George Pérez, Kurt Busiek, Mark Bagley and Fabian Nicieza are in charge of facing the Avengers and Thunderbolts in a volume of Panini Comics
There were simpler times for the main heroes of The House of Ideas. Times in which names of classic and respectable authors such as George Perez, Kurt Busiek o Roger Stern They put all their efforts into making these heroes live adventures beyond the pages and leave an indelible mark on the reader’s mind. Those were the times of Heroes Returna stage that now Panini Comics compiled in deluxe volumes and whose third volume comes to us under the title of Heroes Return. The Avengers 3 – New Order.
classic heroes
When you see the names of George Pérez, Kurt Busiek and Roger Stern in the list of accredited authors on the first pages of the volume, it is clear that you are going to read something with a classic flavor. They weren’t there when the generation of Stan Lee, Jack Kirby y Steve Ditko raised Marvel Comicsbut they were responsible for playing with those legacy toys and taking them to the next level.
But this does not mean that in this volume we are going to find the same type of stories that these same authors had developed in the last century (these comics were already published in the year 2000), but that they have known how to evolve their style (surely Kurt Busiek is the main culprit for this) to adapt to the new times without making the mistakes that a few years before had been about to make the publisher go bankrupt.
The triumvirate formed by Thor, Iron Man y Captain America will give its leading role to characters from a lower echelon to which the authors exploit magnificently in group dynamics, which includes both illustrious acquaintances and Wonder Man y Vision (whose rivalry will be especially important in the first sets of this volume), the Scarlet Witch, Ms Marvel, Among o Mercuriolike others whose ephemeral time in the formation has almost made them fall into oblivion for contemporary readers, such as Goliath, Fire star, triathlon (who looks like a character more typical of the stage Heroes Reborn) o Justice.
And let’s not forget about Beastwhich will command much of the attention in the miniseries in which he stars alongside Simon Williams here included…
returning villains
But the series is not only based on the interaction between the members of the main group. Every good superhero story needs the presence of villains, and a whole parade of well-used criminals is going to pass through here, some with more tradition than others.
Maybe names like Carnivore, Decline, Conquest o Stonecutter are not the ones that are on everyone’s lips to make their appearance in the next movie of Marvel Studios… but surely, for example, Juggernaut y Supervisor They are better known characters for common mortals.
Special mention deserves the return of Kulan Gaththe sorcerer of the Era Hiboria which first appeared in 1972 on the regular series of Conan the barbarian and that later he would come to our world to mess it up in the mutant series after having made a brief appearance in a cross between Spiderman y Red Sonja. Not long ago he has been brought back to face the Savage Avengersbut here Busiek and Pérez choose to take the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes into a world of sword and sorcery reminiscent of the Aztecs to fight this archetypal villain.
justice, like lightning
Beyond the villains on duty, the most interesting thing about this volume would be the crossover with the Thunderboltsthe group that Kurt Busiek had launched to stardom shortly before and that now found itself in the hands of Fabian Nicieza.
As if it weren’t enough to see these two formations share cartoons, we will have luxury villains to spice up the clash: on the one hand the Conde Nefariathat kind of dark version of doctor strange that so many headaches had given everyone Marvel Universe in the past, and on the other to his daughter Giulietta Nefariarenamed as Whitney Frost and better known as Madame Maskwhich has maintained a tremendously complicated relationship with Tony Stark over the years…
Praise George Perez
In the graphic section we predominantly have a plethoric George Pérez, showing off that horror vacui that characterizes him so much, punctually complemented by the drawing of a Stuart Immonen that it had not yet reached its full potential and for a discreet Paul Ryanwho have just formed the team of cartoonists for this volume together with the veteran Mark Bagleyin charge of the Wonder Man and the Beast miniseries.
It may be that not all of Pérez’s pages are here to be framed (the work of those who accompany him in ink and color is also very important), but his work always leaves that residue of classic flavor that suits this group of readers so well. heroes and with which he manages to make each number included here something special. Blessed be.
The volume Heroes Return. The Avengers 3 – New Order published by Panini Comics in hardcover contains 464 pages in color with a page size of 18.3 x 27.7 cm and includes the translation of the American edition of The Avengers 23-34, Avengers Two: Wonder Man-Beast 1-3 y Thunderbolts 42-44. The tome also includes a small final section of extras and an article written by Julian M. Clemente. The recommended retail price is 50 € and was put up for sale in January 2023.
Heroes Return. The Avengers 3 – New Order
ISBN: 9788411501248
It’s time for revenge! Earth’s Mightiest Heroes vs. Marvel’s Most Wanted, in a crossover of the two Kurt Busiek collections that will see both groups face off against one of the worst enemies imaginable: Count Nefaria!
And also, a new lineup for The Avengers, the return of Kulan Gath and much more.
Authors: George Pérez, Fabian Nicieza, Kurt Busiek, Stuart Immonen, Mark Bagley, and Roger Stern
