I have reread AVENGERS #1 and #2 more than I have reread any comic since I was 12. I purchased AVENGERS #2 two days ago and I can't keep my hands off of it. I flip through it constantly while watching TV or listening to music and stare at the amazing detail that George Perez has put into every panel of each page of this wonderful comic. To say the art is intricate is an insult. It contains so much renewable closure that I'm still seeing new things in the book after several readings. Some people consider Perez "too traditional" or "not experimental." I say hog-wash. Perez practically reinvented comic art 20 years ago and I dare say that he was the most imitated artist of the 1980's and is next to Jack Kirby one of the most imitated and influential comic book artists of all. He basically invented the style that others have made look common-place. But beyond all that, Perez is taking his style of art to new limits in the pages of AVENGERS. He is one of the few artist who enjoys drawing multiple characters and his delight is apparent in each panel. Perez jams as many characters as possible into every corner of AVENGERS. These characters aren't just ciphers or blurs either. If you look closely, you'll see that each character is detailed and individualistic. Further, since the story for AVENGERS 2 takes place in a Medieval setting, George Perez has designed a new costume for virtually every living Avenger (dozens of new designs)! This is quite a feat, and a heroic effort considering this is only a three-part storyline. I can't think of many comic book artists with George Perez' enthusiasm, energy and talent. If you want to see the best living superhero artist in the business at the peak of his powers pick up AVENGERS #2 today.

Comics aren't just art. There is a story too. Lucky for us George Perez' fabulous artwork is complemented by the script of possibly the best young writer in superhero fiction, Kurt Busiek. Busiek is also incredibly enthusiastic and talented. These two guys together are exploding with so much of both virtues that the book is exploding with vigor as well. Kurt has gone to the trouble of renaming each member of the Avengers with a Medieval name and he has made a seldom used villain, Morgan Le Fay, into a major player. Le Fay has obtained the reality warping Twilight Sword and captured the Scarlet Witch and used her probability-altering powers in tandem with the sword to remake the world into her Arthurian ideal. But some of the Avengers with the strongest spirit such as Thor, Hawkeye and Captain America do not fall for it and are trying to find a way to put things right.

Yes, this is another alternate reality tale. That is my only complaint with this issue. There have been so many darn alternate reality stories for the Avengers over the past few years that I cringe at the thought of another one, but Busiek and Perez are having so much fun with this that it is easy to forgive and trust that come next issue, things might not be quite what they seem. Hawkeye has a great line, "Aw no! Not another alternate reality!" this goes a long way towards taking the sting out of it. Indeed, the interaction between Hawkeye and Captain America is just the sort of thing that will please long-time fans and hook new comers. Busiek is already starting to do something that foreshadows a truly great run of AVENGERS. By using the plot device of having the Avengers with the strongest feelings about the team break free of Le Fay's magical spell, he has already begun to explore what the Avengers are and what it means to be an Avenger.

This is the stuff that makes superhero team books great to read, and if Kurt stays on this track he may end up producing the best AVENGERS tales ever. Considering that The AVENGERS have a long track record of offering the best superhero fiction, that is saying a lot!