Marvel Action Avengers Book 3: The Fear Eaters (Family Comic Friday)

We've got all-ages fun from Marvel's Avengers in this week's Family Comic Friday!

Marvel Action Avengers Book 3: The Fear Eaters

Written by Matthew K. Manning
Art by Marcio Fiorito
Published by IDW Publishing
Pages: 72
Retail: $9.99

When the peaceful arrival of the villainess Madam Masque is the most normal part of your day, you just know that you are in for trouble!

The nightmares of the world's greatest superheroes are coming true! Captain Marvel has lost her powers! Thor lost control of his Asgardian powers which have lain waste to New York City! and Black Panther's father has returned to claim the throne of Wakanda! It's all part of MODOK's master plan to take over the world! But has the leader of AIM tapped into mysterious powers in which he truly has no control over?

Marvel Action Avengers Book 3: The Fear Eaters collects issues 7-9 of IDW Publishing's all-age take on Earth's Mightiest Heroes. As part of it's restructuring plan, Marvel COmics has been outsourcing most of it's kid friendly properties to IDW or Dark Horse. I've been very happy with some previous books based on the icons of the House of Ideas. But I was quite disappointed with this book.

I'm normally a big fan of work of Matthew K. Manning (Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures). Manning's work is often full of swashbuckling adventure with some great lighthearted moments between the heroes and some vile episodes starring the villains. Having AIM as the big baddies here just isn't cutting it for me. MODOK works better as a buffoonish bad guy. And with their beekeeper outfits, the only thing scary about an AIM agent is being reminded of the disappearance of the honey bee. And man, were these Marvel heroes dull when it came to trying to be humorous!

I really wanted to enjoy this volume. I hoped that it would have an essence of all the great Avengers cartoons released by Disney over the past decade. Sadly, this was a confusing mess. Madam Masque was needed to help move along some of the dialogue. But her team of U-Men was pretty much used to fill about 5-6 pages with that ubiquitous fight scene. After that segment was over, the U-Men are basically forgotten.

Then there's the character development of some of the heroes. Tony Stark and the Black Widow were great. But I thought that the Black Panther's obsessive nature just wasn't how T'Challa would really act. I have never thought that Thor was ever afraid of losing control of his powers. In fact, if anyone was going to have daddy issues, if it wasn't going to be Tony.  It would definitely be Thor.

I also felt that Captain Marvel's fear of losing her powers was wrong. Doesn't she always lament having these mysterious Kree powers all the time? I would think that Carol Danvers' greatest fear would be losing control of herself instead of the Odinson.

I also wasn't happy with the artwork either. Captain America's head looked like it was 25% too small for his body. The U-Men were quite generic. And if you weren't a main character in the story, it felt like the illustrator just didn't seem to care. On more than one panel, the background characters of the citizens of New York looked unfinished as if Marcio Fiorito felt that younger readers wouldn't catch the lack of detail in the background art.

Other than the basic fight scenes required for any superhero comic book, there's really nothing objectionable for parents and guardians. However, both Iron Man and Black Panther get rather technical when they talk about their power suits. So, readers under the age of 9 might have trouble with some massive $5 words.

On the surface, you'd expect a title like Marvel Action Avengers to be fun. But for a book aimed at elementary schoolers, that fun is lacking. This wasn't the best example of work from a modern comics great like Matthew K. Manning. If you were expecting the second act of Avengers: End Game- sorry. This is more like those boring trade treaty scenes in the Galactic Senate in The Phantom Menace!

For those super fun all-ages reads starring Iron Man and friends, I recommend anything from the Marvel Adventures imprint. Dozens of volumes can be found Amazon for some really nice prices!

Marvel Action Avengers Book 3: The Fear Eaters debuts in print and digital formats on February 19th, 2020.

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Action: Avengers #1 (Family Comic Friday)

Welcome to the very last Family Comic Friday of 2018! We’re going to wrap up the year with a title that has been long awaited for many months and it’s sure to make some of you dear readers heads spin. It’s Marvel Action: Avengers #1 by IDW Publishing!

