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Avengers Arena
Сблъсъкът на Отмъстителите: Убий или умри
Ужасният майстор манипулатор Аркейд се завръща с най-дръзкия си план! Отвлича група от шестнайсет обучаващи се млади герои и ги принуждава да се бият на най-новата му арена – смъртоносен остров, пълен с опасни хитрини и капани – докато не остане само един оцелял. Зараждат се крехки съюзи, настъпват безредици и предателства, а жертвите му скоро осъзнават, че ключът към оцеляването е много прост – трябва да убиеш или да умреш…
Събира Сблъсъкът на Отмъстителите#1-7
Събира Сблъсъкът на Отмъстителите#1-7
160 pages, Hardcover
First published December 6, 2012
12 people are currently reading
965 people want to read
About the author
Dennis Hopeless
524 books118 followersDennis "Hopeless" Hallum is an American comics writer from Kansas City, Missouri who has written for Marvel Comics, Image Comics, Dark Horse Comics, Boom! Studios, Arcana Studio, and Oni Press.
See also under Dennis Hallum
See also under Dennis Hallum
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 167 reviews
July 8, 2016
I'm surprised by how much I enjoyed this! I went in feeling kind of iffy about it, but I'm happy with the turn out. This comic did a great job of character development, which is something that I haven't seen be a key role in many of the comics I've read. Most of the comics I've read are pretty plot driven. It was a nice little switch up. I did feel like at times this story didn't flow very well. It kind of seemed scattered all over the place. Either way I had a good time reading it and if I can find volume 2, I'll definitely pick it up!
June 5, 2023
Just when I was considering dropping all the Avengers titles (and I've dropped a few), I got to read this. Lord of the Flies meets The Hunger Games meets Battle Royale meets Brian K Vaughan's Runaways, Vol. 1: Pride and Joy. Braddock Academy, Avengers Academy, Runaways, Blackhawk and Cammi are kidnapped by a superbly re-imagined Arcade and are set-up to kill each other within 30 days in this astoundingly well written and just as well drawn, young heroes series, indeed probably the best young Marvel heroes series since Chris Claremont's New Mutants epic 'The Demon Bear Saga'! 8 out of 12 >applause<
2013 read
2013 read
February 20, 2014
This is the first “Avengers Academy” book I’ve read, so I had no idea who most of these teen characters were. There’s Wolverine’s crazy-assed clone, X-23 and a jerk Captain Britain, beyond that it was all new - a kid that turns into reptiles, a girl with wings, a metal dude, a girl who throws off radioactivity, a half-cyborg kid, a Scottish kid who’s possessed by a um, rage demon and an Atlantean girl (from here it’s the old version of the Gilligan’s Island theme song) “and all the rest” here on Arcade’s Murderworld Isle.
Yeah, Arcade has kidnapped the kiddies from school; however, this isn’t your daddy’s Arcade – the overweight villain, who used to sit in a control room and torment the X-Men. No, this guy has slimmed down and has beaucoup new powers and yet, he still wears the white suit. And it’s a fight to the death for the junior Avengers.
Resistance is futile and alliances are formed and discarded. Junior Avengers die. Now, I would never want to feel entertained by terrible things happening to teen-age superheroes, (unless they’re Wendy and Marvin from the Super Friends. But not Gleek, never Gleek), and you do feel bad for the kids, but this is tension-filled, quick-paced storyline, with background/flashbacks on some of the characters for a dunce like me, who has no clue about any of them. Plus me = shallow.
As the title says, this is Volume 1, so for those of you looking for the complete saga, it ain’t here. .
Yeah, Arcade has kidnapped the kiddies from school; however, this isn’t your daddy’s Arcade – the overweight villain, who used to sit in a control room and torment the X-Men. No, this guy has slimmed down and has beaucoup new powers and yet, he still wears the white suit. And it’s a fight to the death for the junior Avengers.
Resistance is futile and alliances are formed and discarded. Junior Avengers die. Now, I would never want to feel entertained by terrible things happening to teen-age superheroes, (unless they’re Wendy and Marvin from the Super Friends. But not Gleek, never Gleek), and you do feel bad for the kids, but this is tension-filled, quick-paced storyline, with background/flashbacks on some of the characters for a dunce like me, who has no clue about any of them. Plus me = shallow.
As the title says, this is Volume 1, so for those of you looking for the complete saga, it ain’t here. .
January 10, 2014
You know what I like about Avengers Academy? It’s upfront about its bullshit (and it is bullshit). It doesn’t hide the fact that it’s blatantly riding the wave of The Hunger Games, nor that it’s ripping off Battle Royale’s logo/cover – it doesn’t even try very hard to work on the numerous characters in the story because they’re there just to die! It’s straight up exploitative comix, and it’s not bad.
The laughable X-Men villain Arcade has somehow captured 16 young (and unmemorable) superheroes, thrown them into a highly elaborate deathtrap-filled environment called Murder World, and forced them to kill each other – the winner is the last one standing. Up yours, originality! I’ll see you in hell!
So who are the superheroes? Apart from X-23, Wolverine’s female clone, I didn’t recognise any of them. Apparently, some are from Avengers Academy, some are from Runaways – both titles I don’t read – so I wasn’t invested in any of them, though strangely this didn’t affect my enjoyment of the book. Dennis Hopeless does attempt writing background info on some of the characters but it’s wasted. Why? These kids are doomed (in name only Dennis Hopeless is the perfect writer for these kids). They’re contrived plot devices, not characters in the traditional sense, and that’s what makes Avengers Arena such an interesting story – you’re actually not rooting for the characters to survive, you’re rooting for them all to die! So the less character work on them, the better. In fact the series might be improved with more characters, so there are more deaths, and fewer moments where Hopeless might be tempted to rise over the hackery of it all.
Avengers Arena is trash and Marvel knows it, so I don’t know why they don’t go all in and go full on mimicry of The Hunger Games – have Deadpool as a sponsor wearing that awful fake Woody Harrelson wig on top of his mask. Have the obvious heroine who won’t die, like Hope, the mutant messiah, and give Arcade a mad dystopian society to lord over – maybe the Moloids in fancy getup - and set the story in some parallel universe to 616. Maybe Arcade was the wrong choice for villain and it should’ve been Mojo instead? Makes more sense as Mojo could televise Avengers Arena as the new intergalactic reality show hit! Go full on, mouth-foaming crazy and throw out any and all attempts at telling a straight story – that would’ve made Avengers Arena a five star read.
As it is, the series almost reaches these levels of blasé idiocy by glossing over obvious story points like why Arcade is suddenly so powerful as to capture 16 superheroes and shackle them in a ridiculously large and complex environment AND have the powers of a god (the explanation probably being they’re in the Marvel version of The Matrix). But it doesn’t go far enough and trips itself up by reigning in the madness at certain points and introducing “feelings” for the “characters” which obviously doesn’t work because they’re not characters.
It’s not a great comic because great comics have real characters you care about, original stories, and well-crafted storytelling, but for what it is – The Hunger Games with cheap Marvel superheroes – it’s surprisingly not terrible. I’m on board to see which cardboard superhero eats it next (hilariously, there’s literally a character called Anachronism - even the characters know what they are! He’s my favourite by the way. Other characters created just for this series who should’ve made an appearance: Target, I’m Next, Arrow Through The Eye, and Marvel Doesn’t Care About Me), which cardboard supe wins, and what it’s all been about.
Here’s hoping it gets even trashier in the next book!
