Avengers #5 – Review

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

The Story: The Avengers discover the truth behind the breaking of the time-stream and come up with a gameplan.

What’s Good: The new main Avengers title continues to deliver its brand of old-school, pulpy stories, which is a good thing, as combined with Romita’s distinctive, scratchy style, it makes the title stand out among the mass of Avengers-related title, and that’s a major accomplishment in and of itself.

It also provides grounds to use a smattering of characters that can’t be found anywhere else, guys like Maestro, the Next Avengers, and most importantly, Kang.  Kang is presented really well this month, both arrogant and sniveling, seemingly in a constant state of petulance.  There’s a sense throughout this issue that Kang’s up to something that the others can’t quite put their fingers on, despite their suspicions.  I couldn’t help but get the feeling that despite his current downcast state, he’s still pulling the strings somehow, which did intrigue me about the story-arc’s future.  There’s also a certain kind of tragedy inherent to the fact that the broken time-stream has resulted in, or perhaps is caused by, Kang’s fighting the same unwinnable battle against Ultron again and again and again.  It’s a nice statement on the classic comic villain and, combined with Romita’s down-trodden rendition of Kang, makes the character all the more compelling, even sympathetic.

Beyond that, Romita’s art maintains its recent upswing in quality.  Large panels are very impressive, and the bigger the action, the better.  Giant, flamboyant images are clearly what Romita excels at and he attacks any and all action sequences with gusto.  The book isn’t lacking character, and while it may not be for everyone, I found it to be fun.

Avengers #2 – Review

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

The Story: The Avengers attempt to build a time machine with disastrous result and Wonder Man decides that it’s time for action.

What’s Good: This issue is a definite improvement.  Unlike last month’s unfortunate misstep, this issue has a solid structure and feels far more cohesive and organic in its plot developments and narrative progression as many of the growing pains begin to ease out.

I think a lot of this greater cohesion comes from this issue’s really spelling out the niche for this particular Avengers title.  Free from Dark Reign aftermath and such, the book is allowed to do what it was intended to do, which is delve into the high level, almost cosmic styled adventures reminiscent of classic Avengers comics.  Things are quickly gaining that wacky feel that lets you know that you’re getting increasingly distanced from street level, which is a refreshing shift from Marvel’s direction over the past while.  There’s a greater sense of camp and escapism and the book is finding its identity.

I found myself intrigued most of all by Wonder Man’s sudden, violent involvement.  It’s a promising development and I appreciated the Avengers’ fear of Simon becoming another Sentry or Scarlet Witch type debacle.  Wonder Man himself may serve as an opportunity for the Avengers to prove Simon himself wrong; that the Avengers can avoid repeating the mistakes of old, preventing rather than causing destruction.

Romita also shows improvement.  His art feels a lot more fun and comfortable with itself and while Maria Hill still looks weird as hell, there are, overall, far fewer oddities.