Avenger’s Arena, Volume 1: Kill or Die

Avenger’s Arena, Volume 1: Kill or Die

Dennis Hopeless, Kev Walker, Alessandro Vitti

$15.99, Softcover

Marvel, 2013

978-0785166573

Genre: Action, Graphic Novel 

Age: 12+

Description: Collecting the first six issues of the new series, Avengers Arena tells the story of 16 teens that are kidnapped and trapped on an isolated island. Their captor (who actually appears throughout the story) gives them an ultimatum—fight each other or die.

Opinion: This series seems to be pretty hit or miss with readers. My finance didn’t like it for the main reason that he didn’t like the characters getting killed off “willy-nilly”. I liked it though probably because I don’t have a background with these characters. I am not familiar with any of them so I didn’t have a natural liking for any of them as I began the series. They were all new people to me. Obviously, this series is a take on the comic book world on Battle Royale and The Hunger Games, and I love anything and will read anything like reads like Battle Royale. The twist here is the fact that the teens being pitted against each other are not everyday high schoolers. Instead they are 16 teens with superhero powers and abilities. Therefore, fighting each other isn’t as easy as one might assume and there aren’t really going to be too many people that are easy pickings. Some of the characters include Hazmat, Juston, Reptil, Deathlocket, and more. It will be interesting to see how the series progresses (I am waiting for the collected trade editions) as in the first volume most of the teens form teams and spread out on the island attempting to avoid one another—at least until someone or something appears to be not playing by the rules and the teens wonder who they can trust. Plus, I love the homage to Battle Royale on the cover.