Avengers #3 – Review

by Brian Michael Bendis (writer), John Romita Jr. (pencils), Klaus Janson (inks), Dean White (colors), and Cory Petit (letters)

The Story: The Avengers battle Apocalypse and his horsemen as the broken timestream causes mayhem.

What’s Good: After complaining about the mediocrity of this title for the last two months, I admit that I was fully prepared to voice some variation of the same concerns this month.  I’m happily able to report that, much to my surprise, that’s far from the case.

I think a big part of this is due to the book’s no longer being so self-conscious about headlining the Heroic Age or moving past Dark Reign.  Status quo, rosters, and pondering the past are all shuffled to the side.  We’re also no longer mired in the ambiguities of Bendis’ ideas relating to time travel or the “broken” timestream.  In the place of all this muck is a barrel-full of fun, as this issue smashes you in the face with a fist-full of Marvel insanity.

And really, this insanity seems key to the book’s identity.  The brawl with Apocalypse and his Four Horsemen is awesome and a really cool throwback and reminder of the late 80s and early 90s.  Mix this together with Apocalypse’s cheesy, old-school villain dialogue and the whole conflict is an absolute blast.  It makes the Avengers completely unlike anything else offered by the Avengers-line of titles.  This issue is such a concentrated dose of camp and nostalgia that it ends up being truly unique.

Along with this newly-found identity are the beginnings of the team dynamic and synergy that were sorely lacking in the first two issues.  Spider-Man and Iron Man of all people have something of a bonding experience that feels almost inexplicably resonant, perhaps because this title has thus far been starved of this sort of meaningful interplay between team members.  Meanwhile, Spider-Woman and Spider-Man rekindle their spark and Noh-Varr and his ongoing attempts at humanity add another source of comedy.  Surprisingly integral as well is Maria Hill, who acts as the glue that holds the team together and provides narrative direction.  Her constant snark added a great deal of colour to the issue and catered well to the voice Bendis does so well.