Avengers by Jonathan Hickman Omnibus, Vol. 1

Avengers by Jonathan Hickman Omnibus #1

by Jonathan Hickman

Modern visionary Jonathan Hickman begins his Marvel magnum opus! As threats to Earth mount, the Avengers expand! But even the mightiest roster of all may be powerless in the face of what’s coming! And while Iron Man and Captain America assemble their Avengers World and strive to decipher the meaning of the White Event, Tony Stark secretly tries to solve the biggest crisis of all, along with his influential allies the Illuminati! While they seek to prevent the collapse of reality itself, the Avengers face a war on two fronts! Protecting Earth from the Builders may only hand it to…Thanos!

COLLECTING: Avengers (2012) 1-23, New Avengers (2013) 1-12, Free Comic Book Day 2013 (Infinity) 1, Infinity (2013) 1-6, Infinity: Against the Tide Infinite Comic (2013) 1-2, Astonishing Tales: Mojoworld (2008) 1-6, material from Shang-Chi: Master of Kung Fu (2009) 1

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Graphic Novels Comics, Comics Manga, Fiction, Fantasy

1192 pages, Hardcover

First published November 27, 2013

About the author

Jonathan Hickman is an American comic book writer and artist. He is known for creating the Image Comics series The Nightly News, The Manhattan Projects and East of West, as well as working on Marvel Comics' Fantastic Four, FF, and S.H.I.E.L.D. titles. In 2012, Hickman ended his run on the Fantastic Four titles to write The Avengers and The New Avengers, as part the "Marvel NOW!" relaunch. In 2013, Hickman wrote a six-part miniseries, Infinity, plus Avengers tie-ins for Marvel Comics. In 2015, he wrote the crossover event Secret Wars. - Wikipedia

Reviews

[The Lion's Share · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hickman has written the best Avengers series and fantastic four imo.

Great to reread these.

[Bram Ryckaert · Rating 4 out of 5]

The way Hickman weaves different plots together is impressive and is on the same level as his Fantastic Four run, but there's something important missing here that FF did have: more characterization and character dynamics for the main cast. Even though there was a lot going on in his FF already, there was still enough focus on the members of the team and how they interacted with eachother. Hickman's run was my first FF story and I understood immediately why the team had been a Marvel staple for decades, since there's so much in the dynamics to mine. You have Ben feeling like an outsider on top of his appearance, Reed shutting himself off for long stretches (no pun intended) of time, Susan feeling the need to hold everything together... There's a family dynamic there and in Avengers that's mostly gone. I expected this because it's a team book (x2) and you have even more characters to juggle, but there are only a few characters so far that I feel get explored enough. Namor and Black Panther definitely have the best dynamic and it's a reason why New Avengers wins out over the other series. T'Challa not only struggles with Namor, but is also losing support from his own people and that's an interesting development to see unfold. But... it's not even the worst thing he has to worry about. I love the Incursions as a concept, it does feel grand as a threat, hope this makes it into the MCU one day. Captain America is also pretty much a boss throughout this. All of his plans regarding the Builders just work and he's just rolling from victory to victory.

In the beginning of the book we got some backstory to characters like Smasher and Hyperion and I thought Hickman would continue to flesh the cast out more like this, but some team members have little development or moments here, like Spider-Woman or Shang Chi. There are also times where I felt like I was back reading War of Kings, with space battles that go on for too long. There were so many moving pieces that I missed some issues that are more character-focused.

[Etienne · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,5/5. This sure was an epic level of comic book story! A solid intrigue and storyline. Tons of characters!! From the greatest heroes to the baddest villains there is. The arts was also great! I read it because I've heard that this was one of the greatest Avengers series/run of all time and... even if I was skeptical at first, I've got to admit so far, after reading half of the entire series/run, they were right! If you love the Avengers, or even the Marvel universe at large, you should definitely think about giving this one a go!

[Rumi Bossche · Rating 4 out of 5]

Epic comic book story telling. It starts pretty complicated like any Hickman book but is getting better and better. Hickman is good with his characters, seeing Namor and Black Panther battling one another verbaly was a delight, and all the Iluminati stuff i dig so much. A book with alot of groups and characters and Hickman makes it work.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jonathan Hickman's Avengers run is probably the best Avengers run ever. That's in part because it's the most expansive Avengers storyline ever, with the most expansive Avengers team, but it's also because this is a science-fiction masterpiece, going far beyond the typical tropes of superhero comics.

