Avengers: No Surrender

Avengers (2016) (Collected Editions)

by Mark Waid, Al Ewing, Jim Zub

The Earth has been STOLEN! The sky burns while mysterious cosmic objects crash down from above, wreaking havoc across the world - and the Avengers are the last line of defense between Earth and the mysterious forces threatening to tear it apart. It's time to ASSEMBLE almost everyone who has ever been an Avenger! All of the Avengers you know and love come together to face threats beyond any they've faced before - including the Black Order and the Lethal Legion. These two teams of powerful villains bent on destroying each other have arrived on Earth, and they don't care who gets caught in the crossfire. And when the mysterious Challenger faces off against the Grandmaster, can the Earth survive the destruction they unleash? The Avengers are engaged in a game of cosmic proportions, but they don't know the rules...and not everyone will survive! Plus: Who is Voyager? Valerie Vector, the forgotten founding Avenger, is revealed. And fan-favorite Avenger, Hulk, returns to the fold as the stakes in the battle for Earth become clear! Tension is high and peril is imminent, but there's no option to surrender for the relentless Avengers!

COLLECTING: AVENGERS 675-690

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics, Science Fiction

352 pages, Hardcover

First published May 24, 2018

About the author

Mark Waid is an American comic book writer widely known for shaping modern superhero storytelling through influential runs on major characters at both DC Comics and Marvel Comics. Raised in Alabama, he developed an early fascination with comic books, particularly classic stories featuring the Legion of Super-Heroes, whose imaginative scope and sense of legacy would later inform his own writing. He first entered the comics industry during the mid 1980s as an editor and writer for the fan magazine Amazing Heroes, before publishing his first professional comic story in Action Comics. Soon afterward he joined DC Comics as an editor, contributing to numerous titles and helping shape projects across the company. After leaving editorial work to focus on writing, Waid gained widespread recognition with his long run on The Flash, where he expanded the mythology of the character and co-created the youthful speedster Impulse. His reputation grew further with the celebrated graphic novel Kingdom Come, created with artist Alex Ross, which imagined a future DC Universe shaped by generational conflict among superheroes. Over the years he has written many prominent series, including Captain America, Fantastic Four, Daredevil, and Superman: Birthright, bringing a balance of optimism, character depth, and respect for comic book history to each project. Waid has also collaborated with notable artists and writers on major ensemble titles such as Justice League and Avengers, while contributing ideas that helped clarify complex continuity within shared superhero universes. Beyond mainstream superhero work, he has supported creator owned projects and experimental publishing models, including the acclaimed series Irredeemable and Incorruptible, which explored moral ambiguity within the superhero genre. He later took on editorial leadership roles at Boom Studios, guiding creative direction while continuing to write extensively. In subsequent years he expanded his involvement in publishing and digital storytelling, helping launch online comics initiatives and advocating for new distribution methods for creators. His work has earned numerous industry awards, including Eisner and Harvey honors, reflecting both critical acclaim and enduring popularity among readers. Throughout his career Waid has remained a passionate student of comic book history, drawing on decades of storytelling tradition while continually encouraging innovation within the medium. His influence extends across generations of readers and creators, and his stories continue to shape the evolving language of superhero comics around the world today through enduring characters imaginative narratives and thoughtful reinventions of familiar myths within popular culture and modern graphic storytelling traditions.

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the Marvel Legacy vehicle for the Avengers as the disparate teams are all brought together in parts to battle a cosmic threat.. blah blah blah. Without a sole steer for the Avengers the stories are getting too predictable and with little cohesion. Imagine this was being published weekly - so people were out there having to buy an Avenger book every week to keep up, and for this! Yes, major world changing things all occurred, but they were all heavily signposted. Meh. 5 out of 12 meh-ish Two Star read.

2019 read

[Sam Quixote · Rating 1 out of 5]

Two Elders of the Universe - the Grandmaster and the Challenger - decide to play a game against one another. Their board: Earth. Their pieces: Marvel characters. So, basically Contest of Champions.

Avengers: No Surrender is the crappiest Marvel book I’ve read in some time. It’s 16 (count it!) issues of the most inane, unimaginative drivel ever. Characters arbitrarily thumping one another, with zero consequences and zero stakes, for an obnoxiously overlong 16 issues. It doesn’t even develop over all that time, it’s just the same rubbish over and over until the end. God. Awful!

