Avengers Disassembled - question on volumes

[hyped78]

Hi
To buy Avengers Disassembled I see that there are different volumes:

Avengers Disassembled (collects Avengers #500–503 and "Avengers Finale", 176 pages, hardcover, January 2007, ISBN 0-7851-2294-X, softcover, February 2005, ISBN 0-7851-1482-3)

Avengers Disassembled: Iron Man, Thor & Captain America (collects Thor #80–85, Iron Man #84–89, Captain America & The Falcon #5–7, and Captain America #29–32, 448 pages, hardcover, April 2009, ISBN 0-7851-3884-6) collected separately as softcovers:
Avengers Disassembled: Iron Man (collects Iron Man #84–89, softcover 144 pages, Jan 2007, ISBN 0-7851-1653-2)
Avengers Disassembled: Captain America (collects Captain America #29–32 and Captain America And The Falcon #5–7, 168 pages, December 2004, ISBN 0-7851-1648-6)
The Mighty Thor Disassembled (collects Thor 80–85, 152 pages, December 2004, ISBN 0-7851-1599-4)

Question is if the Iron Man, Thor and Cap volumes are “essential” or if the main one is enough?

Thanks

[SJNeal]

Everything about "Disassembled" is complete trash, but if I had to pick I'd just stick to the main story in the first volume.

The tie-in stuff was mostly irrelevant, although the Thor issues were decent in the context of that series.

[CentralPower]

"Disassembled" was Marvel closing out the pre-Bendis Avengers era (and the related titles). None of it was trash (thoughI am not a fan of Kirkman). But, none of it had any lasting impact. "Iron Man" is probably the most forgettable, as the wrap-up is abrupt, and most obviously the result of an editorial mandate to wrap-up and move on.

"the Avengers" is a good enough "last day of the Avengers" type story. As a last arc, it works very well if you do not try to reconcile it with anything that came later. There are some good moments of Bendis dialogue. And, contrary to popular belief, his take on the Scarlett Witch makes more sense than any other writer's. (She is crazy, and with good reason. Look at her life.) But, all of the "nothing will be the same" stuff has been undone in the 10+ years since it came out.

[Witchfan]

I hate Disassembled. Boycott this story. Read sonething else.

[SJNeal]

As a last arc, it works very well if you do not try to reconcile it with anything that came later.

Stories that meet this criteria belong in the "What If...?" file.

[MaximoffTrash]

Avengers issues are enough.

Thor's tie-ins are actually Ragnorak story, totally separated.

I don't really recommend it though, and if you do, just don't take any character depiction or power explanation seriously.
It feels like a group amnesia if you read pre-Bendis Avengers.
It's actually my entry point comic, but all it make me feel now is "what the hell did I read?".

[MaximoffTrash]

"Disassembled" was Marvel closing out the pre-Bendis Avengers era (and the related titles). None of it was trash (thoughI am not a fan of Kirkman). But, none of it had any lasting impact. "Iron Man" is probably the most forgettable, as the wrap-up is abrupt, and most obviously the result of an editorial mandate to wrap-up and move on.

"the Avengers" is a good enough "last day of the Avengers" type story. As a last arc, it works very well if you do not try to reconcile it with anything that came later. There are some good moments of Bendis dialogue. And, contrary to popular belief, his take on the Scarlett Witch makes more sense than any other writer's. (She is crazy, and with good reason. Look at her life.) But, all of the "nothing will be the same" stuff has been undone in the 10+ years since it came out.

Bendis's take on Scarlet Witch makes sense for a woman with serious amnesia.

It's not even about sanity and her life, just a good memory.
Is that too much to ask for?

Contrary to popular belief, a fact or just your opinion?
Cause seriously, it's like praising a Fanfiction makes more sense, ignoring all the previous content.

[Mike_Murdock]

I would stick with the main Avengers event, but that event references that Thor isn't there. Thor's story is separate, but a worthwhile read if you're curious what was going on in his book.

[Curlytop]

And, contrary to popular belief, his take on the Scarlett Witch makes more sense than any other writer's. (She is crazy, and with good reason. Look at her life.)

No it really didn't. Especially the kids thing that she had gotten over way before the event. The timeline for things is also off. Dr. Strange forgetting that chaos magic existed, and that he had used it. Wanda never having used the level of power she had during the event, without tapping into another power source. Which had to be sort of corrected in Children's Crusade. But only made things not line up even more when it added Doctor Doom into the mix, when he wouldn't have been able to be present at the time because he was in hell.

