Avengers #33 – Review

by Brian Michael Bendis (story), Terry Dodson (pencils), Rachel Dodson (inks), Jason Keith (colors), and Cory Petit (letters)

The Story:  The Avengers try to save the Wasp from Lord Gouzar and leave behind the Microverse once and for all.

The Review:  Comics like this are really frustrating, particularly when it comes to reviewing, let alone grading them.  What the hell do you do with a comic that is so perfectly inoffensive?  Bendis and the Dodsons give us that this month, providing us with an issue that is completely passable on every front but not a whole lot more than that.  There’s not a lot to praise, but there’s also nothing to really gripe about either.

That being said, in giving us a by the numbers “fun” Avengers story, it can definitely be argued that this issue feels a bit like comfort food.  It’s archetypal “big” superhero comics and everything is adequately and professionally done.  As such, it’s a nice, easy read and a fun way to pass the time, without causing any real irritation or frustration.

At the very least, Bendis gives us a nicely balanced comic here – there’s a good amount of action, plot progression, snappy dialogue, and humour, as well as genuine emotion in the reunion of the Pyms.  Overall, it’s a fairly rounded experience that never drags.

Secret Avengers #24 – Review

by Rick Remender (writer), Gabriel Hardman (art), Bettie Breitweiser (colors), and Chris Eliopoulos (letters)

The Story: The Secret Avengers fight to survive in the Core.

The Review:  First thing you’re going to notice when you flip open this issue: this is a gorgeous comic book.  It can’t be said enough that Gabriel Hardman and Bettie Breitweiser are a match made in heaven.  They give the book a fantastic, pulp sci-fi feel that perfectly matches Remender’s outlandish story of underground cities and robot civilizations.  It makes the book feel otherworldly and heavily atmospheric.  Despite being a clearly modern comic, there’s a sense of nostalgia to this book that reflects the science fiction stories of a bygone era.  That said, the world that Hardman and Breitweiser gives us is one that’s dark, dangerous, and constantly threatening with a hint of the weird and the surreal.

And really, it’s a good thing Hardman and Breitweiser bring the goods, because so much of this issue is about atmosphere.  Remender gives us a comic that is as much about the underground city itself as its character.  It’s an issue where the Secret Avengers are constantly hunted and hopelessly trapped in this other world.  Remender, particularly given the ending of last month’s issue, gives us a script where the heroes really seem vulnerable and in a hopeless situation, constantly on the run.

Much as there’s a surreal edge to the artwork, the same can be said for Remender’s script.  It’s fantastic seeing some of the characters run into cybernetic versions of friends, mistaking them for people they knew.  It only makes this world Remender has created all the more threatening and, well, bizarre.  Along with the fact that they’re surrounded by enemies and constantly hunted through dark, dank underground streets, this element of some of the cyborgs looking like old friends only increases the psychological burden that the Core is placing on the Avengers.  There’s a constant vibe that the longer they spend down in this city, the more their  psyches begin to fray along the edges.