Writer: Ed Brisson
Art Team: Jonas Scharf, Neeraj Menon, VCs Cory Petit
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: January 29, 2020

With Old Man Logan, Quill, and Hawkeye behind us, there was a hole in the Marvel release schedule for a new title set in the future Wastelands, and for a company never shy about new #1 issues, here comes Avengers of the Wastelands. Ed Brisson is back at the forefront of the writing duties here, and after handling the end of Old Man Logan so well, it’s a welcome sight. So let’s get right into this and see how Avengers of the Wasteland kicks off here.

The issue begins with an enjoyable cold opening, setting up a character previously thought to have perished in the events of the Dead Man Logan series, as well as a new threat to deal with, all occurring two years after we last saw events in this timeline. Then it’s off to our familiar heroes, Dani and Hulk Jr, who seem to have settled into their own version of a paradise after going through such hard times for so long.

Eventually, those events referenced at the beginning of our story cross paths with our heroes, who have now settled and made peace, as things begin to ramp up. Dwight, who is the guy with the Ant-Man tech who used to hang with Forge’s crew in the Dead Man Logan series, and previously thought dead, catches up with Dani and Hulk filling them in on what he’s encountered. He tells them that Dr. Doom is back and running rampant throughout the Wastelands, that he deeply regrets being able to do nothing to stop him, and wants to put together a team to end his uprising once and for all. After the initial standard heroes hesitation, a la Old Man Logan himself, Dani agrees something needs to be done, and the book begins to take focus.

Unfortunately, before anyone can really get any semblance of a plan together, Dani and the company are surprise attacked by Dr. Doom, leading to a scrambling of forces and a fight scene to close this issue. Dani goes full Thor-mode, along with Hulk smashing away, efficiently handling a lot of the forces presented to them. When Dani takes the fight to Dr. Doom himself its quickly revealed its nothing more than a Doom-Bot at this point; however it eventually leads to a pretty exciting cliffhanger that I look forward to seeing the answers to going forward.

The art throughout the issue is awe-inspiring. It has a slightly dirty/aged look to it, which for a type of apocalyptic future type story really does work well for the tone of things, but not entirely dour at the same time. For example, when Dani and Hulk are in the fields, taking care of the crops, the greens and colors really pop, bringing life to the Wastelands not previously seen, and giving it an optimistic feel for once.

I look forward to this team continuing onward with this title in the future, not to mention all their character designs, and the way they’re able to capture emotions is fantastic.

Overall, I’ve been a fan of a lot of the ‘Wasteland’s’ unfolding story Marvel’s been pumping out (Logan, then Hawkeye, and Quill) lately, and this title is no exception to that rule. Avengers of the Wasteland kicks things off here in one issue in precisely the right way by establishing a motive going forward, along with a solid intriguing villain and a cast of heroes it’s easy to get behind and support.

Final Thoughts:

I’ve been looking for the first Marvel Comics of 2020 that would catch my attention but be slightly off the beaten path at the same time, I don’t want to jinx things, but I may have found it.

8.8/10