Set up in the final issue of his Wasp miniseries earlier this year, Al Ewing is back with Janet Van Dyne in AVENGERS INC. #1 and is joined by Leonard Kirk on art, Alex Sinclair providing colors, and Cory Petit handling lettering.

PUBLISHER’S PITCH

ACTION! MYSTERY! ADVENTURE! Her name is Janet Van Dyne. She's a hero. She's a celebrity. She's hunting a killer. His name is Victor Shade. He's a villain. He's an enigma. He just got killed. And together, they're out to solve every mystery in the Marvel Universe...starting with their own. AL EWING and LEONARD KIRK bring you a whole new style of Avenging - from a whole new style of Avengers...

REVIEW

Things open up where Wasp #4 left off with Whirlwind’s death while inside his prison cell, who ends up being just one of six villains murdered almost simultaneously within a few cells of each other. Amidst the dead bodies and flippant comments made by the prison guard supervising the situation, Janet set up the thesis for the series by asking with a name like the Avengers, just who are the avenged? It’s a question that doesn’t get explored enough when a victim or group of victims aren’t completely innocent and I’ll be very intrigued to see if it continues to get further explored in this series.

The first half or so of the book plays out like a classic crime noir from the likes of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. Janet searches for answers to how six prisoners could be murdered without a clue, leading her to a meeting with Mayor Luke Cage who pushes her to take up the case in a more formal manner. However, due to the anti-masked superhero fervor still being strong, she’ll have to investigate the matter inconspicuously. Ewing’s dialogue during this scene is a great back and forth between the two characters, with Janet doubting herself and Luke giving her the motivation to do the job she knows she needs to do.

When Janet heads back to the morgue to gather further clues, the situation quickly grows dire as five of the dead villains begin to reanimate and to say they’re not happy to see Janet would be an understatement. They’re not entirely themselves and have no recollection of how they ended up on cadaver tables. Whirlwind’s body is the only one not to reanimate immediately. Though when he does we see he’s now going by Victor Shade, one of Vision’s aliases, and helps Janet subdue the others. Janet is bewildered at this development and is able to convince the prison’s warden to let her take Victor under her supervision, setting up this series’ new organization, Avengers Inc. The issue ends with a surprise reveal that I wasn’t expecting and almost wish it hadn’t been included so we could get a more classic whodunnit-style story.

Those who didn’t read Ewing’s Wasp miniseries might be a bit lost on Janet’s connection to Whirlwind and her interest in his death. I wouldn’t blame them as the issue doesn’t allude to it other than an editor’s note referencing the work. However, if it wasn’t apparent in that miniseries, it’s obvious here that Ewing has a soft spot for Janet Van Dyne. He continues his deeply introspective character writing, using what Janet views as inequitable treatment for the victims (because of their past) to highlight her unyielding commitment to justice for all — even if she needed some encouragement from Luke Cage.

I was expecting a visual style more akin to the character designs found in Daniel Acuna’s main cover art. However, Kirk utilizes heavy lines throughout the issue which didn’t match the crime noir tone of the book, but other than the tonal mismatch I thought the art was fine — nothing overly spectacular or unique. Sinclair employs a color palette that is heavily influenced by two specific hues: a blue tint permeates scenes inside the prison morgue, and a red/orange tint exists throughout scenes outside the morgue. Such consistent palettes without any real pops of color made the full book a bit of a bland visual experience.

What did stand out was Petit’s lettering work, which isn’t a shock as he’s one of the best letterers in the business. The story plays out in the past tense with Janet’s narration happening from the present day and Petit’s yellow letterbox for this text looks great and clearly stands on the page as it’s the only pop of color you’ll find.

FINAL VERDICT

The pacing can be slow, there isn’t a lot of excitement even with some action, and the issue asks more questions than it answers. I’m not going to doubt Ewing’s ability to craft a compelling story when all is said and done though I wouldn’t say this was my favorite debut. I hope he leans more into the noir genre as the story progresses as that’s something I haven’t seen him do. If you’re a fan of Ewing’s previous Wasp series or Ewing’s other Marvel work, I’d recommend giving the series a shot but I can’t totally see this type of story being for everyone.

RATING: 6/10