This is a part of the Marvel Adventures/Marvel Universe lineup, but since the Marvel Adventures part was not on the cover, I decided not to put it in the title. Marvel Adventures is a way to see your favorite Marvel characters in a setting that is suitable for all ages. That’s all well and good, (Except that comics are supposed to be for everyone already) but they usually don’t seem to put that much effort into these. You’d be surprised at the “artwork” that goes into these comics. Still, for the most part, the Marvel Adventures are usually fun. Since Spiderman and the Avengers will be present…it should be exciting!

The first (out of 4) comics involves the Lizard. This is actually the first time that Spiderman runs into him in the series, or at least the first time that he finds out his true identity. Dr Connor’s family tells Spiderman not to hurt him and Spiderman looks for an antidote. We also have the Parker subplot where everyone mocks him and he looks really bad the whole time. It wasn’t a bad comic, but after reading about Spiderman back in his prime, you can tell that things have changed. Spiderman is a lot worse in this comic and I’ll go more into that later on. It’s a decent story and it’s fun. The art can use some help, but it could definitely be much worse!

The next comic involves The Avengers! Loki decides that the humans should pay and he frees the U Foes and The Wrecker. The Juggarnaut is also by his side, so Loki has definitely amassed a solid lineup of villains. With these villains at his side, Loki decides to attack the Avengers! The Avengers are pretty shocked about the school in the air that is about to crash and they get horrified when they realize that dozens of kids may have died. The villains quickly assure them that they made sure that the school was empty and then proceed to attack.

The Avengers are definitely holding their own, which is good. Ironman initially has some trouble with two of his opponents because they can turn into air and energy. Wolverine tangles with the Juggernaut….which is certainly interesting in itself! Spiderman doesn’t do too well and he’s quickly knocked around by the laser U Foe and one hit is enough to take him out of the fight. He’s not unconscious, but we don’t get to see him again until the end. Not the best appearance for our friendly neighborhood Spiderman! The ending is definitely a little cheesy, but at least Captain America can get to talk tough for a while.

The third comic deals with…The Lizard……again! Basically, he was feeling a little tired and he bangs into his cures/lizard drinks. See, since Dr. Connors is a very smart man, he keeps vials of green liquid in a cabinet. Half of them are cures that he needs to keep taking so that he stays human..and the other half are Lizard injections that turn him into the Lizard. Since they look identical, he grabs the wrong one and turns into the Lizard. It’s time for Spiderman to get involved and stop him once and for all!

Well, the comic plays out almost exactly the same as the first. I don’t know why they’d want to put both of these comics in the same collection, but it’s been done. No use dwelling on the repetition I suppose. Peter Parker looks a little bit better except for the parts where he fails at gym class. He does get to go to a debating club and things get interesting!

The final comic deals with the Avengers as they are getting slaughtered by living trees! It’s definitely intriguing since they are Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and all! Spiderman is quickly knocked for a loop because his spider sense doesn’t seem to work in the modern comics. Two ravens from Asgard appear and the Avengers quickly follow them into Asgard. It would appear that Malekith has slain all of the Asgardians and now rules in their place. Spiderman and Storm are going to have to save the day in this battle!

There is a twist and I can safely say that Malekith didn’t destroy them all. Aside from having us all roll our eyes at the thought of Malekith defeating Thor, Odin, Lady Sif, and Volstagg The Great, it would have been a terrible twist. The real one isn’t much better, but I suppose that it will have to do. Due to the unique twist, Storm and Spiderman are the most useful fighters in the comic. The Frost Giants do wipe the floor with the heroes for a while at first, but then they launch their counter strike!

One of the major complaints with this comic would be Spiderman’s portrayal. In the first comic, he gathers his nerve and asks one of his classmates out to a dance. So far so good right? The problem is that while talking with her, he had gotten nervous and said that he was in college. (An awful attempt to impress her, which failed utterly) So, realizing that he has been lying to her, she just left and Parker had to go to the dance alone…again. He basically asked for it that time. I also can’t sympathize with the fact that he wasn’t going to go and save people in Florida when the Lizard attacked. He only did once he didn’t have anyone for the dance. (So, maybe he just skipped it) So much for Spiderman being a hero!

Another problem is the fact that his Spider Sense seems broken. It will warn him about danger, but only once in a while. It’s like the Spider Sense only works when it feels like it. That’s definitely not very convenient for Spiderman. Another scene that was sad for him was when he tried to make a joke and told everyone that maybe Thor got lost in a cave. (During the final comic when the Asgardians were all gone) Everyone basically glared at him in unison and said that “Thor does Not get lost” Spiderman winced and realized that it was not the best joke to use. Cmon, Spiderman’s got more common sense than that right? Adding in the fact that Spiderman gets thrown around by D rank villains and trees that are alive and…he just doesn’t look good in this comic.

Spiderman appeared the most, but I may as well address some of the other characters. The Lizard was a decent villain and he was definitely tough. It was mostly at the expense of Spiderman’s spider sense, but a win by any other name is still a win right? Spiderman had to utilize a “tactical retreat” after being hit only once! The Avengers looked pretty good and there wasn’t really anything wrong with them. They didn’t seem to take Spiderman seriously, but I guess that I probably wouldn’t either at this point. Loki wasn’t that great, but villains usually aren’t in this series.

The art isn’t that good either. It’s not quite as bad as some of the other Marvel Adventures, but it could still use some work. It’s not up to par with any of the big Marvel/DC series that have been coming out and that’s a little sad. Can’t we get some of the All stars to help out with this series once in a while? It deserves respect! It deserved honor! It deserves…..something better than this! I’d give the art a B I suppose. The collection is pretty short since there are only 4 comics, so you’ll be forgetting the art soon anyway.

Overall, this is a decently fun comic collection. It’s essentially what you would expect from Marvel Adventures and it doesn’t pull any punches. That being said, it’s much better than the Infinity Gauntlet collection that I read a while back. That one just went a little too far with the jokes and comedy. This one actually didn’t have any big moments of comedy and was just the usual humor that you would find in any comic. They actually didn’t overly kidify it and that’s a good thing. It’s still family friendly, but without making sure to show you this over and over again. It makes for a good read and all Marvel fans should enjoy it if you like some lighthearted action. I officially recommend this product for comic readers!

Overall 7/10