Standoff (Spoilers)

I have to admit, I wasn’t really aware that Marvel had this new Standoff event in the works. And I don’t follow recent Captain America, Shield or Avengers storylines so I wasn’t sure if there would be anything here to grab me. But I decided to go ahead and pick up Avengers Standoff: Welcome to Pleasant Hill 1 and Avengers Standoff: Assault on Pleasant Hill (Alpha?) 1.

It turns out, I don’t need to have read a lot of those recent books as this is a rare story that actually gives background information on how we got to this point. So far the story centers around Sam Wilson, Steve Rogers, Bucky and Rick Jones with not a whole lot of Avengers.

Welcome to Pleasant Hill appears to be a one shot. It introduces the town of Pleasant Hill, which is sort of a Truman Show/Pleasantville/Wayward Pines amalgam being run by SHIELD as a prison and basically powered by the Cosmic Cube which is now sentient and takes the form of a little girl.



In Assault on Pleasant Hill, Steve is made aware of the existence of the town and, of course isn’t too happy about it. This sets him at odds with SHIELD and probably some of the other Marvel heroes (like maybe Iron Man I’m guessing?)  The fact that the Cosmic Cube is involved sets up a lot of possibilities for tinkering with the Marvel Universe so I’m interested to see where that goes.

Overall, I have to say I’m intrigued enough to pick up subsequent issues, although I won’t be getting tie-ins unless there is a creative team that I just can’t pass up. But I’m wondering what exactly Standoff is. An event? A mini-event? A pre-event leading into Civil War II?  

Anyway, I though about posting comments in various threads but I decided to just set up a new catch-all thread in case anyone wanted to discuss.

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  • Thanks for starting this discussion, ‘Tec. I knew of this series, but only from Previews (and maybe Comic Shop News). I’m a victim of “event” burn-out (EBO?) and wasn’t planning to read it, but I’m up for reading about it. Your synopsis of the first two issues sounds intriguing, though. If it’s still on the shelf this week, I’ll give it a closer look.

  • I am under the strong impression that this is definitely a precursor to Civil War 2. I have to say that I was greatly impressed by the first issue, but I still have yet to read the second. The art by Jesus Saiz looks fantastic, though. I'm really looking forward already to something that I hadn't even planned on reading just a few weeks ago. It's been so long since I've read a previews catalog or even a flyer of upcoming events that I really have no clue what's coming until it's just ahead. But so far, I have to say I'm excited.
  • I have serious reservations about the concept and the theme of this event. As I've seen the previews for May, this is setting up more new books.

    Without saying too much, Avengers Standoff could wind up hurting three or four current good titles and offset several past storylines.

  • I went to my LCS yesterday with the intent to buy Welcome to Pleasant Hill. After flipping through them both, though, I decided to buy Assault on Pleasant Hill instead. That’s the one that focuses on Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes and Rick Jones, all favorite characters of mine, all who have been either Captain America and/or Captain America’s partner.

    Let me say this: I really, really liked it.

    I don’t feel the need to buy “Welcome” (or any of the crossovers, really), but “Assault” is actually numbered “Alpha #1” and I will definitely be back for “Omega #1”.

    Thanks again for the heads up, 'Tec. I would have passed this without a look otherwise.

    Avengers: Standoff: Assault on Pleasant Hill - Alpha #1 (long title!) gets a high recommendation from me.

  • Now I'm REALLY confused.

    Strong votes for staying away and then strong recommendation for dabbling!

    I am encouraged by the return of Rick Jones in a sensible supporting role to pick this up.....or trade wait.

  • I don't see any strong votes for staying away. Philip has "serious reservations about the concept and the theme of this event," but he didn't actually advise staying away. And Sensei seems to have enjoyed "Welcome" as much as I enjoyed "Assault." Hmm... maybe I will take a look at that one after all.

  • I looked at solicitations for the next couple of months and there are not a whole lot of tie-ins. Mostly just Avengers and Captain America titles. So I'm guessing a trade collection would probably combine issues of all those titles.

  • There was a checklist at the end of Assault Alpha #1.

  • Checklists are always the sign of a long, overly complex crossover!

    Since no one has directly said what happened and is happening in Standoff, I am hesitant to list my issues and objections so I will wait.



  • Philip Portelli said:

    Checklists are always the sign of a long, overly complex crossover!

    Since no one has directly said what happened and is happening in Standoff, I am hesitant to list my issues and objections so I will wait.


    It's ok with me if you want to discuss.
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