Avengers: Back to Basics

Avengers: Back to Basics #1-6

by Peter David

FIRST TIME IN PRINT! Legendary writer Peter David takes Earth's Mightiest Heroes back to basics - beginning with a terrifying tale of Ragnarok! It could be the end for Thor, Iron Man, the Hulk and the rest of the team, courtesy of the sun-swallowing Fenris Wolf! Only the Avengers can stand in the way of a Norse prophecy of doom! Then, there's double trouble when a Captain Marvel impostor rewrites reality - and our heroes fi nd themselves stuck in an alternate universe! Everything is turned upside down again when Kamala "Ms. Marvel" Khan is thrown into the past and becomes...an original Avenger! But the stakes turn personal when someone close to Kamala gets hurt. With the future (present?) in the balance, Ms. Marvel must face down one of the Avengers' deadliest foes!

COLLECTING: AVENGERS: BACK TO BASICS 1-6

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

136 pages, Paperback

Published August 21, 2018

About the author

aka David Peters

Peter Allen David, often abbreviated PAD, was an American writer of comic books, novels, television, films, and video games. His notable comic book work includes an award-winning 12-year run on The Incredible Hulk, as well as runs on Aquaman, Young Justice, SpyBoy, Supergirl, Fallen Angel, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2099, Captain Marvel, and X-Factor.
His Star Trek work included comic books and novels such as the New Frontier book series. His other novels included film adaptations, media tie-ins, and original works, such as the Apropos of Nothing and Knight Life series. His television work includes series such as Babylon 5, Young Justice, Ben 10: Alien Force and Nickelodeon's Space Cases, which he co-created with Bill Mumy.
David often jokingly described his occupation as "Writer of Stuff", and he was noted for his prolific writing, characterized by its mingling of real-world issues with humor and references to popular culture, as well as elements of metafiction and self-reference.
David earned multiple awards for his work, including a 1992 Eisner Award, a 1993 Wizard Fan Award, a 1996 Haxtur Award, a 2007 Julie Award and a 2011 GLAAD Media Award.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some standards Avengers fare. I honestly expect a bit more from Peter David. The framing device is Ms. Marvel gets access to some VR that tells old Avengers stories.

There's some continuity gaffes for long time Marvel readers. Such as they flashback to Coral Danvers being around for Infinity War but she was running around space with the Starjammers as Binary at the time and had lost all her memories. The artist also shows Groot and Rocket Raccoon being there even though the Guardians of the Galaxy in 1992 was actually set in the year 3000 with a completely different team. The current version of the Guardians didn't exist until Dan Abnett created them in the mid 2000's. This feels a bit like it was geared for younger readers so I guess the editor didn't think kids would notice.

[Chelsea 🏳️‍🌈 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally finished the rest of the volume! This is a cute story. One of my favorite things about Kamala Khan is that she's such an Avengers fangirl. She studies everything she can on their history and gets inspired by their acts of heroism. I think it was such a cool idea to give her the ability to sort of live out the Avengers' experiences.

The tone of this book is interesting. There are some heartfelt moments and quite a few little humorous moments. I liked seeing the Avengers in their old costumes making fun of themselves.

The art is wonderful! Honestly, that may be my favorite part.

At times, I didn't love the characterization of some of the characters. The issue with Pepper was a little odd to me but, for the most part, this was an enjoyable read.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yep, pretty basic but I don’t regret cracking the cover on this harmless time-waster. Kamala Khan is good fun in any era!

[Will Robinson Jr. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Veteran marvel writer Peter David takes us for a blast from the past ride with the Avengers. Overall I felt the book was solid though the art could have been better on the latter issues. it was fun to see David use the new generation hero Ms. Marvel aka Kamala Khan and showcase why the Avengers comcept has endured. In this story Kamala is us the fan going on adventures with earth's mightiest heroes. This book really has no effect on continuity but works as a great introduction to who the original Avengers are and why they are so important to the marvel universe. I read this quickly at my local library and was entertained. overall this story had alot of old school charm one finds in a Saturday morning cartoon.

[Justin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I grabbed this on a whim at the library without realizing what it is, figuring Peter David's reliable enough to take a look. The book (if I understand correctly) comes from a digital-original series. It's scattered. The three two-issue series sort of fit together as one large tale, the last of which is rushed and semi-coherent at best (I tend to really like or really not like time travel stuff). It's a very minor side tale that *maybe* suits Kamala Khan fans. The Goodreads community seems to like it more than I do, so I may be off, but I think it also skews toward Marvel's younger readers.

[Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This comic didn't have a lot to it and a few parts made me cringe, but for the most part it was entertaining to read so I really sped through all six issues.

Personally my favorite out of the three short arcs included was the one that started during Avengers #3 and continued from there. Some of the more ridiculous aspects of the '60s Avengers were lightly teased, and it's enjoyable being able to recognize pieces from those original issues now that I've finally read some of them.

[Marielle Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was really weird but the narrative explains why. Everything with Tony was great and the dialogue made me chuckle.

