Avengers: World Tour

Fans needing a little reassurance after viewing the movie “Avengers: Endgame” during the past week may want to pick up a recent comic book about “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.”

But “The Avengers: World Tour” may not be that storyline.

There’s nothing wrong with the recently released trade paperback collection of the latest reiteration of the Marvel superhero team. It actually does a lot of things right.

Some of the things that “World Tour” does right include the reconstituted Avengers fighting Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner; the selection of Black Panther to chairman of the team; the introduction of the Panther’s Agents of Wakanda to keep him abreast of situations worldwide, agents such as Ka-Zar of the Savage Land; Thor and She-Hulk sparking a romantic relationship; the return of Agent Phil Coulson; the historical perspective of Ghost Rider, including a prehistoric Ghost Rider that travels not by car or motorcycle but mastodon.

Storytelling is well done as to be expected by writer Jason Aaron. Art is fun by various artists.

But it doesn’t feel much like an Avengers story.

The first collection, “The Final Host,” emphasized the return of the big three to the Avengers: Captain America, Iron Man, Thor. They barely make a ripple here.

Actually, the Avengers are lost in a sea of teams in “World Tour” – figuratively and literally. There’s Namor’s underwater Defenders of the Deep, the Russian superteam of Winter Guard, the Squadron Supreme of America, the international super summit, the Agents of Wakanda.

“World Tour” is complex plotting but characters get lost in these large casts of super teams. And just for good measure, Wolverine, Gen. Thunderbolt Ross, Odin and Blade make appearances. That’s a whole lot of characters for six issues.

So, if you need a good, old-fashioned Avengers fix, check out the first story arc, “The Final Host,” for plenty of Cap, Thor and Iron Man, along with the newer Avengers battling cosmic Celestials. But if you want something completely different, go on a “World Tour.”