This post is largely a continuation of what I wrote in my review of All-New All-Different Marvel Point One #1. There’s not a lot I can add here in terms of the basic framework of the book: this is another six-story “sampler” that gives us some quick insights into the individual titles that these stories lead into. The only substantial difference is that this particular book focuses on the Avengers-related titles instead of the broad, catch-all collection of books in ANADMPO.  (Also note that this week’s Amazing Spider-Man #1 is also a sampler of the various Spidey-related books of the ANAD era.) So, kudos to Marvel for figuring out how to use the “sampler” to effectively market to us, and for tripling their efforts from the last time they did this.

Anyway, let’s get down to the individual stories:

Squadron Supreme (James Robinson/Leonard Kirk): Like Contest of Champions, this story is hampered by the fact that it’s chopped up into a bunch of short introductions to the other five stories. (Its dialogue also runs into each of the stories, so this intro tale is going to read very weirdly when it’s collected in trade by itself.) Unfortunately, all this does is introduce us to the concept of this incarnation of the Squadron Supreme: each member is a survivor of a destroyed universe, and they’ve banded together to prevent the Marvel Universe from suffering the same fate. The overarching theme is made clear, but we don’t get a great handshake with each of the individual members, and they all come off as equally gruff. It’s a shame, because this is one of the ANAD titles I was most looking forward to. I still think it’s a good concept, but not the strongest introduction to the high concept of “Justice League in the Marvel Universe.” Recommendation: Read with caution.

Vision & Scarlet Witch (Mark Waid/Mahmud Asrar): This one’s weird. Both the Vision and the Scarlet Witch are getting their own unique titles in ANAD Marvel by Tom King and James Robinson respectively, so the sampler story for both of them is being done by the creative team on All-New All-Different Avengers. Oh, it’s a good story which explores the effects of long-term memory on the Vision, who as an artificial being is forced to never forget anything. Waid and Asrar tell a heartbreaking story that is well-sourced in Marvel history. It’s just that it’s not clear what book it’s advertising: Vision, Scarlet Witch, or ANAD Avengers. Recommendation: …I have no idea.  Go with All-New All-Different Avengers. That book already proved itself back on Free Comic Book Day.

A-Force (G. Willow Wilson/Victor Ibanez): This is another weirdly mixed bag with the story advertised as a “Captain Marvel” story, when really, it’s a lead-in to the post-Secret Wars version of A-Force and bridges the aftermath between the two series. I don’t think it accomplishes much other than showing that a certain character predictably survived Secret Wars and crossed into the main Marvel Universe. It’s OK, but doesn’t do a lot to show what the post-event hook of this title will be other than a hint of it sticking with its “all-women Avengers” concept. Recommendation: Oh, you’re going to read A-Force anyway.

New Avengers (Al Ewing/Gerardo Sandoval): This was my least favorite of the six stories, mostly because the storytelling mechanism showed too much without showing anything at all. Near as I can tell, Sunspot is forming his own mixed bag of Avengers with a random grouping of Hawkeye, two Young Avengers, Squirrel Girl, and Songbird. Some villains from one of those annoying bad guy agencies with an acronym for a name captures a S.H.I.E.L.D agent and pulls from his head what he knows about this new team. The unfortunate result is a cacophony of images which, while telegraphing what’s to come, also results in an unfocused jumble of pictures which doesn’t tell a story. The one twist is the arrival of a surprise villain who may appeal to fans of a certain “other” Marvel universe. Recommendation: skip unless you’re an Avengers nut.

Deadpool (Gerry Duggan/Ryan Stegman): This one’s a little less weird than the A-Force prelude, since Gerry Duggan writes the character in both the main title and Uncanny Avengers. For the record, this story is very clearly an advertising vehicle for the latter, particularly since this lacks most of the cartoon zaniness of the main Deadpool book. Again, this one sets up the premise of Uncanny Avengers with Deadpool being drafted into the team, and the growing threat of Marvel’s mutants being vulnerable to the Inhumans’ Terrigen Mists. How Deadpool is going to fit into a larger, more serious team remains to be seen, but this is an OK start for the book. Recommendation: give it a try.

Ultimates (Al Ewing/Kenneth Rocafort): And finally, this sampler wraps up with a peek into Ewing’s other Avengers book, even if this one is blatantly borrowing its name from a certain cancelled title from a certain cancelled universe. If New Avengers is intended to cover Marvel’s Earth-bound threats, then this one deals with the cosmic ones like extra-dimensional invaders and mysterious rifts left in space. Ewing has a good sense of fun in solving this team’s problems by including fan-favorite American Chavez, who solves a crisis as only a fun-loving cosmic hero knows how to do. How she’ll fit on a team with much more seasoned heroes remains to be seen, but this is a good start. (I do wish they’d find a more permanent home for her–America seems to bounce around from title to title in the aftermath of 2013’s Young Avengers.)  Recommendation: give it a try.

I will note that between this book and ANAD Point One, Marvel is showing a lot of post-Secret Wars impact on each title. Four out of six of the stories in this title were dealing with Secret Wars fallout, as did one of the shorts in Point One and a few in Amazing Spider-Man. Let’s hope this doesn’t keep going for too long. The “All-New, All-Different” rebranding was advertised as a clean break for Marvel to be friendly to new readers, but this is all very heavily tied to what came before. That’s good for long-term readers, but hopefully it doesn’t alienate the intended new readers too much.

Rating: Three and a Half Samples Out of Five.