Avengers Assemble 'The Avengers Protocol' Review

Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes was one of Marvel's greatest toons. Some might even call it the best. (The only real competition is X-Men and Spider-Man.) So when it was announced that it would be cancelled so Marvel could have a 'clean slate' for animated programs, it caused a great uproar. The Surtur sub plot, the major arc of Season 2, would never be finished. Many were biased against Assemble from the start cause it was replacing EMH. To calm everyone, it was said that it would be in the same continuity as EMH. I highly doubt that was in the original plan, but we'll never know. The trailer came and wowed people, the animation looked really good and more 'traditional.' Sadly it appeared to be similar in tone with Ultimate Spider-Man, which too looked good in the beginning. (And you saw how that turned out.) Based on marketing an promotion, Assemble used the film's atmosphere and characters. It's basically something for people who saw last year's movie to hop aboard. It gives the illusion that it's in the same universe. So do we have a quality show or a shameless cash-in to the movie? Despite marketing pointing to the latter, it's actually very fun.

The story takes place a few years after for some odd unexplained reason the Avengers disbanded. The Red Skull is back, and has MODOK on his side. Iron Man decides to launch the 'Avengers Protocol,' re-gathering Earth's Mightiest Heroes. A lot of things happen during the forty minutes, which includes Cap supposedly dying and Red Skull stealing Tony's armor and becoming the Iron Skull. First off, I like how bold the premiere starts. Cap gets picked off early on, sending a shock to the viewer. We obviously know he's not dead, but it's still an interesting way to start off. It's obvious this series is taking a less serious approach in hopes of trying to mimic the film's and Ultimate Spider-Man's atmosphere. It surprisingly works, it isn't too comical like USM, yet has enough comedy fans and newcomers can have fun with. Hulk's banter with Thor every Avenger nevers gets old. I'm really glad they stayed with his EMH personality as opposed to the film's. Character portrayals are pretty solid for the most part. Tony Stark's voice sounded off in the beginning, but it grows on you over the course of 40 minutes. (People didn't like his EMH voice either at first.) The only questionable character is the Black Widow. Her personality doesn't match the film's, EMH's or even the comics. She's actually sometimes annoying.

Red Skull is the primary antagonist of the premiere, and looks to be a recurring force. It's a pretty decent portrayal, about on par with EMH's. The big thing is him taking the Iron Man armor from Tony. It's a pretty dramatic scene that had an amazing amount of tension. Now dubbed 'Iron Skull,' he made some modifications to the look, which was great. It's good to see the show taking some unique routes. The action is pretty solid. I will admit the teasing of a true Hulk/Thor fight is kinda sad, but oh well. The animation is more traditional than EMH. Most people really didn't like the animation of the previous show at first, but overtime it grew on them. Much like from the Spectacular Spider-Man to Ultimate, Assemble looks more like a 'normal' toon, much like Justice League or X-Men. It looks good, not quite as much as the aforementioned shows, but solid.

Avengers Assemble Is off to a very good start. It successfully captures the fun atmosphere of the movie without sinking to Ultimate Spider-Man level of comedy. Characters, aside from Black Widow, are great as always. The story nicely sets things up for the coming episodes. Avengers 2 comes out in two years, so let us enjoy this fun show in the meantime.

4/5

Retro Review: Captain America #300

In comics, there's always the big 'final battle' issue for a solo character against his worst enemy. It usually results in either the villain's death or a new status quo for their relationship as worst enemies. Spider-Man had his 'final confrontation' with Venom in Amazing Spider-Man #375, Iron Man had his final battle with Iron Monger in Iron Man #200, Thor had his final battle with Loki in The Mighty Thor #432, etc. I'll get to all those eventually, but this time I'm talking about Captain America's battle 'to the death' with his worst enemy, the Red Skull.

One of the things the Captain America film failed to do was develop the relationship between Cap and Skull. In the comics, the Red Skull had always considered Cap to be his equal. In the film, he treats him more like a nuisance. This comic was the perfect way to end "a war that begun 40 years ago." Blows are felt, it's good stuff. The writing is just fantastic, some of the best writing I've ever read in a comic. I especially like when Skull says, "Two gods locked in raging battle, for all eternity!" Then Cap replies, "We are not two gods! Just two tired old men!" This issue deserves an animated adaption, it's comic book drama at its best. I like how Red Skull doesn't care about dying, he just wants to see Cap lowered to his level. Reminds me of the Batman/Joker dynamic.

Characters on the verge of killing their most hated enemy is something we've all seen a thousand times, but here it feels more fluid and dramatic. Cap saying how he hates the Red Skull for his evil and then the panels with him about to land the killing blow is just dramatic. What follows is a fantastic scene of Skull getting angry cause he wanted Cap to kill him. These characters were just written great. The actual fight is in essence, a fight to the death. There are no beams or capes, it's just two men punching each other out of commission, all the while with great dialogue. The death of the Skull is climatic, and the perfect closure to there 40 year feud.

Overall, Captain America #300 is the definition of 'battle to the death.' The writing by Micheal Ellis is some of the best I've ever read in a comic. The art by Paul Neary holds up pretty well, considering this comic came out way back in 1984. (The year of Big Brother, whoever gets this reference gets a thumbs up from me.) Cap and Skull would have more battles later on, but none would compare to the battle in this comic. It's definitely the greatest Captain America comic I've ever read.

10/10.