A new character is introduced, Voyager, whom everyone pretends is an old dear friend but, unsurprisingly to anyone reading, turns out to be not quite who she claims. The other, even more boringer subplot is Jarvis in the hospital - and he might not make it! I’m on the edge of my… zzz…

The hack writing continues when a certain character who “died” in Civil War II is resurrected (wow who saw that coming oh right everyone) and for no reason other than to give this book something of note happening.

If you like Contest of Champions/comics where characters mindlessly hit each other and nothing else happens, you’re gonna jizz yourself into oblivion with this one. I hate that kinda garbage, I think it’s the worst aspect of superhero comics, so I thought Avengers: No Surrender was No Damn Good. The quality of Marvel’s output remains firmly in the shitter.

[Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Avengers No Surrender more or less lives up to the hype, as a solid epic cosmic storyline which makes for a fun read in the classic Marvel sense... Luckily, it's no sprawling crossover but a good ol' fashioned graphic novel with a beginning, middle, and end. The earth is in danger (those pesky Elders of the Universe to be specific), the Avengers have to give it their all to save the day, you get it. Mark Waid and company are fine writers as always.

One criticism though is that despite the cover, Cap and Spidey are not star characters. That's fine though--plenty of others go around. There's girl Thor and (spoiler alert) Hulk for the main recognizable ones, Rogue too, while Lightening leads the lesser known of the heroes. If anything, the lesser known ones make for better characterization. Oh, and there's the mysterious Voyager.

Also, there is the issue of continunity. If you haven't been up on Marvel lately you may not know every Avenger, and how there's a new Wasp etc. You'll just have to jump right in.

Art, of course, is excellent. Fine storytelling and very dynamic as always.

Still, if there's any Marvel book I'd suggest reading just for a big giant story, this particular volume gives you your money's worth.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

The overall plot is a rehash of the various Contest of Champions comics but for the most part it's done well and is a lot of fun. Each issue tends to focus on a single Avenger, which is good because there are a LOT of Avengers in this. There's definitely some bright spots (It was great seeing the return of the Living Lightning although I don't know why they kept that ridiculous costume.
For a gay man, he has the worst fashion sense in comics. Also, the Hulk's return.) along with some dumb ones Falcon taking over Challenger's mind because he just happens to be descended from birds was especially asinine. And I can't believe Mark Waid did the same thing to Quiksilver that he did to Wally West. Did he think comics fans wouldn't remember? We remember EVERYTHING. It was a very good ending to the current Avengers era, giving Jason Aaron a fresh start with his Jurassic Avengers.

I was surprised Marvel trusted a big Avengers event in the hands of three young guns in Pepe Larraz, Kim Jacinto, and Paco Medino, but they handled the art well. The book looks great.

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I would have enjoyed this more if I was reading all the current Avenger titles prior to this but...that's a lot, so screw that.

No Surrender is a basic plot. The gamemaster has taken the world. Then you come to realize there's two game masters. Old faces pop up, every single person that was a avenger at one time is probably in here, and the return of the hulk incoming. This is a gigantic event that eventually leads to Avengers returning to a single team title.

Good: I enjoyed a lot of the art, I thought it was all good. A lot of the issues have individual voices of a certain character and it works well. I thought a lot of the interactions were pretty fun too. The hulk's return is great and he's so vicious that it's pure fun.

Bad: The plot itself is silly and dumb. I thought the villains weren't really interesting and the whole gamemaster twist was meh. The middle has some heavy pacing issues.

Overall, this was a fun little series worth checking out just to set up the new Avenger's title by Aaron. But is it amazing? No. Hulk is pretty boss though.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

There wasn't much to this one, plot-wise, but it was an action-packed romp with some nice fake-outs and character moments. It actually reminded me of the original, 1980s 'Secret Wars', which I have a lot of affection for.

It was nice seeing Living Lightning (or just 'Lightning' as he now calls himself) getting some time in the spotlight after many years in comicbook Limbo.

[ScottIsANerd (GrilledCheeseSamurai) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfectly paced for a 'read in one sitting' event and the 16 issues that this book is comprised of go down nice and quick.

