Avengers #11 – Review

by Brian Michael Bendis (writer), John Romita Jr. (pencils), Klaus Janson (inks), Dean White (colors), and Cory Petit (letters)

The Story: The Avengers and the Illuminati raise to secure the rest of the Infinity Gems before the Hood does.

The Review: It’s always something of a treat to see a creator take a big creative risk on a major, mainstream flagship title, and that’s exactly what Brian Bendis does this month.  The entire issue is narrated, heavily, but Uatu the Watcher, with little actual dialogue, by Bendis standards anyway.

When I first realized that this would be the case, I’ll admit that I wasn’t enthused at the prospect of reading a comic with that many words on the page.  Admittedly, it does get a bit exposition-heavy and Uatu’s plot recap early on isn’t the most thrilling, but rest assured, it grows on you.  Over time, Uatu’s narration lends scope and importance to this story.  It makes Bendis’ narrative feel as huge, epic, and vital as it should be.  I mean, they’re battling over the Infinity Gems for crap’s sake!  Amidst all the punching, it’s often easy to forget just how great the stakes are, but Uatu’s solemn role in the comic brings the focus heavily onto that.  His narration also manages to add layers and nuance, essentially going out of his way to tell you exactly why all of this is very, very dangerous.

That’s not to say that there isn’t decent dialogue.  Spider-Man pulls a couple of funny jokes and Bendis throws a jab at Thor’s manner of speaking.  Little bits of humor in a story like this are a surprise, but also welcome.

More than that though, Uatu’s narration allows the comic to speed along at a much brisker pace.  The end result is a comic that is literally a mad-dash all over the world, as the Hood and the Avengers jump from one gem to another.  It lends the race a frantic and exciting pace, and that excitement is something that last month lacked.  In covering more physical ground in one issue, this really does feel like a competition between the Avengers and the Hood where every second counts.

Furthermore, John Romita Jr. helps this along even further by delivering quite possibly his best performance yet on this title.  A couple of his lay-outs are just awesome and his illustrations of the Astral Plane and the gems in action are positively gorgeous, while his action scenes are as fun and dynamic as always.

Weekly Comic Book Review’s Top Picks

Dean’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Kick Drum Comix #1 – From artistic genius Jim Mahfood comes this wildly awesome issue with two stories centered on the urban music scene.  The stories are very high quality, but the art is just at another level.  I always love to see an artist who isn’t pulling any punches and just letting the art be what they want it to be.  Do yourself a favor and be sure to check this out.  Runner-up: X-Men #9

Most Anticipated: Butcher Baker the Righteous Maker #1 – What a stacked week for non-Big 2 comics and rising above it all (at least in terms of anticipation) is this new entry by Joe Casey.  The teaser images features what looked like some kind of cosmic she-male and the preview pages showed what appeared to be Jay Leno and Dick Cheney going to a bar together.  That’s enough for me.  It is already “sold out”, but you may be able to score one at your LCS and, if not, there’s always eBay if you don’t want to wait for the second printings to drop.

Other Picks: American Vampire #13, Detective Comics #875, Scalped #47, Undying Love #1, Age of X Universe #1, Amazing Spider-Man #657, Incognito: Bad Influences #5, Kick Ass 2 #2, Scarlet #5  (I usually try to limit myself to FIVE ‘other picks’, but this is a STACKED week)

Alex’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Captain America #615.1 – The best issue of Cap since #600, this .1 book delivered everything you’d expect from a quality Captain America comic.  Great story-telling, great atmosphere, great character-work, and great action with a sign of big things to come.

Most Anticipated: Jimmy Olsen – Once again, courtesy of the big two, the final Wednesday of the month is ridiculously stacked.  That said, it’s an easy pick for me.  Nick Spencer and RB Silva have been delivering 8-pages a month of superhero-sitcom fun in the back of Action Comics, it’s been a total blast thus far.  While this issue marks the end of the feature, it also means we get a giant sized helping of what has been an awesome comic.

Other Picks: Detective Comics #875, Action Comics #899, Captain America #616, Thor #621, American Vampire #13, Scarlet #5, Incognito: Bad Influences #5, Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #8, Amazing Spider-Man #657, Scalped #47, Wolverine #7, Avengers #11, Secret Avengers #11