She had moments of possession where she turned villainous, but so did every other character. Possession especially for magic characters is a popular trope. But she was never "crazy." She was actually very sane. Her depression diagnosis (which doesn't seem to fit in with everything) is something very recent. Up until then she was never treated, never depicted, never written as having a mental illness. Just the whole suddenly this character has turned evil, tune in next week to find out why story.

[CentralPower]

It's actually my entry point comic, but all it make me feel now is "what the hell did I read?".

It was meant to be an entry point comic. If somebody had picked up that comic in '04 or so, after years away from the big two (or comics as a whole), they would have been surprised at how well a comic could read. (In '08 or '09, a friend of mine snootily said that comic could not be well-written. I used a few issues of Bendis "Avengers" to disprove that. He conceded that he was wrong. But, he did not think that the big 2 would ever get past the OCD narration problem.)

No it really didn't. Especially the kids thing that she had gotten over way before the event.

It was not just the kids. It was pretty much everything about Scarlet Witch's backstory. She should have been a complete wackadoodle. Anybody who could get over all of that would have to be a sociopath to begin with.

Her depression diagnosis (which doesn't seem to fit in with everything) is something very recent. Up until then she was never treated, never depicted, never written as having a mental illness.

That it arguably a bigger problem with the earlier writers than with Bendis.

[SJNeal]

It was not just the kids. It was pretty much everything about Scarlet Witch's backstory. She should have been a complete wackadoodle. Anybody who could get over all of that would have to be a sociopath to begin with.

Tell that to every superhero who's ever experienced one trauma after another.

So pretty much all of them.

[Wiccan]

And, contrary to popular belief, his take on the Scarlett Witch makes more sense than any other writer's. (She is crazy, and with good reason. Look at her life.)

No. Just, no. Literally every Wanda fan knows that's not true. People who actually know, care about her, and have actually read all her most important stories knows that it was complete bullshit and filled with plot holes and retcons.

[Curlytop]

It was not just the kids. It was pretty much everything about Scarlet Witch's backstory. She should have been a complete wackadoodle. Anybody who could get over all of that would have to be a sociopath to begin with.

That it arguably a bigger problem with the earlier writers than with Bendis.

Except it wasn't, at all. Mental illnesses are not some power given to you that make you go out of control and then you are instantly cured once it's removed. So none of that showed mental illness at all. By getting over it, I mean she wasn't falling apart, crying in active mourning. She definitely didn't express wanting to try to bring them back to life at all. Having depression would be the result of losing children, but doesn't fit what Bendis was initially trying to do. Which was to say that her powers made her "crazy." When those obviously weren't her powers based on previous canon.

[CentralPower]

Tell that to every superhero who's ever experienced one trauma after another.

So pretty much all of them

The whole point of Bendis having Doctor Strange show up (more or less breaking the fourth wall) was to say "hey, Scarlet Witch is crackers, and we know why...."

In real terms, most characters in comics have unreasonable (or unhealthy) levels of coping ability. But, Bendis does not write Silver Age comics, so he is going to point that crap out.

On page, Scarlet Witch has been through alot, even by genre standards.

Which was to say that her powers made her "crazy." When those obviously weren't her powers based on previous canon.

Bendis did not say it was her powers that made her wackadoodle. Bendis argued that it was everything that she had been through that broke her. Witch's powers just made her lunacy more dangerous.

[Curlytop]

The whole point of Bendis having Doctor Strange show up (more or less breaking the fourth wall) was to say "hey, Scarlet Witch is crackers, and we know why...."

In real terms, most characters in comics have unreasonable (or unhealthy) levels of coping ability. But, Bendis does not write Silver Age comics, so he is going to point that crap out.

On page, Scarlet Witch has been through alot, even by genre standards.




Bendis did not say it was her powers that made her wackadoodle. Bendis argued that it was everything that she had been through that broke her. Witch's powers just made her lunacy more dangerous.

She's been through a lot, but that didn't adequately explain why she'd go from being fine to having power she never had before and killing everyone. There was no build up to it. And the page that claimed she was always like that showed mostly heroic deeds from the past. The only ones it showed where she did anything bad was when she was manipulated by Immortus and possessed by Chthon. Whether it was the power or her life doesn't matter. There was nothing before to show that she was anywhere near headed there. Putting mental illness under this general umbrella to show someone being evil didn't help. If she had shown psychosis before, then it would make sense. But that's not the case, and even now she doesn't have that. She has depression, which is a different illness.

So just hypothetically saying that her life should've broken her to the point where she murders everyone doesn't make it retroactively true.