Siege #1 – Review

by Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Olivier Coipel (pencils), Mark Morales (inks), Laura Martin (colors), and Chris Eliopoulos (letters)

The Story: Norman Osborn finds his reason to begin his assault on Asgard.

What’s Good: This is some really impressive, massive work by Coipel and Martin.  The art here is gorgeous and some of the best stuff I’ve seen from Coipel.  The assault on Asgard, with its horde of fighter jets, is truly impressive and the mandatory explosions look great.  The book is maintains the “high budget” feel a book like this requires.

Perhaps unexpectedly, the most enjoyably written character in this first issue is actually Ares.  His disagreement with Osborn and the generally badass way Coipel illustrates is a blast (he rides into battle on a fighter jet, bent on one knee).  It’s clear Bendis wants this to be a war comic, and he’s placed Ares in the General position.  The result is a nice fusion of modern combat and ye olde fantasy heroism (the obligatory motivational speech in front of a horde of cheering warriors).  Seeing Ares lead modern HAMMER troops and superheroes as though they were Camelot’s finest is a lot of fun.

Beyond that, Bendis seems to want to make this issue, and this event, as straightforward as possible.  At the very least, you’re guaranteed not to get the sort of convoluted mess that other recent events have devolved into.