It was a fun book. A great springboard for launching us into a new era of The Avengers. I was never blown away by a crazy reveal, I never worried about life-shattering events about to take place, however, I was never bored with the story either, and with each turn of the page, I was definitely curious to see what was going to happen next.

A solid 3.5 stars that I am rounding up to 4.

[Malum · Rating 1 out of 5]

SPOILERS AHEAD. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

"Hey, Marvel Comics is tired of everyone hating them and having to cancel comics after five issues so they are doing a "DC Rebirth" style reboot. Let's check it out!"

ONE DAY LATER

"... *sigh* Well, shit."

OK, so let's delve into this mess shall we? First, the thing I liked:

The Hulk! I wasn't even going to read this until I found out that Bruce Banner was coming back. And it was really great, too! His parts were by far the best of this entire comic. He only appears in a handful of the issues, but I loved every second he was "on screen". Well, got that out of the way. Now for the stuff I didn't like:

The feel: So I have been reading a lot of '90s DC events lately, and this reminded me a whole lot of those. That is not a compliment. This was a clustertruck of a story overstuffed with WAY too many heroes-most of which I either didn't know or didn't care about in the least-and WAY too many scenes of "Lets go battle here. Ok now lets go battle over here. Ok, now lets save this person here. Ok, now...". The heroes were just running from one giant set piece to the next and it all felt pretty meaningless.

The new characters: Challenger and Voyager? Really? So we are naming our characters after rocket ships now? Also, the hype leading up to this comic was "Who is Voyager? Was she really a forgotten Avenger?". Well, it turns out it doesn't really matter. She shows up, acts as a taxi for the heroes for a while, then reveals her true self in one of the most boring and predictable "surprise reveals" of the year. She was in so little of this story that she didn't develop enough of a personality for you to mildly care at all.

The "U.S.S. Make Shit Up" syndrome: There is a song by Voltaire called "The U.S.S. Make Shit Up" that pokes fun at how Star Trek characters solve their problems by just making things up. "If we screw the doohickey into the deelobber and hit it with enough gravitonital radiational bytes, then we can win!"
Comics do it all the time, and this book suffers from it a lot. I still really can't tell you how they ended up winning. They had to spin a thing around while shooting lightning somewhere else and yada yada yada.
The worst offender here, however, was with Falcon. It is a moment so bad that it's almost good (but in a really bad way). They are trying to fight the bad guy-who is a god and one of the first beings to ever being-and someone suggests Falcon use his powers of bird mind-fuckery on him. "But that only works on birds!" he cries. "Well, maybe he evolved from a bird or something. I dunno." Is basically the response. So he tries it...

AND IT WORKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!







I literally almost threw the comic down at this moment in disgust. One of the first beings to exist somehow evolved from a bird a bajillion years ago and Falcon's powers therefore work on him. HO. LEY. CRAP. BALLS.

The "A speedster needs to go so fast they disappear into another dimension" trope: Yup, they pulled a DC.

"Look at me, I'm diverse!": Now, let me preface this by saying that I don't mind diversity in comics at all. I liked female Thor and Spider Gwen and I'll read about the adventures of gay characters all day long. As long as you tell a good story, you can diversify till the cows come home. Marvel, however, has a track record of not knowing how to be diverse other than to just shove it in your face and make it the plot of entire books, while killing your favorite characters and making them completely different just because they are *gasp* white guys. The reason they have to reboot and make terrible comics like this one is to make up for making all of the terrible comics they have been making.

It's not so bad here, but there is a moment in the beginning where Lightning might as well turn and look at the comic reader and say "I'm gay. Hey, you out there, did you hear me? I am totally gay. In fact, I am gay for this guy standing right here beside me. *taps on comic page* Can you hear me out there? I'm totally gay!!! Don't worry about it, I'll remind you later!". I think a gay character should just happen to be gay rather than being gay be his one and only character trait *cough*cancelled iceman comic*cough*.

Beating the Grandmaster: They beat the Grandmaster by playing a game with him and betting something he doesn't want to lose, thus making him fold. Silver Surfer beat him the EXACT same way in his own comic not that long ago. So basically this always works on the Grandmaster. I guess we can pack it up and go home whenever he shows up again (at least until we get some original plots).

