All-Out Avengers: Teachable Moments

Avengers by Derek Landy

by Derek Landy (Writer), Greg Land (Illustrator), Jay Leisten (Inker)

Strap in for an all-new, all-adrenaline adventure that starts in the middle and races to the finish! An alien attack - a city warped - and Captain Marvel looking to the Avengers with murderous intent! Then, the Avengers are in chains, and their only hope lies with their greatest Doctor Doom?! An army of Red Skulls threatens to overwhelm them, a cadre of bloodthirsty killers will hunt them, and even Spider-Man is out to get them! But who's behind this madness, altering the very fabric of reality over and over again? Something big is coming to the Marvel Universe! Take a deep breath before you open this book - because once you dive in, you won't be allowed up for air! The Avengers assemble for all-out action! Collecting ALL-OUT AVENGERS #1-5 and material from FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2022: SPIDER-MAN/VENOM.

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

120 pages, Paperback

Published April 25, 2023

About the author

Derek Landy is an Irish writer and screenwriter. In addition to the bestselling children's/YA series of Skulduggery Pleasant books, a supernatural mystery series starring Skulduggery Pleasant, a skeleton detective, and Valkyrie Cain, a young female magician, he has written two screenplays that have been made into films: the IFTA award winning "Dead Bodies" and the IFTA nominated "Boy Eats Girl". Landy himself was nominated for an IFTA for Best Script.

He doesn’t like to brag about all the awards he’s won, such as the Irish Book of the Decade, or the Red House in the UK, or all the other awards that he humbly displays on his mantelpiece. He is also far too modest to mention things like the first book being a Publisher’s Weekly Best Book of the Year, but would like to extend an invitation to Oprah to pop around one day for tea, in thanks for selecting his book for the Oprah’s Book Club Kids Reading List.

Derek plays too many video games, reads too many comics, and watches too many movies. He lives in Ireland with too many cats. Occasionally he talks to real people, but only when he absolutely has to.

Reviews

[Ronald · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ouch, I'm sorry but that was horrible, like bad bad.
I read the Spider-Man version of All Out and that was fun, just one long thing happening.
While "Teachable Moments" was five different stories each one totally unrelated to the last or next story. All the while there is an unknown character (Hero or villain?) narrating the evens and whining about how the Avengers were missing the point or something. The Avengers are also aware that someone is erasing their memories yet do nothing to trying and restore their memories. So the Avengers are supposed to be learning things yet they keep losing their memories. Then the stories were less than "all-out" there was plenty of the whole talking instead of doing as is often the Marvel Style. I am sure there was a high concept thinking person's idea behind this story, but sadly that idea was lost in translation. Disappointed.

[Tyler Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a lot of fun. The idea of making a comic book that directly addresses an issue many comic readers have had is so genius. Most super hero comic readers just have to pick a spot and jump in and pick up context clues to know what’s going on. So each issue is a stand alone Avengers story where you start in the middle of the action and have to find out all the context. But I’m reality there’s a deeper story about the Avengers having their memories messed with causing them to have blank spots. So who’s messing with the minds of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes? I give this a good 8/10 and I’m excited to see where Avengers Beyond takes this story.

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Essa HQ dos Vingadores, intitulada lá fora como All-Out Avengers também foi divulgada como histórias soltas dos Vingadores em que a ação era ininterrupta. E isso era o que chamamos de propaganda enganosa. Porque não se trata disso, mas de histórias que trazem lapsos de memória dos Vingadores em tramas manipuladas pelo Beyonder e que depois eram enterradas em suas lembranças. Uma proposta muito boa, mas realizada de uma forma um tanto canhestra, já que o leitor leva umas boas quatro edições para conseguir sacar o que está acontecendo e qual a real proposta dessa série de histórias. Além disso tem os desenhos quase AI de Greg Land para prejudicar a qualidade da revista. Esse encadernado tem uma continuação que se chama Avengers: Beyond, em que finalmente os Vingadores encontram o Beyonder e acertam as contas com ele, mas não sem antes participarem de uma aventura mutiverzzzzzalll o maior chover no molhado das histórias em quadrinhos de super-heróis estadunidenses atual. Ou seja, como eu falei, uma proposta ótima, mas muito mal executada.

