Review: Avengers A.I. Vol. 1- Human After All

Quick Summary

Pros: The book’s conflict has some action and humor. The characters are already showing some promise. The conclusion builds excitement for the future.

Cons: The narrative feels generic and repeats plot points that most readers will have seen before. The artwork is lackluster.

Overall: This is a pretty mediocre book all around. The main storyline has some fun moments and stars some solid characters but does not feel like something unique and worthwhile. The collection builds a lot of potential for the future but has not quite capitalized on this potential. In the end, almost everything about this book just feels average. If the next volume is great, it may make this one worth reading, but if it isn’t, this collection may be something readers should pass on.

Story

The story in Avengers A.I. Vol. 1: Human After All, by Sam Humphries, shows some potential but is generally mediocre. The highpoints here come from the characters, who are all likable and capture some great emotions, and the collection’s conclusion, which leaves a ton of potential for the next volume to expand upon. However, the action, humor, and narrative all fail to distinguish themselves. This causes the volume to just feel average, instead of feeling like a worthwhile addition to the Marvel Universe. Hopefully, the next volume will take the potential from this collection and do something truly worthwhile, giving the series some real draw.

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The bulk of the action in Human After All feels like many other superhero comics. It has bouts of action that, occasionally, get somewhat exciting. It also has its heroes making lighthearted quips to one another while this action is taking place, adding some humor to the book. In general, the tone here feels like what one would see in a middle-of-the-road superhero movie, which could be good or bad depending one what the reader is looking for.

However, the characters is where Human After All begins to shine. The characters on the Avengers A.I. team are all pretty interesting and add something to the mix. Specifically, I enjoyed seeing the collection’s focus on Hank Pym’s struggle with his own mental health, an issue that has been present in his character for decades. There are also other emotionally charged moments that make these characters feel worthwhile. However, as the first volume in a new series, the characters have only begun to be developed and their contribution to the overall appeal of the book is not as significant as it might be in the future.

Unfortunately, the actual narrative in Human After All is rather disappointing. The biggest problem is that many of the plot points feel incredibly generic. This volume has an A.I. war against humanity that takes on nearly all tropes that one would expect. This includes a specific A.I. with a grudge and a hero being tricked by this villain’s sympathetic side. The generic nature of the story also leads to points where the narrative is less exciting: it is hard to feel surprised by a villain’s deception when it is exactly what the reader was expecting.

The only consistently entertaining aspect of the narrative is the fact that it gives the impression that it is building toward something bigger and more exciting. The mysteries surrounding the existence of the Diamond and the uncertainty behind the main villain’s plan appear to be moving toward some big reveals. This helps generate a bit of excitement throughout the read. If these big reveals are as significant as this story makes it seem, it could help slightly justify some of this collection’s mediocrity.

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Art

The visuals in Human After All feel similar to the story, in that they look alright but do not manage to rise above mediocrity. Andre Lima Araujo’s artwork looks great when depicting the creative takes on technology seen in certain parts of this book. However, the stylized take on the characters and locations ends up less appealing and, occasionally, just makes things look a little strange. The visuals also contain some structural disappointments, as the importance of a few big moments is minimized by their position in small panels. In the end, the artwork ends up passable but doesn’t provide many positives for the collection as a whole.

Continuity

Avengers A.I. Vol. 1: Human After All is the first volume in a new series. However, this new series mostly focuses on some fallout from the conclusion of the Age of Ultron (Review) (Reading Order) event.

The story here is continued in Avengers A.I. Vol. 2: 12,000 A.D. (Review)

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

• Captain America mentions that Hank Pym has been an Avenger for longer than he has. Hank joined the team in Avengers #1 and Captain America joined in Avengers #3, both of which are collected in Marvel Masterworks: Avengers Vol. 1 (Review). For more information on this encounter, see our “From the Comics: The Origin of the Avengers” and our “From the Comics: The Unfreezing of Captain America” articles.
• Victor’s last team was the Runaways, which he joined back in Runaways Vol. 1 #1, collected in Runaways: The Complete Collection Vol. 1.