Marvel Action:  Avengers #1
Written by Matthew K. Manning
Art by Jon Sommariva
Colors by PROTOBUNKER
Published by IDW Publishing

Now, I am sure many of you are wondering: ‘Why is IDW Publishing doing an Avengers series?’ That’s a very good question. There’s the official answer and there’s the answer that many fans are speculating about and feel that Disney doesn’t have the courage to confirm. Officially, Marvel is out-letting a series of all-ages Marvel titles as the publisher is mega-swamped with it’s vast line of teen, teen plus and mature titles. But from fan reports on social media, many believe the reason why Dark Horse and IDW are receiving the rights to do all-ages Marvel, Star Wars and Disney Comics is because the House of Mouse is really unhappy with the quality of comic book being put out by the House of Ideas at the moment.

I like to think that it’s a little of both. Marvel Comics has countless books being produced every month. Plus, 2018 was not a great year for Marvel with a number of titles being cancelled due to poor sales. Also, Disney has a strict code for how they want their family friendly properties to be crafted. Reportedly, Marvel has refused to adopt these standards in many of their all-ages books. As a result, 2017's controversial firing of EIC Axel Alonso, and the equally controversial hiring of C.B. Cebulski have not helped matters much either.

Marvel Comics is really hoping for a great 2019. There’s plans to retool the history of the entire Marvel Universe. Plus, thanks to the upcoming slate of Marvel films and Star Wars IX, the publisher has extensive plans to release a tidal wave of new comics based on heroes and villains such as Captain Marvel and Kylo Ren. Thus outsourcing some material to other publishers should help Marvel refocus and hopefully, re-invigorate, their flagship titles which have seen better days.

Marvel Adventures: Avengers #1 was proof that the all-ages look at the Marvel Universe is in good hands. The story by Matthew K. Manning (Batman/ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures) was very well crafted. Agents of A.I.M. seek a way to steal Tony Stark’s Iron Man armor while Captain America leads a team against Madame Masque and her henchmen.

But it was the banter between characters that really won me over. Tony Stark sounded so much like Disney XD’s Avengers voice actor Adrian Pasdar. Then there was the over-exuberance of Thor and how he delights in combat.

The only thing missing was Hulk egging the Norse god on. Speaking of which, where is Greenie anyways? He was on the cover and several variants! But he’s noticeably absent here! Maybe Hulk will pop up in issue #2.

The artwork of Jon Sommariva (Star Wars Adventures) was also very good. Each Avenger has his own individual look and style. Okay, those eyes are goofy looking. But those action scenes are so fluid. There’s no cookie-cutter artwork in this book; that is for sure!

I mentioned earlier issue #2. That’s what you are going to have to pick up to find out what happens next as issue #1 ends in a cliffhanger. That aspect right there is pretty much the only thing IDW did wrong with this all-ages title. I’ve said it again and again- if publishers want the next generation of comic book readers, they have got to stop doing multi-part story arcs.

Young readers don’t always have the chance to go to the comic book store every week, much less a regular monthly basis. So, if you release a book that requires 4 weeks of waiting to find out what happens, you are going to lose readers. Some won’t be able to make it in when the next issue drops. And some readers are going to forget and lose interest. At least by having a self-contained story in one issue, you give a young reader a satisfying ending. It will also help to build a rapport with readers that all-in-one excitement awaits them the next time they get to frequent a comics shop.

Another thing that is going to hurt sales with this book is it’s lack of presence on digital platforms. As of press time for this book, I cannot find Marvel Action: Avengers on any digital comics site. That doesn’t mean that it will not show up. But for now, this title is available only in print. So fans will have to either make a trip to their LCS or order a copy online from IDW or another comics website.

A great read with amazing art, Marvel Action: Avengers is sure to thrill just as companion titles Spider-Man and Black Panther (both dropping in January) are sure to do. But in order to fully reach young readers, stories need to be contained to just one issue. And as much as I hate to say it, these titles need to readily be accessed online.

Marvel Action Avengers #1 debuted in print on December 26th, 2018.

Worth Consuming:

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.