Review: Avengers- Millennium
Quick Summary
Pros: Some of the jokes are funny. The time travel is uncomplicated and leads to some neat moments. The artwork looks great and is one of the book’s best elements.
Cons: Some of the jokes are not funny. The book’s approach to action is disappointing. The majority of the read simply feels mediocre in general.
Overall: This is a mostly mediocre comic that has little to offer. The entire volume focuses on a storyline with unappealing action and just as many downs as there are ups. The artwork and some positive story elements help lift the collection up but are not significant enough to save it completely. This book may appeal to readers who really want to see the Avengers do some neat time traveling but everyone else should consider looking elsewhere for a good read.
Story
The story in Avengers: Millennium, by Mike Costa, mostly ranges from mediocre to disappointing. There is some standard Avengers humor and heroics but for every well-written joke or moment, there is a lackluster joke or moment to balance it out. In addition, the book’s action is disappointing and takes most of the tension out of the read. The only thing the story in Millennium really has going for it is a uniquely uncomplicated approach to time travel, which stands out against a background of the Avengers’ more head-scratching trips through time.
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The majority of the story in Avengers: Millennium isn’t bad but is extremely mediocre. The comradery between the Avengers leads to some funny joking around between the members. However, it also leads to plenty of moments where the jokes fall flat or feel forced. In a similar way, the team gets one or two moments to show off their abilities but not enough to make things truly interesting.
It doesn’t help that there are also moments where problems further damage the appeal of the read. Nearly every one of the collection’s battles plays out the same way: the villains attack the heroes, nearly defeat a member of the team, and are then ambushed by a hero they forgot about. It leads to fights that feel boring and have very little tension. As fighting villains is a major part of the Avengers’ appeal, it makes it hard to get fully onboard an Avengers book with disappointing fighting.
This leads to a book where the only reason to read comes from its most significant positives, the few moments where the time travel feels clever. Captain America’s decision to freeze himself in ice stands out, as does Hawkeye’s use of paradoxes to defeat the book’s main villain. Both of these are also more straightforward approaches to time travel that don’t dive into it as deep as other Avengers books, which may be appealing for some readers.
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Art
The artwork in Avengers: Millennium ends up being one of the most appealing aspects of the entire collection. Carmine Di Giandomenico’s stylized take on the Avengers looks new and interesting, giving it some unique appeal. In addition, Giandomenico’s approach to action looks good and even helps make some of the book’s lackluster action scenes look better than they should. It also helps that all of this looks even better when paired with the book’s crisp colors, provided by Andres Mossa. Overall, the artwork in this book is solid and is definitely one of the best parts of the reading experience.
Continuity
Avengers: Millennium is a standalone volume that does not have origins in any other comic.
The story here is not continued in any specific comic.