Heroes Recycled

 

Having flipped through the pages of a crossover story from the "Heroes Reborn" books of 1996-97, we left the mighty Avengers at a crucial point in their brief history--albeit a history more brief than even they realized, since this alternate world would turn out to be a figment of the imagination, a haven of sorts where the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Captain America, and the Avengers arrived after facing the attack of Onslaught. Here, these heroes, with no knowledge of their former lives, pulled together to avert a near-disaster--after which the Avengers, who were constrained to operate as an extended arm of S.H.I.E.L.D. under the command of Nick Fury, saw an opportunity to sever their formal ties to Fury and strike out on their own.

Halfway through their respective thirteen-issue runs, enough time had passed sales-wise to form a likely assessment that the Heroes Reborn books had not caught on as well as the financially floundering Marvel Comics of the mid- to late-1990s might have hoped. To bear that out, already there were signs of the groundwork being laid for an exit, with Loki beginning to voice the belief that this was all a simulation on someone's part. In addition, and as we'll see, new developments were beginning to be thrown in seemingly at random, accompanied by visually striking full-page art but with little to no scripting to engage the reader with whatever story was being laid out--methods which discount the possibility that there had been an exit plan for Heroes Reborn all along.

For the time being, however, the Avengers follow-up to "Industrial Revolution" offers a sample of the potential for this book had the "reborn" heroes become a permanent fixture on the comics racks--starting with Iron Man (exhaust pipes and all) going head-to-head with Fury on the new status quo, even as the man inside the armor, Tony Stark, wonders about the feasibility of this new role he's taking on.

How telling, though, to see later pages in the issue return to familiar scenes which, with variations, borrow from the book's Volume 1 predecessor. For instance, with SHIELD's Avengers Island no longer their "go" base, Stark settles on not a New York City townhouse but his much grander family home, which, at first glance, seems an odd fit for a team of super-beings who may be more suited to a base of operations rather than an estate. It's also doubtful Stark has excavated beneath that estate to construct the meeting room and various labs (to say nothing of a submarine pen) needed for the Fifth Avenue dwelling. (That said, as a lap swimmer, let me at that 50m pool.)

Captain America, as before, also came to have a new respect for the Swordsman--while Hank Pym, in a new take on Avengers #93, troubleshoots the Vision's inactive body from the inside, and finds a similarly shocking surprise which the reader isn't privy to.

As was evident following the Cap/Swordsman scene, Stark's stately home already has its first intruder, with Thor having a difference of opinion with the automated system on its casual assessment of the visitor--a scene which takes us back to the closing pages of Avengers #151 (with a twist, and a helluva right cross).

What follows is a series of full- and double-page scenes which add new meaning to the phrase, "It's all in the presentation," as threats begin to pour out of the (stately) woodwork. Granted, it's a little early for the Avengers' new digs to get trashed, but the visuals must be served--in this case, new lineups sporting familiar names, complete with custom-lettered member captions.

"Not again! What's going on?" (Come on, Hawkeye, get with the program! You'll never survive the '90s at Marvel with an attitude like that.)