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Avengers (1998) (New Editions) #6
Avengers: World Trust
Together, they can defeat even the most powerful super-villain - but can the Avengers govern the world? They are Earth's Mightiest Heroes, united in their vow to protect the planet from those enemies against whom no single super hero can stand alone...and this may be their greatest challenge! The capital cities of every country on Earth have mysteriously vanished, throwing the globe into anarchy. In this time of extraordinary crisis, the nations of the world turn to the only organization capable of leading them through the ensuing strife and restoring political, economic, and social order: the Avengers. Collects Avengers (1998) #57-61.
128 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 2010
3 people are currently reading
55 people want to read
About the author
Geoff Johns
2,705 books2,418 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.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
October 27, 2025
3.5 stars
"Now, I suggest you let me be . . . unless you want to end up like those other mortals." -- Master Order, after laying a severe otherworldly smackdown on several members of the team
"Mortal? I am NOT a mortal, demon. I am THOR! I AM THE GOD OF THUNDER!" -- Thor, striking down in hammer-like fashion upon the antagonist with great vengeance and furious anger
Avengers: World Trust is like a throwback to 90's era comics - although it was first published in the aftermath of 9/11 - with its colorful and often exaggerated illustration style, the absolutely routine dialogue peppered with occasional quips, and a conventional storyline that won't change a casual reader's world . . . but yet it still manages to get the job done. Boasting a true baker's dozen of Avengers teammates - and, somewhat surprisingly, handling the large cast rather well for a relatively brief graphic novel - the squad is unexpectedly solicited by the United Nations to lead the world (!) after the alarming disappearances of several metropolises across the globe. This leads to pleasing little moments such as Captain America demonstrating his leadership acuity, Iron Man displaying his business savvy, Black Panther wielding his dignified diplomacy, and She-Hulk using her legal skills. Even the appearance of Scorpio (a character created by legendary writer/artist Jim Steranko, who is from my hometown - woot woot!) as the true villain was a nice touch, as he used to regularly bedevil SHIELD secret agent extraordinaire Nick Fury during his two solo series during the 1960's and 70's.
"Now, I suggest you let me be . . . unless you want to end up like those other mortals." -- Master Order, after laying a severe otherworldly smackdown on several members of the team
"Mortal? I am NOT a mortal, demon. I am THOR! I AM THE GOD OF THUNDER!" -- Thor, striking down in hammer-like fashion upon the antagonist with great vengeance and furious anger
Avengers: World Trust is like a throwback to 90's era comics - although it was first published in the aftermath of 9/11 - with its colorful and often exaggerated illustration style, the absolutely routine dialogue peppered with occasional quips, and a conventional storyline that won't change a casual reader's world . . . but yet it still manages to get the job done. Boasting a true baker's dozen of Avengers teammates - and, somewhat surprisingly, handling the large cast rather well for a relatively brief graphic novel - the squad is unexpectedly solicited by the United Nations to lead the world (!) after the alarming disappearances of several metropolises across the globe. This leads to pleasing little moments such as Captain America demonstrating his leadership acuity, Iron Man displaying his business savvy, Black Panther wielding his dignified diplomacy, and She-Hulk using her legal skills. Even the appearance of Scorpio (a character created by legendary writer/artist Jim Steranko, who is from my hometown - woot woot!) as the true villain was a nice touch, as he used to regularly bedevil SHIELD secret agent extraordinaire Nick Fury during his two solo series during the 1960's and 70's.
March 7, 2012
Before making a career out of character rebirths (Hal Jordan, Barry Allen and Aquaman), Geoff Johns made his name in comics by following lengthy acclaimed runs with an exceptional turn at the title of his own. Following Mark Waid on Flash, he had his own fan favorite five-year run on the title, making it look very easy. It is understandable why Marvel went to him to helm a new direction for Avengers after Kurt Busiek left the title.
This hardcover contains the first five issues of what would be a well regarded run. Johns sets up a new status quo for the Avengers by borrowing something old. He makes the super team the United Nations superhero arm, after an exceptional showing in a global crisis. When the world’s capital cities and leaders started disappearing, the Avengers were asked to step up in to a leadership role to help defuse the emergency. If I’m not mistaken, during Bob Harras’ run in the Nineties, the Avengers were a U.N. agency.
Starting with a global threat of this scale gives Johns the chance to utilize a larger cast. He has the big three of Captain America, Iron Man and Thor and the other founders, Wasp and Yellowjacket. They are supported by a mix of heavy hitters and B-Listers like the Vision and Scarlet Witch, Black Panther, Namor, Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk and the Falcon.
Despite the presence of more powerful heroes, clearly it is Captain America who is in command. Falcon said it better that all the other heroes are sidekicks with the Captain. The title of this story maybe “World Trust”, but the individual members do not trust each other’s motives and agenda. It is up to Captain America to symbolize that trust regular people have in their heroes. When they see him in charge, everything will be alright.
The larger than necessary cast leads to the changing of the roster issue, an Avengers storytelling staple ever since the time of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Every writer who has handled the title has at least one and it sets the tone for their run. Johns clearly understands what makes the Avengers tick and uses that to give his stories a feel of the classic tales while stamping his own mark on the mythos.