[Andrei · Rating 4 out of 5]

Action-packed Avengers book with an interesting concept: each issue throws the reader and the team directly in the middle of a story, and we discover together what's going on. There are a ton of action scenes and fight sequences throughout, with a bit of the usual quips and jokes to balance things out.
Of course, there's an overarching plot which our team eventually discovers. Or, do they? The story continues in Avengers: Beyond.

Speaking of teams, the roster here changes a bit for each issue but the core includes Captain America, Iron Man, Captain Marvel, Thor, Black Panther and Blade.

The art is pretty good, easy to follow and especially suitable for the many fight scenes throughout.

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was so fun omg, like its just mad fun, you are dropped in the middle of the story and have to piece things together to get the full story and its like 5 issues and 5 stories basically and thats awesome like it makes for some good fun story-telling and you get more value for your money here, thats the idea and it pays off!

The stories are varied like Dr doom joining the avengers and why exactly that was fun or Avengers vs Red skull LMDs and the laugh factory there was cool too lol and a couple of alien invasion stories were alright I guess but its the one with Spidey vs Avengers that was so cool and seeing my boy level up and use his intelligence to sort of one-up them was fun but you get to see whats the big story, whose behind it all and whats to come and that ties the whole story together so well and I love it for that!

So yeah definitely read it and you will have a good time, its pure adrenaline action with great character moments and solid narrative beat with okayish art I guess but so worth it!

[Adam Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars.
When you read this, you will likely be as confused about what is going as the characters themselves eventually realize they are. The Team (Both Captain Americas, Iron Man, Thor, Captain Marvel, Black Panther, Blade, Spider Woman and Spider-Man) "wake up" in the middle of an adventure participating in the adventure but not remembering ever starting it. Each issue has a different problem (Captain Marvel being infected by the Dark Tide; Dark Doom invading and Dr Doom joining the Avengers to fight against him; Lots and lots of Red Skulls trying to take over the world; Fighting New Aliens on a New Planet; and playing the game which person on the team is actually brainwashed) but ends with Steve figuring out that the Beyonder must be behind the whole thing.
Overall, each issue is action packed and good, but when read together as a complete story, it takes too long to figure out something is wrong and comes off like you have missed reading issues in a crossover.
Recommend, but with a bit of hesitancy. Hope the sequel "Avengers Beyond" helps fix it.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had low expectations for an off-brand Avengers tale, but I honestly really dug Teachable Moments. The plot matches the title: someone or something is dropping the Avengers into "teachable moments" so that they can learn something/build something that will eventually help them defeat a big bad.

The mystery of who is pulling the strings (and who the big bad might be) doesn't get in the way of each issue's individual adventure, which are almost all chock-a-block with goofy superhero goodness. (Derek Landy is lucky he doesn't have to bother with setup or aftermaths for any of his bite-size Avengers adventures.)

Greg Land's art is terrific (am I the only reader who likes his work?) and I can't wait to see where this goes in the next volume - which appears to be marketed with an entirely different title? (Avengers: Beyond) Let's hope readers can figure it out!

[Brittany Blair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read as individual issues. I saw someone describe this series as “dumb fun” and I think that sums it up perfectly. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, it’s just action and humor and doesn’t try to pretend it’s anything else. Except it is building up to something more consequential! I enjoyed the art, although at the time of reading I was unaware of Greg Land’s work and why he’s seen as controversial. For the most part, the humor lands for me. Issue 5 leads nicely into the next series, but the final few panels would have made way more sense for Carol Danvers (Captain Marvel) since she has “cosmic awareness”, but clearly the author plays favorites and is a huge Captain America fan. I look forward to seeing what universal threat the Avengers have been unknowingly prepped for in “Avengers Beyond” starting May 2023.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Avengers find themselves in five different stories in progress, with no memory of how they got there, and a nagging feeling that something's up.

