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Avengers (1998) (New Editions) #6-7
Avengers: The Complete Collection by Geoff Johns Vol. 1
Collects Avengers (1998) #57-63, Vision (2002) #1-4, Thor (1998) #58 And Iron Man (1998) #64.
They can defeat any super villain - but can the Avengers govern the world? When the capital cities of every country on Earth vanish, the floundering nations turn to the only organization capable of helping them: the Avengers! Then: Thor ascends to Asgard's throne and decides to start answering his worshippers' pleas for help. But not everyone's in favor of divine intervention, and it's Secretary of Defense Iron Man's job to stop the Thunder God's interference - leaving Captain America to play referee between two of the world's biggest super powers! Plus: His memories stolen, an amnesiac Vision must seek help from his creator's reluctant granddaughter to defeat a technological terror left over from WWII!
They can defeat any super villain - but can the Avengers govern the world? When the capital cities of every country on Earth vanish, the floundering nations turn to the only organization capable of helping them: the Avengers! Then: Thor ascends to Asgard's throne and decides to start answering his worshippers' pleas for help. But not everyone's in favor of divine intervention, and it's Secretary of Defense Iron Man's job to stop the Thunder God's interference - leaving Captain America to play referee between two of the world's biggest super powers! Plus: His memories stolen, an amnesiac Vision must seek help from his creator's reluctant granddaughter to defeat a technological terror left over from WWII!
301 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 11, 2013
About the author
Geoff Johns
3,006 books2,447 followersGeoff 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.
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.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
March 2, 2017
Well that was...interesting. Not quite sure about all the characterizations. Soso.
August 9, 2021
This was a long and pretty epic read!
I love how it comes together with many Avengers being thrust into the ongoing conflicts like with Mr Hyde and then transitioning to the cities being taken away and we find that Scorpio is behind it and Avengers have to engage their enemy and also Avengers get international acclaim and Namor and BP are also in it which was awesome. Their first big villain: The Inbetweener and the way they fight them off is awesome and so many relationships, romance and friendship moments.
There is this great issue focusing on Jack of hearts and Scott Lang which I love like showing the tragic life of the two and yet they stand tall being Avengers but at what cost? It makes you think about whether all this is really worth it. The psychological things there are quite awesome.
There is the standoff crossover included showing the trinity going to war sort of and how their thoughts lead to a big battle and the country of Slokovia and Dr Doom's plan in it. It was a short story and feels good to read it and offered schism and tension and some interesting conflicts with Doom and everything. Sort of like a psychological story but really well done.
And there is the vision story which I sort of liked. I guess they changed his origin here and pitting him against a villain named Gremlin was cool I guess. Not the best story in the volume but I like how Reis art came here and it was so good especially the big fights here.
Overall its a decent and good volume and highlights the Avengers at its best and shows a lot of members and teasing big things to come. It has everything we want: cosmic entity, great villains and the greatest heroes of all time and Johns handles them all well and all of them shine here and makes it one of the best Avengers volume for sure.
I love how it comes together with many Avengers being thrust into the ongoing conflicts like with Mr Hyde and then transitioning to the cities being taken away and we find that Scorpio is behind it and Avengers have to engage their enemy and also Avengers get international acclaim and Namor and BP are also in it which was awesome. Their first big villain: The Inbetweener and the way they fight them off is awesome and so many relationships, romance and friendship moments.
There is this great issue focusing on Jack of hearts and Scott Lang which I love like showing the tragic life of the two and yet they stand tall being Avengers but at what cost? It makes you think about whether all this is really worth it. The psychological things there are quite awesome.
There is the standoff crossover included showing the trinity going to war sort of and how their thoughts lead to a big battle and the country of Slokovia and Dr Doom's plan in it. It was a short story and feels good to read it and offered schism and tension and some interesting conflicts with Doom and everything. Sort of like a psychological story but really well done.
And there is the vision story which I sort of liked. I guess they changed his origin here and pitting him against a villain named Gremlin was cool I guess. Not the best story in the volume but I like how Reis art came here and it was so good especially the big fights here.
Overall its a decent and good volume and highlights the Avengers at its best and shows a lot of members and teasing big things to come. It has everything we want: cosmic entity, great villains and the greatest heroes of all time and Johns handles them all well and all of them shine here and makes it one of the best Avengers volume for sure.
