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Hello? Is this thing on? (taps the mike)

A few years ago, you couldn’t pay me to read an Avengers comic. What had once been a team of big guns had become Wasp, Namor, some guy who breakdances with lightning, Fake (but not clone) Thor and Iron Jarvis or something.

Nowadays, I get them all. But while New Avengers and Mighty Avengers are fun (even though it’s been all Secret Invasion backstory for a few months), my favorite is Marvel Adventures Avengers. And you know this, because I tell you all the time.

But maybe I’m not making my argument clearly enough, so let’s turn to Issue 28, Verse 15: Yea, did Jeff Parker and Paul Tobin split up writing duties for this issue with two stories that are interconnected. And it was good. Verily.

This issue introduces the Marvel Adventures version of Luke Cage and also does a bit of universe building. Luke, like his 616-counterpart, likes cleaning up the streets and lecturing fools who be trippin’. So when the Avengers come a-calling, he’s not very interested.

This is Jeff Parker at his best. The story is clean and simple, without too much continuity, but there’s a lot of funny asides and running jokes for those who like to keep up. Luke pretends he’s never heard of the Avengers, but once at the tower, he wonders where Storm is. (Which prompts Giant Girl, towering over all of them, to ask, “Do guys think I’m not approachable for some reason?”)

If Bendis ever gives up on the Avengers proper, I am praying that Jeff Parker is tapped to take over. He’s got good ideas, he can balance the team dynamic and his writing is just plain funny.

Tobin is no slouch, however, as his story involves Captain America, Spider-Man, Storm and a cat from another dimension. There’s one giant leap, storywise, when music attracts a creature from the Negative Zone. It’s not exactly canon, but it moves the story along.

Honestly, when I get my comics, this one is near the top of the pile and, unlike some series that are good for a shocking revelation and that’s it, Marvel Adventures Avengers are the kind of done-in-one stories that you can re-read without getting bored. And I plan on re-reading these for a long time to come.

- Greg Elwell

Even wonder why the Ultimate line sells so well while some of the 616-Universe titles stagnate on shelves? I think it has to do with continuity.

It’s not a bad word. Heck, comic fans often demand more continuity. Why wouldn’t Thor remember a meeting with Wolverine? Doesn’t it all happen in the same universe?

But the Ultimate line gets to play around with continuity. It gets to wink at long-time fans with a “remember this?” while introducing new fans to long-lost characters. More to the point, because they’re not bound by previous continuity, the writers can “fix” whatever problems they had with the 616 version of events.

That same phenomenon is taking place in the Marvel Adventures line, just with less slavish devotion to 6- and 8-issue story arcs.

Marvel Adventures Hulk 12 brings back one of my favorite charachters, The Champion, and sets up a gauntlet of Marvel heavies to fight. Even better, the Hulk in this tale isn’t so morose or frozen with doubt. Bruce Banner isn’t looking for a fight, but he knows when to take the initiative and it’s a smart combination of his brains and Hulk’s brawn that bring this done-in-one issue to a close.

I won’t let writer Paul Benjamin completely off the hook for some pretty sloppy storytelling, though. While I enjoy the lighter tone, I thought the fight with the factory boss that began the issue was more than a little forced. I’m sure it’s hard to have that kind of battle grow organically in just a few pages, but I can think of a few tried-and-true examples that would have read less clumsy.

Still, for fans of the Hulk, I say there’s no better place than the Marvel Adventures line. Much as I loved (really, really loved) the Planet Hulk storyline in the 616 (which gets a minor reference in this issue), I’m not sold on the direction the character is going now. Meanwhile, in Marvel Adventures, we’ve got a dumb-but-friendly Hulk smashing and playing the straight man for some jokes. I’ll stick with this version anytime.

 – Greg Elwell

Kids have it made.

There, I said it. Those little jerks have the life I want to lead. No jobs. No bills. Your mom picks out your clothes for you. (Though, in that way, I guess Matt has it made, too.)

Most of all, no one will look at you funny for reading the Marvel Adventures line of comics. But when you’re almost 30 and you wear the haggard expression of a man who is slowly being murdered by his job, people really look at you funny when you walk to the counter with Marvel Adventures Spider-Man issue 40.

But forget those people, because these comics are FUN. Hey, I like my Vertigo and Ed Brubaker’s Criminal and all the rest, but in the just-plain-a-joy-to-read department, they can’t hold a candle to this stuff.

Take MA: Spider-Man 40 for instance. You’ve got Spidey in high school, stopping muggers and getting rewarded with a kiss from a very unusual damsel in distress. So unusual, in fact, that it turns out she wasn’t in much distress — what with being an immortal God from Asgard.

It’s a hoot as Spidey, somewhat unwillingly, helps her charge the gates of the fabled land and take on some fan faves while taking notes for a report on vikings. And, best of all, it’s a done-in-one story. It’s great to be able to sit down and read a comic cover-to-cover without being in part 3 of a 7-part series for once.

When people talk about how great comics were back when they were kids, these are the comics they were talking about. Throw some praise at writer Marc Sumerak for penning an adult-friendly, kid-approved book. There’s a reason I go back to the Marvel Adventures line again and again. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to eat a bag of Lik-M-Aid and pretend this cardboard box is a spaceship.

– Greg Elwell