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Avengers (1998) (Old Trades)
Avengers: Red Zone
When the Red Skull infiltrates the United States government, he authorizes a biological weapon to be released from the peaks of Mount Rushmore, and it is up the Avengers to contain it! Under the direction of creators Geoff Johns and Olivier Coipel, the Avengers face a threat unlike any they've ever faced - then they take on the Red Skull himself!
Collecting: Avengers 64-70
Collecting: Avengers 64-70
160 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 2003
About the author
Geoff Johns
2,574 books2,305 followersGeoff Johns originally hails from Detroit, Michigan. He attended Michigan State University, where he earned a degree in Media Arts and Film. He moved to Los Angeles in the late 1990s in search of work within the film industry. Through perseverance, Geoff ended up as the assistant to Richard Donner, working on Conspiracy Theory and Lethal Weapon 4. During that time, he also began his comics career writing Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. and JSA (co-written with David S. Goyer) for DC Comics. He worked with Richard Donner for four years, leaving the company to pursue writing full-time.
His first comics assignments led to a critically acclaimed five-year run on the The Flash. Since then, he has quickly become one of the most popular and prolific comics writers today, working on such titles including a highly successful re-imagining of Green Lantern, Action Comics (co-written with Richard Donner), Teen Titans, Justice Society of America, Infinite Crisis and the experimental breakout hit series 52 for DC with Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka and Mark Waid. Geoff received the Wizard Fan Award for Breakout Talent of 2002 and Writer of the Year for 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 as well as the CBG Writer of the Year 2003 thru 2005, 2007 and CBG Best Comic Book Series for JSA 2001 thru 2005. Geoff also developed BLADE: THE SERIES with David S. Goyer, as well as penned the acclaimed “Legion” episode of SMALLVILLE. He also served as staff writer for the fourth season of ROBOT CHICKEN.
Geoff recently became a New York Times Bestselling author with the graphic novel Superman: Brainiac with art by Gary Frank.
His first comics assignments led to a critically acclaimed five-year run on the The Flash. Since then, he has quickly become one of the most popular and prolific comics writers today, working on such titles including a highly successful re-imagining of Green Lantern, Action Comics (co-written with Richard Donner), Teen Titans, Justice Society of America, Infinite Crisis and the experimental breakout hit series 52 for DC with Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka and Mark Waid. Geoff received the Wizard Fan Award for Breakout Talent of 2002 and Writer of the Year for 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 as well as the CBG Writer of the Year 2003 thru 2005, 2007 and CBG Best Comic Book Series for JSA 2001 thru 2005. Geoff also developed BLADE: THE SERIES with David S. Goyer, as well as penned the acclaimed “Legion” episode of SMALLVILLE. He also served as staff writer for the fourth season of ROBOT CHICKEN.
Geoff recently became a New York Times Bestselling author with the graphic novel Superman: Brainiac with art by Gary Frank.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
December 11, 2021
A very high-quality Avengers story I'd recommend to anyone. It's relatively standalone, has powerful themes about what America stands with flaws and all.
The Red Zone, as its own graphic novel, shows what Geoff Johns was truly capable of in his short Marvel tenure. And the art by Oliver Coipel is haunting and perfectly sets the tone.
Not to spoil, but in many ways this is an iconic Captain America story in particular. The rest of the supporting cast are also written well, but when the mystery is revealed this proves to be mainly about Steve Rogers and what he represents in these complex times...
The Red Zone, as its own graphic novel, shows what Geoff Johns was truly capable of in his short Marvel tenure. And the art by Oliver Coipel is haunting and perfectly sets the tone.
Not to spoil, but in many ways this is an iconic Captain America story in particular. The rest of the supporting cast are also written well, but when the mystery is revealed this proves to be mainly about Steve Rogers and what he represents in these complex times...
September 12, 2019
That some heavy shit.
