Unclear Exactly Which Readers “Avengers in Action!” Kids Book is for, Disconnected: Review

Halfway through Marvel Avengers: Avengers in Action!, I’m not sure who this book is for.

The book uses illustrations from actual Marvel Comics issues, introducing characters in their own double-page spreads. Occasionally, they get a series of pages, for instance to explain why both Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson are Captain America. Reluctant readers who are nonetheless fans of the movies are given reason to read along, either discovering information about favourite characters or reinforcing what they know while developing their reading.

Lovely, great stuff.

But I’ve just hit a double-page spread titled Avengers HQ. It begins by saying “the Impossible City is a living city.” It immediately drops that narrative, before heading off and talking about the battle between Ashen Combine and the Avengers to take the city.

Let’s rewind, a living city? My immediate thought was from a civics perspective, that it has an active community. Nope, it’s a sentinent creature, both ScreenRant and Marvel Database confirm. That seems like something to linger on, there’s two sets of supers battling over a sentinent creature on which they can survive like a barnacle, and that creature is in space?

Nope, let’s just speed run past it.

If you’re a kid reading at Level 3, and you don’t read Marvel’s actual comics, you’ll be confused why you’re being told about this plot line that doesn’t relate at all to the TV shows or movies you’re watching.

If you’re a kid reading Marvel Comics, you already know this info, and you’re reading at minimum the same level as this book, so you probably should move onto more challenging material.

All of which leaves me wonder, who is this book for?

I dunno. Marvel has never been my favourite, so perhaps this book will perform wonderfully with kids. But when you consider that Ahsoka was given this same sort of non-fiction formatting with great success, I wish that this volume wasn’t forced to deal with too many disparate characters. If you’re going to give Thunderbolts six pages, then let them be an entire book. (Or at least tell us that they’re The New Avengers. Perhaps let us really deep dive into the adventures of the two Captains. Character encyclopedias can work, but there’s just something about this book that seems to be a disconnect.

There’s nothing truly wrong with the book, but I don’t think it’ll be the favourite option of any young Marvel fan.

The book is $7.99 Canadian in paperback, $5.99 Kindle, or $5.99 American as a paperback, $3.99 Kindle.

A copy of this book was borrowed from the Brampton Library for review.