Geoff Johns is currently writing at least three of my favorite super-hero series over at DC, so you could say that I was predisposed to liking his Avengers. The opening chapter of his story is solid in fundamentals, something I'd expect, but it takes a while to get going, and while I sense an epic story in the making, it starts off on a smaller level than I would have expected. However, Johns has brought in some characters that I'm glad to see on the team once more, and he's already showing a flair for the mixture of characterization and super-hero action that is essential for making this particular book work. Though I wasn't blown away right off the bat, I can see that day coming.
Given that the Avengers just finished a long-running story where the Earth was invaded by time travelling aliens, it makes a certain amount of sense that this would be something of a breather issue. Johns shows us the after-effects of the war and a little downtime for some of the Avengers, even as he's gearing up for the next one with hints of illness or worry for some of the members. The space between world-shattering crises seems awful short, but in the Avengers' world, that's certainly not unreasonable.
In addition, I was pretty happy with the character moments we got in this first issue. Particularly strong is the partnership between Captain America and Falcon, but I also enjoyed the romantic moments with Wasp and Yellowjacket, the arrogant brutality of Mr. Hyde and a cute nod to the public identity of Iron Man in his own book. I wasn't quite as sold on the characterization (or power use) of the Scarlet Witch, which didn't completely jibe with Busiek's take on the character, but it seems like Johns is moving more towards a reunited Scarlet Witch and Vision, which would sit just fine with this long-time fan.
I was surprised that a fair amount of time was spent on a relatively mundane fight between the Avengers and Mr. Hyde. While Dwyer's monstrous Mr. Hyde is one of the best I've seen, and the fight is certainly staged well, the battle has a foregone conclusion, and it seems like padding in order to make sure that the cliffhanger ending doesn't come too early. Mind you, once the story starts to develop, it's clear that Johns has an interesting (and previously untouched) idea in mind for this story, as we've all seen stories where super-heroes decide to take over the world, but we haven't seen this particular spin on it before.
For me, the Avengers works best when it's larger than life, a sort of big crossover book every month, but that intensity is hard to keep up. Johns's first issue is a little too quiet, a little slow to build, for my taste, but I like the cast that he's chosen and I like his general style, and I expect great things in future issues.