The laughable X-Men villain Arcade has somehow captured 16 young (and unmemorable) superheroes, thrown them into a highly elaborate deathtrap-filled environment called Murder World, and forced them to kill each other – the winner is the last one standing. Up yours, originality! I’ll see you in hell!
So who are the superheroes? Apart from X-23, Wolverine’s female clone, I didn’t recognise any of them. Apparently, some are from Avengers Academy, some are from Runaways – both titles I don’t read – so I wasn’t invested in any of them, though strangely this didn’t affect my enjoyment of the book. Dennis Hopeless does attempt writing background info on some of the characters but it’s wasted. Why? These kids are doomed (in name only Dennis Hopeless is the perfect writer for these kids). They’re contrived plot devices, not characters in the traditional sense, and that’s what makes Avengers Arena such an interesting story – you’re actually not rooting for the characters to survive, you’re rooting for them all to die! So the less character work on them, the better. In fact the series might be improved with more characters, so there are more deaths, and fewer moments where Hopeless might be tempted to rise over the hackery of it all.
Avengers Arena is trash and Marvel knows it, so I don’t know why they don’t go all in and go full on mimicry of The Hunger Games – have Deadpool as a sponsor wearing that awful fake Woody Harrelson wig on top of his mask. Have the obvious heroine who won’t die, like Hope, the mutant messiah, and give Arcade a mad dystopian society to lord over – maybe the Moloids in fancy getup - and set the story in some parallel universe to 616. Maybe Arcade was the wrong choice for villain and it should’ve been Mojo instead? Makes more sense as Mojo could televise Avengers Arena as the new intergalactic reality show hit! Go full on, mouth-foaming crazy and throw out any and all attempts at telling a straight story – that would’ve made Avengers Arena a five star read.
As it is, the series almost reaches these levels of blasé idiocy by glossing over obvious story points like why Arcade is suddenly so powerful as to capture 16 superheroes and shackle them in a ridiculously large and complex environment AND have the powers of a god (the explanation probably being they’re in the Marvel version of The Matrix). But it doesn’t go far enough and trips itself up by reigning in the madness at certain points and introducing “feelings” for the “characters” which obviously doesn’t work because they’re not characters.
It’s not a great comic because great comics have real characters you care about, original stories, and well-crafted storytelling, but for what it is – The Hunger Games with cheap Marvel superheroes – it’s surprisingly not terrible. I’m on board to see which cardboard superhero eats it next (hilariously, there’s literally a character called Anachronism - even the characters know what they are! He’s my favourite by the way. Other characters created just for this series who should’ve made an appearance: Target, I’m Next, Arrow Through The Eye, and Marvel Doesn’t Care About Me), which cardboard supe wins, and what it’s all been about.
Here’s hoping it gets even trashier in the next book!
December 5, 2015
You try and poke me awake.
*sleepily* Mrfhg.
No, go away. I don't wanna review this.
You poke some more. Then you resort to a bucket of water.
ARGH! Fine, I'll do it already!
I didn't understand a second of what was happening, because I do not know these characters. They try and give me some origin stories to help me understand these obscure teenagers, but that only enrages me more because they don't do it very well and I would have preferred actually getting to know them in the storyline as opposed to flaaaassshbaaaaackkks.
So correct me if I'm wrong, but Arcade (the villain) has dropped these kids from two different academies plus one random Deathlocket on to what may or may not be an imaginary island so they can fight to the death Battle Royale-style but they actually spend more of their time trudging around and acting out The Secret Life of an American Teenager?
The bit with the smarmy Kid Briton (is that his name?) was sorta interesting, but other than that it was basically catfights between the girls and the boys just tagging along. Which should have been interesting with their superpowers, but
(a) Nara is Atleantean, so she just punches really hard
(b) Katy doesn't seem to have powers?
(c) Hazmat is just running around
(d) The girl with the staff never gets to use it in combat
(e) X-23 doesn't land a swipe on anyone
(f) So and so forth
Also, part of this is my fault for not reading details carefully. I thought this was a self-contained volume, but surprise, it isn't. So imagine my annoyance when it just ended all of a sudden.
All in all, I found it a real chore for my brain to keep up with, especially because Cammi and Hazmat look so similar. Meh.
June 8, 2013
I don't know who these kid superheroes are who are getting bumped off left and right, but damn do I love it. We've got broken necks, decapitations, disintegrations, death, death, death, and some pretty cool little heroes. Some of them are knock-offs of the greats (like a girl clone of Wolverine known as X-23, and an arrogant punk called Kid Briton) and some of them are the silliest of the silly (like Reptil, a guy who turns into dinosaurs), but as their story is being told here, they are surprisingly compelling. Dennis Hopeless has done a heck of a job making this both a relevant comic and a guiltily pleasurable comic all at the same time.
November 11, 2014
Another one I got bored with and had to put away for a while. I was looking for more of a last man standing brawl fest kind of thing. And there is some of that. But the book is more of a, well, I don't want to say drama, but...drama. It's about these characters and how they change through this experience and through their interactions with eachother. One you realize that and get to know the characters a bit, it is actually pretty good. I would even say well crafted. And the relative fringe-ness of theses characters allows Hopeless more freedom to develop or kill as the story demands.
May 31, 2024
Този албум даде стремителна заявка да влезе в топ 3 на най-големите тъпотии от Марвелската колекция. Безсмислени, хаотично редуващи се сцени с някакви "герои"... не съм сигурен, че изобщо разбрах нещо от сюжета... 2,5/5
September 22, 2014
Sometimes comics are thought-provoking, with character development, intricate plots, great world-building - just as good or better than your average novel.
And sometimes it's just wholesale cheese/violence. A bloodbath, if you will.
This book is more of the latter than the former. (Though it definitely does attempt at the former.)
Arcade gathers 16 superpowered kids into a Death to the End arena. If it sounds like Battle Royale or Hunger Games, it's because that's what it is.
I truly love my comic bookstore and the guys who run it, to be honest. We've talked Star Wars comics, we've talked Saga, I got a recommendation for Runaways (which I've loved) - in general, they are the absolute best in the world. It doesn't matter that I'm a girl to them who sometimes buys My Little Pony. I am a fellow nerd, a fan, and they treat me with the respect.
So, it was just another day at the comic book store, picking up Saga issue 21 (I hoard Saga until I have about 6 and then binge read), when the clerk and I start talking about the Amazing Brian K. Vaughan. He recommended Runaways, and I mentioned I had read it. Then he goes, "You know, Avengers Arena has some of the kids from Runaways. It's so bad, but it's so good at the same time. I make sure to keep one in stock - here, take a look!"
And that's how I got Avengers Arena.
I wouldn't have ever thought to get this series because I just don't follow the kid superheroes of the Marvel world (other than the Runaways line, of course). And the clerk at the comic book store was right: this is just pure violent fun, not anything super serious, dark, Important, Meaningful. It's just 16 kids thrown into Marvel's attempt to ride the dystopia/Hunger Games/Battle Royale bandwagon.
And for what it is? It's great! I only knew two characters - Chase and Nico - from Runaways, but it was almost better that way. Oddly enough, I found myself upset nonetheless as characters die. Pretty much, one dies per issue, there is a focus on one character who doesn't die. It's interesting, it's fun - it's not the best the comic book world has to offer, but it isn't the worst.
The art is good, solid. When you have 16+ characters, it's important to make them all stand out, which is what is done here. I had no trouble differentiating characters (some trouble remembering who was who, but that's because the life bars aren't placed over the characters at all times and I only knew 2 from previous comics), no trouble following the action.
