Avengers #15 – Review

By: Jonathan Hickman, Nick Spencer (Writers), Stefano Caselli (Artist) Frank Martin, Edgar Delgado (Colorists)

The Story: As the signal is constantly sent from the Perth site in Australia, the Avengers tries to understand what it is as what it does as they try to stop the madness it causes.

The Review: I have to admit, it is refreshing to see this title being written differently in the past few issues. From what we could see, the pattern that had been seen was that we’d get some action, some exposition and a whole lot of teasing and hinting at something larger. Starting with the prelude to Infinity that began with the latest issue, the whole pacing and the presentation has changed, for the better.

Sure, we still get some exposition, teasing and action, yet the amount in which Hickman and Spencer does so varies by a large margin. Instead of showing quick glimpses of action and of the general situation, both writers focus on a single situation and allow it to develop completely as the Avengers tries to deal with it. It is a much more satisfying read as we can see the depth and the gravitas of what they have to solve.

WCBR’s Top Picks

Dean’s Top Picks

Best of the past week: Lazarus #1 – It was probably very close between this and The Wake #2, but Lazarus has that nifty NEW smell whereas The Wake is soooo old and last month’s news (haha…just kidding).  Seriously, what put Lazarus over the top is the use of a different flavor of dystopian future than we’re used to and an interesting use of a powered individual that makes me question whether my declining interest in Big 2 superhero comics is due solely to the silly spandex costumes?  Regardless, it was a nifty comic and had great art from Michael Lark (including one great fight scene where the action actually flows from panel-to-panel).  I’m sure we’ll see The Wake here again before it finishes it’s run.  Heck, The Wake is so good that it could sweep the remaining Pick of the Weeks.

Most anticipated this week: Very light pull list for me this week, so there are some comics listed that I kinda anticipate being crap.

1). Transformers: Robots in Disguise #19 – Nothing like the fervor of the newly converted, but since I started catching up on the two main Transformers titles (RoD and More than Meets the Eye) I’ve been amazed at how good they are.  Seriously, I’m enjoying these enough that I rewatched the Transformers movies and was also Prowling (hehehe) on Amazon to look at action figures.  They’re even reasonably new reader friendly.  Pick them up.  You won’t be sorry.

2). Avengers #15 – I enjoy Jonathan Hickman and am moderately curious to see what Infinity will be about.  So, that leaves me mildly curious to see what happens in this issue (since it it touted as an Infinity-related comic).

3). Satellite Sam #1 – This could be a huge miss for me, but I’ll check it out.  It’s supposedly about the murder of a 1950’s serial TV star and it’s a new series from Image.  That sounds promising, but it’s written by Matt Fraction (who is usually a big miss for me) and drawn by Howard Chaykin (who draws faces on the sides of people’s heads).  This is precisely why we have digital comics: So you don’t have to commit to having something on your pull list.

4). Dexter #1 – Awesome timing, huh?  The Dexter TV-program is in its eighth (and final) season, so Marvel decides to launch a comic book to cash in on the popularity.  I do like the TV program even when it has it’s flaws, so the comic is worth a look.  I wish IDW was producing this instead of Marvel.

5). GI Joe: Special Missions #4 – This title is the bedridden, weak sister of the GI Joe line-up.  This initial story arc has been very slow moving and a long-time veteran artist like Paul Gulacy should be kinda ashamed to have his name on this art.  Seriously dude….use a pseudonym if your art is going to be this haphazard.  This title is here to remind us that IDW is, in fact, mortal when comes to licensed property comics.  Even they can screw up.

Avengers #15 – Review

by Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Chris Bachalo (pencils & colors), Tim Townsend, Wayne Faucher, Jaime Mendoza, Victor Olazaba, and Mark Irwin (inks), and Cory Petit (letters)

The Story: Steve Rogers sends a strike-team to Brazil to tackle the Worthy-fied Hulk, including a Spider-Woman still searching for her big moment of redemption.