Oh, te czasy, kiedy komiksy miały sens i przesłanie, ten odległy rok 2010... Naziści są odrażający, sytuacja beznadziejna, ludzie umierają bez powodu innego niż żądza władzy nazistowskiego dupka, Avengersi są dzielni. Świetny komentarz polityczny, szczególnie przemowa Red Skulla o tym, że Ameryka jest dokładnie tym samym, co jego sen o Czwartej Rzeszy. Obdziera ze złudzeń, uświadamia, jak daleko skorumpowany jest system polityczny, skoro ktoś taki, jak Red Skull jest w stanie wślizgnąć się w jego ramy i w nim funkcjonować. A jego hasło mogłoby brzmieć "Make America Great Again", więc jest to komentarz jak najbardziej aktualny. Miałam ciary, jak czytałam. I do tego niezapomniany "pocałunek" Steve'a i Tony'ego, równie ikoniczny w ujęciu graficznym tego komiksu, co Spock i Kirk dotykający się przez szybę na moment przed śmiercią jednego z nich.
Z drugiej strony Warbird wypowiada kwestię, która najbardziej gryzie mnie w komiksie superbohaterskim - "Naszym celem nie jest zmienienie świata tylko ocalenie go". Jak napisałam w "Nieparzystej liczbie doskonałej" - "Nie można ocalić świata nie zmieniając go". Avengers mają środki zdolne zmienić świat na lepsze, a jeśli tego nie robią, to równie okrutne i bezduszne, co pozwalanie na śmierć ludzi, kiedy można ich ocalić. Bo ludzie umierają codziennie przez podtrzymywanie status quo, nierówności, wyzysku i systemowej przemocy. Ciekawe, że wreszcie znalazłam komiks, który tak jawnie tłumaczy coś, co od dawna chodziło mi po głowie.
Oh, te czasy, kiedy komiksy miały sens i przesłanie, ten odległy rok 2010... Naziści są odrażający, sytuacja beznadziejna, ludzie umierają bez powodu innego niż żądza władzy nazistowskiego dupka, Avengersi są dzielni. Świetny komentarz polityczny, szczególnie przemowa Red Skulla o tym, że Ameryka jest dokładnie tym samym, co jego sen o Czwartej Rzeszy. Obdziera ze złudzeń, uświadamia, jak daleko skorumpowany jest system polityczny, skoro ktoś taki, jak Red Skull jest w stanie wślizgnąć się w jego ramy i w nim funkcjonować. A jego hasło mogłoby brzmieć "Make America Great Again", więc jest to komentarz jak najbardziej aktualny. Miałam ciary, jak czytałam. I do tego niezapomniany "pocałunek" Steve'a i Tony'ego, równie ikoniczny w ujęciu graficznym tego komiksu, co Spock i Kirk dotykający się przez szybę na moment przed śmiercią jednego z nich.
Z drugiej strony Warbird wypowiada kwestię, która najbardziej gryzie mnie w komiksie superbohaterskim - "Naszym celem nie jest zmienienie świata tylko ocalenie go". Jak napisałam w "Nieparzystej liczbie doskonałej" - "Nie można ocalić świata nie zmieniając go". Avengers mają środki zdolne zmienić świat na lepsze, a jeśli tego nie robią, to równie okrutne i bezduszne, co pozwalanie na śmierć ludzi, kiedy można ich ocalić. Bo ludzie umierają codziennie przez podtrzymywanie status quo, nierówności, wyzysku i systemowej przemocy. Ciekawe, że wreszcie znalazłam komiks, który tak jawnie tłumaczy coś, co od dawna chodziło mi po głowie.
September 23, 2018
This remains one of my top 5 Avengers stories.
This was back when the Avengers were allowed to be friends and like each other. Some characters are a little prickly towards each other (Sam and Gyrich, Jack of Hearts and Scott Lang, T'Challa and Tony) but the heart of the team is here. It's nice to see when Marvel abandoned this concept in 2006.
The Red Zone arc itself is very well done. You can feel the stress of it and the horror of watching the pathogen overtake all of these innocent people. It was a smart choice having it start with Cap picking up one of the kids. This is primo Cap material. He's brave, strong, persistent as ever. There's a moment where he explains his views on the US government. Again, Cap isn't naive; he believes in the people above all else and he knows the government isn't flawless.
There's the tiniest of plots with Carol running things in Washington (I think?)
Tony and T'Challa trying to find a cure and maneuver their differences as Tony believes in gathering whatever knowledge he can to find the answer and T'Challa understands the need for preserving his countries resources. The culmination of this conflict is pretty well done.
There's a mini plot with Vision realizing everyone else's mortality.
There's a small plot with Jack of Hearts and Scott Lang and Jack and Jen.
Johns managed to cover quite a bit of ground here.
Anyway, the ending what I love the most. Tony and Steve's relationship has a lot of key moments in it and this arc's finale is one of them.
This is always a joy to read and definitely a recommend.
This was back when the Avengers were allowed to be friends and like each other. Some characters are a little prickly towards each other (Sam and Gyrich, Jack of Hearts and Scott Lang, T'Challa and Tony) but the heart of the team is here. It's nice to see when Marvel abandoned this concept in 2006.
The Red Zone arc itself is very well done. You can feel the stress of it and the horror of watching the pathogen overtake all of these innocent people. It was a smart choice having it start with Cap picking up one of the kids. This is primo Cap material. He's brave, strong, persistent as ever. There's a moment where he explains his views on the US government. Again, Cap isn't naive; he believes in the people above all else and he knows the government isn't flawless.
There's the tiniest of plots with Carol running things in Washington (I think?)
Tony and T'Challa trying to find a cure and maneuver their differences as Tony believes in gathering whatever knowledge he can to find the answer and T'Challa understands the need for preserving his countries resources. The culmination of this conflict is pretty well done.
There's a mini plot with Vision realizing everyone else's mortality.
There's a small plot with Jack of Hearts and Scott Lang and Jack and Jen.
Johns managed to cover quite a bit of ground here.
Anyway, the ending what I love the most. Tony and Steve's relationship has a lot of key moments in it and this arc's finale is one of them.
This is always a joy to read and definitely a recommend.
February 7, 2016
I was really torn about this one. I had a love/hate relationship going with it. A brief synopsis- A red cloud of death covers Mt Rushmore and the Avengers are sent in to deal with the problem. Their investigation points them in the direction of AIM and the Red Skull (who has been masquerading as someone that I won't spoil).
The Good: The first few volumes of Johns work with the Avengers was not very good. But this was a huge improvement. A lot going on and a dark story line. Instead of the piss poor writing I saw in some of the last several issues, this was a powerful story. The artwork is also good throughout.
So why only 3 stars? It should have deserved 4-5 normally so let's get to it:
THE BAD:
*sigh* where to begin, where to begin? Geoff Johns wrote this during 2003 and his stupid fucking liberal beliefs are worn on his sleeve without any hint of subtlety. Jesus Christ Geoff, did you quaff your anti-Iraq War kool aid while writing this? Basic lesson- the Department of Defense is bad..REALLY bad m'kay? That's his basis. It's ok to have liberal views and it's ok to express them, but you can't be unfair, an asshole and fucking stupid all at the same time. That shows a severe lack of intellect. From the very start- when Vision brings the little boy onto the evac helo the Army guys say they are overloaded, so Vision tosses out their weapons and gives a pretty little speech about priorities and claims that those two weapons he tossed overboard (nearly 60 lbs he says) are allegedly equal to the little boy. Ummmmm Geoff, Geoff, Geoff... I know you've been very "busy" doing your artsy fartsy stuff and drinking liberal kool-aid at Michigan State..but if you had ever had the courage to put on a uniform you might have known the two weapons Visions tosses out (that your own damn artist drew) were M4's with laser sights attached. Ok..each M4, fully loaded with the silencer and laser sights weight about 10lbs each MAX..so 10X2= 20 lbs. Not 60. It's really really hard to lug around a 30lb weapon to shoot-thats as heavy as a .50 cal machine gun and that has a freaking tripod setup...Captain America could do it..normal humans..nah not really at all. Stupid asshole. Also if the facility was a US Army bio-weapons lab (and we did used to have weapons like that-back in the 50's)...the military would not have put in near Mt Rushmore. Why? Because the military is not fucking stupid like you Mr. Johns. The people who work with this stuff are VERY smart and usually have PhD's from much better schools than Michigan State, Mr. Johns. A facility like this would be out in the middle of the desert 100's of miles away from people and buried deep underground. Jackass. Finally, the cute Black Panther-Stark conversation where Mr. Panther says that the reason his country did not give over the antidote to this flesh eating virus is because the US government doesn't do stuff like that either. Um really Mr. Johns? You stupid leftist moron- when it comes to infectious diseases the CDC does more than the entire UN and the rest of the world combined to help foreign nations. Don't believe me? Just back during the 2014 Ebola outbreak in Africa, it was the US CDC that sent in response teams to quarantine, combat and then vaccinate large swaths of people. At a cost of $175million in vaccinations (when you add in the other two parts of quarantine and combat its spread the total cost was closer to $375 million). So get a clue, get a life and most of all GET AN EDUCATION. Just because you write comics doesn't mean you have to be an uneducated toolbag Geoff Johns.
Other than that this is a solid story, way better than the garbage he's been putting out. Normally this would have been a 4 or 5 star comic, but lazy and downright stupid writing dropped it to a 3.
The Good: The first few volumes of Johns work with the Avengers was not very good. But this was a huge improvement. A lot going on and a dark story line. Instead of the piss poor writing I saw in some of the last several issues, this was a powerful story. The artwork is also good throughout.
So why only 3 stars? It should have deserved 4-5 normally so let's get to it:
THE BAD:
*sigh* where to begin, where to begin? Geoff Johns wrote this during 2003 and his stupid fucking liberal beliefs are worn on his sleeve without any hint of subtlety. Jesus Christ Geoff, did you quaff your anti-Iraq War kool aid while writing this? Basic lesson- the Department of Defense is bad..REALLY bad m'kay? That's his basis. It's ok to have liberal views and it's ok to express them, but you can't be unfair, an asshole and fucking stupid all at the same time. That shows a severe lack of intellect. From the very start- when Vision brings the little boy onto the evac helo the Army guys say they are overloaded, so Vision tosses out their weapons and gives a pretty little speech about priorities and claims that those two weapons he tossed overboard (nearly 60 lbs he says) are allegedly equal to the little boy. Ummmmm Geoff, Geoff, Geoff... I know you've been very "busy" doing your artsy fartsy stuff and drinking liberal kool-aid at Michigan State..but if you had ever had the courage to put on a uniform you might have known the two weapons Visions tosses out (that your own damn artist drew) were M4's with laser sights attached. Ok..each M4, fully loaded with the silencer and laser sights weight about 10lbs each MAX..so 10X2= 20 lbs. Not 60. It's really really hard to lug around a 30lb weapon to shoot-thats as heavy as a .50 cal machine gun and that has a freaking tripod setup...Captain America could do it..normal humans..nah not really at all. Stupid asshole. Also if the facility was a US Army bio-weapons lab (and we did used to have weapons like that-back in the 50's)...the military would not have put in near Mt Rushmore. Why? Because the military is not fucking stupid like you Mr. Johns. The people who work with this stuff are VERY smart and usually have PhD's from much better schools than Michigan State, Mr. Johns. A facility like this would be out in the middle of the desert 100's of miles away from people and buried deep underground. Jackass. Finally, the cute Black Panther-Stark conversation where Mr. Panther says that the reason his country did not give over the antidote to this flesh eating virus is because the US government doesn't do stuff like that either. Um really Mr. Johns? You stupid leftist moron- when it comes to infectious diseases the CDC does more than the entire UN and the rest of the world combined to help foreign nations. Don't believe me? Just back during the 2014 Ebola outbreak in Africa, it was the US CDC that sent in response teams to quarantine, combat and then vaccinate large swaths of people. At a cost of $175million in vaccinations (when you add in the other two parts of quarantine and combat its spread the total cost was closer to $375 million). So get a clue, get a life and most of all GET AN EDUCATION. Just because you write comics doesn't mean you have to be an uneducated toolbag Geoff Johns.
Other than that this is a solid story, way better than the garbage he's been putting out. Normally this would have been a 4 or 5 star comic, but lazy and downright stupid writing dropped it to a 3.
September 16, 2015
Geoff Johns never disappoints. Great story with moments of sadness and some classic Captain America dialogue that I really enjoyed.
March 17, 2021
*4.5 stars*
This was such a good read. Probably one of my favorite AVENGERS stories. Really impressed by Johns’ work here. Narratively, structurally, pacing, character work, everything. He plants all the right seeds at the right times — never losing focus of the story, but also not too subtle. The plot is a simple one, but is put to good use, with a twist I didn’t see coming, after feeling that the story would be predictable, during the beginning of the story. There are great character beats and dialogue all throughout the book again, done at the right times, making this just a good read overall. A lot of the characters that I’m familiar with, their voices were written so spot on and have some great lines. Not to mention that there’s payoff and resolves to a lot of threads set up in the beginning of the book, too. Lastly, racism as a theme was dealt with well and was resonant here I thought. I liked this so much that I can’t wait to see what the rest of his run is like..
This was such a good read. Probably one of my favorite AVENGERS stories. Really impressed by Johns’ work here. Narratively, structurally, pacing, character work, everything. He plants all the right seeds at the right times — never losing focus of the story, but also not too subtle. The plot is a simple one, but is put to good use, with a twist I didn’t see coming, after feeling that the story would be predictable, during the beginning of the story. There are great character beats and dialogue all throughout the book again, done at the right times, making this just a good read overall. A lot of the characters that I’m familiar with, their voices were written so spot on and have some great lines. Not to mention that there’s payoff and resolves to a lot of threads set up in the beginning of the book, too. Lastly, racism as a theme was dealt with well and was resonant here I thought. I liked this so much that I can’t wait to see what the rest of his run is like..
December 21, 2017
A profoundly dark and cynical tales from Geoff Johns, with gorgeous (sometimes too-pretty) art from Olivier Coipel. I likes me a good government conspiracy, esp. one masterminded by this particular villain, but everybody feels like their soul is getting ground down in this disaster, to the extent that it stops being enjoyable for me.
January 1, 2018
Geoff is a master story teller and this is a very decent story that will keep you captivated till end.
January 14, 2018
Geoff refreshes the Avengers after Kurt's departure. A tale worth reading and timely reminder of the times we live in.
August 23, 2018
me gusto mucho,me rompio el corazon cuando a she hulk se le rompe el trage y el cap descubre que esta infeccion es obra de su pais.¡mis 10!
July 25, 2019
Lo que me trajo a consumir esta historia fue todo lo que aprendí sobre la guerra de Vietnam. Y es que nada me aterra más que una guerra química.
June 12, 2015
Falcon took a brief spotlight as he looked into possible treachery by Henry Peter Gyrich, the team’s one time federal nemesis who’d become their liaison to the U.N. Next, a biological attack on Mount Rushmore with a swiftly mounting infection and death toll brought the team into action. The Avengers found a hidden U.S. military lab beneath the infected area. Iron Man and Black Panther uneasily collaborated on a possible cure until Dell Rusk, the belligerent Secretary of Defense, had them arrested for treason. Calamities befell the team in the infected zone. Rusk’s true identity led to a major showdown with Captain America over the cure for the virus.
Red Zone was the highlight of Geoff Johns’s tenure on Avengers. The mix of a deadly biological attack, political intrigue and a classic Marvel villain worked very well. Johns took some chances with the characters and created a sense of real stakes with the jeopardy the team faced. Future Johns collaborator Ivan Reis handled the Falcon spotlight, before new regular co-artist Olivier Coipel, in his Marvel debut, took over. Coipel’s work was stunning, highlighted by a strong design sense, interesting layouts and a facility for widescreen comic book action. It was an ideal team that produced what would turn out to be the last great story of this volume of Avengers. Highly recommended.
A version of this review originally appeared on www.thunderalleybcp.com
Red Zone was the highlight of Geoff Johns’s tenure on Avengers. The mix of a deadly biological attack, political intrigue and a classic Marvel villain worked very well. Johns took some chances with the characters and created a sense of real stakes with the jeopardy the team faced. Future Johns collaborator Ivan Reis handled the Falcon spotlight, before new regular co-artist Olivier Coipel, in his Marvel debut, took over. Coipel’s work was stunning, highlighted by a strong design sense, interesting layouts and a facility for widescreen comic book action. It was an ideal team that produced what would turn out to be the last great story of this volume of Avengers. Highly recommended.
A version of this review originally appeared on www.thunderalleybcp.com
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July 19, 20163.5 stars from Skye, read the full review at FANTASY LITERATURE
I ended up with this story arc (this is the term I’m going to use as it appears when I search for this story) through a Reddit gift exchange over a year ago in which I was also delighted to receive some original art by my gifter. This context lent itself well to the reading of the story as I was very happy to receive it and more likely to overlook flaws – it may or may not be the first physical set of comic books I have owned.
First published in fall 2003, The Red Zone came out just after the first X-Men movie (2000) and the first Spider-Man movie (2002) were showing that perhaps the greater public could like superhero movies if everyone toned down the goofiness a bit. However, I imagine it fits in well with the caped crusaders and wonderfully corny lines of yester-year as well. The Red Zone came about almost exactly when comic book stories started picking up steam on the big screen, and I think perhaps it shows as a transitional piece of AVENGERS lore. ...read the full review at FANTASY LITERATURE
I ended up with this story arc (this is the term I’m going to use as it appears when I search for this story) through a Reddit gift exchange over a year ago in which I was also delighted to receive some original art by my gifter. This context lent itself well to the reading of the story as I was very happy to receive it and more likely to overlook flaws – it may or may not be the first physical set of comic books I have owned.
First published in fall 2003, The Red Zone came out just after the first X-Men movie (2000) and the first Spider-Man movie (2002) were showing that perhaps the greater public could like superhero movies if everyone toned down the goofiness a bit. However, I imagine it fits in well with the caped crusaders and wonderfully corny lines of yester-year as well. The Red Zone came about almost exactly when comic book stories started picking up steam on the big screen, and I think perhaps it shows as a transitional piece of AVENGERS lore. ...read the full review at FANTASY LITERATURE
April 10, 2014
Questa storia di Johns è meritoria per almeno tre fatti: ripropone il Teschio Rosso con un piano credibile, gli fa sconfiggere Cap e i Vendicatori, lo fa cadere in modo credibile, deciso e "forte" narrativamente parlando. Una storia corale molto buona, ben disegnata da Coipel, che parte lentamente ma ha poi un crescendo d'azione e situazioni che la rendono un vero gioiello del fumetto anni 2000.
October 19, 2014
The Avengers save the world. Again. From the Red Skull. Again. And the evil American government. Again?
Pretty good writing and good enough art. Actually the bits with Gyrich and Falcon were better than I would have expected. And the use of characters were pretty good. It just fell a little flat. 3.5 of 5.
Pretty good writing and good enough art. Actually the bits with Gyrich and Falcon were better than I would have expected. And the use of characters were pretty good. It just fell a little flat. 3.5 of 5.
July 18, 2011
3.5 stars.
Pretty decent story. A chemical weapon is released near Mount Rushmore, and the Avengers are called in to stop the spread of the flesh-eating bacteria that is killing thousands of people. Good stuff. Nothing mind-blowing, but it was still solid storytelling.
Pretty decent story. A chemical weapon is released near Mount Rushmore, and the Avengers are called in to stop the spread of the flesh-eating bacteria that is killing thousands of people. Good stuff. Nothing mind-blowing, but it was still solid storytelling.
May 22, 2013
Not bad. This volume was little better than the last.
It's very strange that Marvel thinks that Red Skull could get to be Secretary of Defense. They don't do background checks or anything...
Scott Lang is a bit of an asshole. No wonder he stayed dead for as long as he did.
It's very strange that Marvel thinks that Red Skull could get to be Secretary of Defense. They don't do background checks or anything...
Scott Lang is a bit of an asshole. No wonder he stayed dead for as long as he did.
June 29, 2012
Someone is attacking the Avengers, making them look weak. To this end they release a virus that attacks everybody. A very action orientated adventure.
July 20, 2016
Not a bad story at all, but I can clearly see how Geoff Johns has defined the DC universe, as this story felt very much like a DC book.
September 13, 2013
Individual issues on marvel unlimited
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