellis style.
However, this is an entertaining and engaging read with quite a bit of humor within. Stark is arrogant and vain, a la Robert Downey Jr.'s take on Iron Man. Thor is conflicted between his human and godlike sides. Cap is a bit too wooden here. Hawkeye is depicted as clownish, and the other members berate him - especially Stark who hints at Clint Barton's weak circus skills and sloppy drunk nature. Bruce Banner/Hulk shows up, not wanting to call on his green monstrous side, but he can't help himself.
The story centers around a WWII Nazi robot weapon that Cap didn't entirely eliminate back in the day and a tree-like tentacled monster threat that Thor didn't entirely eliminate back in the day. The two get merged thanks to an upstart weapons manufacturer who then can't control them. Off we go.

[Mely]

Not sure what to say about this; there are good bits, but the ultimate impression is mediocre. Possibly it's because the fight scenes bored me. A monster made of monsters and artifacts that Cap and Thor left behind has appeared in not!Afghanistan, and the Avengers need to put it down before it kills more people. It's an unofficial mission, because the US is currently aiding the resistance to not!Afghanistan's government-by-coup. It seems at first like this is going to be a much bigger plotline than it turns out to be. If there's a throughline here, it's Steve Rogers' alienation from the present day, his sense of being a ghost or a relic; and perhaps only belonging to an endless war he does not believe is endless. Ellis has to twist characters around to make his point -- not Rogers' paradoxical soldierly devotion to peace (while acting in a war), which is well-established -- but the character that suddenly becomes a mouthpiece for the Theme of Endless Wartime in the final few pages. It would have worked better as Natasha Romanov.

Eh. There are a lot of pieces that could have come together to make a powerful story, but they don't. It feels too short. It probably would have worked better with more length and more devotion to character interaction (and less to establishing background for the plot).

Artwork is fine as long as there aren't women in the scene. It's not the worst superhero objectification I've seen, but it could be better. It's the kind of story that would work for Butch Guice or Michael Lark, now that I think about it.

[Cale · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not a big Marvel reader, but I do enjoy the Marvel movies, and I love Warren Ellis, so I decided to try this out. It's okay; the writing itself is wonderful, and the dialog especially in the earlier portions is great and I heard much of it in the movie actors' voices. The plot isn't as strong - incomplete actions in Captain America's and Thor's histories lead to armored alien Nazi drones run by a Haliburton security force... It doesn't really feel like it fits in the world. And the action itself isn't very strong either; the artwork makes much of it confusing. That being said, the subtext and undertones of the story do play out pretty clearly, and the challenges facing Bruce Banner parallel the drones to some extent. It's a decent book, but it's not something I'm going to be handing to people who love the movies but don't read comics; it's not the entry point I get the feeling it was intended to be.

[Sylvia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Acho que eu nunca li uma HQ tão sem identidade - serial ou graphic novel. Não é RUIM, mas nada se destaca. Nem a arte, nem a caracterização dos personagens, nem o enredo ou o roteiro. É tudo seguro e normal, exatamente o que se esperaria de uma historinha de super-herói - o que é um completo desperdício, considerando que teoricamente é uma graphic novel e o escritor e os artistas teriam mais liberdade do que se estivessem assinando um título periódico. Me pareceu mais como se tivessem pegado o filme que gostariam de ter feito e aplicado no formato de quadrinhos.
Falando em filmes, eu tiraria uma estrela por colocarem o Wolverine num uniforme preto e sem personalidade igual àquele dos filmes, mas essa história é sem graça demais para receber só uma estrela. Sério, se não querem que ele use aquela fantasia amarelona, pelo menos tentassem adaptar, ou colocassem a jaqueta de couro. Mas por alguma razão acharam dar um control c control v na Viúva Negra uma boa ideia.