This first volume has three interleaving parts to it. First, we get the Builders and their minions, who believe they can remake the galaxy as they fit. Second, we have the Incursions, which are threatening to destroy the multiverse. And third, just as these two problems come together in Infinity, we have Thanos invading Earth. These three plotlines are masterfully balanced in this volume, keeping everything lively and moving forward at a sizzling pace.

(In fact, the way that this collection is structured is one of its strengths, because everything is carefully organized to maximize the storytelling, especially Infinity itself, which is so wonderfully organized that you can barely tell where the original issues were. More generally, this is the first-ever *good* collection of Hickman's run, because in the trade paperbacks there was some overlap of issues appearing in multiple volumes in the run-up to the Infinity volume.)

The best part of this massive volume is that it's just the first-half of the story. Hickman hints at some of the secrets still coming for his new view of the Marvel universe and multiverse, but we'll have to wait until V2 to learn more.

[Jameson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely great storytelling. Some of the best marvel stuff I’ve read with large ideas and culminating of years of setup. Solid character work too. Loved the new avengers stuff and the moral questions it brought about.

[Shelby Fielding · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have longed to read the famed Hickman event story that comics authority, Douglas Wolk, called a "bitter, grim, tightly focused on loss and human cost." And it is, most definitely, but it is also a book that starts and stops and stalls and thwarts its better ambitions when blended together. Perhaps it's the fault of the editors involved in this omnibus edition, versus that of a floppy-shaped story spanning fifty issues; yet, I still think the fatal flaw of comics' necessity for expansion is found at the core of this story. It's high-tide sci-fi that at its best is lean, mean, and determined to answer the question of what happens when the world's most powerful heroes face an unwinnable dilemma. At its worst, it's a slow, stumbling mess that often loses momentum for re-contextualization of a narrative too big to maintain such tension. Perhaps it is just the method I chose, or the natural arc of a long-time reader of comics finally railing against the methodology of event-comics, but this story left me a little raw. Wonderfully crafted, I admit, but too much of this comic is thwarting its own pace for background information.

[Carlos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Epic. Huge. Mammoth. Gargantuan. Enormous. Vast. Expansive. Humongous. Tremendous. Colossal. Immense...

And immensely satisfying.

During this Covid quarantine I began a chronological Marvel read through from the Bendis era to the Hickman era, mainly including just the titles that interest me. But of course one has to read the flagship New Avengers and Avengers books.

Fresh off Hickman's fantastic Fantastic Four run, it was Avengers time. Bendis' run on this title started strong, dipped, peaked again and then dipped further. But perhaps one of the most intriguing aspects of that run was the formation of the Illuminati. It was a grouping of characters that begged for large philosophical and moral questions. And Hickman knew it.

You HAVE to read this run in omnibus format, properly mapped out in the intended reading order. Hickman builds his world, mythologies and inter-weaving plots as if he's constructing an epic fantasy series of novels. It is incredibly impressive in what could otherwise have been a bog standard "superheroes in spandex" romp.

The first half of this epic series that will eventually lead to Secret Wars, is heavy on plot and subplots. It perhaps lacks some of the delicate character moments of his FF run, but that will come later. He's banking on the reader being familiar with the core players, but still manages to give concise character building moments to the new faces. And I instantly cared for all of them.
He has created such an intriguing web of stories here that will collide in devastating fashion. It is equal parts epic sci fi space opera and epic fantasy.

Black Panther and Namor and all of the political and geo-political implications of their complex relationship is fascinating. Captain America is an absolute boss and his friendship with Thor and Tony is the heart of the core team.
And surprisingly, Black Bolt, king of the Inhumans is one of the most interesting characters to come out of this series for me. An absolute badass... Who doesn't waste words.

An enthralling ride!