This won't go down in my Top 10 Best Comics list, but it was a fun weekend read. (Probably means that there's something wrong with me, that it was "fun" to read about kids' deaths, but I think you know what I mean.)
And sometimes it's just wholesale cheese/violence. A bloodbath, if you will.
This book is more of the latter than the former. (Though it definitely does attempt at the former.)
Arcade gathers 16 superpowered kids into a Death to the End arena. If it sounds like Battle Royale or Hunger Games, it's because that's what it is.
I truly love my comic bookstore and the guys who run it, to be honest. We've talked Star Wars comics, we've talked Saga, I got a recommendation for Runaways (which I've loved) - in general, they are the absolute best in the world. It doesn't matter that I'm a girl to them who sometimes buys My Little Pony. I am a fellow nerd, a fan, and they treat me with the respect.
So, it was just another day at the comic book store, picking up Saga issue 21 (I hoard Saga until I have about 6 and then binge read), when the clerk and I start talking about the Amazing Brian K. Vaughan. He recommended Runaways, and I mentioned I had read it. Then he goes, "You know, Avengers Arena has some of the kids from Runaways. It's so bad, but it's so good at the same time. I make sure to keep one in stock - here, take a look!"
And that's how I got Avengers Arena.
I wouldn't have ever thought to get this series because I just don't follow the kid superheroes of the Marvel world (other than the Runaways line, of course). And the clerk at the comic book store was right: this is just pure violent fun, not anything super serious, dark, Important, Meaningful. It's just 16 kids thrown into Marvel's attempt to ride the dystopia/Hunger Games/Battle Royale bandwagon.
And for what it is? It's great! I only knew two characters - Chase and Nico - from Runaways, but it was almost better that way. Oddly enough, I found myself upset nonetheless as characters die. Pretty much, one dies per issue, there is a focus on one character who doesn't die. It's interesting, it's fun - it's not the best the comic book world has to offer, but it isn't the worst.
The art is good, solid. When you have 16+ characters, it's important to make them all stand out, which is what is done here. I had no trouble differentiating characters (some trouble remembering who was who, but that's because the life bars aren't placed over the characters at all times and I only knew 2 from previous comics), no trouble following the action.
This won't go down in my Top 10 Best Comics list, but it was a fun weekend read. (Probably means that there's something wrong with me, that it was "fun" to read about kids' deaths, but I think you know what I mean.)
November 12, 2016
Can't even finish this....this is just garbage...not even fun garbage...just straight up trash.
March 15, 2013
Longtime readers may remember that we looked at the first issue of this series some time ago. That ended with one of the lowest scores ever given to a work of fiction on this website. Unfortunately it turned out that first issue was the high point of quality for this series. Everything proceeded to drop like a stone from there.
The series follows the story of the villain Arcade as he kidnaps multiple teenage and young characters of the Marvel universe to pit against one another in Murderworld. Determined to get the highest ratings possible, and even citing the Hunger Games/Battle Royale as a direct influence, he somehow overpowers them all at once and starts killing off people at random. Pain, misery and very lazy writing ensue.
Let us make this clear right from the very start: This is badly written. Hopeless can certainly turn out a good story when it puts his mind to it, but this? Not only does it feature some of the worst understandings of characters ever written, but the explanations to anything are poor hand-waving at best and little to no comprehension is shown of the very series they come from. Here’s just a few examples from quite early on in the series:
For example, Mettle’s personality is dumbed down from a complex, well developed character in a loving relationship to “I’m in love with Hazmat! and little else.” He also engages in actions which completely go against his character arc from Avenger Academy’s Final Exam story.
Hazmat herself has her entire acidic and snarky personality turned from a coping mechanism which arose with her powers to “I’ve always been a hater” Not to mention the fact she relentlessly jumps at the chance to kill people and is turned into a poor cardboard cutout of an excuse to create strife.
Chase is suddenly reset to square one, with Hopeless’ ignoring the character development and maturity she underwent with Joss Whedon’s writing.
Then we get Juston, whose character is utterly destroyed so he can be defined purely by depression and revenge. Little else is ever actually given to him beyond being used as a punching bag.
Every character in this is written following the Brian Bendis mentality of “I didn’t write it, so it doesn’t matter” with characterisation, development and history sacrificed for cheap shock ploys. It only gets progressively worse as the series goes on. These are also just the problems which arise with the characterisation within other series as well. Take for example X-23, who is soon established to be constantly calculating ways and methods to best kill everyone around her if need be. She is then shown repeatedly using Leeroy Jenkins charges without any strategy or even basic caution against whoever she fights, repeatedly getting punched into oblivion. This is not to mention the fact we occasionally have characters turning up with clothing items and equipment they never arrived with, despite having no way to have possibly attained them in this survival story.
No only does the story not work when ignoring basic established continuity of the characters, it doesn’t even work with basic established continuity from issue to issue!
So what about the story itself though? Beyond the characters what substance is there? None. There is nothing here which is of genuine substance which does not ultimately come down to extremely poorly handled efforts to generate rage about the comic. Everything here simply boils down to having someone die each issue. This is not only a very cheap ploy to draw drama which has not only been parodied relentlessly over the years, but proves Marvel learned nothing from Avengers Disassembled and the like. Deaths only matter when there is genuine meaning behind them, not because the contrived plot demands that they be killed.
Just to show how poorly handled this is: We have one character unintentionally commit suicide by flying into an invisible ceiling, killing herself before she can utter a single word in the comic. We also not only have the only black character die first, but character spouting lines like “My boyfriend exploded all over me!” without the slightest hint of self awareness, even as the comic demands you take it seriously. Even if, if, you could somehow take it all seriously Hopeless then includes something which completely destroys all drama in these fights: Health bars. No, that’s not a joke, as fights go on we actually have bars of health appear above character’s heads showing their remaining life. Not only is this like something out of a bad parody but it destroys any semblance of drama within the story’s fights.
Admittedly, said fights are hardly helped as the majority of characters are used as fodder to beef up one new figure invented by Hopeless himself who serves as the villain. She constantly wins only because the characters repeatedly forget how their powers work or even how to operate as a team,
The pacing and focus is all over the place, unable to latch onto a single character and suddenly advancing in jerks of blinding activity after long pauses of nothing. Breaks in a constant pace work, but only when there is a constant momentum. Here there’s nothing of the sort within this story and it feels as if Hopeless was making things up as he went along. It’s without a single direction so much as a series of spasmodic moments of lucidity followed by a sudden change in direction or effort to make the audience are by pointlessly killing someone.
The brief moments of self awareness Avengers Arena does display do not result in anything good. If anything the attempts to solve problems by just highlighting them but never go that extra mile of doing anything to solve the problems. Merely showing awareness of Arcade’s sudden jump in power or the fact he has made himself a target for the Avengers, Excalibur and just about every superhero on the planet does not mean you have closed the gaping plot hole of the comic’s premise!
Perhaps the only thing which might merit some praise is the art of Kev Walker. As a genuinely talented artist he has a great ability to depict events, and handles textures, characters and varied environments extremely well. However, it’s a little hard to praise that when he is constantly drawing borderline gore porn with characters having their flesh burned off, being run through with blades and the like.
