New Avengers #4 – Review

by Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Stuart Immonen (pencils), Wade von Grawbadger (inks), Laura Martin (colors), and Chris Eliopoulos (letters)

The Story: The Avengers beat demonic faces and Iron Fist confronts Dr. Strange.

What’s Good: There’s a lot of action this month.  In fact, there’s a ton of action.  The great news is that that means we get a lot of sweet, sweet Stuart Immonen artwork, highlighted by the big, bright colors of Laura Martin.  Along with von Grawbadger, this is one of the most underrated art teams at Marvel.  Their work is pure, Saturday morning bliss and when there’s as much mayhem and as many explosions as there are this month, it makes for art that is a whole lot of fun.  It’s the sort of stuff that makes you excited, while carrying a gleefulness that brings the kid out of you.

Bendis’ story this month, much like the past couple of issues, also manages to really highlight just how starved we are for a Marvel mystic story and just how underused this corner of the Marvel Universe is.  That Bendis has decided to center his first arc around a fully mystic plot makes the comic feel fresh and unique amidst Marvel’s products, no small feat for an Avengers title.  This freshness only adds to the fun that Immonen’s art already naturally brings forth.

Really, though, Bendis’ script this month is mostly about promises of big things to come.  The hinted-at developments towards the end of this issue are really intriguing and I can’t wait to see where they go.  Bendis seems to be implying some darker, and less heroic roots for Dr. Strange, which definitely has me very interested.  This looks to be a surprising turn of events that should elevate this story and keep it feeling distinct and important.

What’s Not So Good: This issue has much of the same problems as last month’s did in that there’s only so high I can grade a book that is almost entirely action.  Worse still, it’s action that pits the Avengers exclusively against faceless, nameless, and voiceless demons.  These demons attack in such numbers and are so void of personality and distinguishing features that it’s impossible to ever really feel them as legitimate threat, and certainly not a special or unique one.  As a result, I never really felt invested in the action or its high stakes, and certainly not to the extent that Bendis desired.  It was fun action, sure, but it also felt insubstantial and superficial.