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun book to read although it strongly, strongly, STRONGLY reminded me of elements of DC's Infinite Crises on Infinite Earths, especially the 'basic' plot, especially as I missed various individual issues and thus had gaps in my comic collection I have never taken the time to fill. I enjoyed the "sci-fi" aspects of the narrative, how it alternated between events on Earth and elsewhere. I also liked the various team dynamics - the Avengers as a team and concept expanded to much larger than its "usual" ["historical"] six-person to seven-person roster. I thought it had some good character development for "new" characters in the beginning of the story, and it had smaller moments of development for more established characters over the course of the story. It has a lot of action in it; it has elements of "horror" in it [well, what I consider "horrific" in nature, anyway], and I "loved" how the omnibus interweaves the New Avengers storyline amidst the Avengers issues to let you know approximately when the one story is taking place in relation to the other.

The artwork is spotty, in my opinion. Artwork can truly make-or-break, even ruin, a story. Some of the art in this omnibus I loved and thought was excellent; some of it was meh, and some of it I did not care for. I do recognize that these men and women are doing something I cannot do, but I also know what I like and do not like. There are times I wish books could have just one team of writers and artists over the course of the author's story arc [regardless of how many issues it might last] to give a book/story better continuity; this was one of those times. I think a single artist [well, a single artist for each “book” – one for the New Avengers and one for the Avengers] would have made for a better overall story-flow. That being said, there were some amazing images throughout the story [and some pretty awesome covers, too].

I have always loved the Avengers and felt they were Marvel's premier team, personally, and have always chosen them over the X-Men and Fantastic Four [although the FF was right up there with the Avengers], so when Bendis took over the Avengers I felt like, in some respects, he definitely raised the bar and elevated the Avengers to a whole new level. I felt like Hickman took what Bendis did and pushed that bar higher. There are elements of humor [some if it kinda "inside" for long-term readers and collectors and some of it for newcomers to the comic], elements of grief, elements of surprise and majesty, and there are definitely elements of horror could anybody truly have foreseen Reed Richards or Tony Stark or even Hank McCoy being a part of a group of individuals who are willing to destroy alternate Earths in order to save their own planet? Who would be willing to take lives to save those on Earth? Who are willing to destroy entire universes to save one? I cannot fathom making decisions on that scale, where untold numbers of lives are extinguished because of their actions, their decisions. Yet, they do not appear to truly be wrestling with their acts of mass murder and genocide.

. There were powerful moments, as well, be it in what I felt were “iconic moments” as well as comments made between individuals. One powerful moment when T'Challa pauses before destroying a universe; when prodded about why he is taking so long, he answers, "I am remembering what I once was." Another was when Thor went to Hala’s surface by himself to “surrender” and ends up inspiring an insurrection against Hala’s conqueror(s). I also liked how, after Captain’s Marvel and America talked down the moment to Manifold, about how the upcoming battle was “just another day”, Thor takes Manifold aside and corrects the two good Captains by speaking to Manifold about destiny and being born for just a moment like this. It was kinda corny, yes, but it was still powerful. I also liked the look that Captain Marvel and Captain America give each other on Gladiator’s flagship after Gladiator starts talking defeat – it was super-intense and charged with emotion(s). Captain America, obviously, never gives up and is willing to fight until the last breath has been squeezed from his body; he inspires galactic empires to continue to resist and rally under “his” banner. This is not to say there are not also cheesy moments, too. Like how all of the world’s freed from the tyranny of the builders and creators and engineers are all raising “Avengers” flags and the worlds are declared to be an “Avengers World.” The first time I read that, I was, “Whoah! That is SO cool!” This time around, it make me smirk a bit. It was still cool to read and see [especially Hawkeye shooting arrows with the Alpha Centaurians], but still a little cheesy, too.

It is funny – sometimes you cannot help but compare DC with Marvel and “who did it better?” As I said earlier, this story really, strongly reminded me of the whole Infinite Crises on Infinite Earths storyline DC did back in the mid- to late-80s, where they supposedly combined all of their different parallel universes down into “just one universe” [never mind that some parallel universes still kept popping up after that point]. It has been years since I read that storyline, but I do remember that heroes from parallel universes were being banded together to try and save all of them from being destroyed. I guess it also reminds me of an “expanded version” of the JLA/Avengers crossover event, too, now that I think about it [i.e. – parallel universes being destroyed]. In this story’s case, “our” Earth is “Earth-Prime” and some kind of “breakdown” in the multiversal structure is causing Earths of different realities to have what are called “Incursion Events” and universes are being destroyed as a result. However, if the planet Earth is destroyed in each reality, then that reality’s universe will be saved. Very strange concept, there. I am not sure why that is the case, but apparently as long as Earth is NOT destroyed during an incursion event, that universe survives.

