The following originally ran in the Weekly Planet 8/29/18.
Just a few years ago, youthful fights to the death were all the rage. The Hunger Games was catching fire to best seller lists and box office records alike. Battle Royale is still seen as an undersung classic. These youthful dogfights were the hottest thing in entertainment. Marvel said, “Hey, I want in on that!” and they went in on that. And it was AWESOME!
The Pitch: Arcade–that madman assassin who kills people only through elaborate traps in secret warehouses, carnivals, and sometimes islands that he has built just to undo his targets–gathers some of the 616’s brightest for a good, old-fashioned fight to the death. Since these stories are always about young people, he gets only the brightest-eyed and bushiest-tailed. X-23. Young acolytes to Captain Britain and Deathlok. Some Runaways. Some of the Avengers Academy. And you better believe a whole mess of them are not making it out of there alive.
Avengers Arena is a scintillating eighteen issues. There is so much character and tension packed into every page. Reading it, you’re amazed at how well the creative team balances so many disparate elements and manages to find hearts and moments for all of these different characters. Writer Dennis Hopeless (WWE, Jean Grey) has the challenge of balancing those many plates and pulls it off with aplomb.
Hopeless is no stranger to writing teen teams in mortal danger. He held the reins on All-New X-Men for a long while and sent them on some of their most thrilling adventures. He turned the Jean Grey miniseries into one of my favorites in the last few years. He’s particularly adept at writing lively young folks that don’t sound like an old man is trying to give them timely dialogue. And he has a whole host of top notch artists on this book that keep the whole thing gorgeous, dynamic, and explosive.
This week, the entire AVENGERS ARENA collection is available. You can finally read all eighteen issues in slick trade paperback and it is in this writer’s humble opinion that you absolutely should.
Hopeless describes it as “the series he’s gotten death threats over for years.” While there is never an excuse to send such abuse, you absolutely understand why fans got so passionate after the events of AVENGERS ARENA. If this one doesn’t get a reaction out of you, I’m not convinced you have a pulse.
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