This is not something that has any greater impact on the Marvel Universe, and is solely to explore the personalities or motivations of the characters themselves. We do see various act naturally and normally from time to time, and this book is mostly just that. All the stories are driven by the personality of the character or characters, and what little action exists mainly serves to highlight this. If you love one character and everything they do, this *may* be the book for you... provided they write a good story and capture the essence of that character. There are more than the fair share of flops and non-attempts to truly create something great, but a few do hit the mark quite strongly a couple of times. Especially with the longer stories - there are a few short stories that last no more than a couple of pages, and some one page ones that are mostly not good - but generally the longer they take to focus on a character and his/her issues, personality, and life, the better.
The stories in order focus on the following characters: The Young Avengers (sans Patriot), Iron Fist & Misty Knight, Squirrel Girl, the Pet Avengers, Steve Rogers (NOT being Captain America), Jarvis (co-staring Wolverine), D-Man, Nova (co-staring Spiderman), Stingray, The Hulk, Ben Grimm (+ the Richards family) Spider-Woman & Ms. Marvel, Stature & Iron Man, Captain America (kinda), Ant-Man (the O'Grady one), The Young Avengers, and Firestar & Justice.
WARNING, THESE STORIES ARE BAD AND IF YOU ARE A FAN OF THE CHARACTER YOU MAY BE SORELY DISAPPOINTED: Squirrel Girl, The Pet Avengers, D-Man, Stingray, The Hulk, and Spider-Woman & Ms. Marvel.
These stores, however, are MEDIOCRE: The Young Avengers (both), Jarvis, Nova, Ben Grimm, and Stature & Iron.
The Young Avengers just have short vignettes of growing up, and despite mostly gracing the cover (which, also, their 2nd story involves Thor) it's not something that is essential for Young Avengers fans. Stature & Iron Man's one page story is the only one worth it, since it's funny in it's own right, and Jarvis' is touching considering what little we see of him outside of the butler role. Ben Grimm's is about divided loyalties, and provides some insight into his character. Nova's is an attempt to explain his character a little better I feel, which I could've used for D-Man, Stingray, and the Pet Avengers (who I don't know and don't care about, after reading theirs). It's a bit confusing but otherwise not bad, and Spidey does help with that somewhat.
These are the REALLY GOOD STORIES: Iron Fist & Misty Knight, Steve Rogers, Captain America, Ant-Man, and Firestar & Justice.
Without spoiling anything:
IRON FIST and MISTY KNIGHT's is about the effects relationships can leave behind, and the memories that will always linger. It struck a chord, coming out of a break up.
STEVE ROGERS is about the casualties of war, and how that weighs on the man Steve and not his costumed identity. I'm two generations out from having anyone who has ever served, but I think this one will really hit home if you have concerns or have lost a loved one in the armed forces. For me it was touching, but I feel like it could be more if you have that background.
CAPTAIN AMERICA - It's a PSA for suicide prevention. It's well written for what it is, and it's not about Captain America but what he represents, at least in part: Hope and perseverance against adversity. Like Steve Rogers is a man with deeper feelings, Captain America is not very characterized here, but that's the point: It's the impact that is personified.
ANT-MAN - It's a rather humorous tale of him trying to sneak into the manor... and nearly dying half a dozen times. I dislike O'Grady (from what I've seen of him) so I'm amused by it, but it does have a high note for him in the end.
FIRESTAR & JUSTICE - Really, really strong story about their break up. It provides closure, and sees them fight along side each other one more time. They have do to so under contrived circumstances (it pushes it even for a comic book) but their dialogue is real, the hurt palpable, and it really provides the only development that sticks in the universe. Fans might want this book just for their story, which is also the longest.
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