Don’t get this one. Don’t even waste your time looking into it for the controversy surrounding this comic. It’s bad, pure and simple, without a single redeeming quality to be found among its pages. Don’t reward Marvel with money for churning out such a lazy, poorly produced and wasteful idea for a series. Remember it only as a mistake and a sign of just how far this company has fallen when it comes to treating its characters with respect.
Merged review:
Marvel, could I ask you a question. What the hell is wrong with you?
After the dark age brought about by Civil War you announce your Heroic Age, where the good guys are allowed to act like heroes once more, only to see them fighting and murdering one another for contrived reasons yet again. Avengers vs. X-Men was bad enough, with both sides acting like morons and punching one another over something extremely simple, but now you drop all pretences and start throwing them by the truckload into Battle Royale gladiatorial games. Yeah, that’s really it, not much else.
Kidnapped by Arcade, we’ll get to him don’t worry, a multitude of lesser known teenage heroes including the Avengers Academy cast, X-23, the Runaways and Darkhawk are taken to the villain’s funhouse of death Murderworld. There they’re pitted into a kill or be killed scenario with no option to refuse fights and have to murder one another for the amusement of others.
Let’s just set aside that the afterlife seems to have a revolving door in comics and try to deal with everything else related to this.
Avengers Arena is taking a distinct group of young heroes, many of who have shown real character growth in a remarkably short amount of time who, just to focus upon Avengers Academy, have developed to trust one another. To protect one another, fall in love, and build themselves up to be an effective force for good and overcome traumatic past experiences to push past their flaws. It then uses those heroes as fodder by hurling them into a meat-grinder and has them openly murder one another because Marvel thinks no one will miss them. Not even giving them a chance for a heroic last stand or, in one infamous case thus far, their execution any focus or even meaning. Not to mention that particular one involves two horrible slasher movie clichés.
This is the sort of story idea I expect to find pitched with the first sentence consisting of “Yo dawg, I heard you liked character deaths” and uses the term “x-tremely edgy” to describe how dark it is. This is really the biggest problem here. The bloated parasite of a concept latches onto the story and drains it dry of any fun or reason to be committed to events, something most obviously visible within the characters.
Arcade, a C-list villain who is barely more of a threat than Stilt-Man, has undergone a huge overhaul by writer Dennis Hopeless. In an effort to make him a credible threat any colourfully fun aspects which made him popular back in the 80s have been completely removed. The only emotion he gave off throughout the whole thing was smug apathy, even as he kills someone with mind bullets. You can practically hear the comic screaming “SEE! SEE! HE CARES NOTHING FOR LIFE AND DEATH! SO GRIMDARK!!!”
It’s the same with some of the heroes. One particularly memorable preview has Hazmat, AKA the girl who lobs radiation at people, claiming that she has “always been a hater” and that she has just hated everything. Nope, no mention of the fact that her hatred was a long established as a coping mechanism for her powers and trauma, she just hates everything. This is the sort of badly researched tripe I’d expect of Karen Traviss, not the guy who wrote X-Men: Season One. Even when the comic initially takes time to expand upon the characters personalities you know it’s only being done so those who’ve don’t care about the characters and have just turned up to watch them die understand who they are.
The same goes for the artwork. I could praise the level of detail done by Kev Walker but then I’d have to go into things like the burnt flesh sloughing off the bones of X-23 and horrified expressions of those about to die. I could talk about the colouring, but that’d leave me going into the sheer level of gore, blood splatters and maiming rife within fights. Anything good which can possibly be found in this wretched mess is ultimately tainted by the basic concept driving its plot forwards.
Readers, if any of you looking at this care in the slightest about the characters involved I implore you: Don’t waste your money on this. I barely managed to scratch the surface on everything wrong with this issue alone. Don’t even pirate it or post hate on forums. Ignore it. We’ve seen enough of heroes senselessly beating the living crap out of one another in recent years, milked to be edgy, controversial and not even trying to embrace any of the fun behind the concept. This should be the last straw, not something to make a profit and end up with some executive thinking they should have more heroes violently murdering one another to boost sales.
The series follows the story of the villain Arcade as he kidnaps multiple teenage and young characters of the Marvel universe to pit against one another in Murderworld. Determined to get the highest ratings possible, and even citing the Hunger Games/Battle Royale as a direct influence, he somehow overpowers them all at once and starts killing off people at random. Pain, misery and very lazy writing ensue.
Let us make this clear right from the very start: This is badly written. Hopeless can certainly turn out a good story when it puts his mind to it, but this? Not only does it feature some of the worst understandings of characters ever written, but the explanations to anything are poor hand-waving at best and little to no comprehension is shown of the very series they come from. Here’s just a few examples from quite early on in the series:
For example, Mettle’s personality is dumbed down from a complex, well developed character in a loving relationship to “I’m in love with Hazmat! and little else.” He also engages in actions which completely go against his character arc from Avenger Academy’s Final Exam story.
Hazmat herself has her entire acidic and snarky personality turned from a coping mechanism which arose with her powers to “I’ve always been a hater” Not to mention the fact she relentlessly jumps at the chance to kill people and is turned into a poor cardboard cutout of an excuse to create strife.
Chase is suddenly reset to square one, with Hopeless’ ignoring the character development and maturity she underwent with Joss Whedon’s writing.
Then we get Juston, whose character is utterly destroyed so he can be defined purely by depression and revenge. Little else is ever actually given to him beyond being used as a punching bag.
Every character in this is written following the Brian Bendis mentality of “I didn’t write it, so it doesn’t matter” with characterisation, development and history sacrificed for cheap shock ploys. It only gets progressively worse as the series goes on. These are also just the problems which arise with the characterisation within other series as well. Take for example X-23, who is soon established to be constantly calculating ways and methods to best kill everyone around her if need be. She is then shown repeatedly using Leeroy Jenkins charges without any strategy or even basic caution against whoever she fights, repeatedly getting punched into oblivion. This is not to mention the fact we occasionally have characters turning up with clothing items and equipment they never arrived with, despite having no way to have possibly attained them in this survival story.
No only does the story not work when ignoring basic established continuity of the characters, it doesn’t even work with basic established continuity from issue to issue!
So what about the story itself though? Beyond the characters what substance is there? None. There is nothing here which is of genuine substance which does not ultimately come down to extremely poorly handled efforts to generate rage about the comic. Everything here simply boils down to having someone die each issue. This is not only a very cheap ploy to draw drama which has not only been parodied relentlessly over the years, but proves Marvel learned nothing from Avengers Disassembled and the like. Deaths only matter when there is genuine meaning behind them, not because the contrived plot demands that they be killed.
Just to show how poorly handled this is: We have one character unintentionally commit suicide by flying into an invisible ceiling, killing herself before she can utter a single word in the comic. We also not only have the only black character die first, but character spouting lines like “My boyfriend exploded all over me!” without the slightest hint of self awareness, even as the comic demands you take it seriously. Even if, if, you could somehow take it all seriously Hopeless then includes something which completely destroys all drama in these fights: Health bars. No, that’s not a joke, as fights go on we actually have bars of health appear above character’s heads showing their remaining life. Not only is this like something out of a bad parody but it destroys any semblance of drama within the story’s fights.
Admittedly, said fights are hardly helped as the majority of characters are used as fodder to beef up one new figure invented by Hopeless himself who serves as the villain. She constantly wins only because the characters repeatedly forget how their powers work or even how to operate as a team,
The pacing and focus is all over the place, unable to latch onto a single character and suddenly advancing in jerks of blinding activity after long pauses of nothing. Breaks in a constant pace work, but only when there is a constant momentum. Here there’s nothing of the sort within this story and it feels as if Hopeless was making things up as he went along. It’s without a single direction so much as a series of spasmodic moments of lucidity followed by a sudden change in direction or effort to make the audience are by pointlessly killing someone.
