The Avengers Vault, a must for young readers who dig superheroes

It’s a good year for superheroes.  The new Avengers film comes out and the bar that elevates them to be good films, in addition to good superhero films has been established.  Having said that, the new generation of comic book fans needs to be educated and The Avengers Vault is just the book to do so. It’s a thick book that details the four core Avengers members.  For the record, it’s  Captain America, Hulk, Thor and Iron Man.

Other superheroes will enter their ranks and some of the core may leave from time to time, but that is what’s great about the Avengers.   We know that a couple will exit after the coming film and some new ones will join.  Issue #1 of Guardians Team UP has Star Lord and the gang meeting a new group of Avengers.  They both acknowledge that the Avengers move around, Gamora asks why can’t they and galactic adventures ensue.

The Avengers Vault is all Avengers.  It does a marvelous job of blending old school knowledge to today’s lineup and weaving the complex stories so that audiences of any exposure can understand it.  Author Peter David also tells lots of ‘inside baseball’ stories of the early days at Marvel comics, how teams of superheroes came to be and more.

The writing in Avengers Vault can be understood by ages 9 and up, but enjoyed by everyone.  I thought I knew lots about the Avengers.  While I know more than the average smuggle, this book is a treasure chest of facts, art and so much more all about the Avengers.

The art is woven between classic panels from the Golden Age, to contemporary drawings and the very recent  history of Marvel.  It touches on Civil War, but doesn’t cover the upcoming Secret Wars happening in the comic books.  That’s a good thing because the source material, i.e., the comics will keep changing but there needs to be a starting point for new fans.  Sure taking the issues back to one and establishing new universes will bring in some, but the history, the real history of the characters needs to be known by fans too.

Hulk has children?  Yes, he has more kids than anyone else in the Marvel universe.  The Mandarin really wasn’t a bad actor?  No, in the comics he was a real bad guy who first appeared in Tales of Suspense #50.

Parents can buy this for their young superhero fan and enjoy it just as much, if not more than them.  Reading about the origins of the major bad villains for the Avengers and how they trace back to the comics if fascinating.  You’ll also love looking at the poster art that’s included in reinforced folder at the end of each superhero’s chapter.

The pages are thicker than normal and feel more like an encyclopedia than a book.  This is fun stuff that Avengers fans 9 years old and up will want to get their hands on.  We let our five year old look at it, but most of the vocabulary is too advanced for him to read.  He does like looking at the pictures though and that is half of the fun for us too.