Hyperion appears in this narrative, too. Different variations of him have popped up throughout Marvel’s long history, but this one manages to survive an “Incursion Event” by momentarily being trapped between two dead universes before some A.I.M. scientists bring him into ‘this’ reality. He is Marvel’s answer to Superman, of course, and it is fun to “see” the interactions between him and Thor. I liked how Thor took Hyperion “under his wing” and helped Hyperion feel welcome in this ‘new’ universe.

One other thing really stood out to me in comparing DC with Marvel was when Doctor Strange removed Cap’s memory from him after Captain America said he would oppose the Illuminati in any future attempts to destroy more worlds during future “Incursion Events.” It reminded me, in some ways, of when the JLA removed Batman’s memory after removing Doctor Light’s memory in the Identity Crisis mini-series. Granted, Doctor Light was a villain and had discovered the identities of various JLA members, but Batman was opposed to anybody’s mind being tampered with. When he tried to prevent Light’s memory from being erased, he was “knocked” unconscious and his memory of the event erased as well. This betrayal of trust and violation of Batman’s mind would cause a schism to occur in the JLA further down the road, and such a schism also occurs “further down the road” for the Avengers, as well [from what I remember from reading the issues of the two respective series that followed “this” storyline]. Now, as to who ‘did it better?’, I would say that is more of a personal opinion. I just noticed some things where I thought Marvel was “ripping off” from DC to tell their story and, while I did think DC did do it ‘better’ in some respects where they converged their multiverse into “one” universe, I did think Marvel did a ‘slicker job’ in telling their story and how it went about being told. I mean, supposedly Marvel got rid of all of their alternate universes/realities just as DC did, but DC ended up bringing their multiverse back AND that does not mean more universes “are being created” with each decision being made after this series [or, the entire narrative] by Marvel is over.

The interstellar “stuff” reminded me a lot of the Annihilation storylines and, just as I loved those two epic omnibuses, I also loved seeing aspects of those stories in this storyline. However, instead of it being the Guardians of the Galaxy and former Heralds of Galactus joining with the Galactic Empires to halt both the Annihilation Wave and Ultron “Event”, it was the Avengers leading the way [which was SO cool!]. I also loved the “moment” [during the lifting of the siege of Earth] when Guardian, Kl’rt, Ronan, and Annihilus all fight Black Dwarf – there are a couple of epic moments in that fight, and then you have Ronan kill Black Dwarf with his hammer! It was definitely an epic fight amidst numerous epic “personal” battles throughout the entire omnibus [and the Infinite series].

I always liked it when the Avengers went “Galactic” – like the original Kree-Skrull War, then the Avengers and the Fantastic Four got involved with the Skrulls in Avengers 355 – 367ish [and the annuals for both series that year]. You had the Avengers teaming up with the Thing, the original Captain Mar-Vell, and Spider-Man to defeat Thanos. Then there was the Kree-Shi’ar War, followed by a few other galactic events after that. Hickman’s story was a sort of crème de la crème for these “Galactic Stories” involving the Avengers; I loved it!

I still remember the shock I felt when I read about the Illuminati destroying alternate worlds [and universes] in order to spare the Earth and the “Prime Universe.” This was a crazy idea, as the heroes have generally always been able to save “the world” or even “the universe” before, even if by the narrowest of margins. Hickman ups the ante by having some “celestial engine” of sorts being broken, which is causing a chain reaction in which the various universes are being destroyed [either mutually destroyed when both Earths are destroyed during an Incursion Event or one Earth is destroyed and that Earth’s universe is either destroyed or “cut off/saved” with the destruction of that Earth]. Black Swan tells the Illuminati that the death of “this” Earth’s Universe is inexorable and that they cannot fight it; they see themselves as having been ‘fortunate’ that the majority of the Incursion Events they have encountered have self-resolved themselves [usually the other Earth is somehow destroyed]. Ultimately, though, the Illuminati “finds” itself destroying multiple Earths to save the -616 Earth. It was and is a horrific idea; the “fact” that these heroes are able to justify their decision(s) and the subsequent deaths with such appalling ease is even more horrifying. It will be “interesting” to find out how Marvel eventually redeems these heroes and their actions, over time [as will no doubt surely happen].