Writer Derek Landy uses the narration to full effect with some fourth wall breaking reveals, and the set-ups he throws the Avengers into are fun, if a little faceless since most of them are generic alien bad guy things. The issue that pits Spider-Man against the entire team is really well done though, and a good showing for Spidey. Once the smoke clears and the ultimate 'evil' behind everything is revealed, I was definitely intrigued to see what happens next.

The issue here is the art, because Greg Land's gonna Greg Land no matter what. Some pages are fine, others have back-breaking poses and orgasm faces. But I guess by now we know what we're gonna get with Land. Sigh.

Solid, if you read some of it with your eyes shut.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story has a fun premise: what if it were a comic that was like back in your Golden Age when you picked up a random comic from the newsstands and had to try and figure out the continuing story? So each issue makes up a plot en media res.

Except the whole in-the-middle-of-the-story is so horribly done that it's laughable as the author name drops one made-up thing after another.

And then he tries to incorporate the whole en-media-res idea into the plot, really undercutting the premise because the characters don't know what's going on either.

And then it turns up to be an utterly unfinished story because it's just a setup for something else.

Given 2 stars instead of 1 only because the individual issues are technically readable and sometimes a little fun before the stupid metaplot cuts back in.

[Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

It all started with 'Non-stop Spider-Man.

The premise being, that you're reading each issue for context clues to a bigger event. Comics, back in the day, had no TPB collections and if you were reading a multi issue arc you'd have to hunt for the other pieces you didn't own. Basically, you (super intelligent reader) would have to figure out where/when/how things were happening based on that one issue. It's a fun idea that hasn't been used much in the current scheme of things.
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The art is great. You can see his work all over Marvel.

Bonus: Random issue with Hawkeye in tattered outfit (Tarzan, much?) and no mention as to why
Bonus Bonus: Aaaaaaaaaaaand...welcome to the prequel to Avengers: Beyond

[Sean · Rating 2 out of 5]

So, this wasn't good. Author Derek Landy uses the story telling technique of starting somewhat in the middle and having readers and characters figure out what's going on at the same time. Unfortunately the characters are random, the events are random, and there is next to no resolution. If I had bought this in monthly single issues, I would have lost my mind. The story is simply bad. The last page reveal is so out of left field that its less shocking and more incomprehensible. These characters were all just the most generic versions of themselves. Embarrassing for Marvel's flagship team. Greg Land's art was stiff but pretty as usual. Overall, a quick, pointless read written extremely poorly.

[Valentin Derevlean · Rating 2 out of 5]

M-a pus naiba să citesc și eu o serie Avengers actuală, să văd cum mai arată. Și nu cred că am ales bine, ba chiar deloc. Scriitura lui Derek Landy și scenariul sunt slabe, arta lui Greg Land nu îmi place mai deloc, adesea e chiar ridicolă. Povestea din spate? Fiecare dintre cele 5 numere te aruncă în mijlocul unei înfruntări contra unor inamici noi sau vechi la care iau parte unii dintre Avengers. În general, totul se termină bine doar că nu își amintesc de ce luptă și cum au ajuns acolo, așa că de la număr la număr bănuim că e cineva în spate care se joacă cu timpul și mințile eroilor noștri. Cine? Ei, tre să citești și următorul volum, desigur :)

[Artur Coelho · Rating 3 out of 5]

Numa sequência de constantes aventuras onde se vêem a lutar ao lado dos seus mais figadais inimigos, os Vingadores apercebem-se de estranhas perdas de memória. É curioso ver os heróis a lutar contra versões possuídas por forças malévolas de si próprios, ou ao lado de Doutor Destino, Red Skull e agentes da AIM. E, apesar das suspeitas recaírem sob um novo personagem, capaz do controle de memórias, há uma força mais secreta por detrás da falta de memória, uma força que é um dos maiores vilões do universo Marvel. Aventura de inconsequente ação, é uma leitura divertida para ocupar algumas horas mortas num domingo invernoso.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn't bad, though the stories were, I think, needlessly confusing. I know that this was done on purpose and as an homage to comic stories that do this all the time, dropping readers in the middle of things and only belatedly filling in the details as the story goes on (and in the worst cases, never really doing that at all), but it could have used a bit more clarity. I like the art, unlike some who seem to have issues with Greg Land. Hopefully, this is all leading somewhere and will be clarified in the next volume.