The brief moments of self awareness Avengers Arena does display do not result in anything good. If anything the attempts to solve problems by just highlighting them but never go that extra mile of doing anything to solve the problems. Merely showing awareness of Arcade’s sudden jump in power or the fact he has made himself a target for the Avengers, Excalibur and just about every superhero on the planet does not mean you have closed the gaping plot hole of the comic’s premise!
Perhaps the only thing which might merit some praise is the art of Kev Walker. As a genuinely talented artist he has a great ability to depict events, and handles textures, characters and varied environments extremely well. However, it’s a little hard to praise that when he is constantly drawing borderline gore porn with characters having their flesh burned off, being run through with blades and the like.
Don’t get this one. Don’t even waste your time looking into it for the controversy surrounding this comic. It’s bad, pure and simple, without a single redeeming quality to be found among its pages. Don’t reward Marvel with money for churning out such a lazy, poorly produced and wasteful idea for a series. Remember it only as a mistake and a sign of just how far this company has fallen when it comes to treating its characters with respect.
Merged review:
Marvel, could I ask you a question. What the hell is wrong with you?
After the dark age brought about by Civil War you announce your Heroic Age, where the good guys are allowed to act like heroes once more, only to see them fighting and murdering one another for contrived reasons yet again. Avengers vs. X-Men was bad enough, with both sides acting like morons and punching one another over something extremely simple, but now you drop all pretences and start throwing them by the truckload into Battle Royale gladiatorial games. Yeah, that’s really it, not much else.
Kidnapped by Arcade, we’ll get to him don’t worry, a multitude of lesser known teenage heroes including the Avengers Academy cast, X-23, the Runaways and Darkhawk are taken to the villain’s funhouse of death Murderworld. There they’re pitted into a kill or be killed scenario with no option to refuse fights and have to murder one another for the amusement of others.
Let’s just set aside that the afterlife seems to have a revolving door in comics and try to deal with everything else related to this.
Avengers Arena is taking a distinct group of young heroes, many of who have shown real character growth in a remarkably short amount of time who, just to focus upon Avengers Academy, have developed to trust one another. To protect one another, fall in love, and build themselves up to be an effective force for good and overcome traumatic past experiences to push past their flaws. It then uses those heroes as fodder by hurling them into a meat-grinder and has them openly murder one another because Marvel thinks no one will miss them. Not even giving them a chance for a heroic last stand or, in one infamous case thus far, their execution any focus or even meaning. Not to mention that particular one involves two horrible slasher movie clichés.
This is the sort of story idea I expect to find pitched with the first sentence consisting of “Yo dawg, I heard you liked character deaths” and uses the term “x-tremely edgy” to describe how dark it is. This is really the biggest problem here. The bloated parasite of a concept latches onto the story and drains it dry of any fun or reason to be committed to events, something most obviously visible within the characters.
Arcade, a C-list villain who is barely more of a threat than Stilt-Man, has undergone a huge overhaul by writer Dennis Hopeless. In an effort to make him a credible threat any colourfully fun aspects which made him popular back in the 80s have been completely removed. The only emotion he gave off throughout the whole thing was smug apathy, even as he kills someone with mind bullets. You can practically hear the comic screaming “SEE! SEE! HE CARES NOTHING FOR LIFE AND DEATH! SO GRIMDARK!!!”
It’s the same with some of the heroes. One particularly memorable preview has Hazmat, AKA the girl who lobs radiation at people, claiming that she has “always been a hater” and that she has just hated everything. Nope, no mention of the fact that her hatred was a long established as a coping mechanism for her powers and trauma, she just hates everything. This is the sort of badly researched tripe I’d expect of Karen Traviss, not the guy who wrote X-Men: Season One. Even when the comic initially takes time to expand upon the characters personalities you know it’s only being done so those who’ve don’t care about the characters and have just turned up to watch them die understand who they are.
The same goes for the artwork. I could praise the level of detail done by Kev Walker but then I’d have to go into things like the burnt flesh sloughing off the bones of X-23 and horrified expressions of those about to die. I could talk about the colouring, but that’d leave me going into the sheer level of gore, blood splatters and maiming rife within fights. Anything good which can possibly be found in this wretched mess is ultimately tainted by the basic concept driving its plot forwards.
Readers, if any of you looking at this care in the slightest about the characters involved I implore you: Don’t waste your money on this. I barely managed to scratch the surface on everything wrong with this issue alone. Don’t even pirate it or post hate on forums. Ignore it. We’ve seen enough of heroes senselessly beating the living crap out of one another in recent years, milked to be edgy, controversial and not even trying to embrace any of the fun behind the concept. This should be the last straw, not something to make a profit and end up with some executive thinking they should have more heroes violently murdering one another to boost sales.
September 12, 2024
Още от корицата си личи признатото от авторите на тази история "вдъхновение" от мангата "Battle Royal", част от която съм чел преди 15-на години и си спомням като много добра и още понече кървава.
Тази история е копие на оригинала, но разбира се - марвелски скопено и инфантилизирано.
2,5
Тази история е копие на оригинала, но разбира се - марвелски скопено и инфантилизирано.
2,5
February 25, 2015
Jednoho krásného dne, zaťukat Dennis Hopeless na dveře hlavounům marvelu a řekl jim: "Mám nápad jak přitáhnout do Marvel Now nové čtenáře, vím co teďka děcka bere nejvíc, umím používat twitter, vím co to je tumblr a baví mě zabíjet comicsové postavy" Hlavouni pokývali hlavou
a řekli že jediné co jsou mu ochotní dát, jsou druho až třetiřadé teenage charaktery Marvel Universe.
A Hopeless řekl že jo. "A kde jste vzal ten originální námět"? Zeptali se ho nakonec. "Šlohnul jsem ho" opáčil Dennis.
Asi takhle nějak mohla vzniknout jedna z vynikajících (a ukončených) sérií v Marvel Now. Avengers Arena je oprásknutí osvědčeného, a díky Hunger Games aktuálně hodně populárního konceptu. Vemte partu puberťáků, vražte je na opuštěný ostrov a nechte je se vzájemně zabíjet. Lidi to bude bavit a na Vás je napsat to tak originálně, aby každá smrt měla smysl a hlavně správně šokovala. To znamená aby o tom lidi psali na twitter a facebook.
Šestnáct teenage superhrdinů se probouzí na ostrově, kde je přivítá padouch Arcade. To je pán, co svojí superzáporáckou kariéru postavil na budouvání vraždících zábavních parků (ten díl kde X-Meni bojují na obřím pinballu byl jeho nápad) a už z téhle zmínky je Vám jasné že je to záporák opravdu mizerné úrovně, zaseklý někde v osmdesátkách. Jenže Arcade na to tentokrát šel jinak, a protože si tenhle nápad přečetl v jedné knížce pro děti (!!!) rozhodl se uspořádat vlastní Battle Royale / Hunger Games.
Pokud jde o skladbu pubescentních hrdinů. Máme tu členy Avengers Academy (X-23, Juston, Mettle nebo Hazmat), dále několik členů ze série Runaways (Chase, Nico). No a potom hromadu charakterů z Braddock Academy vytvořené extra pro tuhle sérii (Kid Britton, Anachronism, Bloodstone). Vy nevíte co je Braddock Academy? To je britská škola pro super nadané fakany. Asi něco jako kdyby kapitána ameriku ve škole učil Giles z Buffy.