It was a crazy, wild, fun, horrific ride, reading these stories in this Omnibus. There were a couple of “add-on” stories at the very end that I could have left; I was not sure if they were just “freebies” or were supposed to somehow tie into the stories in the Omnibus overall. I had already read the issues of the Infinite storyline prior to reading this, so those were familiar stories to me and not necessarily ‘new’. Regardless, I did enjoy reading ALL of the issues in both series [Avengers and New Avengers] and thereby gaining a better idea of what was going on. I am looking forward to reading the second Omnibus and seeing how everything is resolved.

[Omnibuster · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you love high concept stories, lots of characters, science fiction, and cosmic sagas, then you will love Hickman’s Avengers!

This particular Omni also has the Infinity storyline, so you don’t need to buy that book.

While not required to understand this story, you will want to go back and read Hickman’s runs on Secret Warriors, Shield, and Fantastic Four.

[Jon Levesque · Rating 5 out of 5]

Epic in scope. Hickman’s planning and payoff was spectacular. Just fantastic and I can’t wait for part two to arrive.

[Fahad Ahmed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now this was a reread I was looking forward to! Jonathan Hickman is one of my favorite comic writers, and when I read his Avengers run back in the day, I thought it was his masterpiece. Revisiting it in 2023, I'm seeing it with a more critical eye, as well as having the benefit of reading his Fantastic Four and X-Men runs. Don't worry, though, this review is still totally for people wanting to read this for the first time!

Hickman's story unfolds across two titles, Avengers and New Avengers, and throughout the first volume of the omnibus, they stay relatively separate from each other. Avengers is the book that feels the most similar to his F4 work: Steve Rogers and Tony Stark decide to expand the crap out of the team, and with good timing, as they encounter Ex Nihilo and Abyss right after. The duo hits Earth with bombs that 'evolve' life on Earth while also sort of turning the planet into a living creature. This leads to a bunch of slow burn mysteries - who and what are Ex Nihilo and Abyss, what's the deal with the Builder robots they were working with, why is AIM interested in the evolution of planet and so on.

New Avengers, on the other hand, hits you with a crisis right out of the gate: EVERYTHING DIES! Universes are getting destroyed in incursions, and it's up to the Illuminati to stop them, and this storyline is why everyone loves Hickman's Avengers. The Illuminati happens to be composed of the biggest egos in the Marvel universe, though Steve is around to theoretically center them. They still decide to destroy worlds until they figure out a better solution, so Steve clearly isn't getting his way. There are mysteries here too, namely the cause of the incursions and the mysterious Black Swan, and the Illuminati is marred by infighting and secrets, and all this will leave you wondering why you'd ever read anything else.

That was a bit of a problem for me.

I don't mind a slow burn narrative, and I was intrigued by the Builders plot in Avengers, but it's kinda hard to care about it when the story in New Avengers is so much more exciting. I also thought expanding the team wasn't a great idea: it's hard to write team books even when the teams are smaller, but with the newer and bigger squad, there's no room for characters to shine. Looking at things in hindsight, Hickman faced similar problems in his X-Men run, with too many characters and not enough time to focus on any of them. Of course, X-Men didn't share an omnibus with a way more exciting title, so that helped.

Another problem with the Avengers storyline is that, unlike any of the plots that were set up in the early issues of F4, the Builders storyline seems to come crashing to an end in the Infinity event that plays the omnibus out. This is a strangely fast turnaround for a Hickman book, and it feels a little unsatisfying. But let's talk about Infinity some more.

The first big event of Hickman's Avengers run hasn't aged well in the fanbase, but I think half of it was awesome. I'm of course referring to Thanos' invasion of Earth, which happens to be the part of the event that's associated with New Avengers. The fact that so much of this part of the event was adapted wholesale into Avengers: Infinity War really shows how this guy knows how to write a crazy event. My only complaint about this part of the story is that the business with Thanos' son wasn't set up at all, at least not within the Avengers books, so it feels a little tacked on.

On the other hand, the Avengers teaming up with the galactic heavyweights to fight a Builder invasion was less exciting. This part of the story has some epic moments, but the Builders were never really developed enough for this to be an interesting conflict. Also, you know how this is going to end, so there were fewer stakes and less drama in this cosmic war.

