New Avengers #9 – Review

by Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Howard Chaykin & Mike Deodato (art), and Rain Beredo & Edgar Delgado (colors)

The Story: The Avengers interrupt Superia’s plans in the present while, in the past, Nick Fury finds himself recruited into a certain initiative.

What’s Good: I wish Howard Chaykin would draw more comics.  He handles the Nick Fury flashback portions of the issue, and truly his style is like no other.  It’s gritty, a little cartoony, and absolutely brimming with life.  His chase sequence is filled with drama and his depiction of Fury’s 1950s spy world is slick and characterful.  Of course, that’s not to say that Mike Deodato’s work is no good; he and Rain Beredo deliver the same caliber of work we’ve been getting from them for some time now.  I also felt that the dichotomy between Deodato’s super-polished style and Chaykin’s more idiosyncratic look did a good job reflecting the past/present nature of the two plots.  There’s also a truly fantastic panel by Deodato that depicts the Avengers as the bad guy ex-HAMMER goons see them, and they look absolutely terrifying.

I had fun with Brian Bendis’ script as well.  As always, the New Avengers feel like a group of buddies more than anything.  Much as was the case last month, this issue’s dialogue is legitimately funny.  More than that though, Bendis enhances the humour with superpowers.  Seeing Luke Cage’s method of competing with his wife and Iron Fist in a truck-race (you read that right) is hilarious, as is Thing’s initiation of his battle plan.  Of course, the best laughs and the tone in general come from the character’s back-and-forth rapport, which is always completely natural, lively, and good humoured.  More than that, it’s also free of the notorious Bendis-speak.