New Avengers #64 – Review

by Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Mike McKone (art), Dave McCaig (colors), and Albert Deschesne (letters)

The Story: The Hood regroups and Loki makes a shocking move to help combat the unleashed Sentry.

What’s Good: It’s been a long time since I actually, genuinely cared about the Hood and what the future holds for him.  That Bendis makes me want to see more of the character is no small feat.

In focusing most of this issue on the Hood, Madame Masque, and their crew, Bendis ends up putting the Hood in a very, very interesting place post-Siege.  It’s the sort of thing that could spawn a new ongoing series, or at least a limited series.  Suddenly unsure of himself and afraid, this Parker Robbins presents an intriguing character whose future adventures are sure to be something to enjoy.

Bendis also bolsters the Masque/Hood relationship further, which only aids this new direction for the character.  She becomes Parker’s crutch and motivating force, while also being a total badass.  It’s strange; by issue’s end, it’s clear that these two are still villains, but I find myself oddly rooting for them.  To further highlight this, Bendis has a rather cool scene that parallels Madame Masque and the Hood’s relationship with that of Hawkeye and Mockingbird.  While on opposite sides of the hero/villain dichotomy, the love shared by both couples is equally genuine.

The other big news, of course, is the big twist involving Loki.  Loki performs a, well, fairly heroic action, as he actually helps the Avengers.  No, not Osborn’s Avengers.  After the role Loki’s been in for the last few years, this was a really cool, out of nowhere moment that made my eyes go wide.  I only wish it was given more space but even as such, this ruled.

Then there’s Norman Osborn’s role in the issue, as Bendis continues to try to paint him as at least a little sympathetic as Siege falls on his head.  Norman’s good qualities are dwelt on, as he is shown to be capable of loyalty and integrity in his relationship with the Hood.  It’s an issue where he doesn’t quite come off as the simple, cackling, totally rotten villain.

The art on this issue is also gorgeous, as Mike McKone does his best Stuart Immonen impersonation.  Indeed, I struggled to tell the two apart here, were it not for McKone’s Mockingbird, a character that Immonen draws to absolute perfection.  This is great stuff all around that is just plain fun to look at, with McKone’s Hood and Masque looking especially strong.

New Avengers #61 – Review

by Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Stuart Immonen (pencils), Daniel Acuna (art & colors), Wade von Grawbadger (inks), Dave McCaig (colors), and Albert Deschesne (letters)

The Story: The Avengers find themselves embattled against the Hood’s newly Norm stone-powered goons.

What’s Good: This issue is essentially divided into two separate, but parallel stories as the two Captain Americas battle the Corrupter and Living Laser while Spider-Woman and Spider-Man team up against Mandrill and Griffin.  All told, both sides are enjoyable and lead to an easy, readable book.

Spider-Man in particular is a joy to read.  It’s always a pleasure in New Avengers when Bendis is able to give him any form of extended attention.  The Spider-Man/Spider-Woman is certainly a surprisingly fun one.  Bendis exploits the gender dynamics, the similarity of their aliases (and surprising lack of actual similarities in abilities), and the opposition of Jessica Drew’s dour demeanor with Parker’s signature wackiness.  It makes for really fun reading, with Spider-Woman making for a very, very enjoyable straight-man.  Bendis’ use of Jessica’s Skrull detector as a kind of comic device certainly got a laugh out of me.

The Hood’s goons also show a kind of self-awareness that I appreciated.  They’re typical villains, and it’s weirdly fun to seem them trucking on, well aware of their being typical and their poor success rate.

On art, I really enjoyed both Immonen and Acuna’s work.  Both clearly have a field day with these D-list villains, giving them a campy, Technicolor sort of feel.  Immonen’s over-the-top drawings of the Corrupter are a definite highlight and his cartoonish sensibilities give the characters and actions a kind of fun vitality.  Acuna’s painted artwork is gorgeous, and does a lot to legitimize these relative no-namers.  The final splash, one of Mandrill and Spider-Woman, makes the ridiculous baboon actually appear horrifying.