No a všichni tihle zjistí, že zabíjení - stejně jako umírání, je tady neskutečně snadná záležitost..
a řekli že jediné co jsou mu ochotní dát, jsou druho až třetiřadé teenage charaktery Marvel Universe.
A Hopeless řekl že jo. "A kde jste vzal ten originální námět"? Zeptali se ho nakonec. "Šlohnul jsem ho" opáčil Dennis.
Asi takhle nějak mohla vzniknout jedna z vynikajících (a ukončených) sérií v Marvel Now. Avengers Arena je oprásknutí osvědčeného, a díky Hunger Games aktuálně hodně populárního konceptu. Vemte partu puberťáků, vražte je na opuštěný ostrov a nechte je se vzájemně zabíjet. Lidi to bude bavit a na Vás je napsat to tak originálně, aby každá smrt měla smysl a hlavně správně šokovala. To znamená aby o tom lidi psali na twitter a facebook.
Šestnáct teenage superhrdinů se probouzí na ostrově, kde je přivítá padouch Arcade. To je pán, co svojí superzáporáckou kariéru postavil na budouvání vraždících zábavních parků (ten díl kde X-Meni bojují na obřím pinballu byl jeho nápad) a už z téhle zmínky je Vám jasné že je to záporák opravdu mizerné úrovně, zaseklý někde v osmdesátkách. Jenže Arcade na to tentokrát šel jinak, a protože si tenhle nápad přečetl v jedné knížce pro děti (!!!) rozhodl se uspořádat vlastní Battle Royale / Hunger Games.
Pokud jde o skladbu pubescentních hrdinů. Máme tu členy Avengers Academy (X-23, Juston, Mettle nebo Hazmat), dále několik členů ze série Runaways (Chase, Nico). No a potom hromadu charakterů z Braddock Academy vytvořené extra pro tuhle sérii (Kid Britton, Anachronism, Bloodstone). Vy nevíte co je Braddock Academy? To je britská škola pro super nadané fakany. Asi něco jako kdyby kapitána ameriku ve škole učil Giles z Buffy.
No a všichni tihle zjistí, že zabíjení - stejně jako umírání, je tady neskutečně snadná záležitost..
November 1, 2013
Starts out with some decent momentum and a shocking kill. Then it slows down into a confusing mess.
I don't know hardly any of these kids, and what's more I don't think half of them existed until this book. Which according to the premise makes them cannon fodder, and means I shouldn't invest any emotional energy into paying any attention to their needs or even their names.
Then there's the leaden "introducing our gang and their back stories" sequences. I get the book has to get around to them sometime, and that doing a chronological "getting the gang together" intro wouldn't have had the oomph to encourage repeat buyers. Still, this feels like tedious filler.
I get a twinge of excitement as we hear about who among them has the sociopathic/killer instinct in their history - which I'm a little ashamed of, for a socialist pacifist like me. But what the hell, it's just fantasy right? I mean, the kids in this book aren't *actually* going to stay dead are they? There's at least a handful that Marvel is too invested in to just delete them.
So will this series turn out to be a Beyonder scenario? Will Arcade just reboot them all at the end? Or will we get some weird intervention at the end by some super-powerful god figure like Uatu the Watcher (who's been doing a little more than just watching lately, hasn't he)?
I don't know hardly any of these kids, and what's more I don't think half of them existed until this book. Which according to the premise makes them cannon fodder, and means I shouldn't invest any emotional energy into paying any attention to their needs or even their names.
Then there's the leaden "introducing our gang and their back stories" sequences. I get the book has to get around to them sometime, and that doing a chronological "getting the gang together" intro wouldn't have had the oomph to encourage repeat buyers. Still, this feels like tedious filler.
I get a twinge of excitement as we hear about who among them has the sociopathic/killer instinct in their history - which I'm a little ashamed of, for a socialist pacifist like me. But what the hell, it's just fantasy right? I mean, the kids in this book aren't *actually* going to stay dead are they? There's at least a handful that Marvel is too invested in to just delete them.
So will this series turn out to be a Beyonder scenario? Will Arcade just reboot them all at the end? Or will we get some weird intervention at the end by some super-powerful god figure like Uatu the Watcher (who's been doing a little more than just watching lately, hasn't he)?
March 14, 2015
I'm a sucker for all-out-killing survival stories, so I'm not surprised that I enjoyed Avengers Arena. This is my first Marvel read, and I was glad that I didn't know any of these characters beforehand since it was interesting to see these teenagers' true colors unravel throughout this story. The character development was mostly good; the characters' personalities & abilities were very individual and unique: some I loved (Nico) and some I hated (Hazmat).
If you're in the mood for a story about Hunger Games with Superpowers, this comic is it!
If you're in the mood for a story about Hunger Games with Superpowers, this comic is it!
March 20, 2018
So much better than I was expecting. Like a superhero Hunger Games with a lot of drama. I wish my local library had the second one though. This ended on a cliffhanger.
September 28, 2021
No ten poslední sešit byl top
July 26, 2016
3.5 stars
So Arcade kidnaps a handful of obscure and slightly-less-than-obscure super-powered teenagers and throws them into the seemingly inescapable Murder World, an arena in which they will be forced to battle what Arcade throws at them and what they throw at each other (because human psychology).
I can't say that this is very original, BUT it is pretty original in the superhero world. I mean, it had obvious Hunger Games overtones and some Lord of the Flies undertones, but I wouldn't necessarily consider it a rip-off.
I did my research and there are only three volumes in this Avengers Arena series. So I went ahead and ordered the other two. I mean, I do want to see where this goes. The final panel verily satisfied me because And I can get them for free at the library, so what's really stopping me?
Artwork: average
Plot: slightly above average
Characters: average
Dialogue: average
So Arcade kidnaps a handful of obscure and slightly-less-than-obscure super-powered teenagers and throws them into the seemingly inescapable Murder World, an arena in which they will be forced to battle what Arcade throws at them and what they throw at each other (because human psychology).
I can't say that this is very original, BUT it is pretty original in the superhero world. I mean, it had obvious Hunger Games overtones and some Lord of the Flies undertones, but I wouldn't necessarily consider it a rip-off.
I did my research and there are only three volumes in this Avengers Arena series. So I went ahead and ordered the other two. I mean, I do want to see where this goes. The final panel verily satisfied me because And I can get them for free at the library, so what's really stopping me?
Artwork: average
Plot: slightly above average
Characters: average
Dialogue: average
June 8, 2013
Dennis Hopeless lives up to his last name with this bandwagon series about teenage death games. Kids from Avengers Academy, Runaways, Braddock Academy, and other corners of the Marvel Universe find themselves abducted by Arcade. With amped-up powers and a deadly new Murderworld, the master gamesman kills Academy member Mettle just to prove how serious he is. Sadly, this first-issue act is the only useful part of this volume. While Hopeless tries to introduce new characters and display the Marvel version of Hunger Games, the series falls short on actual development. Darkhawk receives a mysterious medallion loss, Juston and his Sentinel are missing for the entire arc, and no one knows where the rest of the Runaways have gone. Like the author, this Avengers tie-in is just plain Hopeless.
January 30, 2015
Its like superhero hunger games... And ya know what?
It kinda works.
