If you're looking for the spine of the Avengers: Standoff event, you don't need the Avengers: Standoff hardcover. Happily, this shorter collection has not only the beginning, the middle, and the end of the crossover, but also feels entirely coherent. 
 I've been surprised that the event was received with such disregard. While Standoff isn't standout, this is s still a good story (though it's more a Captain America story than anything else). 
 Yeah, the premise is kind of wonky. Maria Hill gets an all-powerful reality-changing weapon, and uses it to create a prison for super-villains. But, I find it kind of believable in a superhero universe (even if the actually intent is confused even more in Captain America: Steve Rogers, Volume 1: Hail Hydra, which has flashbacks in issue #2, explaining some of what went on here). 
 And yeah, I totally don't understand why the prison failed, which would have been something good to actually explain. 
 But suspend your disbelief and put those issues aside, and this is a fun four issues. There's great interaction between the three Caps (Steve, Sam, and ex-Cap Bucky) and there's some major turning points for all three of them. It's what an event should be! 
 My only real complaint is that the fourth issue is a little weak, because first it focuses on a big fight (which is where most of the crossovers with other comics seem to occur) and then it drops into a lot of telling, now showing, for the denouement. 
 But overall, this is a fun event, running at least 3.5 stars, and drifting upward from there.