What’s Good:  While I know that he has his detractors, I personally quite like Chris Bachalo’s art.  It’s cartoony flavour has a kind of good-natured sincerity to it that feels genuine and positive.  His action scenes are also lightning fast and overall, he handles the hectic stuff about as well as anyone could hope.  Mostly though, his strength is in the fact that his unique style does well in making characters naturally likable, which is crucial in an issue like this.

Both Bendis and Bachalo also did really strong work in coordinating the running battle this month.  And really, that’s the best way to describe it: coordinated.  The action had a nice, organic flow to it and really gave off the sense that the Avengers involved were working in tandem and employing strategy.  Better still, we got to see guys like Hawkeye, the Protector, Ms. Marvel, and Spider-Woman at the forefront of the fight, using a whole range of their abilities.  It’s a nice change, given that these characters usually take a backseat to the bigger-names when it comes to sharing page-space in fight sequences.

What’s Not So Good:  ]It seems that Bendis has been using Fear Itself as a kind of narrative vehicle through which characters can define themselves by.  We saw it last month with Red Hulk, and we saw it in this month’s New Avengers issue with Mockingbird.  The thing is, there were reasons to focus on those two and there were fresh motivations and changes to both characters that left them wanting to define themselves.  Rulk’s a former bad guy and had just joined the Avengers, while Mockingbird had just had a near death experience and had just gained superpowers.  Both characters were in new places in their lives.

Weekly Comic Book Review’s Top Picks

Alex’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: New Avengers #14 – A really close call between this and Journey into Mystery, but given how exemplary this week’s issue of New Avengers was, as compared to Journey into Mystery’s consistent excellence, it’s hard not to recognize New Avenger’s outstanding effort that went above the series norm.  Fantastic character work that made me into a much bigger fan of Mockingbird.

Most Anticipated:Daredevil #1 – Daredevil is one of those characters who will always mean a lot to me.  While being a kid in the late 80s-early 90s pretty much guaranteed that I was an X-fan, Daredevil was my favourite hero, ever since finding a box of Frank Miller Daredevil back issues in a discount store in NYC.  His were the stories that really hit me hard as a kid as they always felt “adult,” epic, and emotional in ways I’d never experienced in comics before.

But it’s been hard times for Matt Murdock.  Shadowland was a catastrophe, Andy Diggle’s run before that never quite managed to hit its full potential, and Daredevil: Reborn was salt in the wound.  It all lend me to believe that after career defining work by Brian Bendis and a run of Ed Brubaker doing what he does best, perhaps the downcast noir well has run dry.

So I look forward to Mark Waid’s dashing and more upbeat direction.  And hey, at the very least, the art is going to be ridiculously, eye-meltingly good.

Other Picks: Avengers #15, Batman: Gates of Gotham #3, Invincible Iron Man #506

Dean’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: American Vampire: Survival of the Fittest #2 – The excellence of the American Vampire franchise is almost getting to be routine, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be celebrated.  This was a #2 issue and it still managed to toss enough cool Indiana Jones and James Bond themes to make this story more than routine.  It really would have been possible for Snyder to sit back and just advance the story of vampire-hunter secret agents infiltrating Nazi-held Europe before America’s involved in WWII.  But….he didn’t take the easy way out and that made the story better than adequate.  And, I LOVE Sean Murphy’s art.  He has this incredible combination of cartooning and realism that opens up all sorts of possibilities that most artists can’t touch.  Runner-up: Loose Ends #1

Most Anticipated: Elephantmen #33 – There are a lot of interesting looking Big 2 superhero books coming out this week….and….while I’m looking forward to some, none is making my mouth water, so let’s shine a light on a title that has been consistently strong for a very long time: Elephantmen.  This long-running story of a dystopian future where animal-human hybrids who were created as weapons of war and are now trying to assimilate into a society that hates and fears them is always compelling and has always featured excellent art.  You can’t go wrong picking up Elephantmen.

Other Picks: The Walking Dead #87, Hulk #37, Sergio Aragones Funnies #1, Hack/Slash #6, Avengelyn #1, Marineman #6, Daredevil #1