The Avengers Appreciation 2021

[Nomads1]

Now, seriuosly, talking about the Crossing. Unlike most Avengers fans, I liked it. It had tons of potential, but, IMHO, it fell short in the execution. Mostly on the resolution of the storyline.
As for the deaths:
Marilla - Sure, no prob. A kind of useless secondary character to get the things running. I'm good with it.
Rita DeMara/Yellowjacket - As a fan of the 90's GotG, I loved her. I've loved her even before then. But her death was a good one. It gave an idea of the stakes, and nothing can beat that last scene of Tony Standing over her dead body. Since time travel was involved, it wouldn't have been much trouble bringing her back, though they never did.
Gilgamesh - With that one I have an issue. It seemed sort of pointless and gutless. "Let's kill another Avenger no one even remembers and likes to show how bad the bad guys are." Even in the later retcons of the Crossing, IMHO, they failed to adress it properly. It would have been bolder to have a more proeminent Avenger bite the dust on that one. Plus, his whole relationship with Kang and Mantis' twins was very quickly and poorly explored.
The changes in the characters -
Wasp - liked the idea, hated the design. A more discreet cosmetic change would have had the same effect on a person as vain as Jan, putting again stress on her relationship with Hank, who did that to her to save her life. Sadly, that bit was also poorly explored, since, not long after, they went on to the Heroes Reborn world.
Iron Man - IMHO, Timeslide was when the Crossing really started to go off the rails. Teen Tony was such a ridiculous concept. I mean, the power of the guy is being a top notch engineer, something that accumulated knowledge and experience are crucial for. In that field, inspiration only takes you so far (which is also why I find characters like Riri Williams so stupid). So, their sollution was getting a less knowlegable and experienced Tony to face the one they have? The worst of it was that, during the storyline, they'd already planted the seeds for, IMHO, a much better resolution. In Force Works, the evil Cybermancer and Wonder Man came from a world where Kang had already corrupted their Tony Stark. So, what if our Tony had been replaced by that one? It would still give him a chance for a redemptive death at the end, it would not have tarnished our Tony, since Kang replaced him because he failed in corrupting him, and it would still leave our Tony under a shroud of distrust (Did Kang really fail to corrupt him? Why did the Conqueror think he was the one to do it to in the first place?). As a bonus, our Avengers, or our Force Works, would have to go to the dark world to rescue our Tony, pitting them against more of that world's corrupted versions of our heroes.
Mantis - I love Mantis. Love what has been done to her in the new GotG. However, I thought it was a real stroke of genius to have her be the driving force behind Kang in the Crossing. Her motivations were solid. A mother who had her son taken from her, a situation the Avengers sort of placed her in. Her turning to the enemy, Kang, for confort, who gave her what she most wanted, a family. I really loved it. Plus, as much as I liked the character, if you had to tarnish a character with that storyline, better her than a major character like Iron Man.
Other than that, you had a "familiar" HQ the Avengers couldn't trust. The sort of reunification of the team, an overwhelmingly powerful enemy, dimensional travelling, mysteries galore, the return and introduction of many characters, etc..
All in all, though not all it could have been, I found the Crossing a fun and enjoyable storyline.


Peace

[Witchfan]

The only thing that I liked about The Crossing was the new costume they gave Scarlet Witch, though they didn't use it for long.

[CosmiComic]

Now, seriuosly, talking about the Crossing. Unlike most Avengers fans, I liked it. It had tons of potential, but, IMHO, it fell short in the execution. Mostly on the resolution of the storyline.
As for the deaths:
Marilla - Sure, no prob. A kind of useless secondary character to get the things running. I'm good with it.
Rita DeMara/Yellowjacket - As a fan of the 90's GotG, I loved her. I've loved her even before then. But her death was a good one. It gave an idea of the stakes, and nothing can beat that last scene of Tony Standing over her dead body. Since time travel was involved, it wouldn't have been much trouble bringing her back, though they never did.
Gilgamesh - With that one I have an issue. It seemed sort of pointless and gutless. "Let's kill another Avenger no one even remembers and likes to show how bad the bad guys are." Even in the later retcons of the Crossing, IMHO, they failed to adress it properly. It would have been bolder to have a more proeminent Avenger bite the dust on that one. Plus, his whole relationship with Kang and Mantis' twins was very quickly and poorly explored.
The changes in the characters -
Wasp - liked the idea, hated the design. A more discreet cosmetic change would have had the same effect on a person as vain as Jan, putting again stress on her relationship with Hank, who did that to her to save her life. Sadly, that bit was also poorly explored, since, not long after, they went on to the Heroes Reborn world.
Iron Man - IMHO, Timeslide was when the Crossing really started to go off the rails. Teen Tony was such a ridiculous concept. I mean, the power of the guy is being a top notch engineer, something that accumulated knowledge and experience are crucial for. In that field, inspiration only takes you so far (which is also why I find characters like Riri Williams so stupid). So, their sollution was getting a less knowlegable and experienced Tony to face the one they have? The worst of it was that, during the storyline, they'd already planted the seeds for, IMHO, a much better resolution. In Force Works, the evil Cybermancer and Wonder Man came from a world where Kang had already corrupted their Tony Stark. So, what if our Tony had been replaced by that one? It would still give him a chance for a redemptive death at the end, it would not have tarnished our Tony, since Kang replaced him because he failed in corrupting him, and it would still leave our Tony under a shroud of distrust (Did Kang really fail to corrupt him? Why did the Conqueror think he was the one to do it to in the first place?). As a bonus, our Avengers, or our Force Works, would have to go to the dark world to rescue our Tony, pitting them against more of that world's corrupted versions of our heroes.
Mantis - I love Mantis. Love what has been done to her in the new GotG. However, I thought it was a real stroke of genius to have her be the driving force behind Kang in the Crossing. Her motivations were solid. A mother who had her son taken from her, a situation the Avengers sort of placed her in. Her turning to the enemy, Kang, for confort, who gave her what she most wanted, a family. I really loved it. Plus, as much as I liked the character, if you had to tarnish a character with that storyline, better her than a major character like Iron Man.
Other than that, you had a "familiar" HQ the Avengers couldn't trust. The sort of reunification of the team, an overwhelmingly powerful enemy, dimensional travelling, mysteries galore, the return and introduction of many characters, etc..
All in all, though not all it could have been, I found the Crossing a fun and enjoyable storyline.


