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A review by clarks_dad
Avengers Legends, Vol. 1: Avengers Forever by Roger Stern, Carlos Pacheco, Kurt Busiek
1.0
Kurt. Kurt, my man. You let me down. I am so disappoint.
I am not a fan of time travel stories. I mean hypothetically, they could be done right, but I've yet to find a single case where there aren't at least tiny flaws in logic present. Most of the time there are huge gaping holes in the logic. Sadly, Avengers Forever falls into that latter category.
The premise is interesting - Avengers from different time periods are assembled to rectify dangers further down the time stream. As humanity spreads among the stars and activate the "Destiny Force," they turn into a conquering menace to the rest of the multiverse and a group of self-appointed time guardians employ Immortus to stop humanity in its tracks. While the guardians want humanity expunged from all time streams where they pose a threat, Immortus, who at one point was human, attempts less radical measures and opts for more non-invasive surgical strikes to the time period, spawning a cross-millenial game of catch and mouse that ultimately centers upon the key human who first manifests the Destiny Force: Rick Jones, longtime Avenger buddy pal and adventure bro.
Probably I'm not immersed enough in the lore of the Marvel Universe to really see how cool this story is, but I just can't get over a ton of objective flaws. The whole inside-outside the time stream business and the whole Immortus/Kang paradox was really just too much for me to take. Not only is it confusing as hell, but it just doesn't make any sense at all. For example: at one point the Avengers feel it necessary to escape the time stream (I don't know what that means, but ok), so that they can be safe from Immortus and his masters who have complete control over time. Alright, seems logical. They escape and can finally take a breather unpursued by Immortus who can't see outside the time stream. BUT. If Immortus is smart, (which he'd kind of have to be, right?), why wouldn't you just go back in time to the moment before the Avengers left the time stream and then just prevent them from doing it and yourself from losing them? OR. If Rick Jones and humanity are a colossal threat to the multiverse, why would you attempt to take them out the day that Rick manifests the dangerous Destiny Force? Why not pick a point in time (because you can, right? Isn't that the point of being master of time?) where Rick is defenseless, say as an infant, and take him out then? Why not step on the amoeba that would turn into humanity several millennia down the evolutionary path? Why wait and try to take them out when the most powerful humans can act as guardians for their weaker brethren? I could seriously go on forever on ways you could reduce this story to like five pages, but let's move on to more pressing concerns.
The writing here is just atrocious. I know Busiek is better than this. This is the man who gave us [b:Astro City, Vol. 1: Life in the Big City|72111|Astro City, Vol. 1 Life in the Big City|Kurt Busiek|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348360073s/72111.jpg|97133] and [b:Superman: Secret Identity|26088|Superman Secret Identity|Kurt Busiek|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388516637s/26088.jpg|1100913], [b:Marvels|16982|Marvels|Kurt Busiek|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388285617s/16982.jpg|265304] and [b:Trinity, Vol. 1|6075820|Trinity, Vol. 1|Kurt Busiek|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347783437s/6075820.jpg|6252348]. This pile of garbage is unacceptable. Just two of the innumerable examples of shitty dialogue that mars an otherwise beautiful and expansive picture book:
"Uh-oh! My senses are back on-line [GEE WHAT A COINCIDENCE CAPTAIN MARVEL], Wasp -- and I see the problem! They're not seeing us as we truly are! To their eyes, we're THE GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY!" Completely out of left field and 100% to serve whatever zany plot development was supposed to happen next. Powers turn on and off with perfect timing and zero explanation.
"Whatever you say, Kang Tang Walla Walla Bing Bang!" Do I need to editorialize this one? I thought not.
And that's the other thing about the dialogue in this series - there's way too much of it. There're great pages of brilliant and colorfully emotive artwork ruined by walls of text. Completely and unnecessarily overwritten.
Way too much telling instead of showing. In a visual medium, that's inexcusable.
I am not a fan of time travel stories. I mean hypothetically, they could be done right, but I've yet to find a single case where there aren't at least tiny flaws in logic present. Most of the time there are huge gaping holes in the logic. Sadly, Avengers Forever falls into that latter category.
The premise is interesting - Avengers from different time periods are assembled to rectify dangers further down the time stream. As humanity spreads among the stars and activate the "Destiny Force," they turn into a conquering menace to the rest of the multiverse and a group of self-appointed time guardians employ Immortus to stop humanity in its tracks. While the guardians want humanity expunged from all time streams where they pose a threat, Immortus, who at one point was human, attempts less radical measures and opts for more non-invasive surgical strikes to the time period, spawning a cross-millenial game of catch and mouse that ultimately centers upon the key human who first manifests the Destiny Force: Rick Jones, longtime Avenger buddy pal and adventure bro.
Probably I'm not immersed enough in the lore of the Marvel Universe to really see how cool this story is, but I just can't get over a ton of objective flaws. The whole inside-outside the time stream business and the whole Immortus/Kang paradox was really just too much for me to take. Not only is it confusing as hell, but it just doesn't make any sense at all. For example: at one point the Avengers feel it necessary to escape the time stream (I don't know what that means, but ok), so that they can be safe from Immortus and his masters who have complete control over time. Alright, seems logical. They escape and can finally take a breather unpursued by Immortus who can't see outside the time stream. BUT. If Immortus is smart, (which he'd kind of have to be, right?), why wouldn't you just go back in time to the moment before the Avengers left the time stream and then just prevent them from doing it and yourself from losing them? OR. If Rick Jones and humanity are a colossal threat to the multiverse, why would you attempt to take them out the day that Rick manifests the dangerous Destiny Force? Why not pick a point in time (because you can, right? Isn't that the point of being master of time?) where Rick is defenseless, say as an infant, and take him out then? Why not step on the amoeba that would turn into humanity several millennia down the evolutionary path? Why wait and try to take them out when the most powerful humans can act as guardians for their weaker brethren? I could seriously go on forever on ways you could reduce this story to like five pages, but let's move on to more pressing concerns.
The writing here is just atrocious. I know Busiek is better than this. This is the man who gave us [b:Astro City, Vol. 1: Life in the Big City|72111|Astro City, Vol. 1 Life in the Big City|Kurt Busiek|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348360073s/72111.jpg|97133] and [b:Superman: Secret Identity|26088|Superman Secret Identity|Kurt Busiek|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388516637s/26088.jpg|1100913], [b:Marvels|16982|Marvels|Kurt Busiek|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388285617s/16982.jpg|265304] and [b:Trinity, Vol. 1|6075820|Trinity, Vol. 1|Kurt Busiek|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347783437s/6075820.jpg|6252348]. This pile of garbage is unacceptable. Just two of the innumerable examples of shitty dialogue that mars an otherwise beautiful and expansive picture book:
"Uh-oh! My senses are back on-line [GEE WHAT A COINCIDENCE CAPTAIN MARVEL], Wasp -- and I see the problem! They're not seeing us as we truly are! To their eyes, we're THE GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY!" Completely out of left field and 100% to serve whatever zany plot development was supposed to happen next. Powers turn on and off with perfect timing and zero explanation.
"Whatever you say, Kang Tang Walla Walla Bing Bang!" Do I need to editorialize this one? I thought not.
And that's the other thing about the dialogue in this series - there's way too much of it. There're great pages of brilliant and colorfully emotive artwork ruined by walls of text. Completely and unnecessarily overwritten.
Way too much telling instead of showing. In a visual medium, that's inexcusable.