Avengers: Red Zone

Avengers (1998) (New Editions) #8

by Geoff Johns, Olivier Coipel

When the Red Skull infiltrates the United States government, he authorizes a biological weapon to be released from the peaks of Mount Rushmore, and it is up the Avengers to contain it! Collects Avengers #65-70.

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

144 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2010

About the author

Geoff Johns originally hails from Detroit, Michigan. He attended Michigan State University, where he earned a degree in Media Arts and Film. He moved to Los Angeles in the late 1990s in search of work within the film industry. Through perseverance, Geoff ended up as the assistant to Richard Donner, working on Conspiracy Theory and Lethal Weapon 4. During that time, he also began his comics career writing Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. and JSA (co-written with David S. Goyer) for DC Comics. He worked with Richard Donner for four years, leaving the company to pursue writing full-time.

His first comics assignments led to a critically acclaimed five-year run on the The Flash. Since then, he has quickly become one of the most popular and prolific comics writers today, working on such titles including a highly successful re-imagining of Green Lantern, Action Comics (co-written with Richard Donner), Teen Titans, Justice Society of America, Infinite Crisis and the experimental breakout hit series 52 for DC with Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka and Mark Waid. Geoff received the Wizard Fan Award for Breakout Talent of 2002 and Writer of the Year for 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 as well as the CBG Writer of the Year 2003 thru 2005, 2007 and CBG Best Comic Book Series for JSA 2001 thru 2005. Geoff also developed BLADE: THE SERIES with David S. Goyer, as well as penned the acclaimed “Legion” episode of SMALLVILLE. He also served as staff writer for the fourth season of ROBOT CHICKEN.

Geoff recently became a New York Times Bestselling author with the graphic novel Superman: Brainiac with art by Gary Frank.

Reviews

[Nicolo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Red Zone, for this reader, was probably Johns' best story arc from his well received but brief run on the Avengers post-Busiek. His reveal of the ultimate villain behind the machinations of the deadliest biological attack on U.S. soil was handled superbly. This was probably even better when it was done as monthly installments because the wait amped up the anticipation.

This was the culminating story of what has been a superhero political drama take on the Avengers. The villain hiding behind a senior U.S. government official, has stymied the U.N. sanctioned Avengers at every turn and has even managed to label the heroes as traitors; that is, until said overplayed their hand. Dell Rusk is Red Skull!

This reader's criticism regarding Johns' Avengers work would revolve around two points; the political theme and Jack of Hearts. For this arc, the heavy political tone is forgiven because each Avenger in this story got major face time, There were major scenes that utilized the unique power sets of each Avenger in visually appealing way that also made the plot move forward. It helped Johns' story tremendously that Coipel did the entirety of the arc. This was the assignment that gave notice to the artist that he was a rising star.

As of the Jack of Hearts, I can't understand why Johns wanted to have him in his Avengers roster. In this team, he's locker room cancer."Jerk of Hearts" indeed.

[Jack Phoenix · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though it’s a shame some of the themes are just as relevant today as they were 20 years ago, this solid Avengers story stands strong during a special time for the franchise.

[Your_Average_Magical_Girls_Fan · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 Stars. The Red Skull characterization at the end is great, but you must go through Geoff Johns' cheap sentimentalism and a plot not so well developed as it should be before getting to that point. Also, I completely agree on not putting government money on arms development to prefer civilian and scientific progress even if the latter usually comes from some military-funded programs (The Internet anyone?), but to think that millions of government spending could result in a vaccine like the HIV one that NOBODY, IN THE MEDICAL FIELD, IS STILL ABLE TO EVEN THEORETICALLY PRODUCE, is simply laughable.

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked it...sufficiently...but definitely didn't love it. The thing was not completely fermented, if you ask me. The ideas were loose, not particularly scientific-ey enough, and many of the characters were a bit off (but sometimes that was a good thing -- more on this later).

The unspoken theme of this book was Hurricane Katrina. The book was written during the Bush Administration, it dealt with a disaster here on American soil, the government response was suspiciously uncoordinated and slow (because Red Skull was secretly in charge of the government response), and the primary goal was supposed to harm black Americans (the virus was initially supposed to kill only African Americans).

The art was...okay. We've all seen better.

Ant-Man, one of the brightest scientists around, was criminally underused - even though this dealt with a lab-grown virus, with most of the book taking place in a laboratory, and a bunch of AIM guys running around. He just kinda sat there.

She-Hulk reverted back to her non-chartreuse Jennifer human form when Jack of Hearts inadvertently absorbed some of her gamma radiation (?). But once he was gone, you have to wonder why she went back to her mindless savage She-Hulk persona -- just so she be the wild card of the story?? That's not a very good reason. (Or iiiissssss it???)

Red Skull switched his 70-year goal of reinstituting the 4th Reich, to actually wanting to take over America in all its glory. He now figures he can do this with just a little fear in just a few pockets of America. Well, Geoff Johns Got First, as the toy collectors say. But this was done better, much better, in a recent run of Uncanny Avengers.

The Scarlet Witch actually did something in this book, which was...good, if uncharacteristic.

Finally, the Vision had a few moments when he expressed his fears. If the red zone plague killed all the humans, he'd be alone, and this prospect both frightened him and motivated him. This was an interesting take on a usually under-appreciated character.

Overall, it's a 3/5 book. I bought this hardcover new-old-stock on a clearance rack for less than $5 (it would never have been worth cover price to me, IMOH), and I think I got my money's worth for that rock-bottom price.

I won't be keeping it in my permanent collection. Off to the local library sale it goes. Make of this what you will.

