(Marvel Comics, 2014)
Created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Hajime Isayama
Scenario/Breakdown: Hajime Isayama/C.B. Cebulski
Line Artist: Gerardo Sandoval
Color Artist: Dono Sanchez Almara
Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos
Summary: One day in New York there comes a sudden attack from mysterious creatures known as Titans. It seems the only ones who can save the innocent public from being eaten by these ferocious beasts are Spider-Man, the Avengers, and the… Guardians of the Galaxy?! Let the ultimate battle for humanity begin!
Review: Well hey, it was a fun thought wasn’t it? Pitting the destructive Titans from the dominating series Attack on Titan against Earth’s Mightiest Heroes from Marvel comics (but mostly their Marvel Cinematic Universe movie heroes + Spider-Man). To be fair, I really shouldn’t have expected much from the story with it only being 8-pages long and Isayama having to put in as many of these characters as possible.
If you’ve guessed by now that I wasn’t huge on the end product of this crossover, you’d have guessed correct. It’s not that I thought it was bad by any stretch, it just wasn’t enough. For as much hype as you can get out of just mentioning an official crossover between the two worlds, the story itself ends up being just one big snippet of fights and set-up to an even cooler fight that never comes.
I had a lot of fun seeing Spidey swing around a few Titans and talking smack to them, and even seeing Iron Man bust a repulsor beam into the Female Titan’s neck, but those were really the only good highlights of the entire event. I figure they just got Isayama to jot down a very simple scenario and then have Cebulski go through and do a quick script for it, instead of sitting down and actually thinking up a good way to do a full 20 page or so one-shot.
I know both men are busy, busy, busy, but come on? If neither of you can write it, surely someone else out there is dying to write Hulk getting eaten by and then busting out through the gut of a Titan in all of its full 2-Page splash glory.
The art is nice, I think Sandoval was a good choice for the event. His swinging Spidey and attacking Titans are a lot of fun, plus we get to see at least a little bit of carnage which Sandoval renders nicely. His Titans do look really good, and compliments the looks Isayama had originally given them.
The thing is Attack on Avengers isn’t bad. It’s just a novelty, something fun and silly to read but unfortunately leaves you wanting more and only wets your appetite for the full course meal that will never come. And to me that’s the biggest crime of all. I think they should’ve made at least a fully scripted one-shot out of the idea, and also made it a little more darker/gorier to reflect the Titan world it comes from sense this isn’t canon and can allow for more freedom of character use.
If they’d just done that, and tried not to add in so many characters at the last minute – it’s actually a pretty crowded 8-pages – then it would’ve ended up being more of a treat, instead of a nibble. I’m sorry, but I couldn’t love this comic or really bring myself to even like it. Maybe next time, if there ever is a next time. I’ll just return to reading Isayama’s original manga and Marvel’s original comics for the time being.
Final Score: “2 Titans one Spidey” out of 5
Reviewed by Derrick Crow
Derrick is a born and raised otaku with a love for comics, anime, manga and movies. The full list is pretty long, but that’s just the basics. Stories set in space are his bread and butter.
You can find more of his writing at IndieComix.net
@KazekunForever