Review by Ian Keogh

This volume completes Jim Shooter’s second, and less pleasing run on the Avengers. The first offered ambition, spectacle and the art of George Pérez, and while the ambition is still occasionally evident, the spectacle is absent and lesser artists are the order of the day.

Shooter is the guiding hand, plotting the general direction, while working with a variety of writers and leaving the dialogue to them. His influence is perhaps akin to a TV showrunner. However, his involvement turned out to be less than anticipated, meaning assorted fill-ins. Two themes emerge from this content.

The better of them, and the ambition referred to earlier, was the continuation of Hank Pym’s decline as begun in Volume 20. Well, in theory at least. The idea is that he’s suffering mental health issues, but credit for pioneering an innovative storyline is rapidly eroded by sensationalising and melodrama. There’s a fundamentally good idea in Pym hitting such a low point he’s willing to work with old enemy Egghead, and how that turns out is well plotted, but it descends into formula superheroics, a term applicable to so much of this volume.

The second theme is misguided romance. We’ll get to Scarlet Witch and the Vision later, but Iron Man and the Wasp? If that’s incongruous and was rapidly forgotten, an attraction between Thor and Moondragon beggars belief, even if it’s not all it seems. It features in a muddled story of planetary control where the motivations don’t withstand much scrutiny.

Artistically this is a poor selection, a full lack of inspiration parade. The stories are told, but with barely any visual stimulation, represented by Bob Hall’s sample art. The artistic nadir is reached with Al Milgrom’s shockingly disjointed and misproportioned figures, and poor perspective on a battle between the Avengers and the Defenders.

Perhaps the only bright spot for Avengers fans is the constant stream of guest stars. As well as the Defenders and Moondragon, assorted Avengers from past and future feature. Hawkeye rejoins the team and She-Hulk signs up, and we also see Beast, Black Knight and Doctor Druid. However, none of them star in anything noteworthy.

After the Avengers content we have four chapters of the Scarlet Witch and the Vision. It’s a strange inclusion considering neither had been associated the Avengers for some while, and nor would they be for even longer. It is, however, the only halfway decent content here and introduces the idea of a strange married couple settling in suburbia, so well used for the 2021 WandaVision TV show. Rick Leonardi’s art’s not perfect, but it’s thoughtful, attractive, and by some distance the best in this book. Bill Mantlo presents four different stories over four chapters, concentrating on the backgrounds of the title characters, feeding in interesting threats. The tone is too bombastic and the characters explain themselves too often, but there’s a guiding vision so frequently absent from the remaining content. It was previously available in paperback as The Avengers: Vision and Scarlet Witch.

The collection closes with Hawkeye teaming with the long forgotten El Aguila by Charlie Boatner and Trevor Von Eeden. It’s straightforward, but works better than most of the over-written Avengers material.

The Avengers issues also feature in The Trial of Yellowjacket along with much of Volume 20 and some of Volume 22. There’s also considerable crossover with the Epic Collection Court Martial.