[Luke Malone · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid, fun, action-packed time. Great artwork thoughout and really fun guest stars and character beats. Nothing too ground-shaking, just a fun time that does its job well. My favorite issue was #5 with Spider-Man, I think they nailed it. The plots are confusing, since you're dropped right in the middle of the action, but that's the point and it didn't take away from my enjoyment. I'm interested to see where it goes in the next iteration - Avengers Beyond.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun idea. Each issue you're dropped into the last issue of a longer story and you have to pick up what's going on. It's the dilemma that comic book readers have fought since the beginning of time, that you just have to jump in a long running series and go with it. Each issue is like that as the Avengers try and figure out what's going on. This miniseries is just prologue for the next one though.

[Trike · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ultimate in media res story - each issue the Avengers and the readers are dropped in the middle of the action, with no idea about how they got there or what exactly is happening. We do eventually find out who’s behind it all, so that’s satisfying. My only real complaint is that Landy leans on existing jokes too much, which deflates humorous moments.

[James Bowman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun set of Avengers stories with some neat premises - particularly the last, with Spider-Man having to face down the Avengers all by himself. The only minus is that each installment is more like the climax of a longer story, and it seems like a shame these weren't more fully developed. (There is also an in-story reason for this, for what it's worth.) (B+)

[Doctor Doom · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book for the simple reason there were three iterations of Doom within its "pages." Even though said iterations were only in about one fifth of the book Doom still was the highlight of the series [Dark Doom, Doctor Doom and Avenger Doom] - three Dooms for the price of one.
Nice artwork, fair story, decent read.

[Bekka · Rating 4 out of 5]

So much fun! I loved all the little 'Landy-isms' throughout here in terms of humour, and the mystery was great! The artwork was also brilliant!
TW for violence, war, death, memory issues, mind control.

[The_J · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice collection of characters, decent plot, and fun revelation with the insight of Captain America.

[Emmett Spain · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kinda fun, kinda interesting, kinda forgettable.

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

This wasn’t a complete story. It was only the prelude to a larger story.

[Lisandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,2 estrelas boa premisa, ja a execuçao é...ok?

[Gary Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Great Marvel Readthrough, pt 358

[M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Derek Landy and Greg Land unite to push the Avengers to their limits with the miniseries All-Out Avengers. Each issue drops readers into the battle, challenging both them and the heroes to get up to speed on the overall plot lines. Issue one highlights the alien queen Arrok and her wormhole technology, while issue two splits Doctor Doom into a heroic Avenger and remorseless villain due to the Soulsplitter stone. The third tale features an army of robotic Red Skulls out for world domination, the fourth strands the team in an extraterrestrial dimension, and the final pits Spider-Man against his own teammates over potential mind-control technology. As the pace rockets on from story to story, the Avengers realize that they are missing moments of memory, as if they are being manipulated into these battles for some greater purpose. Naturally Captain America closes out the tome by revealing the identity of the unseen narrator, indicating that retribution will be forthcoming. Derek Landy does a fine job of making a breakneck book fell engaging, adding a dash of mystery across the action series. Granted, those looking for character development will be disappointed; the goal of the title is little more than sandbox skirmishes to entertain fans. Greg Land again uses his art references to create oddly smiling women and overt poses, showcasing better looks at his costuming than variety amongst the cast. All-Out Avengers is exactly what is claims to be, making this book either a fun treat or vapid page-turner depending on the reader’s personal prerogatives.