To Marvel's credit, despite the scope of the event, Infinity is confined pretty reasonably to the event series and the two Avengers titles. This omni only has the Against the Tide tie-in, which was pretty pointless, but the story is easy to follow and you don't get a sense of missing out on things even with just the essentials.

I tore through a 1200 page omnibus in two days, and I'm still gonna recommend the heck out of this run, but I'm realizing now that everything I loved about it was in one of the two major books. Well, there's another 1200 page omnibus, and it would be very Hickman for that to redeem everything in Avengers so far. As for what I'd 'fix' in this phase of the story, I'd actually consider pacing New Avengers a little slower so that there isn't an excitement gap between the two books. Avengers has to be slow simply because of how many characters it has, but New Avengers could take the time to stew on its mysteries and conflicts a bit longer. Also, why is that book called New Avengers when it should clearly be titled Illuminati?

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

This omnibus is so full of characters, ideas and plot lines it borders on overwhelming at times. Luckily Jonathan Hickman and a diverse group of artists (including Marvel mainstays Opèna, Epting, Deodato and Yu) keep everything engaging while producing a high concept take on the Avengers. It differs signifcantly from the previous run of Brian Michael Bendis. Just like Hickman's Fantastic Four run, he ambitiously goes big here with one of the largest Avengers rosters and a layered overarching sci-fi narrative.

A typical Avengers lineup has 6 to 8 characters but Hickman chooses to utilize a core cast of 24! The roster includes Avengers stalwarts like Captain America, Iron Man and Thor along with Bendis' favourites Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, and Wolverine. Kirkman includes a few new members drawn from the Marvel Universe including Shang-Chi, Cannonball and Sunspot. He also incorporates some interesting legacy heroes with Captain Universe and Hyperion who each have their own intriguing backstories.

With such a large group of heroes some voices are much less apparent than others. Luckily each arc often focuses on a smaller section of the cast. A beautifully designed chart portrays the entire roster at the start of each issue and highlights who is involved in the particular issue.

Hickman bring's his ambitious, detail orientated style to the Avengers through two books, the main title and New Avengers. The New Avengers focuses on the Illuminati that was created by Bendis. This clandestine group includes Iron Man along with Mister Fantastic, Black Panther, Namor, Black Blot and Beast. Both books tell different parts of the same story and I enjoyed the interweaving.

This collection also includes the event series Infinity which luckily involved few tie-ins(take note future "Big Two" events) outside of the two Avengers books. The monthly books complement the event adding and expanding different plot points effectively. Infinity essentially serves as the finale to the first half of Hickman's run and contains numerous plot elements and characters that played a significant role in the Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame movies.

The omnibus format and Hickman's dense style can be a little intimidating but I recommend any interested reader to press on and fully commit! I'm looking forward to volume 2!

[jorge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don't even know where to begin. Grandiose. Compared to Hickman's F4 run, this is less intervowen and more two streamlined storylines happening concurrently, two sides of same-ish coin, that end up slightly get together in the Infinity arc. Still, this is only Vol. 1 so even this kind of conclusion is very satisfying. Some high concept sci-fi stuff can be overbearing at times (and partially the reason why makes me hesitant to recommend this to not so well knowledgeable people in Marvel lore, especially cosmic side that hasn't had the exposure in the MCU), but other parts of this is so well done that you can chalk it off as ingredients of the full meal. First arc of Avengers didn't really suck me in as I had hoped (I started reading this run almost 10 years ago and got stuck at that point, couldn't be bothered to continue) and the New Avengers/Illuminati run was much more engaging with such high stakes (and the mystery surrounding it) so I really wanted to just get to those issues, but single character origin stories intervowen into Avengers issues carried those parts (Hyperion and Smasher ones were really, really good). Infinity saga, and the resulting Avengers World, just chef's kiss. Hate to be nerding out but it really was just that epic.

[Joshua Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hickman continues to prove why he's my favorite living fictional writer. His writing paired with many brilliant artists and letterers tells an epic. Hickman's Fantastic Four run leads perfectly into this Avengers run to tell one huge sci-fi epic that culminates in Hickman's Secret Wars. If you're new to Marvel comics, just roll with the characters introduced. You'll probably enjoy it. If you've read Hickman's other works, then it stands out even more.

I found myself sharing pictures of pages with friends. It is a slow build around the quarter mark of the book but it quickly ramps up around the halfway point again and never lets up from there.

