Avengers: World Trust, Geoff Johns

"They are Earth's Mightiest Heroes, banded together from across the globe, united in their vow to protect the Earth from those enemies against whom no single super hero can stand alone... and this may be their greatest challenge. The capital cities of every nation on Earth have mysteriously vanished, throwing the planet into anarchy. In this time of extraordinary crisis, the nations of the world turn to the only organization capable of leading them through this time of strife and restoring political, economic and social order; the Avengers. They can defeat any super-villain, but can they govern the entire world?"









This is a totally different sort of Avengers book to the Jonathan Hickman one I read before it, and it's one that I have no real taste for. There's an interesting divergence in how Avengers fans feel about what makes a good Avengers book, and cast based controversy is hardly a new thing. Ever since Cap's kooky quartet replaced the classic Avengers line-up arguments have raged about who is and isn't an Avenger, and what the focus should be.

For my money I want an Avengers team that feels more grounded than the Justice League. Whilst any team that features a literal God as one of its founders is unlikely to be a picture of normality the Avengers have always been a team of every-men, certainly compared to the big hitters of the Justice League that features Superman (superstrong alien), Martian Manhunter (psychic, shape shifting Superman), Wonder Woman (Amazon and sometimes Demi-God) and Aquaman (Atlantean fish king).

The Marvel Universe as a whole has often been seen as a more flawed, realistic world compared to Dc. With that in mind I find Johns a bit hard to enjoy on Avengers. Sandwiched between the hugely popular Perez run at its height and the start of Bendis's decade long tenure at the helm it stands as a forgettable slice of filler. Of the four books I've read in his run I can only remember two (the Red Skull attacks Mt Rushmore with chemical weapons, and Thor fights the Avengers for the right to kill a Slavic dictator - with Iron Man's argument against intervention undermined somewhat by the way the Avengers happily use their UN backing here to remove a host of real life 'dictators' including the leaders of India).

If you want a good Avengers book, this isn't it. Johns has done better elsewhere, most notably on Green Lantern and Aquaman for DC. Those are both recommended highly. There's little of this to recommend. It's a wholly forgettable book, not helped by some truly third rate art that makes it look like they ran out of time and put it out half finished.

Also Try:
Brian Michael Bendis, New Avengers
Jonathan Hickman, Avengers
Kurt Busiek, Avengers
Mark Millar, The Ultimates