Hickman continues to maintain an amazing mastery over several complex stories at once - yet he never loses the reader (well, as long as you're paying attention). Great stuff! Read Full Review

Having illustrated several pages of issue #24, Salvador Larroca steps in for a full issue this month. Larroca delivers strong storytelling but weak figure work, leaving the colorist to fill in too much of the depth and detail on his characters. My main concern with this series and its sister books going forward is that any sense of visual cohesiveness will be lost thanks to the steady stream of rotating artists. It seems anyone who's anyone at Marvel will be drawing one of Hickman's Avengers books in the coming months. Read Full Review

Still as it may, the colorization by Frank Martin makes up for it in many regards, with his expert touch enhancing quite a few pages in terms of tone. With a very thorough approach to clear-cut contrasts and a nuanced approach to brightness and shading at times, the colors here are rather evocative, with the more mysterious aspects of the script being set very well against the almost sterile and cold environment of A.I.M. and S.H.I.E.L.D. It's nowhere near as brilliant as some of Frank Martin's previous work, but it is still quite fitting with the themes proposed in this issue, which makes the visuals look quite good thanks to his cooperation. With some rather inventive ideas and a good approach toward exploiting them, this issue provides quite a lot of interesting material for the future of the title. With a solid enough performance by Larroca and Martin, it also manage to look quite decent too. Read Full Review

After penciling as few pages in the last issue, Larroca takes the artistic reins for #25. He does a solid job of it for much of the book, through strong storytelling and page design. However, as is often the case, his artwork generally suffers from weak figural details and weird or inconsistent facial anatomy. Colorist Frank Martin does a good job of filling in much of the missing detail, but the artwork is overall very hit or miss. Despite some artistic missteps, Avengers #25 is a solid issue that promises to take this book in an interesting new direction. Read Full Review

The issue starts off with a great mystery, and while it isn't resolved at the end of the issue, it makes a lot more sense. A nice start to a new arc from all involved. Read Full Review

Jonathan Hickman continues to bend minds in his ongoing Avengers saga. Like minded readers will likely will be more than pleased with the result of the ensuing chaos. Read Full Review

Even if the art isnt what it used to be, Hickman comes through and knocks this issue out of the park. Avengers is still one of the best titles Marvel has to offer. With another piece of the story in the books, things are looking to get even more exciting. Read Full Review

With all this grand sci-fi epicness going on all around every book with Hickman's name on it, the writer manages to balance it all pretty well and deliver a story that one can't help but follow. Everything is so intricate and it spans over multiple decades and universes. It's all too big to be ignored, so everyone should be picking it up. If not for the fact that this is all really interesting to follow, we know that the OG Avengers are gearing up for a meeting with the current Avengers some time soon. And just like Hickman swerved us with the premise of this issue, he's probably going to continue to avoid predictable tropes and keep surprising us issue after issue. If 'Avengers' hasn't cemented itself onto your pull list yet, then you should really get your act together and throw it up on there right away. Read Full Review

Overall, we are left with an issue that has is full of great ideas, is well executed on both sides, but ultimately falls short of what it should be. The big hook of the issue are visitors from another universe, but that has been done so many times in the past that it doesn't feel special. What this issue does a good job of is establishing excitement for the future. When will the Avengers and the Illuminati come face to face? What role will The Auger and A.I.M. Explorers play in the future of the incursions throughout the multiverse? Who killed the dead Avenger? All of these questions will be answered in future issues, but I was more excited about what will happen than what was happening on the pages in front of me. Luckily, these ideas and the art were enough to elevate what would normally be a bland issue into an okay read, but it wasn't on par with the quality that I've come to expect from Jonathan Hickman. Read Full Review

It will be interesting to see where the story goes from here. As a regular buyer of the Avengers, I'm on board either way. Needless to say, I'm hoping to see an interesting story worthy of the reputation Hickman established during his run on Fantastic Four, and not a retread of a recent DC comics multi-title event. Read Full Review

Jonathan Hickman, as per usual, plays his cards close to the chest, seeding the mystery of the arc early in the cold open and then quickly establishing that something is very wrong with this new/old set of Avengers, yet never really giving us any information aside from a quick flashback to their world in a familiar peril. Read Full Review

Avengers #25 is a rather boring, but also a typical decompressed issue of the series. It is what we've come to expect from Hickman's Avengers series with its slow pace, lack of characterization, and issues being padded out. It's not awful, but it's not great either. The recommendation with this series is to always just read the series in paperback" no, in omnibus format. That's probably the only way to truly get the most out of a series like this. Read Full Review

Avengers #25 was not the best issue to kick off the next stage in Hickmans Avengers run. The story involving the past Avengers in the present felt too much like the story currently being told in All-New X-Men. I have faith that Hickman can turn this story into something that is his own, proven with the involvement of AIM and SHIELD in this issue, but it just did not feel as special as prior Hickman Avengers issues. Surprisingly, Salvador Larroca did prove to be the shining light of this issue, and that is coming from someone that strongly disliked his work on Iron Man. Read Full Review

The twist is fine, but the story around it needs a little more fire. I wasn't too keen about the inclusion of time-tossed Avengers as billed on the cover, in what might soon be the new house-style of bringing past heroes to their own present, but Hickman gives enough credence to the story to summon me back for more, especially after the writer assures his readership that things are starting to come together between his Avengers books. This issue is a calm before the storm sort of issue, promising action, adventure and mystery in issues of "Avengers" to come. Read Full Review

Aside from the tease regarding the fate of a certain Avenger above, Hickman is putting his personal spin on original teams being transplanted in the present. A murder mystery is afoot! Read Full Review

This was a bit slow to start, but once it got going, I enjoyed it more.

A labor to get through.

More Hickman made up science explanations that can be mind numbing. No real interesting characters and a blatant crime syndicate ripoff.