I highly recommend and may have been my favorite new read of the year if it weren't for Hickman's Fantastic Four run.

If you want to experience the best grand epic Marvel has to offer, I recommend reading Hickman's Fantastic Four run (available in 2 omnibi or trades), Hickman's Avengers run (available in 2 Omnis or various trades) and ending with Hickman's Secret Wars event.

[Vincent · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5 stars.

Just really fucking epic. Love the gigantic roster of characters in Avengers contrasted with the small group of Illuminati narcissists in New Avengers who think they’re the only ones who can truly protect earth against the incursions. Unfortunately the Incursion story line, which is actually my favorite part, slows down a bit during the Infinity event. It’s a minor complain, because Infinity is a very epic event as well. I loved the return of a very opportunistic Thanos, and the introduction of his black order, who invade earth while the Avengers are away because of a galaxy-wide war with the Builders.

Many different artists, but unlike Hickman’s Fantastic Four run, the art is fairly consistent and all very high quality. I think it’s a nice metaphor for this run in general: an improvement over his (already great!) Fantastic Four run in almost every conceivable way.

Eagerly awaiting the second omnibus.

[Ysuf Shari · Rating 5 out of 5]

9/10


This massive book deals with sci-fi concepts such as the multiversal realities, god like intergalactic space robots and everyones favorite purple baddy, Thanos.

Alongside these massive stakes come some interesting philosophical questions. Such as Hickman's interrogation of utilitarian ideals. Does holistic preservation justify mass causality? This book won't answer that question, but it'll have you thinking about it.

With a cast of over two dozen characters Hickman uses bite-sized storytelling to flesh out his team.

One of my favorite moments of this book was a simple and tender two panel shot of Thor sitting next to Hyperion overlooking a world they hope to change together. Hickman's characterization approach of 'less is more' worked really well here.

This was the first Avengers book I ever read and now it's the best Avengers book i've ever read! It's a gripping fast paced and surprisingly thoughtful read.

[evil dean venture · Rating 3 out of 5]

a little more heavy on the comic slop than I would've liked...avengers feels so scattered and emotionally distant and like D-tier comic book plotting for most of the run. octo spidey is a fun interjection when he shows up (megalomanic asshole trying to save face in the midst of this detached multiverse chicanery is very funny) and the hyperior/thor godbro stuff is nice but otherwise idk.....the art is the most consistent of all the run though. ex nihilo looks awesome

new avengers? now that shit is gas. the dilemma can be too high-minded at times but the core conceit of a slippery slope is compelling + the character dynamics bounce so well; beast & richards as the naive optimist, tchalla and namor simultaneously blood feuding yet also the only connective tissue remaining in their lives, tony's freefall into egotism, strange as the "for now" straight man of the group...black swan functions really uniquely as a captive antagonist too. genuinely this collection's greatest fault that these dynamics take a backseat to the menial cosmic event shit. illiumanti <3

[Lance Giuliano]

I would argue Hickman is one of the best comic writers operating in the hard science-fiction realm. Crazy concepts, sprawling narratives that tie back into themselves in insane yet satisfying ways. For me one of his more prominent tools is his massive cast of characters in works such as East of West, X-Men, and Fantastic Four. While enjoyable, his Avengers might be the first time that cast of characters gets away from him. There are just sooooo many involved, and large amounts of them do not have anything to do with- spiderman, spider woman, wolverine, Shang chi, cannonball, sunspot are never given the main spotlight, but are technically involved so are stuffed in at random, making the Avengers, and subsequently, Infinity feel bloated. That being said, the New Avengers stuff is hands down great. A focused cast of characters with a clear cut moral dilemma, being pushed to the brink and the subsequent scheming and manipulation is just a grand ol time at the comics.

[Adam Spanos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hmmmmmm. How best to describe this book?

In one word?

"WOW"

Yep. That pretty much sums it up. This omnibus collects the first half of hickmans avengers run. And it has some truly epic moments. And damn.... this book is dense, storywise. Hickman really loves world building. He really is creating an epic here.

As for the book itself? Sewn binding. No gutter loss. Stays open on the first page. Standard marvel omnibus.