November 23, 2017
This was quite a treat. Such a fun book! I do admit I have a soft spot for Battle Royale scenarios, but Dennis Hopeless, Kev Walker, and Frank Martin really nailed it. Let me be clear right off the bat: I didn't rate this 5 stars because it's a deep book with lots of substance--I gave this 5 stars because it knows exactly what it is and goes all out with it. It's just a very fun book, and if you go in expecting some dumb fun like I did, you will enjoy the hell out of this. If you go in expecting something deeper, this is not for you. If you go in jaded, calling this a Battle Royale or Hunger Games ripoff, then you completely miss the point (even the cover of the trade is a reference to Battle Royale).
This is my first exposure to Hopeless and he has impressed me. Little bits of writing goodness here and there, broken up by the typical action and drama one might expect from this kind of gimmick. He balanced out the action, drama, and expositional backstory very well. All the new characters are given personalities very adeptly; Hopeless never dwells on it too much but makes sure to give them enough backstory to make them feel familiar, like they've been around the Marvel universe a while. He also does the older characters justice and all their voices and actions sound natural (at least the ones I'm familiar with). The story moves at a very fast pace, which makes this an easy read, but I do sometimes wish Hopeless took more time with it to further explore the mental, emotional, and physical toll Murder World takes on its players (but to be fair, this gimmick has been done many times before so it doesn't need much exploration).
As for the art, Kev Walker and Frank Martin are amazing. The linework is clean but explosive when it needs to be, and all the character designs look really good. Martin's coloring actually impressed me a lot. It's very expressive; generally bright and solid, but dark and gloomy when needed. All of the Hazmat panels specifically look really good. Ironically, when I first flipped through the book, it reminded me a lot of Marcelo Maiolo's work, and upon looking it up I see that Martin is now the colorist on Old Man Logan. Good choice, Marvel. I do have one nitpick: why in the hell would you color Nico's eyes blue? Seems like coloring 101 to know what colors to use for characters' eyes, hair, and skin, so I don't know how you mess that up. Still, it's just a minor thing.
I'm looking forward to the other volumes in the series. I expect things will move fast. for better or worse.
This is my first exposure to Hopeless and he has impressed me. Little bits of writing goodness here and there, broken up by the typical action and drama one might expect from this kind of gimmick. He balanced out the action, drama, and expositional backstory very well. All the new characters are given personalities very adeptly; Hopeless never dwells on it too much but makes sure to give them enough backstory to make them feel familiar, like they've been around the Marvel universe a while. He also does the older characters justice and all their voices and actions sound natural (at least the ones I'm familiar with). The story moves at a very fast pace, which makes this an easy read, but I do sometimes wish Hopeless took more time with it to further explore the mental, emotional, and physical toll Murder World takes on its players (but to be fair, this gimmick has been done many times before so it doesn't need much exploration).
As for the art, Kev Walker and Frank Martin are amazing. The linework is clean but explosive when it needs to be, and all the character designs look really good. Martin's coloring actually impressed me a lot. It's very expressive; generally bright and solid, but dark and gloomy when needed. All of the Hazmat panels specifically look really good. Ironically, when I first flipped through the book, it reminded me a lot of Marcelo Maiolo's work, and upon looking it up I see that Martin is now the colorist on Old Man Logan. Good choice, Marvel. I do have one nitpick: why in the hell would you color Nico's eyes blue? Seems like coloring 101 to know what colors to use for characters' eyes, hair, and skin, so I don't know how you mess that up. Still, it's just a minor thing.
I'm looking forward to the other volumes in the series. I expect things will move fast. for better or worse.
June 21, 2021
Reading Infinity: The Hunt led me back to Avengers Arena, yet another series I had forgotten I already owned a copy of but had yet to read. The premise of the mini-series is a straight-up Battle Royale redux using Marvel characters. But given it mostly involves younger characters with very limited exposure makes for rather difficult reading since I don't know who these people are.
It makes sense that they placed Arcade at the heart of this. He's a bit of a caricature of a character since he's always about setting up a new Murder World and getting the people trapped inside to die. Now he's also trying to get them to kill each other - provided the latest Murder World island doesn't kill them first.
It's sort of mindless fun with some interesting character moments. But my lack of familiarity with most of the characters rather throws me off and makes it harder to really get into things. I'm probably most excited about Cammi because I have more context with her because of her involvement in the Annihilation storyline but that's about it so far.
It makes sense that they placed Arcade at the heart of this. He's a bit of a caricature of a character since he's always about setting up a new Murder World and getting the people trapped inside to die. Now he's also trying to get them to kill each other - provided the latest Murder World island doesn't kill them first.
It's sort of mindless fun with some interesting character moments. But my lack of familiarity with most of the characters rather throws me off and makes it harder to really get into things. I'm probably most excited about Cammi because I have more context with her because of her involvement in the Annihilation storyline but that's about it so far.
September 6, 2020
Dennis Hopeless is so underrated. This and his runs Spider-Woman and (young) Jean Grey just further prove that. I had heard a lot about this book in comic circles but I never got around to reading it but having just finished Avengers Academy I realized this book was kind of a sequel and I am thoroughly enjoying it!
March 20, 2023
I like this comic. Its not really that much Avengers, but the Arena part is really interesting. It's Marvel meets Hunger Games and i love that. Looking forward to what this series will bring and who will be the last one standing.
September 9, 2024
I do really appreciate the appearance of Cammi. It took me a few issues but realizing who she was, was kind of fun.
If you wanted the arena style arc of the hunger games but with super powered teenagers, you're in luck, Marvel hopped on the bandwagon.
If you wanted the arena style arc of the hunger games but with super powered teenagers, you're in luck, Marvel hopped on the bandwagon.
September 23, 2017
Fun read
A fun and action packed read with interesting characters. Could do with a bit more murder though as that's what it's about...
A fun and action packed read with interesting characters. Could do with a bit more murder though as that's what it's about...
August 29, 2025
I like picking up these comic book compilations because they usually complete the story, so I was very disappointed that it ended in a cliffhanger. Setting that aside, Avengers: Hunger Games sounded very gimicky but turned out to be a decent read. Guess I need to look for the other volumes now.
June 16, 2025
Ich halte Arcade nach wie vor für komplett Panne. Aber er kommt praktisch nicht vor, daher ist der Comic ziemlich gut
April 10, 2017
Unashamedly ripping off Battle Royale, from the logo on the cover to the bad guy admitting he read the book last time he was in prison and enjoyed it, Avengers Arena drops sixteen super-teens into a walled-off arena where only one can survive. Behind the mayhem is Arcade, a perennial punching bag of Marvel comics who's best-remembered exploit was trapping the X-Men in a giant pinball machine.
In a universe filled with super-powered beings and living gods, let's face it: Arcade's the guy every super hero team is comfortable fighting. He's Lex Luthor without the genius, a guy whose only strength is being a trust-fund baby with more money than sense. Take away his ineptly-named "Murder World" and he's just a guy in a cheap suit trying to get his jollies by screwing around with beings far mightier than he could ever hope to be, rigging up annoying traps and comically-oversize hammers instead of doing anything threatening. Whenever Marvel re-arranges their entire universe, destroying worlds, killing characters, and splitting dimensions, Arcade's the schlub everybody wishes they'd get rid of for good -- not because he's an asshole, but because his grand schemes reek of desperation and absurdity. His antics earn him a spot in jail for a bit, then everyone forgets about him because no one actually got hurt playing one of his games. No one likes Arcade, no one fears Arcade, no one respects Arcade.
