The Avengers have seen many members come and go over the years, and a lot of different lineups have held the team name. This latest lineup though is a bit different from any Avengers team we’ve ever seen.
“Savage Avengers #1” introduces a new team of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes that is a lot more… violent than any other team. The first issue is an origin story of sorts for the team, showing how they all, for lack of a better term, assemble.
The cover features this new team, consisting of Wolverine, Elektra, the Punisher, Doctor Voodoo, Venom and the returning Conan the Barbarian. Unfortunately, the team does not get fully assembled in this first issue but I am certainly excited to see this Avengers team come together.
As you probably could have guessed from the title, this comic is not for the faint of heart. None of these characters are strangers to bloodshed and neither are the mysterious villains we meet in this issue. This comic doesn’t waste any time getting to the gore.
The antagonists of this new story are a team consisting of the Hand, and evil Egyptian faction and some mysterious wizards. They have come together to try to summon an ancient god, and in order to so this, they need to offer a blood sacrifice (see above) consisting of the most talented, intelligent and strongest people they can find. They very casually talk about “filling the bowl” with their blood. I told you this comic was violent.
It doesn’t let up when we get to the heroes. We meet Conan the Barbarian, who has been stranded in the Savage Land for years after he helped the Avengers (a more traditional Avengers team) with a fight. We see the iconic hero in a battle with the Hand.
After Conan dispatches of most of his foes, he runs into another iconic hero in a moment that seems like it should immediately jump off of the page onto the big screen. Conan the Barbarian, an ancient warrior and legendary hero comes face to face with Wolverine.
The moment does not disappoint as the two duke it out in a fight that should also be seen on the big screen. The action scenes in the comic are fantastic and there are plenty of them. This is certainly a very action-packed comic.
The next character we meet is Doctor Voodoo who has apparently been hired to find someone who has been taken by the Hand. As it turns out, he falls into a trap and is taken to that aforementioned blood-filled “bowl.” Wolverine, fresh off his fight and makeup with Conan, comes to his friend’s rescue but things don’t go so well for him either.
As I said, the whole team doesn’t come together in this first issue, but we do get a glimpse of one more “Savage Avenger” in the end. The Hand talks about a plan to lure another warrior to sacrifice to their god. We then get a stunning shot of a man staring at a grave before it is revealed that the warrior they’re planning to get is none other than the Punisher.
Writer Gerry Duggan has assembled a very intriguing team of super violent heroes and put together a story that will be difficult to stop reading. Artist Mike Deodato Jr. provides perfectly dark and gritty art to accompany such an assembly of characters.
Overall, I very much enjoyed “Savage Avengers #1” and look forward to seeing the rest of this team come together.