[Sineala · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite Avengers v3 story arcs -- it's the only thing in Avengers v3 I actually own in paper. Hardcover, even.

Red Zone is an interesting story, very much informed by, well, American disaster response, and it pits the Avengers against a bioweapon, a virus drifting through the air at Mount Rushmore. The whole team has a role to play -- there are some great character moments for everyone, especially Tony, T'Challa, and Carol, and Steve has his usual glorious opposition to the Nazis because you will NEVER GUESS who the Secretary of Defense "Dell Rusk" really is. (Hint: it's an anagram.) There was some interesting intrigue; it was a little weird seeing Gyrich be more or less a good guy for once.

And because no one else reviewing this book has mentioned it, I have to say that the best moment for me is when Steve has been exposed to the virus and Tony cracks his own helmet and exposes himself to the virus to give Steve CPR, on the grounds that "Captain America is more important than [him]." I feel all the feelings. I feel them in my heart. As we say.

[Jeffrey Jelmeland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again Geoff Johns' writing skills shine through. A very well crafted story that is very cohesive. Aside from this, it is a pretty standard Avengers story, variations of which we have seen many times over the years. Even so, it was well executed and very engaging. Well worth the read.

[Myrmidon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Buona storia, e considerato che io non sono esattamente un fan di questo tipo di concept (i.e. le trame in cui un agente patogeno, spesso creato artificialmente, si diffonde accidentalmente o deliberatamente), direi che è tutto dire. Ipotizzo sia anche perché, più che essere una storia apocalittica, in questo caso l'emergenza biologica (che comunque miete non poche vittime) è ancora agli albori, e mentre una parte dei Vendicatori si addentra all'interno della misteriosa nube rossa per capire da dove abbia avuto origine, Tony Stark e T'Challa ne esaminano il virus e cercano di trovare una cura... Il tutto prima che l'immensa nuvola avanzi ulteriormente, falciando ulteriori civili.
Della storia ho apprezzato anche il tentativo di "umanizzare" un po' il personaggio di Henry Gyrich in generale, nonché nel suo rapporto con gli Avengers, e in particolare con Falcon.
Invece, immagino che uno dei plot twist principali, cioè il fatto che il segretario della Difesa Dell Rusk si riveli essere in realtà il Teschio Rosso, probabilmente si apprezza in misura maggiore se si sono letti anche i numeri della run di Geoff Johns precedenti a questo; ma comunque la storia si regge in piedi tranquillamente anche da sola.

[Gulq · Rating 3 out of 5]

Obwohl natürlich die Superwesen die maßgeblichen Träger der Handlung sind, wird deutlich, wie begrenzt dennoch ihre Macht ist, wenn es um Katastrophen unberechenbarer Ausmaße geht. Natürlich wird, nicht zuletzt auf Grund des Anliegens des Bandes, schnell deutlich, wer hinter den Ereignissen steckt, aber die perverse Motivation Red Skulls fasziniert am Ende dennoch. Auch künstlerisch kann man an der Kernstory wenig kritisieren, denn Coipel zaubert moderne und detaillierte Zeichnungen aufs Papier, die den Anspruch der Geschichte passend untermauern.

[Rocky Sunico · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still rather weirded out by how Geoff Johns is handling these characters in these stories. The changes in art further stress the change in the creative direction, but it's the writing that really gets to me. A lot of characters feel like caricatures of themselves - this is best demonstrated by the continuing distrust of Black Panther in all this. And the big "reveal" of the book's antagonist was...a little strange.

A very odd period in Avengers history indeed.

[Βαλάντης Δοξάκιερ · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good fun and entertaining story and characters but a little boring and slow and not so interesting story of marvel and specifically of avengers but overall is still entertaining and fun and interesting yet. I like it but there are far better and more interesting and entertaining stories of avengers than this one.

[Juan Carrillo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Art imitates life

Today is Jan 25 2021 one year almost into our Covid 19 pandemic.. this story makes me wish so badly we had hero’s to help us battle this monster...this story let’s us on a journey we’re we see the best and the worst in people and we have to decide how to react. It’s hard to read but so worth it.

[Amy K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chilling parallels between this seemingly prescient story and the realities of today's America made this a particularly difficult but also necessary read.

[Brannigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cool bio attack story.

[Omar Gómez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Avengers: Red Zone calificación 3/5 estrellas.

  Es de cuando los cómics eran parecidos a TV Series de acción, solo fue más propaganda militar anti-terrorista con el cameo del héroe ficticio George W. Bush uno de los peores presidentes americanos de la historia junto a "Genocide" Joe Biden Donald Trump y Richard Nixon lo raro aquí es que Bush JR no se escondido como en la realidad en aquel 11 de setiembre.

[Kass · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Avengers Zone Rouge" est une réédition de Geoff Johns, marquant ses débuts chez Marvel, avec des dessins étonnants d'Olivier Coipel. L'histoire est sombre et inquiétante, mettant en avant une attaque terroriste qui fait écho à l'époque. Les événements apocalyptiques renforcent les idéaux de solidarité des Avengers, bien que le final soit un peu rapide. Si bien, ça peut ne pas apporter une toute nouvelle histoire, son attrait réside dans l'utilisation de personnages bien connus des Avengers et dans l'intrigue mystérieuse autour de l'attaque. Découvrir le vrai coupable est une surprise agréable. De plus, le récit aborde subtilement des thèmes actuels tels que le racisme, ce qui ajoute une dimension intéressante à l'histoire. C'est une lecture recommandée pour les fans des super-héros Marvel. Et les illustrations sont très attractives.

[Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Disease. It can ravage the earth. It's killing everyone ... leaving this android alone."