Well, up until now that's been the case. But Arcade's hit rock bottom: tired of being a punching bag, tired of being taken for granted, tired of being the proverbial nerd getting sand kicked in his face. Dennis Hopeless has taken the single most hopeless "villain" in all Marvel-dom and asked the question, "What if Arcade was scary? Like, really scary?"
I love when a writer can give a character such a great make-over that suddenly they become either extremely useful (in terms of heroes) or extremely terrifying (in the case of a villain). In this case, Hopeless delivers the real Arcade experience by taking chunks of Battle Royale, Hunger Games, Divergent, Maze Runner, and every other teenage dystopian novel of the last two decades you care to name, and weaving them into a Sentinel-level nightmare. Sixteen mutants enter Murder World's domed-over arena, and Arcade gives them thirty days. At the end of the month, the one still alive gets to leave.
My only complaint about book one is that it's a very slow build. These first several issues are all character back-story, making sure we're acquainted with everyone who's about to hit the chopping block, and that's important if you're going to throw more than a dozen super-teens at us. It also gets to the heart of Arcade's back-story, showcasing his transformation from weenie to living god of Murder World and ability to shrug off anything the kids can hit him with. This sets the stage nicely for what's to come in the next trade, but Volume 1 suffers a bit for it as well. Back-stories for all those involved are appreciated, but they do delay the action somewhat, so if you're looking for the carnage, be prepared to wait after the first couple mutants go 'splat'.
Otherwise, this is a ferocious, no-holds-barred book that isn't afraid to drop some hideous R-rated violence in full color when called for. Heads will, literally, roll before volume 1 is done, and that...is awesome.
In a universe filled with super-powered beings and living gods, let's face it: Arcade's the guy every super hero team is comfortable fighting. He's Lex Luthor without the genius, a guy whose only strength is being a trust-fund baby with more money than sense. Take away his ineptly-named "Murder World" and he's just a guy in a cheap suit trying to get his jollies by screwing around with beings far mightier than he could ever hope to be, rigging up annoying traps and comically-oversize hammers instead of doing anything threatening. Whenever Marvel re-arranges their entire universe, destroying worlds, killing characters, and splitting dimensions, Arcade's the schlub everybody wishes they'd get rid of for good -- not because he's an asshole, but because his grand schemes reek of desperation and absurdity. His antics earn him a spot in jail for a bit, then everyone forgets about him because no one actually got hurt playing one of his games. No one likes Arcade, no one fears Arcade, no one respects Arcade.
Well, up until now that's been the case. But Arcade's hit rock bottom: tired of being a punching bag, tired of being taken for granted, tired of being the proverbial nerd getting sand kicked in his face. Dennis Hopeless has taken the single most hopeless "villain" in all Marvel-dom and asked the question, "What if Arcade was scary? Like, really scary?"
I love when a writer can give a character such a great make-over that suddenly they become either extremely useful (in terms of heroes) or extremely terrifying (in the case of a villain). In this case, Hopeless delivers the real Arcade experience by taking chunks of Battle Royale, Hunger Games, Divergent, Maze Runner, and every other teenage dystopian novel of the last two decades you care to name, and weaving them into a Sentinel-level nightmare. Sixteen mutants enter Murder World's domed-over arena, and Arcade gives them thirty days. At the end of the month, the one still alive gets to leave.
My only complaint about book one is that it's a very slow build. These first several issues are all character back-story, making sure we're acquainted with everyone who's about to hit the chopping block, and that's important if you're going to throw more than a dozen super-teens at us. It also gets to the heart of Arcade's back-story, showcasing his transformation from weenie to living god of Murder World and ability to shrug off anything the kids can hit him with. This sets the stage nicely for what's to come in the next trade, but Volume 1 suffers a bit for it as well. Back-stories for all those involved are appreciated, but they do delay the action somewhat, so if you're looking for the carnage, be prepared to wait after the first couple mutants go 'splat'.
Otherwise, this is a ferocious, no-holds-barred book that isn't afraid to drop some hideous R-rated violence in full color when called for. Heads will, literally, roll before volume 1 is done, and that...is awesome.
June 14, 2013
Good concept, horrible execution.
This concept could have worked, probably if it was divorced from the context of larger superhero universe or given some plausible explanation why the hell all the grown ups in front of which Arcade kidnapped all those kids (in some cases literally) haven't come with burning vengeance to unleash upon him five minutes later.
It could work if given more time and thought, if it played things slowly, taking more inspiration from Lord of the Flies, than Battle Royale. Or if it actually took more inspiration from battle Royale, but manga, and became more decompressed, allowing for things to grow naturally. Instead it tries to rush everything, never giving any plot point proper focus, just scratching the surface and jumping from event to event. Everything is glimpsed over, as if writer wanted to get to the end of the trade a fast as he could.
There are some good characters here. I enjoyed new character Deathlocket and I really like direction Hopeless took my long-time favorite Cammi. It is also probably the first time I really liked Chase of Runaways fame. However, these pluses are nullified by author's complete innability to write any other previously estabilished character - Mettle, Hazmat (neither of which I know that well, but enough to see a problem), Nico and X-23 are all written so completely out of character they could as well be different people with similiar powers (I excluded Reptil from that list because I don't really know much about him).
Another issue concerns every single new character that isn't Deathlocket. Kids from Braddock Academy are really, really annoying. Kid Briton makes me, a big Captain Britain fan, find in myself previously unknown levels of desire to puch somebody in the face, both Apex and atlanteean girl are getting on my nerves, Bloodstone is whiny waste of space and I have yet to graps why people like Anachronism.
Final nail to the coffin are several cases of breaking "show, don't tell" rule, which is something I shouldn't be seeing in a work a, seemingly, professional writer got paid for.
Don't buy, don't read, don't even pirate it, it's a waste of time.
This concept could have worked, probably if it was divorced from the context of larger superhero universe or given some plausible explanation why the hell all the grown ups in front of which Arcade kidnapped all those kids (in some cases literally) haven't come with burning vengeance to unleash upon him five minutes later.
It could work if given more time and thought, if it played things slowly, taking more inspiration from Lord of the Flies, than Battle Royale. Or if it actually took more inspiration from battle Royale, but manga, and became more decompressed, allowing for things to grow naturally. Instead it tries to rush everything, never giving any plot point proper focus, just scratching the surface and jumping from event to event. Everything is glimpsed over, as if writer wanted to get to the end of the trade a fast as he could.
There are some good characters here. I enjoyed new character Deathlocket and I really like direction Hopeless took my long-time favorite Cammi. It is also probably the first time I really liked Chase of Runaways fame. However, these pluses are nullified by author's complete innability to write any other previously estabilished character - Mettle, Hazmat (neither of which I know that well, but enough to see a problem), Nico and X-23 are all written so completely out of character they could as well be different people with similiar powers (I excluded Reptil from that list because I don't really know much about him).
Another issue concerns every single new character that isn't Deathlocket. Kids from Braddock Academy are really, really annoying. Kid Briton makes me, a big Captain Britain fan, find in myself previously unknown levels of desire to puch somebody in the face, both Apex and atlanteean girl are getting on my nerves, Bloodstone is whiny waste of space and I have yet to graps why people like Anachronism.
Final nail to the coffin are several cases of breaking "show, don't tell" rule, which is something I shouldn't be seeing in a work a, seemingly, professional writer got paid for.
Don't buy, don't read, don't even pirate it, it's a waste of time.
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