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Classic Review: Avengers Epic Collection- Judgment Day

ComicBookWire

Quick Summary

Pros: About half of the book’s stories are engaging and interesting. Several have great character and team development and one is a great look at Doctor Doom. About half of the artwork is positive.

Cons: About half of the book’s stories are pretty mediocre. About half of the artwork is mediocre.

Overall: This book is pretty 50/50 when it comes to quality. Half the book tells captivating stories that either provide intriguing looks at characters and teams or provide thrilling adventures. The other half of the book tells mediocre stories that are action-packed but somewhat flimsy when it comes to plot. This book is for readers interested in seeing the larger picture explaining how the Avengers and its members grow in this era, not for readers looking for the single best stories from this era.

Story

Avengers Epic Collection: Judgment Day, by Roger Stern, contains several great stories and several mediocre ones. The great ones examine the individual members of the Avengers and show the way they contribute, sometimes at significant personal cost, to the team. One of these story arcs also presents an action-packed fight against the gods themselves and another is a great examination into Doctor Doom as a villain. However, the mediocre stories basically just have the Avengers fighting a random group of heroes or villains, often with rushed justification. In the end, there are about as many great stories as there are mediocre ones so the overall appeal of this book is a little mixed.

(spoilers start here)

The opening half of Judgment Day starts out strong by directly dealing with the fallout from the previous volume. The Wasp finally realizes that enough is enough and that she needs to step back from the intense pressure of the Avengers. Captain Marvel struggles with the power vacuum this creates and her own self-doubt regarding whether or not she can fill it. And a wonderful chapter details Jarvis’ often silent contributions to the team. Meanwhile, Doctor Druid and She-Hulk join the team. In general, these opening chapters do a ton of character and team development that works well with this narrative.

Once most of this is dealt with, the narrative switches over to a more action-centric storyline. The Avengers fight the gods of Olympus and, by the end of their conflict, end up going toe-to-toe with Zeus himself. It is an exciting and action-packed story arc that works as a perfect complement to the calmer story arc preceding it.

Unfortunately, the volume takes a bit of a dive as it moves into its second half. At this point, the quality of the storytelling descends as the following story arcs place more emphasis on creating epic battles between familiar characters. Each of The X-Men vs. the Avengers chapters feels like a contrived way to make two or three groups of heroes fight each other. The crossover between the East and West Coast Avengers is similar and ends up being a conflict that could have been avoided altogether if the heroes had stopped to think for a moment. These story arcs simply come across as more forced and do not have the natural flow of previous ones.

However, there are still some positives within these more lackluster chapters. The X-Men crossover has a great Magneto storyline that works as an examination into his character. Then, the West Coast Avengers crossover has a touching moment when Captain America meets a fake version of Bucky. In the end, these aren’t bad story arcs, they just aren’t as good as one would hope.

The big exception here is the volume’s final chapter, Marvel Graphic Novel #27. This is an awesome Avengers adventure that imagines how the Avengers would rise up against a world ruled by Doctor Doom. This chapter showcases the Avenger’s tenacity and their commitment to their ideal while also properly presenting Doom as one of the comic book world’s most complex villain. The story also concludes on a thoughtful note that questions whether what the Avengers have done is actually for the greater good of the world.

(spoilers end here)

Art

The first half of Judgment Day starts out strong, with several chapters from John Buscema’s pencils and Tom Palmer’s inks looking great in most places. These artists have done plenty of great work for the Avengers series in the past and continue to do so here. It also feels like, throughout this volume, the approach to full-page spreads looks better than ever. These pages are wonderfully detailed and end up being some of the artistic highlights of this entire collection.

However, like the quality of the storytelling, the quality of the visuals descends slightly as they enter the second half of the volume. There are places here where the level of detail falls in random places and makes characters look somewhat strange. It doesn’t happen often but when it does happen it is noticeable. Luckily, the book’s artistic positives still heavily outweigh its negatives and the volume ends up looking good overall.

Continuity

Avengers Epic Collection: Judgment Day continues the story from Avengers Epic Collection: Under Siege (Review).

The story here continues in Avengers: Heavy Metal.

This volume also makes references to other comic books, detailed below:

Previous Volume Review

All Avengers Reviews

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