One thing i love though? This book collects a few different titles like "the avengers" "new avengers" and the "infinity" mini series. And i put into chronological order! Which is awesome. It reads very well as a whole. Unlike the "war of kings ominbus" which was put in order of title series. Now that was just one huge pain to read. Flipping back and forth if you wanted to read it in proper order. So props to marvel for doing this book right!

[ComicBookCult Luke · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully crafted masterpiece, grand in scale and full of high stakes, marvel’s avengers go worldwide or maybe Galaxywide. Fantastic work from Jonathan Hickman. This book is a woven web of talent. Every detail In this book is pure talent and incredible storytelling. All the pieces fall into place like a huge jigsaw puzzle, the detail, the world building, the character development. This book has it all, I loved it virtually cover to cover.

I’m not surprised one bit by the hype this book gets, very well deserved in my opinions and one I can’t wait to revisit. This is how comics are done.

The only part I didn’t truly enjoy was the final story in MojoWorld, which seemed more like waste of time and effort reading. Also doesn’t add anything to the main story! I love bonus content but that one shot felt like a massive slog compared to the main title n

[Childofhate · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm at a loss for words to describe the scope, the sheer magnitude and depth of the story covered by Jonathan Hickman in this tome. And make no mistake, this is a fucking "hit someone in the head with it to knock them out" kinda tome. And all of it is required and not one panel is filler. There's so much character and story crammed into some 1000-odd pages here, that's it's completely gobsmacking. Hickman understands almost every character (except maybe Spiderman) and gives them their individual moments to shine and the inter-personal relationships are well written as well. I would wholeheartedly recommend this to any comics fan. They owe it to themselves to read this run in its full majesty in this Omnibus.

FINAL RATING - 5/5

[Dean · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was excellent.
A murderer's row of artists.
It plays with expectations of villains and heroes. New characters are interesting, exciting, and just cool.

Only downside is that the female characters don't have anything to do. Captain Marvel gets to show off her power at times, Natasha says something direct and strong but that's it.

It's silly this is happening at the same time as the FF are trapped in another universe but Reed just leaves his family there for days at a time. Makes the poor Fraction run even poorer.

Otto is Spider-Man here and Wolverine has or is about to lose his healing factor.

[Adam Sorensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

a really fun, huge scale story that's entertaining to read while also feeling a bit unwieldy in this omnibus format. it's grappling with so many parallel conflicts that wobble a bit alongside each other, and I have to wonder how much of that is the version I read.

reading this has also made me realise that I am not a fan of the Inhumans. I always tune out when they're involved in the story, they never seem to be characterised in interesting ways. They're always just super powered, cold space regents and put a handbrake to any storytelling charisma.

Still, onto omnibus 2! there's so much greatness thrown in here, I'm still so excited to see this culminate in Secret Wars.

[Jordan King · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually finished this a wee back and have just been super tardy with Goodreads — welp! Hell of a book, and it’s only half done for the omni set. Fully understand why Marvel Studios adopted a pick and choose approach to what they wanted to adapt from here for the Infinity Saga, because quite frankly the budget would’ve had to have been about eleventy-kajillion dollars and the end credits for the cast alone would’ve been about 15 hours long. Still, hell of a big swing from Hickman and almost entirely a hit! Onto Omni 2…

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

amazing. took a while for me to read through it all but thoroughly enjoyed it. ending is still fresh in my mind. love how it starts and ends with cap and tony. the ethical shit surroundin all of it as well. so many stories interweaving at the same time and it ends where it started. every character is so enjoyable, no one was annoying to me somehow. what a journey. only secret wars left, this is the end of the line. everything dies.

[Sean Leonard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly enjoyable the whole way through. Proper big sci fi space faring Marvel shenanigans. It does feel at times that the Avengers themselves are sort of sidelined for all the space characters and grab destruction but it’s all so well done it’s hard to fault the book. Hickman always excels at the big plot and story and individual characters aren’t his key strength, but that just happens to work well for the Avengers.

[Zachary · Rating 4 out of 5]

A big and bold adventure in grand Avengers tradition. Jonathan Hickman weaves an epic star spanning adventure for Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the only down side is the character interactions take a backseat to all the action.

[M.i. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The scope of this is amazing and whilst some stories are better than others, I have to applaud Hickman for being so good at writing about world changing events and giving his heroes god like challenges and triumphs.

[Tyler Lutz · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a biggun