Sunday Trade: Marvel Adventures The Avengers

Marvel Adventures the Avengers: Vol. 8 the New Recruits written by Jeff Parker & Paul Tobin; pencils by Rodney Buchemi, Ig Guara and Matteo Lolli; inks by Rodny Buchemi, Sandro Ribeiro and Christian Dall Vecchia; colors by Ulises Arreola and Chris Sotomayor; letters by Dave Sharpe
Marvel Adventures the Avengers: Vol. 9 the Times They Are A-changin' written by Paul Tobin, pencils by Matteo Lolli, Ig Guara and Casey Jones; inks by Christian Vecchia, Sandro Ribeiro and Casey Jones; colors by Sotocolor and letters by Dave Sharpe

Marvel Adventures is the all-ages, continuity light imprint for Marvel. With the same general characters but without all the drama, angst and "mature" stories. No hero murdering robot/god/clones. No deals with the devil. No blown up school kids. Just light-hearted, super-hero adventures...

The series starts with an Avengers line-up of Captain America, Hulk, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Storm, Wolverine and WaspGiant-Girl but quickly expands. With additions like Ant-Man, Hawkeye and Black Panther. In volume 8 the Avengers struggle to convince Luke Cage to join up, help Thor duck his father to go on a date with Storm, rescue a kitty, get trailed by Tigra and spend a day at the beach with Namor...

Volume 9 continues with more imaginative and fun stories. Like the Avengers being recruited by the IRS to chase down non-compliant villains. Or helping Ka-Zar get his driver's license at the same time as Stegron leads a dinosaur invasion into New York...

With only ten volumes Marvel Adventures the Avengers is a great pick for any Marvel fan wearied by the last several year's status quo. Or just fans of super-hero comics that are fun and a joy to read...