New Avengers #21-36
By John • Nov 27th, 2007 • Category: Avengers, Brian Bendis, Lenil YuBendis is really laying the ground for next year’s big event at Marvel. So in preparation for that I am catching up on his New Avengers. Spoilers follow.
His Civil War arc on New Avengers 21-25 showed us which side some of the Avengers chose and what were the consequences. Each issue stars one particular character and is penciled by a different artist.
Even though these stories are well integrated with the main Civil War series, they are basically self-contained stories that go deeper into the character’s thoughts and some of their history. I thought these were well thought out character stories, as well as giving us some action and tie-ins with Civil War.
The art was mainly good, but reading them one after the other the difference was jarring. No matter how good Civil War was (or not), these felt like fill-in stories. I can’t wait to read more and get closer to the Secret Invasion threads later on.
The next arc is Revolution (#26-31) where things really start heating up in the Marvel U. There are two time lines being told in parallel. One is the aftermath of Civil War, where Cap’s group is hiding from Tony Stark and his Mighty Avengers in Doc Strange’s place. There is another confrontation between the two Avengers teams, which establishes their motives again.
The other time line takes place in Japan, and it involves Maya Lopez (Echo) being kidnapped by the Hand, lead by Elektra. Of course this is where the big reveal about the Secret Invasion is. Bendis also summarizes in very few words what’s been happening since the beginning of this title, and ties everything to the Skrulls, though it’s just a supposition at the moment.
There is also the return of Hawkeye, which is fine by me, but how he comes back isn’t even explained, actually Hawkeye himself makes a comment about how that doesn’t really matter.
After the big reveal in 31, the current arc deals with Trust (#32-37). Nobody trusts each other, everyone is suspect and Bendis does a good job of showing us that everybody could be a Skrull. However he also gives us a way to believe that everybody in this team is not a Skrull, thanks to a spell by Doc Strange. But of course we don’t know if that really works.
The other thread in this arc is The Hood and his band of villains. The way Hood deals with Tigra is interesting, but in the middle of the Invasion as well as things happening in Mighty Avengers (Ultron, Venom etc…) this feels like filler.
The art in the last two arcs is by Lenil Yu, which I always liked but here is a little bit different. His line is rougher, making this a very dark book. However his layouts are always inventive.
There are 3 more issues before the Secret Invasion event starts. I usually read comics in arcs, not single issues, however I don’t think I can do that with this series anymore. I am really excited about this storyline. This series has been conceived with the Secret Invasion, so everything will culminate in that story. My only worry is what is Bendis gonna do after that story?
Main Feed
I think what I like about Bendis’s superhero stuff is that he has an obvious familiarity and affection for Marvel history (unlike folks like Millar and Ellis) but he also isn’t overly beholden to how things were in the past (like I think Busiek and Waid can sometimes be). His Avengers stuff seems consistent with what’s come before it without seeming like stories that have been done a million times before.
Things I like about Bendis’s Avengers:
-Spider-man. I think he makes a great member of a team, as the joker/clown who is also ultra-competent when the shit hits the fan. I also like the issues where he’s in the black costume. I’ve always thought it looked better than the original.
-Spider-Woman. I don’t know why, but I’ve just always liked Spider-Woman.
-Luke and Jessica. I thought Alias was way too slow, but it is nice to see those storylines continued with occasional issues in NA (with Gaydos on art, even).
-The handling of the two teams. I avoided Civil War because I really dislike Mark Millar’s writing style, but Bendis handles the fall-out in a really interesting way.
-The Hood. I liked BKV’s original Hood limited series, so I’m happy to see the character appear again. He also made an appearance in the Beyond limited series by Dwayne McDuffie, which I thought was excellent. Have you read that yet?
-The invasion. I was really disappointed with the end of the first NA arc because it was so open ended. “Looks like there’s a conspiracy! Oh well.” I’m glad Bendis is explaining that now. Also, a Skrull invasion is just a darn good idea.
Things I don’t like
-Leinil Yu. I’m not crazy about this style in a superhero book. I just have really traditional taste, I think. I suppose I like things that look as much like 70’s Byrne or Perez art as possible. Maleev, Yu and Gaydos are very good artists, I guess I just think they’d better serve less conventional subject matter than the Avengers.
-Sentry. I’ve read all of NA, and I still can’t keep Sentry’s story straight. I found the recent stuff in Mighty Avengers particularly confusing. Did they give any indication that Ultron killing Lindy was a figment of Sentry’s imagination until the end of the story? The whole flashback thing didn’t work for me, either, because I don’t think they’ve ever really successfully sold the Sentry ret-con in the first place.
-The Doom storyline. It seemed a bit random to me. Also, if you do a fight between Iron Man and Dr. Doom, it should be a rule that the panels are dominated by gigantic CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! sound effects. Shame on the letterer.
- Lots to discuss. Love Spider-Man by Bendis (haven’t started USM yet!), Spider-Woman is ok, but it’ll be interesting to see where he goes with her true identity.
- Loved Alias, that’s just my type of story.
- Hood is ok, preferred the mini. But his storyline in NA felt like filler.
- Love Yu’s art! Admittedly it’s too dark in NA, but it looks great in SI. Anything he does I’m interested in.
- Many people complained about Sentry, I also have no idea about that scene with his wife. Was that a skrull? I hope they will either get rid of him or change his status quo.