January 22, 2018
Geoff does the best teasers. You can't help but love the lovely leadups but often you will find yourself wanting more. He wanders everywhere, great for overview but lacking in development.
February 6, 2017
3 stars. *Sighs*
As I've said in previous reviews, I just can't get into Geoff John's work because he doesn't seem to care about character development. At all. I've read his team books and a Flash solo book and it's the same every time. Here's an interesting plot and bland, cardboard cut outs of the characters we know and love muddling through it. Sure, you'll get a few badass moments here and there but there's no real progression or insights into the characters short of hearing their back stories yet again.
This book is no exception. There were some great, badass moments for Viz, Wanda, Namor and even Scott Lang's Ant-Man. However, I don't feel like I learned anything about these characters and their personalities.
Well, to be fair, there's a pretty okay plot with Scott trying to earn custody of Cassie. There's also a pretty okay plot with Jack of Hearts learning that he might go nuclear if he doesn't watch himself. There's a 4 part Vision story that reached for... something. Again, these were like 30 second snippets of insight into the characters before we were weighed down yet again by more exposition heavy dialogue.
It was exhausting! Explain something in the art or stop acting as though your audience needs every little bit of your plot explained. It's boring. I feel like they explained the entire agreement between the Avengers and the UN and I didn't need that.
Anyway, credit where credit is due. Scorpio attacks and steals major cities and world leaders, as well as Yellowjacket and Wasp. The remaining Avengers are chosen to lead the UN and try to establish some world order. It's kind of interesting but the consequences of this are barely touched on. We see Quicksilver and another hero (I forgot, sorry) bringing medical supplies to several people and they're about to run out. The economy is close to collapsing and Tony tries to help out. Jen is tasked with trying to figure out the UN's bylaws. It's fascinating.
He uses the characters' talents well, I will give him that.
I forgot why this took me so long to read. It was the Vision story. It starts with a flashback to the 1940s (?) and I just could not get into it. Vision has never been one of my favorite characters and add that to going back in time in a solo story about him... my kryptonite. Anyway, this story is okay. He has a brother and a niece? In a way. I almost felt an emotion for him.
There's a much better 3 part story about Thor, Iron Man and later Cap joins. The county of Slokovia is attacking any citizens that believe in Thor. (That name made me wonder if the screenwriters for Age of Ultron made a typo and just ran with it). Heimdall informs Thor who takes it upon himself to save his children. The UN worries his actions will make Doon feel threatened and they enlist Iron Man to stop him.
Here's a story with a good conflict and it actually has some good character moments. Especially for Thor. Why? Because Johns, as far as I can tell, was barely involved. At least, I know the Iron Man issue was written by another writer.
It's a recommend if you're looking for an Avengers team up book and don't care about how much character development you get.
It's a moderately boring 3 stars from me.
As I've said in previous reviews, I just can't get into Geoff John's work because he doesn't seem to care about character development. At all. I've read his team books and a Flash solo book and it's the same every time. Here's an interesting plot and bland, cardboard cut outs of the characters we know and love muddling through it. Sure, you'll get a few badass moments here and there but there's no real progression or insights into the characters short of hearing their back stories yet again.
This book is no exception. There were some great, badass moments for Viz, Wanda, Namor and even Scott Lang's Ant-Man. However, I don't feel like I learned anything about these characters and their personalities.
Well, to be fair, there's a pretty okay plot with Scott trying to earn custody of Cassie. There's also a pretty okay plot with Jack of Hearts learning that he might go nuclear if he doesn't watch himself. There's a 4 part Vision story that reached for... something. Again, these were like 30 second snippets of insight into the characters before we were weighed down yet again by more exposition heavy dialogue.
It was exhausting! Explain something in the art or stop acting as though your audience needs every little bit of your plot explained. It's boring. I feel like they explained the entire agreement between the Avengers and the UN and I didn't need that.
Anyway, credit where credit is due. Scorpio attacks and steals major cities and world leaders, as well as Yellowjacket and Wasp. The remaining Avengers are chosen to lead the UN and try to establish some world order. It's kind of interesting but the consequences of this are barely touched on. We see Quicksilver and another hero (I forgot, sorry) bringing medical supplies to several people and they're about to run out. The economy is close to collapsing and Tony tries to help out. Jen is tasked with trying to figure out the UN's bylaws. It's fascinating.
