Dark Avengers #4 (Dark Reign) – Review

By Brian Michael Bendis (Writer), Mike Deodato (Art), and Rain Beredo (Colors)

The Story: With Norman Osborn (Iron Patriot) and Dr. Doom busy confronting Morgan Le Fey in the past, the leaderless Dark Avengers must face La Fey and her demons in the present. During the battle, Clint Barton goes public with information regarding the Dark Avengers…

What’s Good: I know that Brian Michael Bendis’ writing is pretty divisive, but I found Dark Avengers #4 to be one hell of a fun read. And that’s almost entirely because the Dark Avengers have a team dynamic that makes good (and appropriate) use of Bendis’ style of dry, sarcastic humor and personality driven dialogue. It goes a long way towards masking the fact that, as far as plot is concerned, very little actually happens in the latest issue of Dark Avengers.

As for the artwork, Mike Deodato and Rain Beredo continue to do great things as a team. Dark, moody, detailed, and even, at times, sexy, the art helps to ease the pain of the $3.99 price tag a little bit. In short, Dark Avengers #4 is one good-looking book.

What’s Not So Good: For as much as I like the writing and the artwork on a technical level, Dark Avengers #4 feels somewhat lacking as a whole, especially considering that it costs $3.99. One reason is that it’s an extremely fast read that has a number of (visually impressive) panels and pages with little, if any dialogue. Sure it looks nice, but it makes the everything fly by. Another reason is that the issue is pretty light on plot. Things with Doom and Le Fey wrap up well enough, but it left me wanting more. In addition, it feels almost incomplete in some ways due to the rather abrupt ending. The ending works; don’t get me wrong, I just wish the stop wasn’t so damn jarring.

Also, on a side note, Dark Avengers is starting to feel a bit too much like Warren Ellis’ Thunderbolts.  While that’s not necessarily a bad thing considering how awesome the Ellis, Deodato, and Beredo run on Thunderbolts was, it wouldn’t hurt if the creative team put some more space between the two series in some way.  That said, I understand it might be difficult considering that Dark Avengers has the same art team and many of the same characters that Thunderbolts had.

Conclusion: There’s a lot to like about Dark Avengers #4, but considering how fast it moves, it’ll be up to you to decide whether or not it’s worth the asking price.

Grade: B-

-Kyle Posluszny

Incredible Hercules #128 (Dark Reign) – Review

By Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente (Writers), Dietrich Smith (Pencils), Terry Pallot (Inks), and Raul Trevino (Colorist)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: The Incredible Hercules has disappointed me as of late. The series remains fun and humorous, but the storylines have been rather weak. If Hercules and Amadeus Cho weren’t so entertaining to follow, I probably would have dropped the book months ago. But since they are, I figured I might as well give Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente another issue or two to right the ship.

The Story: Incredible Hercules #128 is pretty much one big fight scene. Herc’s group, the Olympus Group, and the Dark Avengers square off in a battle filled with action and, unsurprisingly since Herc’s involved, comedy. Plot progression doesn’t really happen until the end, so in order to avoid a spoiler, that’s all I will say for this section.

What’s Good: As usual, Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente do a great job of handling the humor and character work that makes Incredible Hercules such a fun read each month. The writers’ efforts are complimented nicely by the art teams lively, cartoony visuals that keep the battle action-packed and, oddly enough, hilariously amusing. Watching The Sentry and Venom (Dark Spidey) get knocked around like Loony Tunes characters is quite satisfying.

What’s Not So Good: I wish the plot driving the big battle interested me more. The characters involved keep me reading, especially when the mythology behind some of them comes into play, but as a whole I can’t help but respond to the story with a resounding “Meh.” Maybe things will pick up next issue, but I’m not counting on it.

Conclusion: A Hercules flavored throwdown is always worth checking out. Just don’t expect much from the story.

Grade: C

-Kyle Posluszny