Writer Jason Aaron has had a remarkable run on “The Avengers.”

The team has picked up intriguing new members such as Blade and Ghost Rider while keeping the Big Three of Captain America, Iron Man and Thor. And he’s placed the team under the leadership of the Black Panther. 

He’s expanded the mythos of the Avengers to include a primordial team that formed a million years ago. He’s pulled in the Celestials as part of that expanded history for not only the Avengers but to explain why there are so many super-powered beings on Earth in the Marvel Universe.

But several of the storylines have also been disjointed. Regular readers of “The Avengers” may feel like they need to buy other titles to better understand the story. And it’s not always clear if those other titles even exist.

The “Enter the Phoenix” story arc is a mish-mash jumble of things happening, with little to no character development or even interaction other than a series of slugfests with each Avenger imbued with the cosmic Phoenix power to see who will be the new Phoenix.

Characters jump from one set piece to another then seem to return to the earlier situation with no real narrative explanation. People show up, they fight then disappear. There are too many characters with no character seeming to have any real personality to distinguish one from the other.

This is too bad. 

Again, Aaron is a talented writer. He’s done interesting things with the Avengers and he’s had milestone runs on other titles such as “Thor.”

The Phoenix story arc feels like it’s part of a larger storyline but one that is not easily available or readily apparent to readers picking up this book that collects “Avengers” issues 39-45.

Phoenix is worthy of an epic. The Phoenix is a character deserving of the full attention of a team as mighty as the Avengers. But the concept deserved a more cohesive plot or more direction where readers should turn to make better sense of the story after investing in this collection.