Marvel’s Avengers: Road to A-Day
Written by Jim Zub, Paul Allor and Christos Gage
Art by Paco Diaz, Rachelle Rosenberg, Andy Troy, Robert Gill, Ariel Olivetti, Georges Jeanty, Marc Deering, Scott Hanna, Chris Sotomayor and Michele Bandini
Lettering by Joe Caramagna
Published by Marvel Comics
Review by Joey Edsall
‘Rama Rating: 5 out of 10
As readers grow older, their experiences broaden, and they read more works that savagely deconstruct the narratives they grew up with, the eye becomes slightly more attuned to plot elements and narrative gestures that are a little suspect when under a critical lens. Sometimes, a comic can mitigate this when it has a strong enough overall story or interesting world to immerse yourself in. Based on the gameplay trailer for Marvel’s Avengers, one might expect this comic to excel in those aspects, much in the way that DC’s Injustice comics did as they were quietly some of DC’s best books in their heyday. Unfortunately, Marvel’s Avengers: Road to A-Day is nowhere near that level, and the several talented writers doing their best under what feels like obvious editorial mandate doesn’t quite manage to save it from being a frustrating experience.
The game itself takes place after a five-year time jump following a disaster that kills several civilians and dismantles the Avengers. There are five years worth of a story that could be told, but Marvel’s Avengers elected to tell none of them. (For example, there’s not even a hint at Kamala Khan, the trailer’s central character.) Instead, we get one-shots of various heroes in leading up to the the game trailer’s A-Day event — but for those who are already familiar with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes (and in today’s pop culture landscape, who isn’t?), this prequel approach doesn’t explore much in the way of new territory.
The first chapter focuses on Iron-Man, and Jim Zub’s obvious strengths as a writer shine here, typically strong dialogue and characterization in tow. You want to hate Tony when you notice he talks about his income constantly and while the character has never been humble, Zub heightens his arrogance. Villains call him a rich kid and one of the bad guys highlights that Tony uses offshore tax havens. Still, you end up being charmed by his interactions with everyone around him, and even find yourself being drawn into the sexy, relatable subject of proprietary technology. It’s a weird dissonance of these less-than-admirable traits being so obvious but uncommented upon, but Zub’s writing and the great artwork from artist Paco Diaz and colorists Rachelle Rosenberg and Andy Troy make the whole thing fun at the very least.
The second chapter retains Zub on writing duties, but brings in Robert Gill and Andy Troy on art and color. In this chapter, Tony tries opening up a portal powered by Thor only for it to end in an explosion. Bruce Banner scolds Tony and comments on how this disaster could have been worse, in one of the only moments in the comic that feels connected to the plot of the upcoming PS4 game. The Thor chapter is probably the best of the whole bunch, and the fight stemming from one of Loki’s deceptions both ties into an overall theme about lies and provides another chance for a disaster that Tony can pay to fix while celebrating that no civilians were hurt in the process. The art in this chapter particularly shines with vibrant colors and kinetic fight sequences.
The third chapter, featuring the Hulk, is Zub’s final chapter at bat, bringing back Andy Troy on coloring to compliment Ariel Olivetti’s art. By the time the Hulk chapter comes to a conclusion, the throughline of the comic feels like it is setting up Tony as the major driving force of the series, with Bruce being a critical and relatable counterpoint. The fact that this is not the case for the rest of the book after this point — in fact, dropping these characters entirely — makes this feel like an arbitrary mini-plot that gets abandoned before there is any chance for it to properly heat up. Ultimately though, the hange from these opening three stories with the same writer to two separate writers for the final two chapters highlights the inconsistencies of the book in general.
The Captain America chapter is a hard swerve away from the trends of the first three installments. Unlike writer Paul Allor’s work with Clue or Samurai Jack, where it felt like he was able to put an exciting spin on existing titles, this Captain America tale feels like a story told under tight restraints. A large chunk of the story is spent on a flashback with Steve Rogers recalling an army unit that worked with enemy intelligence, and spending the rest of the time with Batroc going through what is probably the most confusing and convoluted heist I’ve ever read.
Batroc knows an armored car will be empty so he stages its robbery, only to feign surprise and leap away, then to go find it in the secret weapons factory where he knew it would be in order to — you know what, it doesn’t matter. Cap wins. Penciler Georges Jeanty, inkers Marc Deering and Scott Hanna, and colorists Andy Troy and Chris Sotomayor make this book visually distinct from the rest of the pack. Some of the flashbacks resemble classic Captain America panels, and the whole thing has an almost Ultimate Marvel quality to it.
Finishing the collection is Black Widow, the most engaging chapter on a visual level but one of the weaker on a narrative level. Artist Michele Bandini doesn’t waste a single panel in adding characterization through either composition, body language, or facial expressions. Meanwhile, colorist Rachelle Rosenberg gives S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters a real sense of atmosphere with its dark corridors and intermittent bursts of light. Writer Christos Gage echoes some of the issues in Zub’s string of stories, where the relatively low-stakes feel of the book highlights some of the more nefarious elements of the underlying plot elements. S.H.I.E.L.D. has held an elderly man captive for years because he may have valuable information for foreign governments, but he also isn’t actively being interrogated — he’s clearly just rotting in a cell until he dies. None of this is conveyed in the typical “maybe S.H.I.E.L.D. isn’t the best” sort of way that Marvel sometimes likes to play with — this entire thing is set up for Gage to have the touching and heartwarming moment of Nick Fury releasing the old man at the end. It’s a manipulative little plot turn that requires you to forget about the setup, but Gage handles it well enough for it to feel like a sweet moment, at least in the immediate moment of reading it.
Marvel’s Avengers is ultimately a series of one-shots that make vague gestures to ideas that connect to one another, but the lack of any substantial connective tissue makes it feel like an accident. Reading these books and watching the game trailer back-to-back, one feels like they are completely disconnected stories, somehow even further from one another that this disjointed string of comics, none of which really fully resolve a story. If you’re looking forward to playing Marvel’s Avengers when it releases in the fall, this comic won’t be the thing that sways you towards buying it. When the game does release, will people look back on these one-shots and find Easter eggs or clever little moments of foreshadowing? Perhaps. But as it stands, Marvel’s Avenger’s is a well-drawn, and sometimes well-written, frustrating series of non-starters.