This collected edition is great way to sample Johns’ Avengers work. The inevitable pricey omnibus hardcover is yet to come but this smaller hardcover is a relatively cheap way to start reading these stories.
This hardcover contains the first five issues of what would be a well regarded run. Johns sets up a new status quo for the Avengers by borrowing something old. He makes the super team the United Nations superhero arm, after an exceptional showing in a global crisis. When the world’s capital cities and leaders started disappearing, the Avengers were asked to step up in to a leadership role to help defuse the emergency. If I’m not mistaken, during Bob Harras’ run in the Nineties, the Avengers were a U.N. agency.
Starting with a global threat of this scale gives Johns the chance to utilize a larger cast. He has the big three of Captain America, Iron Man and Thor and the other founders, Wasp and Yellowjacket. They are supported by a mix of heavy hitters and B-Listers like the Vision and Scarlet Witch, Black Panther, Namor, Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk and the Falcon.
Despite the presence of more powerful heroes, clearly it is Captain America who is in command. Falcon said it better that all the other heroes are sidekicks with the Captain. The title of this story maybe “World Trust”, but the individual members do not trust each other’s motives and agenda. It is up to Captain America to symbolize that trust regular people have in their heroes. When they see him in charge, everything will be alright.
The larger than necessary cast leads to the changing of the roster issue, an Avengers storytelling staple ever since the time of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Every writer who has handled the title has at least one and it sets the tone for their run. Johns clearly understands what makes the Avengers tick and uses that to give his stories a feel of the classic tales while stamping his own mark on the mythos.
This collected edition is great way to sample Johns’ Avengers work. The inevitable pricey omnibus hardcover is yet to come but this smaller hardcover is a relatively cheap way to start reading these stories.
July 28, 2011
This is an interesting enough volume, with story and art that had both some suitably heroic moments and overly simplistic portrayals. This resulted in a volume that was enjoyable enough while reading, but did not make a long term impact on me nor hold anything to really draw me back.
September 14, 2023
This was an odd book. I get it - things shift around when you change creative teams. But this initial story arc felt a little hokey with entire world capitals disappearing into portals and a mysterious figure literally watching the Avengers from the trees. It's either a great throwback to core Avengers stuff or it's just a little silly. And it felt a bit more like the latter for me.
It's not a terrible book, but the whole thing felt weirdly lackluster to me and some of the character dynamics (mainly between the Vision and the Scarlet Witch) just feel terribly off. But maybe it gets better.
It's not a terrible book, but the whole thing felt weirdly lackluster to me and some of the character dynamics (mainly between the Vision and the Scarlet Witch) just feel terribly off. But maybe it gets better.
June 15, 2020
I only read this because Geoff Johns wrote it. I’m not a huge Marvel guy. However I really did enjoy it and it made me want to hunt down the other books.
June 4, 2023
It’s really interesting to see early Geoff Johns over at Marvel. But he does a good job here. He demonstrates a fundamental grasp of most of the characters, the standouts being Captain America and The Falcon. But the story is kind of dumb. The capitals of most of Earth’s nations have disappeared and so the U.N. gives world power to the Avengers. It’s just done so quickly that it doesn’t make sense. The idea is interesting but they move so quickly into the fight the with shadowy villain that you get little satisfaction. The best issue in this is the last issue where the Avengers are officially sanctioned by the U.N. and the new team is assembled and sets up the rest of his run. The art is okay, Kieron Dwyer isn’t really for me. The characters where all a little too blocky in the the wrong ways, and sometimes when flying their anatomy would be completely wrong. The best looking issue was the last one because Gary Frank did the art. I absolutely love the way he drew all of the characters, just beautiful.
November 30, 2015
In the aftermath of the devastating Kang War, the communities of the world are recovering surprisingly well, but it isn't long before a new global threat appears. Capital cities are disappearing, replaced by swirling voids, and the Scarlet Witch is stricken with a disturbing transformation.
It was probably a thankless task following Kurt Busiek's long run on the title but I think Geoff Johns did a pretty good job with it. My main problem with this slim volume is that the story feels incomplete. While the main action (above) is resolved, the masterminds behind it remain largely a mystery. And it ends on something of a cliffhanger, with the subplot about the sinister Secretary of Defense coming to a conclusion in the following volume ("Red Zone"). A larger, more inclusive collection would probably be a more satisfying read.
It was probably a thankless task following Kurt Busiek's long run on the title but I think Geoff Johns did a pretty good job with it. My main problem with this slim volume is that the story feels incomplete. While the main action (above) is resolved, the masterminds behind it remain largely a mystery. And it ends on something of a cliffhanger, with the subplot about the sinister Secretary of Defense coming to a conclusion in the following volume ("Red Zone"). A larger, more inclusive collection would probably be a more satisfying read.
September 3, 2012
Not their best story, but one that clearly establishes a foundation for the future. I have read many books that are later in the timeline so this actually cleared up a few things for me. Now to try to fill in more blanks...
April 18, 2012
The art could have been better.
February 14, 2014
I'll admit the plot is a little chaotic, but the whole theme of the story is chaos vs. order and how one must work with the other. So overall I enjoyed the read.
January 28, 2015
Confusing and therefore, boring. After the big ending to Busiek's run, a big letdown.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews