Chuck Dixon's "Avalon": Graphic Novel Review

Dixon and Day bring back classic comic book storytelling.

I’m spoiled.

When I was a young comic book collector, I went to West Side Comics on West 86th Street, or Big Apple Comics on Broadway and 93rd Street, and I had ALL of the following, at one time or another:

• John Byrne on Fantastic Four and Alpha Flight.

• Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum / Paul Smith / John Romita Jr. on X-Men.

• Frank Miller / Klaus Janson and or David Mazzuchelli and or Denny O’Neil on Daredevil.

• Bob Layton and David Michelenie on Iron Man.

• Sal Buscema, and eventually, a Todd McFarlane / Peter David run on Hulk.

• Ralph Macchio and John Buscema / Tom Palmer on The Avengers.

That’s just a partial list, off the top of my head, from Marvel Comics. It doesn’t include mini series.

From DC, which I irrationally didn’t buy as much of, I had, available on the rack:

• Marv Wolfman and George Perez on The New Teen Titans.

• Alan Moore on Swamp Thing.

• Moore and Dave Gibbons on Watchmen.

• Mike Barr, Brian Bolland / Terry Austin on Camelot 3000.

• Doug Moench and Jim Aparo on Batman.

Those lists are simply a partial list of things I can remember while sitting here at the keyboard. Over the years I collected regularly, buying comics until around 1998 or so.

It turns out my timing was perfect.

The comic book industry has devolved and spiraled downward, specifically over the last 10 years. With a few notable exceptions, comic books by Marvel and DC have become the purview of a few woke zombie writers and artists. These people not only create unreadable comics, but also lecture you on what you should believe, which brand of politics you should have, and how you should think.

No one likes that.

Entering into the void is Chuck Dixon’s “Avalon”. Dixon and co-conspirator Vox Day have created a team and a comic book universe that checks many of the boxes that the above titles and creators checked 35 years ago.

Here’s the thing: the main ‘check box’ they made sure was filled was the ‘tell a good story’ box.

“Avalon” is the city setting where King Ace and his partner fight crime. Simple, right? Not so fast. The ‘specials’ - people with powers - are a mixed group. Some of the specials fight to do the right thing, but others don’t. There is a character who hilariously saves people from criminals and robbers, and then demands payment - Ha! Time to get pay up - I just saved you from losing more! Hard to argue the logic of that one. The guy even has a “$” on his chest! He’s my kind of hero - get that money dude.

There’s another character who is bent on getting revenge for a past act that harmed her sister. She’s relentless. There’s a mysterious Marina type character, among others, who gets lured into working as part of a Brotherhood of Crime squad led by a guy who is aggressively unattractive, but has the special power to convince people to do things against their will.

Into the mix is a group of super beings on a team that follows the Globalist canard of ‘saving the world’. King Ace gets mixed up with this group. He quickly figures out that they’re all stooges for the New World Order, and that their missions aren’t necessarily ‘good’ or ‘helping the world’. King Ace doesn’t like being a factotum of Clown World, so he escapes. But then he gets caught, thrown in prison for ‘specials’, and is broken out at the end of the 12th issue.

What’s great about the whole thing is that there are good stories in every issue. Not only that, but I have questions about characters, places, and continuity. What happens after the prison break at the end of issue 12? How is the leader of the Clown World NWO group simply a big guy with muscles and no powers? How did that happen? Why is Avalon the city we’re placed in? Why was the artist from the first two issues replaced (successfully) by a Jim Lee imitator? What’s the deal with the scary red headed kid who simply wants a friend?

Avalon brings back all the things that the comic books of the old days had. Well told stories, good art, humor, human elements, oddball heroes and villains, and plot lines that tie up loose ends, and create other untold paths.

Hopefully there either is, or will be, more.

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From the Amazon description:

From the mean streets of Moseley to the oceanfront villas of Diamond Beach, crime affects everyone in Avalon. And the presence of the superhumans known around the city as "specials" hasn't made life for the average citizen any better. Unlike their criminal counterparts, the crime-fighting duo of King Ace and Fazer are true heroes. All Fazer and the big guy are trying to do is make everyday life better for everyone who lives in their city.

But even heroes face temptation.