Savage Avengers #1 Review: A Dark and Gritty Drag

Marvel's Savage Avengers #1 by writer Gerry Duggan and artist Mike Deodato brings Conan further into the Marvel Universe. Following the events of Avengers: No Road Home, Conan finds himself lost in the Savage Land, a region that is about as close to the Hyborian Age as he's going to find in the Marvel 616. When a murderous cult in the area draws the attention of some other heroes, Conan soon finds himself making frenemies with other major Marvel characters. The results are something like mixing together two different action figure toy lines, but the tone makes it feel like whoever is doing that mixing is a bit too old to be playing this seriously with toys.

There's an easy litmus test for how well you'll enjoy Savage Avengers #1. Conan's first meeting with Wolverine goes something like this: Conan, fighting Hand ninjas, puts a sword in Wolverine's skull. He's startled and speaks his typical oath, "Crom!" Wolverine responds by saying, "%#@$ Crom, and %#@$ you" and the two begin swinging at each other with sharp objects.

If your reaction to that scene description is, "That sounds juvenile and dumb," that's probably how you'll feel about the issue as a whole. If your reaction is something more akin to, "Oh man, badass!" then you may find something to enjoy here.

Savage Avengers takes itself a bit too seriously for its own good. It's dealing with a barbarian warrior lost in a realm where dinosaurs still exist and a cult has hired a clan of mystical ninja to help them try to summon an elder god from outer space by murdering opera singers. This is silly material, and that's fine, but the issue fails to find the joy in it. It's all gritted teeth and machismo.

Deodato's artwork fits that tone, and there are some impressive pages here, including a beautiful splash of Conan battling ninjas that serves as the Barbarian's introduction to the reader. Deodato employs more hash lines than he usually does in the issue, adding to Conan and Wolverine's battle-hardened looks. His figures are also less rendered, flatter than they have been in recent issues of his work. This may be in part due to how Frank Martin colors Deodato's work, though some of the flesh colors are so soft that they make the characters appear almost doll-like.

Duggan seems to be taking his time with how he paces this series. The first issue gives us Conan with Wolverine and also introduces Doctor Voodoo in a "B" plot. It feels like we're heading in the direction of "it's going to take six issues just to get the team together," and that feels like a bit much. Part of the appeal of this series is seeing these characters — particularly Conan — interact with each other. We've done grim and gritty Avengers before, and this issue fails to offer a new take on that formula.

If the idea of a more violent, R-rated Avengers team still appeals to you on its face, then you may be willing to deal with this issue's decompression and find more to love in Conan and Wolverine swinging bladed weapons at each other. If nothing else, it's a good-looking comic book, if a bit too dark. And yet, it feels like there's not enough here to celebrate. It's a familiar concept with a familiar plot that doesn't do much to capitalize on its most novel feature. It looks good, even if it is a bit too dark, but there's not much here in the way of substance for anyone else but the most hardboiled Marvel Comics fan.

Published by Marvel Comics

On May 1, 2019

Written by Gerry Duggan

Art by Mike Deodato

Colors by Frank Martin

Letters by VC's Travis Lanham