New Avengers #13 – Review

by Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Mike Deodato & Howard Chaykin (artists), Rain Beredo & Edgar Delgado (colorists), and Joe Caramagna (letterer)

The Story: “Captain, my captain.  Well done, Miss Hand.”

The Review:  New Avengers #13 is a frustrating issue.  Thankfully, it’s frustrating because it’s a good issue, but it’s good in an irritating way that leaves you wondering why the hell Bendis waited this long to pull things together in an arc that has been a complete and utter mess thus far.

The two biggest problems of the arc are solved this month.  Firstly, the much more interesting, and relevant, Mike Deodato illustrated modern day portion takes up most of the issue.  The result is a much more cohesive, and coherent, experience that is much easier to enjoy.

Then there’s the fact that finally, finally, Bendis pulls together the past and the present-day plots, at long last showing how the two relate to one another.  Thankfully, the link isn’t forced or artificial and it is meaningful.  Hell, the brief back-and-forth between the Chaykin and Deodato portions actually works well for once, making the relationship between the two stories seem tight and secretive and when it all comes together, and Nick Fury shows up in the present, it feels like a real bleed-over, and a badassed one at that.  Of course, all of this did also serve to irritate me again about why Bendis took so long to get this formula right, but I can only judge this issue on its own merits.

The issue also makes solid use of Victoria Hand.  Bendis keeps her allegiance clouded in doubt and mystery for most of the issue and there are a couple of real fake-outs.  Cleverly, Bendis never actually has Victoria on panel either; she’s just a disembodied voice from the other end of a phone-line.  It makes her motives all the more murky, all of it leading to a super-slick ending.