[Jared · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think the best way to describe this is...all over the place.

There's basically three stories, each about two issues, all seen from the eyes of Kamala Khan/Ms Marvel. The first two are mostly just fun, fluffy team-up stories -- nothing offensive, but outside of a fun sequence where the Avengers are put in some of their, well, less-than-classic costumes, they're kind of forgettable. The third story, where Kamala is actually sent back in time and became part of the Avengers from the very beginning -- that's really the story that should have been told from the beginning. That's a good hook, and what happens there is actually pretty interesting...but it's only about forty pages, is rushed all to hell, and just sticks out like a sore thumb.

So ultimately, it's not bad per se...but I'd really only recommend it if you have Comixology/Marvel Unlimited or you see the trade of it for cheap.

[Rocky Sunico · Rating 4 out of 5]

This comic is billed as an Avengers adventure, and for the most part, this is true. But the story has to reflect more the more recent incarnation of the team that ties directly to newer heroes like the new Ms. Marvel, Kamala Khan. It mainly plays out as a sort of clip show of past Avengers adventures that Ms. Marvel gets to re-experience with the super VR visor provided to her by the Vision as a training tool. Thus we get some interesting iterations of the Avengers facing various threats presented in a tone that is rather light and humorous at times. Still, there's a bit of a meta-story driving the adventure beyond the adventures in the past including actual time travel complications. It's a good adventure that has fun with all the explorations of the past while giving things fresh Ms. Marvel spin at the same time.

[Beelzefuzz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do not like the throw back/retelling comics from Marvel in the last few years, but this is different It does reference old things, but is not trying to recreate them so much as revisit them briefly and imaginatively in a new story. Ms. Marvel, Kamala Khan, is viewing these stories or participating in them in a fun time travel way. Overall it is trite and pointless, but not boring and offensive as I had anticipated.
If you love Peter David, he is not flexing many of his old muscles here. Easily passable overall.

[Memphis Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peter David perfectly bridges the fifty year gap between the Stan Lee/Jack Kirby era Avengers and modern day Kamala Khan aka Ms. Marvel. If you've read the first ten or so Avengers comics from back in the day as well as G. Willow Wilson's terrific run creating Kamala this will be very enjoyable.

Even if you haven't, it's still pretty great! Highly recommended.

p.s. I found the artwork and colors very striking and unique and yet perfectly coherent with the old Jack Kirby comics. Good work Brian Level, Juanan Ramírez, Jordan Boyd, and Erick Arciniega!

[Brevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peter David crafts a really fun but also very quirky story about the young Kamala Khan witnessing the adventures of the original Avengers through her VR equipment. Eventually she gets sucked into this virtual world where she gets to fight alongside these Avengers in their epic battles that lead to her facing off against Thor, Giant Man and Tony Stark along with many great and fun interactions throughout the story.

There are some great moments with Pepper Potts and some big shocking twist and turns throughout that help to pull you right into this series

[Kai Charles(Fiction State Of Mind) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a little rocky in the beginning but I enjoyed the middle and end. Ms. Marvel is given a special headset that lets her relive some of the Avengers earliest missions. She is enjoying the experience until she actually travels into the stories. No Kamala is trying to undo potential harm to the past and get back to her future. I enjoyed the art and the awkward situations Kamala finds her self in while working with Avengers of the past

[Craig Powell · Rating 2 out of 5]

For some reason this just did not connect with me. I appreciate what they were trying to do with telling some of the history and back story but I think straight up reprints would have been preferred to this. It felt inconsistent and I am not sure that telling the story thru the eyes of the new Ms. Marvel worked for me. I like the character it just did not work for me here.

[Villain E · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ms. Marvel gets a set of VR goggles which lets her watch past adventures of the Avengers. We get a couple random Avengers stories that I'm pretty sure don't fit into continuity. Then Ms. Marvel actually travels back in time to a real moment in Avengers history and makes a mess of the timestream.

The art and writing were fine.

[Daniel Butcher · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not fully what it says as much of it is new artists reviewing old material.

I like the idea of Ms. Marvel joining the original Avengers and her handing with these versions but I want to see more of it.

[Laura Lawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

So crazy! A great way to revisit old stories and some weird hints to the (possible?) future. Kamala Khan is the best!!!

[Daniel DeLappe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. Cool storyline. The art was fantastic

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story, but a bit weird to see these characters with different faces than I was used to seeing them.

[RIVVV · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very cool - i missed these comics

[Brent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Big fun, as Peter David adds Khamela Khan/ Ms. Marvel to the 1960s Marvel backstory... and, rereading, still big fun.
Recommended. Thanks, public library.

[Alex Sarll]

Kamala Khan has a VR device which enables her to look back at past versions of the Avengers, except it's not really clear for the first two stories quite where in their past these would fit, and while David brings some of the same snark to the dialogue which made his X-Factor so lively, here it feels a little forced and characterless. The third story is much more solid, both in terms of its placement and its characterisation, but still runs through some fairly tired time travel tropes and begs more than a few questions. Inoffensive, but inessential.