Truthfully, a big long miniseries that goes back and looks at the early days of the Avengers makes me a little nervous from this version of Marvel, given what the view of the Avengers seems to be if "Disassembled" is any indicator. However, Earth's Mightiest Heroes is not really as destructive as "Disassembled," although neither is it the old school nostalgia-fest that some fans might be hoping for. Casey's story is set in the early days of the Avengers, but it's got a lot of modern trappings, examining how such a group might be treated by a skeptical government and populace and how they might bicker between themselves. I'm not entirely wild about the realistic approach being bolted onto these fairly simple superheroic characters, and the real approach sacrifices the unrealistic but appealing nobility that came with them being heroes instead of people, but I do like Casey hitting on some of the big moments in the early days of the Avengers. More to the point, I love what Scott Kolins and Morry Hollowell do with the artwork, which is some of the most beautiful stuff that Kolins has done since his work on The Flash.
Casey's take on the Avengers is somewhere between the Lee & Kirby take and the Millar & Hitch take on the Ultimates. The conflicts between the team seem meaner and more real than Lee's often melodramatic squabbles, but they're not the celebrity "problems" that Millar gave his version of the team either. These guys are struggling to be the first superteam of their kind, and that kind of power scares people on the street and people in the government. Casey has done a pretty good job of fleshing out the characters so we see how this pressure affects each of them. Tony Stark reacts like a businessman trying to solve a tricky negotiation. Hank Pym sees it like a scientist does, as a problem that can be solved, and he gets frustrated when it proves to have more vagaries than that. Thor sees it in the simplistic terms of a warrior, and doesn't really get the importance of governmental acceptance. And the Hulk just acts like a sulky teenager, which is probably my favorite aspect of the book.
While the Avengers were born in the '60s, like all the Marvel and DC characters, they've sort of moved forward along the timeline so they don't get too old to fight crime in modern times. Casey and Kolins keep things relatively timeless, but little details, like cubicles or the way the newsmen react, speak to this being set more in the '80s or '90s than in the '60s. It's actually a pretty invisible update, and the gentle shift to a more recent origin doesn't take anything away from the team or its importance. Instead, where reality creeps in a little more than normal is in the characterization and the way the government reacts. Early on, Stan Lee didn't worry about the Avengers getting flight clearance and legal status, they were just "the good guys," and part of me likes that simplistic element of heroism for the early days of the characters. Certainly I'm not crazy about Casey retconning in a temper tantrum for Giant Man that suggests his eventual downfall as a hero. The focus on Pym's violent incident with Jan has effectively robbed him of any heroism and turned him into (at best) a joke and (at worst) a villain for people to hate. To have it bolted onto his character so early seems a step in the wrong direction for the character.
The real shining stars of this miniseries, though, are not writer Joe Casey or even the flashy members of the Avengers. No, the stars are Kolins and Hollowell, whose work is just gorgeous on every page. I love the designs of the covers, which will spell out the team name when the series is done and features some nice spotlight work on the characters, and the interiors don't disappoint either. There's a phenomenally beautiful and explosive two-page spread that shows how the fight between the Hulk and the Avengers went, a gorgeous look at midtown Manhattan as Hulk abruptly leaves the first Avengers meeting and a really iconic looking moment when the Avengers gather around their table for the first time. Kolins has a way of making old, even goofy, looks for the characters like Iron Man's bulky gold armor or Ant-Man and Wasp's original costumes, look cool, something I have only seen rarely from master artists like Darwyn Cooke or Tim Sale. Just as Casey's script places these characters into a more real world context, so does Kolins, but I don't have the mixed feelings on the art that I do with the writing. I love these characters feeling more alive and more real in these pages.
Avengers: Earth's Mightiest is not the cure for "Disassembled" blues, but I honestly hadn't really expected it to be. Instead, it reads like a chance to get re-acquainted with some classic heroes seen through a more modern filter, and a chance to see them depicted with an unusual and exceptional art style. 8/10