He uses the characters' talents well, I will give him that.
I forgot why this took me so long to read. It was the Vision story. It starts with a flashback to the 1940s (?) and I just could not get into it. Vision has never been one of my favorite characters and add that to going back in time in a solo story about him... my kryptonite. Anyway, this story is okay. He has a brother and a niece? In a way. I almost felt an emotion for him.
There's a much better 3 part story about Thor, Iron Man and later Cap joins. The county of Slokovia is attacking any citizens that believe in Thor. (That name made me wonder if the screenwriters for Age of Ultron made a typo and just ran with it). Heimdall informs Thor who takes it upon himself to save his children. The UN worries his actions will make Doon feel threatened and they enlist Iron Man to stop him.
Here's a story with a good conflict and it actually has some good character moments. Especially for Thor. Why? Because Johns, as far as I can tell, was barely involved. At least, I know the Iron Man issue was written by another writer.
It's a recommend if you're looking for an Avengers team up book and don't care about how much character development you get.
It's a moderately boring 3 stars from me.
September 1, 2017
This would've been rated higher but the middle of the collection (the Vision stories) really felt out of place with the rest of the book and honestly weren't that interesting. To his credit, Johns redeemed himself with an explosive ending that was pure delight!
November 23, 2014
The storylines are complex and full of emotion. The art carries the story well. Dialogue just right. This is a collection I've enjoyed reading immensely. Can't wait to jump into the next one.
December 21, 2017
This run feels a little strange. It feels like pages are missing and that there's a gap between this story and the last story. It also is not clear what Johns wants to be the big themes or the big stories.
The art here is noticeably off. I want to say the art is bad, but that's not true. It's better than I can draw. But it feels like a lot of the shapes that compose the characters are disconnected.
Something that rarely gets asked when Gyrich shows up to be an obnoxious villain is "Who is his constituency, really?" He always gets it wrong in spectacularly obvious ways. And, unlike a lot of blunderers, he usually admits that he has gotten it wrong, diminishing unwarranted views on his strength of character. (That is, if he insisted he were always right, he could delude some people.) Oh, well.
The art here is noticeably off. I want to say the art is bad, but that's not true. It's better than I can draw. But it feels like a lot of the shapes that compose the characters are disconnected.
Something that rarely gets asked when Gyrich shows up to be an obnoxious villain is "Who is his constituency, really?" He always gets it wrong in spectacularly obvious ways. And, unlike a lot of blunderers, he usually admits that he has gotten it wrong, diminishing unwarranted views on his strength of character. (That is, if he insisted he were always right, he could delude some people.) Oh, well.
October 1, 2017
First off I am a huge fan of Geoff Johns and his graphic novels. I always have only read his D.C. works, I was pleasantly surprised to have found a collection of his work with Marvel at the library. Geoff Johns did an incredible job in being true to the comic characters, but also casting them in a new light. We go further into the past of vision and how and more importantly why he was created.
In Geoff Johns fashion things get very dark and very complex. All in this was an excellent collection of Avengers works. I highly recommend it! (Must be familiar with the avengers and their stories) not recommended for a starting point.
In Geoff Johns fashion things get very dark and very complex. All in this was an excellent collection of Avengers works. I highly recommend it! (Must be familiar with the avengers and their stories) not recommended for a starting point.
June 13, 2018
Nice set of tales
I was not familiar with the work of Geoff John's and I have to say I am impressed. There are various and sundry story lines here, all associated with the Avengers, but a few one offs like the Vision tales, a good one abt his origin, including a great villain, the Gremlin, and subplot abt his relationship with the Scarlet Witch. Nice characterization (Thor is the new supreme being of Asgard and feeling the pressure).
Highly recommended, good plots, good villains, a good time.
I was not familiar with the work of Geoff John's and I have to say I am impressed. There are various and sundry story lines here, all associated with the Avengers, but a few one offs like the Vision tales, a good one abt his origin, including a great villain, the Gremlin, and subplot abt his relationship with the Scarlet Witch. Nice characterization (Thor is the new supreme being of Asgard and feeling the pressure).
Highly recommended, good plots, good villains, a good time.
