Avengers Standoff and Boruto: Naruto The Next Generation review

So the initial plan was to review Avengers : Standoff event. However, to my surprise, Shonen Jump has finally released the very first issue of Boruto: Naruto Next Generation. So I decided to review both of them at once. Hit the jump to see my thought on the first event since the Marvel reboot and the very first chapter of Boruto.

AVENGERS : STANDOFF

First off, lets start with Avengers : Standoff. I'll be honest, I've drop most of Marvel comic since Secret Wars. Avengers : Standoff was actually my jumping in point for this new universe. For that, I'll say you can easily jump into this event without any prior knowledge of the new universe.

Avengers : Standoff revolves around Pleasant Hill, a secret location leaked by Rick Jones that happened to be a secret supervillain prison run by SHIELD.Using a turned-sentient Cosmic Cube, Maria Hill brainwashed the captured supervillain into a model of good citizen. It all gone well except until one of them start to regain the lost memory and plan a coup.

In term of story, this is half of the Marvel event I hate. It brought back Zemo and de-age Steve Roger just in time for the release of Civil War. However, it stands out as event that didn't directly lead to another event which I really enjoy. It has a lot of tie-in but in my opinion, you just need to read the three main Avengers book (Avengers, Uncanny Avengers, and New Avengers), also Sam Wilson: Captain America. There is bunch of other tie-in but it is mainly inconsequential to the event (trust me, one of the Agent of SHIELD is just a recap of its previous issue).

The story started as a mystery that pull you right into it. I was expecting a double twist when the guy that we thought was a brainwashed Bucky not turned out to be Zemo, but actually Bucky been double brainwashed into him. But unfortunately they are keeping Bucky for a buddy cop adventure with Steve Roger and Falcon (just in time for Civil War).

That is actually one big problem with the event, it has big consequences like the fate of Maria Hill at the end of the event, and the big changes moving forward with New Avengers, but it simply an event build around to bring back Zemo and de-age Steve, nothing else. It doesn't deals with any big question or theme, well it does but you got the answer immediately, it's wrong.

On the topic of young Steve Roger, one thing that was really bothering me was when they telegraph an issue around whether Falcon need to give back his mantel of Captain America back to Steve. It wasn't clever and certainly the reader saw it for miles away the only reason all of it happen is so that the reader, "I knew Steve will be Cap again,". I'm not gonna even touch on the dumb heart to heart moment between Steve, Falcon and Bucky.

In term of the art, it is hard for me to say, as the tie-in maintains its regular artist. As far as the main book, the art wasn't that bad and it doesn't really take me out from enjoying the story.

There's nothing much to say about anything else. I mean, it is a pretty small scale event compared to Civil War 2 that's coming later this month. I guess they not trying to change anyone status quo (except for Steve Roger), as they had just rebooted the universe but then again the already had a universe wide event in less that a year the universe being rebooted. I hope it will not get complicated again too fast (actually it already did).

In the end, I gave Avenger:Standoff a 3.0 out 5.0. It is a decent event and nothing really stand out of it in comparison to last two years Infinity or even Times Runs Out. I hope they will sold me on the upcoming Civil War 2.

BORUTO : NARUTO THE NEXT GENERATION

I was browsing through the manga that I followed when I saw Boruto is already out. So there's no way I will just not read the continuation of Naruto and to see whether it can beat its predecessor. From this first chapter, I would say I don't know.

Let me start off with the opening of the chapter. It is a foreshadow of the future and Boruto would at least be Naruto's age in Shippuden and from the look of it, there is a lot of thing has happened. So my question is, can the manga run long enough to reach the future ? As you might be familiar with Bakuman, all manga will be discussed whether it will be cancel or not every few months. By doing a foreshadow at the very beginning means that no matter what you'll reach that future in the end or it will be super disappointing. That is actually a very bold move for a manga.

In term of timeline, I'm not sure where this is set (before or after Boruto the movie), my bet is before because this is Boruto's first meeting with Sasuke, though Sarada already had a somewhat sexier updated outfit. The first chapter mostly deals with the straining relationship of Boruto and his father and also the return of Sasuke.  There is a hint of an enemy, not the main villain shown in the foreshadow and also does  the world still need ninja now that it is peace as well ass tradition vs innovation.

In term of art, it is not handled by Masashi but rather his former assistant. I would say sometimes it tries to maintain the feeling of the original, sometimes it diverge from that, and sometimes it just doesn't work. I have a feeling the artist is not that good of drawing woman as Sarada and Hinata looks odd at times.

Is it a good jumping in point ? I would say yes, Naruto is mainstream enough that you would know bits and pieces of it to get familiar with story. It might go deep in the future chapter but for this first one, it tries to create a story by not bring up what happen in the past, similar to Star Wars Episode 7. However, if you have read all the manga chapter (including the one-shot series released post chapter 700), you might have a better insight of each character especially Mitsuki.

Overall, it is a promising first chapter with hopefully better things to come. In the end I gave the chapter a 3.0 out 5.0.  A good start off point for this manga, and I hope it didn't suffer like Korra where it sticks to its older material too much and end up hurt the stories.

So what do you think of Avenger:Standoff and Boruto: Naruto The Next Generation ? Sound off your thought in the comment section. Stay tuned for more review as Summer Movie season has finally kicked off by following and liking Comikrew Studio right here or on Facebook. Be sure to subscribe to my comic at Tapastic (like and share if you enjoy them) and finally follow me and hit me up on Twitter.