A review by miguel
All-New, All-Different Avengers Annual #1 by Jay P. Fosgitt, Zac Gorman, Mahmud Asrar, Alex Ross, Mark Waid, G. Willow Wilson, Scott R. Kurtz, Chip Zdarsky, Natasha Allegri, Faith Hicks

4.0

A really fun first issue. One of the more contentious aspects of Marvel's new approach to storytelling is interpellating extra-narrative controversies (i.e.: internet comment sections that complain about Sam Wilson as Captain America) into the plot of the comics themselves. I think, in the case of this issue, allusions to people's unhappiness with Wilson is amusing and thought-provoking, but I can see how people might read it as Marvel getting a little too cute with its audiences. Another potential downside I could see is that these references might impact the timeliness of the comics. Would a reader coming to this book in 20 or 30 years get the reference? Time, I suppose, will tell.

Otherwise, Waid does a uniformly excellent job. I generally look for meditations on the nature of heroism, great action scenes, and humor in my serialized superhero comics and All-New, All-Different Avengers delivers all of those in spades. The plot feels well paced and sets the stage for what's to come without feeling the need to speedily assemble these new Avengers. The concluding side-story with Ms. Marvel and Nova is also excellent.