October 20, 2022
4.5 stars
Really enjoyed the whole volume from start to finish. Goes from world ending/takeover with Kang to cities disappearing. Big bombastic and still get some good character developments like Jack of Hearts. The Vision story was good but not great and same with Thor story which was better because it showed the change in him after becoming King of Asgard. And I can see the switch to more political after saving the world and being given UN powers. Interested to see how Gyrich acts and how it leads up to avengers disassembled.
Fun adn really enjoyable, Geoff Johns is really good
Really enjoyed the whole volume from start to finish. Goes from world ending/takeover with Kang to cities disappearing. Big bombastic and still get some good character developments like Jack of Hearts. The Vision story was good but not great and same with Thor story which was better because it showed the change in him after becoming King of Asgard. And I can see the switch to more political after saving the world and being given UN powers. Interested to see how Gyrich acts and how it leads up to avengers disassembled.
Fun adn really enjoyable, Geoff Johns is really good
September 9, 2018
Unfortunately, Geoff Johns brought to the Avengers one of the biggest problems that he brought to his DC work...an overriding cynicism, which is especially jarring after Busiek's run. These issues portray a team that can't get along, as most of the members are selfish, angry, frustrated or just plain jerks.
July 26, 2019
More 3.5 stars, but this volume seems like a setup mostly. A small bad guy fight that's foreshadowing more menacing forces. A nice character issue on Jack of Hearts. The Avengers have to deal with Thor becoming Lord of Earth. And then a Vision miniseries which is nothing fancy.
June 7, 2018
Really quite good!
February 19, 2019
Nice start
It’s a good start to what should have been a better run. It’s a shame that he only did the Avengers for a short run.
It’s a good start to what should have been a better run. It’s a shame that he only did the Avengers for a short run.
July 13, 2024
Really great and underrated avengers run.
December 4, 2024
Just really boring.
December 27, 2025
read avengers #57 - #63, thor #58, and iron man #64. an entertaining enough run but that final panel of the framed photo with tony, steve, and thor really hit hard
November 11, 2021
Some ups and downs, in the beginning mostly downs. None of the storylines at the beginning of the book really do it for me. World Trust is OK but forgettable. The Jack of Hearts stuff is so hard to care about, frankly, and his conflict with Scott Lang feels like it comes out of nowhere and leads to the same place. The Vision mini-series that's included is incredibly dull. There's a severe lack of real character moments, Johns really isn't reaching for anything at any point. It feels like he got assigned to write these issues as homework or something, they're so uninspired and lifeless.
Then, the Standoff storyline happens and, getting to build off of the back of some of the solo work happening around him, he delivers the goods with his finale. A mixed bag, this book, but Standoff is a story that is worth your time.
Then, the Standoff storyline happens and, getting to build off of the back of some of the solo work happening around him, he delivers the goods with his finale. A mixed bag, this book, but Standoff is a story that is worth your time.
July 15, 2013
I like that a lot of these stories explore complicated situations, in some cases where no good solution exists, like in the Thor arc. (For the Thor arc, the Alan Davis art is also a positive.) I enjoyed seeing so many old-time Avengers characters too.
This collected edition would've gotten a higher score if not for the Vision limited series collected in here, and while it might seem like a little thing it annoyed me that the creators did enough research to know what some of the structures at the 1939 World Fair looked like, like the Trylon and the Perisphere, but then show them as still existing today in a completely broken state while using them to seemingly make a statement about what a hellhole modern-day Queens is. Actually, everything was taken apart or repurposed into something new, like how the Trylon and Perisphere were replaced by the Unisphere, which still exists in good condition today. (Wish I could say the same about the New York State Pavilion.) Not enough takes place in Queens for me to blow off such a wrong and skewed depiction.
This collected edition would've gotten a higher score if not for the Vision limited series collected in here, and while it might seem like a little thing it annoyed me that the creators did enough research to know what some of the structures at the 1939 World Fair looked like, like the Trylon and the Perisphere, but then show them as still existing today in a completely broken state while using them to seemingly make a statement about what a hellhole modern-day Queens is. Actually, everything was taken apart or repurposed into something new, like how the Trylon and Perisphere were replaced by the Unisphere, which still exists in good condition today. (Wish I could say the same about the New York State Pavilion.) Not enough takes place in Queens for me to blow off such a wrong and skewed depiction.
March 24, 2014
I like superhero comics; I kinda raised myself on them. I like the impossibilities, the excess, the hyperbole and essentializations. There's a lot you can with the superhero genre that makes it fun, weird, and profound. This collection has none of those elements in it.
