Avengers Two: Wonder Man and the Beast #1 by Roger Stern, Mark Bagley and Greg Adams
The Plot: Simon Williams returns to the West Coast to deal with the loose ends that have haunted him since his latest return from the dead. He is joined by his old pal Hank McCoy, and the two of them encounter an unexpected threat on the way to L.A. Once there, even more threats may loom…
Wonder Man is my all-time favourite Avenger. No doubt about it. I first encountered him in the late 1970s when he returned from the dead during George Perez's first run on the title. Some of my fondest comics-reading memories are of Wondy's return from the dead, the self-doubt he was plagued with, and the way he managed to make a life for himself despite his troubled past.
A big part of Wonder Man's life back then was his friendship with the Beast. Their relationship here and in the regular Avengers title is no retroactive continuity convenience. If I recall correctly, an entire issue of the Avengers (Vol. 1) was dedicated to their palling around back in the good old days.
Kurt Busiek and George Perez had some real fun using the Beast as a guest-star when Simon finally came all the way back from the dead in Volume 3, but the editors of the X-Men titles have selfishly and stupidly denied the Beast his rightful place among the Earth's Mightiest Heroes.
What's that, y'say? The Beast was an X-Man before he was an Avenger? Sure, I know that. But the X-Men books have had no creative direction worth following for more than 3 months at a time for, oh, over a decade now, and there's just no way, creative teams being what they are now, that the Beast wouldn't be better served living in Avenger's Mansion.
Anyway.
Roger Stern and Mark Bagley are two extremely solid creators, and as such this is an extremely solid first issue, albeit weighted down by numerous (necessary, I suppose) flashbacks explaining the history of the two characters. They both have complex (albeit wonderfully rich and mostly consistent) backstories, so I didn't mind all the flashbacks overmuch. Frankly, it was a kick seeing Bagley illustrate some of my favourite Avengers moments, such as Wondy smashing out of a crate upon his first (actually his second, but first that stuck more than one issue) return from the dead. I'm not kidding when I say Avengers #161 is my absolutely favourite sooperhero comic book of all time, so seeing Bagley's swipe of George's costume for Wonder Man (which I think lasted all of one issue) had me really reliving those grand, wonderful days when ALL my favourite comic books were about sooperheroes.
The threat Simon and Hank encounter on the way to L.A. struck me as a little contrived (not to say convenient), but again, as a set-up issue, it didn't offend me at all. The way the Beast uses his image inducer to thwart the hijackers was clever, and the way he blew the rescue despite that enormous advantage was vintage Hank McCoy.
Stern introduces some characters from Wonder Man's regular title, which I admit I stopped buying when Jeff Johnson stopped drawing it, so I'll need some catching up as to who Lotus and some of the other characters are…I'm confident all will be explained next issue.
This isn't Avengers Forever, but it's a good, fun look at the relationship of two really terrific characters, and it's being produced by some very reliable talent. The only pitfall I see in the next two issues is the risk that this standalone series will end clean, with no lasting ramifications for the main characters. That's happened with many, many mini-series, but most don't start as strongly as this one. I hope that isn't the case, and that the events we see unfold have a lasting impact in the regular Avengers (and X-Men, damn it) titles.
I enjoyed this first issue a lot, and will be sticking around for all three issues to see where Stern and Bagley take it.