The epilogue: So, at the end, they finally do what this comic was all about in the first place and start actually changing things. Teams split up and are formed. Characters change their names. You get the gist. Did we really need this mess just to do this? Couldn't we have just started with this instead of ending with it?

Oh yeah, and by the way-what is the bad guy doing at the end of the comic? Floating in space and-I shit you not-READING A MARVEL COMIC. He even says something like "I want to see what happens next!". Marvel is REALLY far up its own ass, isn't it? They should have had him reading a DC comic. That would have been funny.

I am sure there is a lot more to talk about, but thinking about this comic for this amount of time is giving me diarrhea.

So, am I mad about this? Not at all. Marvel finally started listening to its readers (and piss poor sales) and have decided to do something about it. Much like a naughty child, they are doing their best to be good but just aren't quite there yet. They are trying, though, and I am willing to give them that chance.

[Tiag⊗ the Mutant · Rating 3 out of 5]

No Surrender marks the end of the All-New generation of Avengers, which had some of the worst teams ever (looking at you U.S.Avengers), and is yet another generic crossover event that came out forced, repetitive and overly long, hell, this thing ran for SIXTEEN issues, everything felt like an excuse to make these new characters shine at all costs, but you know what, not once was I bored going through these pages, I had a lot of fun reading it, and the art was a lot of fun.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chalk No Surrender up as a successful Marvel event. Even though it includes dozens of heroes and villains, it's easy to keep track of who's who and who matters. Even though it involves cosmic players, it consistently feels grounded. Even though it features an elaborate game, it's not overly complex or hard to follow. In other words, it's just right.

The plot: Gamemaster and a challenger have decided to use Earth and the Avengers as pieces in a cosmic battle for "pyramoids." Each player introduces a villainous team to capture the pyramoids; the Avengers are really just obstacles. Thus, the stakes are set: stop the game, save the world. The trio of writers smartly take half the heroes off the table in the first few issues, and then allow a single hero or villain to narrate each issue, focusing the narrative and giving the numerous remaining characters some depth.

No Surrender never quite feels monumental - it's just a game after all. You sense that someone's going to hit the reset button before too long. But there are clever moments (ending with a card game after beginning with a card game was a nice callback) and I appreciated that the authors gave some unsung characters a moment in the spotlight. The art is terrific throughout, very crisp and creative. Really, No Surrender is just pure, quality Marvel comic.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

No Surrender marks the end of the Waid Avengers, Ewing's USAvengers, and the long-running Unity-squad Avengers. And, it does so it style.

The story is not actually about the dissolution of those teams (though we eventually get there), but rather a galactic problem, when the Earth is kidnapped. As is common for the current era of writing, that galactic story is considerably decompressed. The core storyline takes somewhere around 10 issues, between prelude and aftereffects. But the authors manage to keep it lively and interesting. Unlike the punch-fests that fill so many of these big mega-events, this one contains individual issues with good beginnings and ends, which helps to keep the story moving.

However, the thing that really keeps this mega-event going is its strong focus on character. Each individual is narrated by a specific Avenger (or in a few cases by a villain). This offers some insights into their character, but moreso it maintains the individual focuses of the issues. Meanwhile interesting character moments also pepper the narrative. (I even came to love the retcon gal of 1963, Voyager, though it took me until about the 13th issue.)

In other words, this volume kind of what you'd hope for when you mix together character-focused Mark Waid with cosmic-focused Al Ewing (and Jim Zub, whose strengths I'm less familiar with). It's a solid story that uses their strengths to good advantage.

If Marvel could manage this quality of plotting on their big crossovers, they'd save their dying comic model, but for now I'm just happy to see this team return in Avengers: No Road Home.

[Subham · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a great read!

This is my third time reading it in as many years like when the single issues came out and now and it holds up really good!

It brings together the 3 teams of Avengers and shows what happens when the earth and its heroes are frozen/incapacitated and so B-List level Avengers have to step up and its awesome-ly done. Challenger and Grandmaster have a final match with no holds barred with Earth as the battleground and their teams being: Lethal Legion and the black order and so the Avengers have to face their ultimate battle and foes and its amazingly done!

This is no holds barred and i like the way they write it with focusing on multiple POVs like Quicksilver and Human Torch gets some amazing tributes and the way they expand on the origins of the villains was awesome too and finally a great tribute to history of the Avengers with the new character Voyager and I like the double cross and its really well done and enhances the story with her redemption!

The final fight with the Challenger who kinda looks like red paint Darkseid is nothing special but I like the way the team comes together to save existence itself and its well.. epic. In a way this ends the era of multiple Avengers team and spins off into Avengers by Aaron well and its a tribute to the history of the earths greatest team and all that. It gives each character their moment and HULK omg the immortal monster here is just so well done and his fight with Wonder man is one for the ages. Al ewing wrote him here first and had a great run in retrospect!

Its one of those feel good stories that gives you everything you want from the team: high stakes, cosmic action, awesome cool members and so many memories of this great team in action and a tribute to their history and what not! A MUST READ!

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man, this one was a long time coming. I remember this series ended right when I started really reading comics. Crazy tho think that even tho I didn’t read it, it influenced some of the books I started reading. This is where Immortal Hulk first shows up and I started pulling Immortal Hulk. I also started reading the sequel, Avengers No Road Home because I heard how good this supposedly was. I ended up having a blast with this. Out of all the Avengers and Champions I’ve been reading by Waid/Zub, this has been the best book. The Grandmaster and the Challenger, Elders of the universe, sit down for a rousing game where earth is the game board. It has been shuttled from its normal orbit to who knows where. Grandmaster has his team which is the Black Order he brought back and the Challenger gathers up a random team of people he calls the Lethal Legion. The Avengers are left to be obstacles. What a crazy scheme. It is as dope watching the Avengers take on these teams while slowly figuring out what the hell was going on. All three artists do a helluva job as every page was gorgeous to look at. Loved how and when the Hulk showed up to wreck shop. The new mystery character Voyager was a nice touch as well as she brought some twists of her own. This makes me want to go back and reread Avengers No Road Home again to see how it hits after finally reading this.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Die Grundidee ist ziemlich abgefahren: Die Erde wird zum Schauplatz zweier kosmischer Spieler, die sie als "Spielfeld" aus ihrer Umlaufbahn nehmen und ihre gegnerischen Teams gegeneinander antreten lassen. Naturkatastrophen wie Erdbeben und Überschwemmungen sind die Folge und nichts scheint unseren schönen Planeten mehr retten zu können, nichts und niemand - außer, vielleicht, die Avengers?
Neben den eigentlichen "Spielfiguren" sind die Avengers als Hindernisse (man denke an Malefiz) gedacht, die das Einsammeln der Trophäen erschweren sollen. Allerdings lässt der Grandmaster nur eine beschränkte Anzahl unserer Helden zu, die anderen fallen in Stasis.
Mit von der Partie ist Voyager, die zu den Gründungsmitgliedern der Ur-Avengers zählte. Da reibt sich der Leser erst einmal die Augen und ruft: Was, das stimmt doch nicht!
In Zeiten eines Präsidenten, der von Fake News und alternativen Fakten spricht, ist das Remake des Covers des ersten Avengers-Hefts mit Voyager, der Heldin, die in Vergessenheit geriet, eine witzige Idee. Aber insgesamt tritt die Handlung in diesem Epos doch ziemlich auf der Stelle und ist eine stete Aneinanderreihung von Kämpfen mit wenig Abwechslung. Die Spannung resultiert weniger aus der Story (dabei ist Mark Waid einer meiner Lieblingsautoren), sondern mehr aus den Zeichnungen und dem Design der Seiten. Sie tragen dann auch im wesentlichen dazu bei, dass es den dritte Stern gibt.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

[Read as single issues]
The Earth has been stolen, and the majority of Earth's Mightiest Heroes have been frozen in time and unable to mount a rescue. To make matters worse, the Black Order have been resurrected and are waging war with a new Lethal Legion. For the remaining Avengers, the choice is simple - no retreat, no surrender!

16 issues is an epic undertaking for an 'event' comic, but No Surrender manages to keep the momentum up for all of it. The story moves briskly, but everything is explained and explored as we continue through. Each issue is told from a different Avenger's perspective which keeps things fresh and new, while remaining very cohesive (especially since there are three writers on this one). The mystery of Voyager is a good backbone for the story, and despite the huge amount of characters going into the story, it never feels crowded or too focused on one or another. This is a quintessential Avengers story - you don't need a lot of background on anyone involved, literally anyone can pick this up and run with it, and it's super fun. Mark Waid, Jim Zub, and Al Ewing do a superb job juggling all of the moving parts.

The art is also phenomenal. Paco Medina, Pepe Larraz, and Kim Jacinto aren't exactly blockbuster names, but this story will definitely shift them into that category. Larraz especially, since he draws the most of the series, and his flexible style constantly adapts to the demands of the story.

No Surrender is just a breath of fresh air. It's fun from cover to cover, with rock solid story telling, and beautiful art on every page. Hats off to everyone involved. I hope the hardcover includes the Assembly pages that go into detail about the creative process too, because those were super interesting in the single issues.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I was able to give a 2 1/2 star rating I would. There were a lot of pros and cons to Marvel's first weekly series that went 16 issues long.
The pros to me would be the quick reuniting of Wonder Man and the Beast albeit under stressful terms for the Avengers in part 6, a nice chat between Jarvis and Bruce Banner in part 13, and a pretty decent showing for a lot of B-list Avengers once most of the A list ones were taken off the board early. I do have to give credit to the writers with the ability to put this huge series out weekly and the artists as well for that matter. The covers by Mark Brooks were actually well thought out and really good and to me the highlight of the whole series. I especially loved the cover of issue #2 that looks like a comic fan's basement with the comics and comic long boxes and such on the floor.
The cons to me though were glaring. For starters, the pro above could also be a con in that the A list team was taken out early and the overall reliance on the B and even C list heroes wasn't always what it was cracked up to be. The way the Beast was drawn in chapter 9 looked to me more like a blue Grinch than Hank McCoy and I wasn't thrilled with that look. I never did like Grant Morrison's "Beauty and The Beast" feral look that was given to Hank many years back in X-men and my wish was to bring back his old look. So art was very spotty in this series. The new character Voyager is quite the deux ex machina of the series and though I admire the concept she fell flat to me as an actual character.
The overall story reminded me a lot of Marvel's 1984 series Secret Wars if I had to compare it to any prior series. A noble effort, but spotty.

[Blindzider · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a weekly story that ran through all of the Avengers titles at the time. The plot is fairly simple, harkening back to one or two earlier Avengers stories but added a little twist. Naturally it involves lots of battles, perhaps even too many, but also focuses on a few characters, giving them their moment to "grow" and or shine. It's an enjoyable read, better than most crossovers. Spearheaded by Mark Waid, I'd say it falls into the majority of his work: slightly better than average, but nothing truly extraordinary.

The art is excellent throughout and surprisingly consistent despite being split between a couple artists. It has a darker color palette which is fine, although there were a few issues where the overall inks and color seemed too dark, making it hard to figure out what was going wrong.

This was co-written by a two other writers, and only in one instance did it seem there was a slight disconnect between the issues. Not an easy feat with the number of issues and number of writers.

Overall, an entertaining read in the vein of classic/early conflicts, that attempts to celebrate what is special about the Avengers.

[Alex E · Rating 2 out of 5]

All the Avengers - and I mean all of them, are assembled to try and take on this galactic threat to the Earth.

So first off, I love Mark Waid as a writer. I think he's one of the greats and his legacy is forever cemented as one of the more modern day cornerstones of comic book writing. No Surrender however... is not his best work. The plot reads like a videogame plot and the contrivance is a bit too hard to ignore. And outside of that, the "heavy hitters" are all held in stasis to allow the others to shine. This also felt very... contrived. The whole thing just feels like a rush job and not very thought out at all.

However, the upside is that the art in this book is great. There's three main artists I believe, Paco Medino, Pepe Larraz, and Kim Jacinto and their styles complimented each others very well. There really wasn't a drop in quality in terms of art like there sometimes is when you have more than one artist on a book - this looked solid the whole way through.

Overall, this could've been great - but kind of fell short of being good. In terms of events, it felt like it was lacking in substance as well as impact. I'd recommend this only to the completionists who like to read everything of Marvel or Avengers.

[Akshay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mark Waid has for me at least, been a bit of a blessing to the Avengers franchise as far as the comics go. I had all but lost interest in the prime Avengers book and many of the others - but then they streamlined a little and we got Waid writing the predecessor to this series which while it got mixed reactions, I found solid and I really liked the new iteration of the team.

After an alright start, this volume really picked up the pace and started to really find its groove I felt.
The characters, their dynamics, the interplay, the gravitas of things that made the challenges and problems "Avengers-worthy" and all... it was really a kind of return to form for an iconic title. Like Daredevil, Black Widow and more recently Captain America, this writer seems to have a knack for getting to the heart of Marvels characters and revitalising them (for me at least) without doing yet another reboot or some such.

What's more, as with any really good story - it's so much about the villains! We get the return of many we know, yet they're not exactly the same and circumstance is different. But there is also a new face and new stakes and new aspects to one of the main antagonists. And still somehow it's not all about the villains but about the heroes who save the day. Much respect to Waid for keeping the balance as much as he tried to do.

Great story, great art - I recommend to all fans of the Avengers and if you like this iteration and the inclusion of Rogue (who really shines) and many of the other characters as they face of against an apocalyptic danger that threatens all things... well you're in for a pretty fun ride!

[Oneirosophos · Rating 4 out of 5]

What begins a bit slow & tedious, grows to a real epic!!!

MUST read! The end of the subpar All-New is glorious and it made me really happy!

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun Avengers take after the mess that was Secret Empire.

[Bill Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

A state of the art corporate comic-book crossover designed to keep readers on the monthly treadmill.

It's the Jaws 4 of events.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this it was alot of fun. Cant wait to read immortal hulk.

[Alex Sarll]

I remember when Al Ewing was a private citizen writing his own unofficial, scabrous online companion piece to an epic, weekly, multi-writer superhero event. Now, he's part of the team scripting one. Over the same time period, I've...grown a beard, I guess? But I assure you, it's not envy that makes me less than wholly impressed with No Surrender. Indeed, the best bits are those setting up Al's current hit, The Immortal Hulk, or else wrapping up the stories of characters like Sunspot and Enigma from his New Avengers/USAvengers run. The problem is, he's not telling this story alone, and alongside him he has Mark Waid (generally a pretty good writer, but his recent Avengers stuff has been terrible) and Jim Zub (one of those writers who's just sort of inoffensively there). Both of whom are also wrapping up threads from their books, meaning we have to sit through scenes featuring the likes of Synapse, a character so astonishingly bland that I don't think I could care about anything she did even if she were advancing towards me with a cheese platter in one hand and a large spider in the other. Nonetheless, she's rivalled for lack of interest by the initial antagonists; feuding supervillain teams the Lethal Legion (no, me either – but to give you some idea, one of them is a Kree warrior called Captain Glah-Ree) and the Black Order, whom you may remember as the least memorable thing about the last two Avengers films. Not that they're the only reminder of Endgame, because one of the remarkable things about that film was how it took the most overworked structure for a superhero event comic (split into teams, recover the plot tokens) and made it work. A big part of that, of course, was the actors. To get the same effect in a comic, you'd need one of the rare breed of artists who can sell the characters as solidly on the page as a man called Chris can on the screen. Which is not impossible...but getting them to do 16 issues of a weekly comic is. Instead, the visuals here lean towards house style, even when the contributors include someone like Joe Bennett, who as Ewing's partner on Immortal Hulk is doing fabulous, characterful work. Meaning too much of this is just one damn thing after another, an interminable and sometimes indistinct slugfest. Apart from anything else, 16 issues is just too damn long; the last time I can remember Avengers doing that much on a single story, it was Kang Dynasty, which was a very different beast. For one thing, it was the capstone to a single writer's long Avengers run, with far fewer moving parts; more than that, though, it had much more variety to the pacing (I still sometimes get shivers remembering the prison camp issue). Whereas until the epilogue – one of the best issues here – No Surrender is mostly just bang, bang, bang. Then too, for all the problems with Kang as a character (the fiddly time paradoxes, the way that for saying his epithet is The Conqueror he mainly seems to get conquered), he does at least have a certain heft to him as a character, as against the big bads revealed here. Yes, it's the Elders of the Universe, and in particular the hoariest of all plot devices to set up a scrap – the Grandmaster, a supposed cosmic being that I've never seen being used as more than the embodiment of 'Let's you and him fight'. There are attempts here to give him a bit more depth; alas, even with the involvement of Ewing, who is the best Marvel have at substantiating the bonkers cosmic characters, it doesn't come off. Worse, to get there we have to go via a plot where all the Avengers remember as a founding Avenger a new character whom we know to be nothing of the sort. Yes, this plot was done before over at DC, with Triumph and the Justice League, but that's not a problem, especially when the faux-flashbacks include a lovely little nod to him. The problem is more that Marvel already has its own insert characters of a similar ilk; the Sentry, for one, but more recently, Avenger X. In an Avengers book. Written by Mark Waid. And it's surely too soon for the same writer to go back to the same well on the same title.

I don't want to give the impression this is an absolute disaster. Aside from the aforementioned scenes beginning and ending various Ewing books proper – which is to say, some of Marvel's best books of recent years – there are certainly some fine lines and nice character moments along the way, not least for D-lister Living Lightning, who I don't think was in any of the books feeding into No Surrender, and who hasn't crossed my mind in years, but in some ways is pretty much the lead here. The midway twist is carried off reasonably well, the scene inside Jarvis' brain makes no sense but is still strangely moving, and there's a fabulous moment where one team realise they could just do nothing and let the rival villains beat each other up, so turn the famous battlecry into "Avengers – observe!" But that's none of it quite enough to stop this from being a bit of an unwieldy slog.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Certainly not the greatest Avengers story ever written, but it’s darn close. This was a lot of fun. I almost gave up on it when the character Voyager was introduced. If this was going to be another awful retconned hero like Sentry or Cyclops & Havok’s other brother (seriously people, why do you think this a good idea when it just keeps blowing up in your face over and over again?), I’d rather just chuck it. But I decided to stick with, and they pulled it out. Sure it's no The Avengers: Celestial Madonna, The Avengers: The Kree-Skrull War, Avengers Forever, The Avengers: The Serpent Crown, or JLA/Avengers, but it’s pure Avengers fun.

[FrontalNerdaty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Avengers No Surrender was a decent tale highlighting a more, for lack of a better term, B list Avengers team. None of the more well known ‘big hitters’ are featured and in some ways the store is all the more better for it. Spending time with a team lead by Rogue (of the X-men) showed the reader what she’d learned in all her time as both an X-man and an Avenger. Characters such as Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye (Barton), Voodoo and the Immortal Hulk are given plenty of time to shine and work perfectly against the back group of a recently resurrected Black Order. The story features some interesting takes on time and space ‘science’ in ways only a Marvel title can. It’s not a story that’ll be thought of as an ‘instant classic’ but it’s one hell of a good ride!

[Justin Partridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Years ago…

…a DOOR opened.

They say Bruce Banner screamed for HOURS.

They say he wouldn’t stop.

He COULDN’T stop.”

And lo, there came a day. A day where there was another weekly series that actually was good and didn’t actively make me angry for reading it.

Obviously, I’m here for the Green Door of it all, but I had really forgotten how much I overall enjoyed this. It’s got a great mix of Avengers teams (remember OCCUPY AVENGERS?!), it looks fantastic, and it actually ends up throwing out some pretty nifty little narrative turns and character beats.

All in all, a nice big tee up for my nice big reread of maybe my favorite superhero thing of the last decade. ‘Nuff said.

[Gerry Sacco · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad comic overall, the art is very good, the story is fairly interesting, even though it’s a bit of a rehash from a few decades ago, but there really isn’t enough there to grab me, or keep me occupied.

Also, I hate the Hulk in this, like, a lot, a lot. I’m not a fan of him going to kill his friends, but even I could say ok to that, but his power level, this is why I hated World Breaker Hulk, it’s too much. He isn’t a god, he’s a mutated man. He’s too strong and it annoyed the crap out of me.

[Jonathan Roberts · Rating 3 out of 5]

From the super busy cover to the ending that spills over into a whole issue closing all the stories off this book was an over the top glut of heroes, many of them not your main Avengers heroes. While it had some shining moments it was over all meh for me.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun update on a well-trod trope.