The whole "if superheroes ran the world" storyline is truncated here to the point of being nonsensical. The villainy is ridiculous and the characters feel like they are going through the motions with an electro-blaster to their heads. So much of the writing feels simultaneously forced and rote and it shows in the awkwardness of much of the layout. The art has some nice moments but is dragged down by a story that feels both predictable and illogical. It feels like a bad ripoff of Authority in some places and like a pale regurgitation of overblown Marvel storylines from the Silver Age. There must be better Avengers stories out there than this.
The whole "if superheroes ran the world" storyline is truncated here to the point of being nonsensical. The villainy is ridiculous and the characters feel like they are going through the motions with an electro-blaster to their heads. So much of the writing feels simultaneously forced and rote and it shows in the awkwardness of much of the layout. The art has some nice moments but is dragged down by a story that feels both predictable and illogical. It feels like a bad ripoff of Authority in some places and like a pale regurgitation of overblown Marvel storylines from the Silver Age. There must be better Avengers stories out there than this.
September 27, 2013
I hadn't read the stories contained in this collection before despite some of the material being released in other smaller volumes. While I did enjoy the effort it wasn't Geoff Johns at his best. I thought Johns was paired with really good drawing talent, some of whom (Ivan Reis and Gary Frank) continued to establish long-term relations onto other titles at DC Comics. I've always been a fan of Kieron Dwyer and was sorry to see him go when he quit mainstream comics many years ago, it was nice to see his art. Alan Davis is such an amazing talent, unfortunately I felt the 3-parter he drew was the weakest link story-wise in the whole book, Davis himself did a great, but Johns didn't write anything to write home about. I would rank the Vision story as the next work to position toward the bottom, but slightly edging out past and above the Thor/Iron Man/Avengers cross-over.
August 10, 2013
Johns (Justice League; Green Lantern) is closely associated with Marvel’s distinguished competition (DC Comics), but in the early 2000s he wrote for “The Avengers.” This compilation collects two arcs, a “Vision” miniseries, and two other comics (not written by Johns but necessary to complete the story line). Highlights include the Avengers taking control of the world after all the nations’ capitals go missing and a brutal slugfest between Iron Man and Thor.
Verdict: While this set isn’t a legendary run, Johns is a huge name in comics, and Marvel’s movie universe continues to spotlight these characters making this a strongly recommended purchase. Even better, this book emphasizes lesser-known characters like the Falcon and Ant-Man, who will soon be making their big-screen debuts.
From: Xpress Reviews: Graphic Novels | First Look at New Books, August 9, 2013
Verdict: While this set isn’t a legendary run, Johns is a huge name in comics, and Marvel’s movie universe continues to spotlight these characters making this a strongly recommended purchase. Even better, this book emphasizes lesser-known characters like the Falcon and Ant-Man, who will soon be making their big-screen debuts.
From: Xpress Reviews: Graphic Novels | First Look at New Books, August 9, 2013
December 25, 2014
Geoff Johns occasionally gives characters who deeply rooted in the Marvel universe little tiny, baby-steps toward smarter comics. For example he'll write a story in which people actually start worshiping Thor (he is supposed to be a god, after all), with just a hint at the real world ramifications. These comics aren't bad, but you end up wishing he'd take things a bit farther and make the great.
January 29, 2017
Second reading and am boosting it to 5-stars. Especially for the Red Zone story illustrated by Oliver Coipel, my favorite artist. Wolfed this down and started book 2 immediatedly. Great reading. Much better than I remembered. Loved this whole series. From the Kurt Busiek kick off to Disassemble. Great Avengers period. Classic. Must reading.
February 20, 2014
I am a fan of Geoff Johns' work. This collection of his run on Avengers proves that he is an excellent storyteller and fleshes out the personas of the characters from Captain America to Iron Man very well. This is the reason why his 9 year run on Green Lantern is the best in comics history.
October 18, 2018
Because I so enjoyed Johns' work on Green Lantern, I had much higher hopes for this volume. But, while occasionally some of the one-shot issues are good, the longer stories are all pretty terrible. I did like the 'Vision' mini-series collected here, but the rest of it is entirely forgettable.
June 6, 2015
Awesome. A full Avengers storyline & I loved it. I didn't feel lost at all like I usually do reading graphic novels, which was refreshing.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews