Hey friends, today is a special, non-comic book review, I recently bought Avengers Earths Mightiest Heroes volume 1 and volume 2. Being a huge fan of Marvel and the Avengers team, this to me is series I was dying to get a view of. Sadly my Comcast on Demand sucks because so many episodes that are out, the last I remember was episode 459 involving Captain Marvel, and nothing new since then. So I decided to say SCREW IT and actually pick it up on DVD. I got bought in one swoop, what are my thoughts….let’s find out shall we. Since this is a special type of review, I’m going to review it in a different format, seeing how my comic reviews are based on art and story. Here I’m reviewing the whole shebang. With that, lets begin
AVENGERS: EARTHS MIGHTIEST HEROES VOLUME 1
Volume one collects episodes 1-7, episodes 1-5 are the collected formats of the micro-episodes that were released prior to the full release of the series. Each episode chronicles the founding member of the team, including Captain America and Black Panther, and how their actions lead up to episodes 6 and 7, the two episodes premiere, BREAKOUT.
Review: Each of the main members episodes are pure joy and a blast to be seen, while a few to me at least aren’t as strong as the others, the Strongest is a tie between Captain America and Thor, while to me Ant-man and Wasps episode was all over the place and lacked cohesion since the segments were literally segmented, whereas the other 4 were all connected and were better handled. As mentioned as each members episode brings the events of BREAKOUT possible, which as a premiere is the best handled of the source material. We see tons and I mean tons of many of the Marvel Universes worst threats, while most in the prisons seem to be lower tiered villains, they do establish them in a good light. The higher tiered villains do play bigger parts as the series progresses. The fight with Graviton is one of the best fights; it showcases each hero and his/hers fighting style and what abilities they bring to this team.
Episode Grades
#1.Iron Man is Born: B+
#2.Thor the Mighty: A-
#3.Hulk vs. the World: B-
#4.Meet Captain America: A+
#5.The Man on the Ant Hill: C+
#6.Breakout, Part 1: B+
#7.Breakout, Part 2: A-
Overall volume 1 is a solid first volume, a great way to introduce newcomers and diehards to this world and these characters. The action moments in this are true and classic to the characters and team. Pick this up wherever available, online or in stores. This DVD gets an A-
AVENGERS: EARTHS MIGHTIEST HEROES VOLUME 2
Volume 2 collects episodes 8-13, following the events of BREAKOUT, the team is fully assembled, only for them to lose a member yet gain two new ones(Captain America and Black Panther), we also follow the exploits of Hawkeye, who is trying to clear his name as a traitor and to figure out whose side Black Widow is on. The volume ends with the Hulk centric two part special, GAMMA WORLD.
Review: This DVD like many should do, builds upon the foundation of the first and continues to follow the trend. This volume follows the tried and true villain of the week format, whiling setting up a bigger revelation with a consistent villain. We also see the formation of a hero/villain in this volume (Wonder Man). The team begins to find their place amongst the ranks, having Iron Man as the unofficial leader, Thor as the heavy hitter, Wasp being the witty one, Ant-man as the pacifistic fighter (looking for ways other than fisticuffs), Captain America as the soldier(at first), and Black Panther as the acrobatic fighter. I enjoy the standard V.O.W. format this volume does; it showcases some of the fun aspects of the team as well as showcases them as newbies, stilling ironing out the things that set them apart and to unite as a strong, formidable team, to become the Mightiest indeed.
Episode Grades
#8.Some Assembly Required: B+
#9.Living Legend: A-
#10.Everything is Wonderful: A-
#11.Panthers Quest: B+
#12.Gamma World, Part 1: A-
#13.Gamma World, Part 2: A+
Overall, this is a great follow up volume, if you are fan of the weekly villain aspect, this volume will surely entertain you. I love seeing the team grow and flourish, the moments with Black Widow is some of the best secondary stories I have seen in a series based around continuity. Pick up where available, either online or in store. This DVD gets an A
Now I will do the more fun aspect of the review. I will review the artwork style and the voice acting of the main team, including Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Nick Fury. I will omit the villains since many are more or less ancillary and not touched upon greatly.
ARTSTYLE
Now this is really a huge aspect when it comes to doing any form of animated series, many call it out on being bad, but really this to me, in my honest opinion is what a comic book cartoon should look like, second to Batman: the animated series. The animation is bright and colorful, like we have been pulled into a comic book and in some moments; they do remind me of the panel format, most comics use, in some shots, not all of them since the cartoon is more flowing and fluid. The character designs are pretty much spot on, every character looks like the characters from the comics, save for Wasp, which considering all of her costumes over the decades are not the best, her cartoon costume seems to be a variation of her first (with the headphones), the last known version (the black and yellow), and mixed in with a bit of Ultimate universe (the two piece style). The best examples of keeping true to form are Thor from the 60s version, Captain America, Hawkeye, and Black Widow (Drools). And then there is Nick Fury, this is the biggest taboo the series did yet it’s not the worst thing imagined. They amalgamated the white Fury with Ultimate Fury into a single character, melding both styles somewhat seamlessly. Overall, I find nothing wrong with the art style; it’s a classic example of substance over style, the look and feel is the best way of doing this series without it being too over the top, everything feels and looks solid from the punches to the characters looks. The art style gets an A-
VOICE ACTING
The casting of the team is some of the best; I know many of the voice actors from many other projects and know that they more or less fit these roles perfectly. Wally Wingert voices Hank Pym aka Ant-man (voices Renji on Bleach and Maxio in both Maxio games), he gives Pym the exact same personality he has in the early comics, showing off the scientist as well as the hero. Colleen O’Shaughnessey (Jazz Fenton in Danny Phantom) voices Janet Van Dyne aka the Wasp. She brings her sweet, charming, and wit to the character that in the early comics was shown to be a bit ditzy but here, she holds her own and has fun with the position she is in. Eric Loomis, who is new to the voice acting scene is DEAD PERFECT as Tony Stark aka Iron Man. Clearly he is inspired by the Downey Jr version of the character, since that is probably the best interpretation. Fred Tatascriore once again returns to the role of Hulk, he pretty much does the best with the character much like Kevin Conroy has done with Batman and Steven Blum as Wolverine. Captain America (Brian Bloom) and Thor (Rick D. Wasserman) have voice actors that I have not heard of but they are great fits for the character, the two do great and keeps true to their personalities. The rest of the cast are some of the best known voice actors: Chris Cox, Nolan North (He’s in EVERYTHING), Vanessa Marshall, Phil LaMarr, Quinton Flynn, J. B. Blanc, Kari Whalgren, Jennifer Hale (SEXY), CLANCY BROWN (The Kurgan as Odin…..WINNING!!!)….the list goes on, the best and strongest talents are on this show, many who I admire. Hands down a strong and great cast, I can’t wait to see who they bring in next. The voice acting is a solid A+
DVD EXTRAS
Well as much as I hoping for a great amount of content, like behind the scenes, concept art, commentary by the actors and creators, bios, and bloopers/outtakes. We do however get two specials (one on each disk) of the upcoming season 2 with all the biggest and best mini spoilers you can imagine, like costume changes, new characters, new villains, new cameos, new story lines, and even bigger surprises. Since not much is here, I can’t really fault them since it was most likely due to budget restraints. The DVD extras get a B+
And there you have my take on the first two volumes of Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes, this is consider being the half way mark of the first season. Volumes 3 and 4 will be available as soon as the second half finishes in June, so expect to see them by July or August, the latest will probably be in September. Thanks for reading this, I enjoyed every minute of writing it. Catch you later, ComicCritic87 OUT!!!!!