Peace

Would you recommend it in that case?

[Nomads1]

The only thing that I liked about The Crossing was the new costume they gave Scarlet Witch, though they didn't use it for long.

Yes, the new costumes definitly were another foccus of controversy (or not) for the Crossing. I liked Wanda's and Pietro's, didn't care much for the others. Hawkeye's was a generic archer's costume that had nothing to do with Hawkeye's traditional look. Widow's and Crystal's were meh. Didn't love them, didn't hate them. And Thor... Ah, Thor, the king of spikes. I don't know if I should be thankful or not that this costume only really got in use several months after the Crossing, when the Avengers books were already running towards Onslaught and Heroes Reborn. Most of the time he was merely barechested. A few months later they also revamped Hercules's look (much and long in need, I might add). For me, this revamp falls in with Crystal's and the Widow's. Not terrible, but not great. I prefered the revamp in look he recieved in Ostrander and Ferry's H4H.

Would you recommend it in that case?

Yes, as long as you take it for what it is. A fun and crazy ride.

Peace

[JorgeJ77]

Yes, the new costumes definitly were another foccus of controversy (or not) for the Crossing. I liked Wanda's and Pietro's, didn't care much for the others. Hawkeye's was a generic archer's costume that had nothing to do with Hawkeye's traditional look. Widow's and Crystal's were meh. Didn't love them, didn't hate them. And Thor... Ah, Thor, the king of spikes. I don't know if I should be thankful or not that this costume only really got in use several months after the Crossing, when the Avengers books were already running towards Onslaught and Heroes Reborn. Most of the time he was merely barechested. A few months later they also revamped Hercules's look (much and long in need, I might add). For me, this revamp falls in with Crystal's and the Widow's. Not terrible, but not great. I prefered the revamp in look he recieved in Ostrander and Ferry's H4H.



Yes, as long as you take it for what it is. A fun and crazy ride.

Peace

What world am I living in where horrible stories like the Crossing are now considered... GOOD?!

[stingray]

What world am I living in where horrible stories like the Crossing are now considered... GOOD?!

I'm wit Nomads1 on this one. The initial issue was really good. Some interesting ideas. What followed was hit and miss, but it was definitely not horrible. Still preferable to either Bendis or Aaron.

[Nomads1]

What world am I living in where horrible stories like the Crossing are now considered... GOOD?!

Matter of opinion. I liked it. Didn't LOVE it, not my favorite, but I generally liked it. As for the world you live in, Bendis' Avengers is seen as a great run by some, so, it's all fair game.

Peace

[SJNeal]

The Crossing > > > Aaron's run.

[JorgeJ77]

Matter of opinion. I liked it. Didn't LOVE it, not my favorite, but I generally liked it. As for the world you live in, Bendis' Avengers is seen as a great run by some, so, it's all fair game.

Peace

All right, fine.

[Frontier]

Preview of the first issue of Aaron's Avengers Forever series.

Also a preview of issue #51.

[Phoenixx9]

Preview of the first issue of Aaron's Avengers Forever series.

Also a preview of issue #51.

Look at how huge Wonder Man's arms are drawn. lol

Hey, is that Power Girl with Beta Ray Thor's hammer?

[Tony Stark]

Preview of the first issue of Aaron's Avengers Forever series.

Also a preview of issue #51.

Really looking forward to both issues. Thanks for sharing.

[K7P5V]

Yes, the new costumes definitly were another foccus of controversy (or not) for the Crossing. I liked Wanda's and Pietro's, didn't care much for the others. Hawkeye's was a generic archer's costume that had nothing to do with Hawkeye's traditional look. Widow's and Crystal's were meh. Didn't love them, didn't hate them. And Thor... Ah, Thor, the king of spikes. I don't know if I should be thankful or not that this costume only really got in use several months after the Crossing, when the Avengers books were already running towards Onslaught and Heroes Reborn. Most of the time he was merely barechested. A few months later they also revamped Hercules's look (much and long in need, I might add). For me, this revamp falls in with Crystal's and the Widow's. Not terrible, but not great. I prefered the revamp in look he recieved in Ostrander and Ferry's H4H.

Peace

Almost anything would look good on Herc, and that H4H outfit was pretty nifty (IMHO):

[ARkadelphia]

The Crossing > > > Aaron's run.

Oh damn! It’s funny cuz it’s true.

[ARkadelphia]

Would you recommend it in that case?

Get it cheap and think of it as an alternate reality story, and you shall ever be entertained