New Avengers #64 – Review

by Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Mike McKone (art), Dave McCaig (colors), and Albert Deschesne (letters)

The Story: The Hood regroups and Loki makes a shocking move to help combat the unleashed Sentry.

What’s Good: It’s been a long time since I actually, genuinely cared about the Hood and what the future holds for him.  That Bendis makes me want to see more of the character is no small feat.

In focusing most of this issue on the Hood, Madame Masque, and their crew, Bendis ends up putting the Hood in a very, very interesting place post-Siege.  It’s the sort of thing that could spawn a new ongoing series, or at least a limited series.  Suddenly unsure of himself and afraid, this Parker Robbins presents an intriguing character whose future adventures are sure to be something to enjoy.

Bendis also bolsters the Masque/Hood relationship further, which only aids this new direction for the character.  She becomes Parker’s crutch and motivating force, while also being a total badass.  It’s strange; by issue’s end, it’s clear that these two are still villains, but I find myself oddly rooting for them.  To further highlight this, Bendis has a rather cool scene that parallels Madame Masque and the Hood’s relationship with that of Hawkeye and Mockingbird.  While on opposite sides of the hero/villain dichotomy, the love shared by both couples is equally genuine.

The other big news, of course, is the big twist involving Loki.  Loki performs a, well, fairly heroic action, as he actually helps the Avengers.  No, not Osborn’s Avengers.  After the role Loki’s been in for the last few years, this was a really cool, out of nowhere moment that made my eyes go wide.  I only wish it was given more space but even as such, this ruled.

Then there’s Norman Osborn’s role in the issue, as Bendis continues to try to paint him as at least a little sympathetic as Siege falls on his head.  Norman’s good qualities are dwelt on, as he is shown to be capable of loyalty and integrity in his relationship with the Hood.  It’s an issue where he doesn’t quite come off as the simple, cackling, totally rotten villain.

The art on this issue is also gorgeous, as Mike McKone does his best Stuart Immonen impersonation.  Indeed, I struggled to tell the two apart here, were it not for McKone’s Mockingbird, a character that Immonen draws to absolute perfection.  This is great stuff all around that is just plain fun to look at, with McKone’s Hood and Masque looking especially strong.

New Avengers #57 – Review

By Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Stuart Immonen (artist), Wade von Grawbadger (inker), Dave McCaig (colorist)

The Story: Norman Osborn and Doctor Harrow finalize the terms of their deal while both the New and Dark Avengers are still reeling from the effects of the power drainer. The New Avengers successfully escape a no-win situation, but Osborn’s not going to let them get off so easily, which could be especially bad for one Avenger.

The Good: Say what you will about Bendis and his writing, but the guy has been steadily working on this book for some five years now without interruption and it’s hard not to admire that kind of dedication. This is a fun team, and the addition of Ronin and Mockingbird brings a bit of that old school expertise to the group. I honestly did not expect to enjoy having Mockingbird back, but she’s a wonderfully strong character, as evidenced by her double splash page in this issue. I’m also happy to see Immonen’s art again, having been a huge fan of his work on Nextwave. His work is expressive, dynamic, and as equally good at conveying action sequences as it is the quieter moments, like towards the end in the hospital.  I would love to see him stick around on this title for as long as possible because I really believe he does right by it.

The Not So Good: This power drainer has been a weak and ill-defined Macguffin that has utterly pissed on the plot. Since Bendis never really explained what it can and can’t do, it seems capable of doing whatever it needs to when Bendis calls for it. For example, if this thing is supposed to drain powers, then why was Ronin affected? As far as I know Barton doesn’t have any powers and is just a highly trained fighter. And why could Captain America be affected by this when he only has a cybernetic arm, is the power drainer capable of screwing up electronics as well? Finally, why has the power drainer messed with Cage’s heart of all things? I get that it has left the heroes feeling nauseated and shitty, but that’s still a far cry from the stroke-like symptoms Cage is experiencing. Are we to now believe that the power drainer causes severe health problems too? Hell, is there anything this device can’t do? Bendis doesn’t explain it either way and that’s unfortunate because it makes this issue fairly ridiculous on examination. Also, and I never thought I’d be saying this, but McCaig’s colors here are without doubt the biggest eyesore I’ve ever seen in a comic.  Seriously, his contributions to this issue are disgusting and bring down every background and environment he renders. If there was one reason not to buy this comic, it would be for what he’s done to it.

Conclusion: Some reliably solid character moments are unfortunately lost in the mire of a ridiculous plot that Bendis could have easily fixed if he’d wanted to. This issue was good, but not great, and certainly nothing you need to spend $4 on.

Grade:  C-

-Tony Rakittke

New Avengers #56 – Review

by Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Stuart Immonen (pencils), Wade von Grawbadger (inks), Dave McCaig (colors), and Albert Deschesne (letters)

The Story: Mockingbird and the crippled Avengers battle the Wrecking Crew and their power drainer. Meanwhile, Dr. Harrow gives Norman Osborn an offer he can’t refuse.

What’s Good: About 85% of this issue is composed of action scenes surrounding the Wrecking Crew. As such, it’s an enjoyable, light read that’s certainly quite exciting. Mockingbird picking up and using Bucky Cap’s shield and gun was a definite highlight and one does get a sense of the impossible odds she’s up against.

I also liked the narration by Mockingbird, who’s been fairly neglected over the past few issues. It’s clear that Bendis has a lot of love for the character, as the captions succeed in adding character, touching repeatedly on some of her dissatisfaction with Clint while putting forward her brazen and sassy attitude, while also enhancing the feeling of desperation.

All in all, it’s a simple, fun issue and the opening scene with Mockingbird fighting the Wrecking Crew is golden. Also, Loki’s presence, however brief, is always welcome in any Marvel comic. He/She just wreaks of malevolence, as always.

What’s Not So Good: At first, I wasn’t entirely sure what the point was of having this internal narration by Mockingbird, only to have it end within 7-8 pages; but then later on I realized Bendis needed to cram in Dark Reign and couldn’t have Osborn’s conversation with Harrow without ending Mockingbird’s narration. I just felt a little cheated.

Speaking of the Dark Reign conversation, I’m not sure I buy Dr. Harrow being such a massive threat to Norman Osborn. I mean, this is Dr. Harrow we’re talking about here and his big trick is draining powers.  Surely, power drainers have been done a multitude of times before. It’s such a basic, unimaginative concept, that while it’s enough to make Harrow a legit New Avengers villain, no way is it enough to carry him to the upper echelons of the Marvel Universe’s power structure.

The power drainer itself is also a bit of a problematic plot device as well, since it basically leads to the Avengers groaning and limping around for an entire issue. The drainer isn’t lethal in and of itself, it just makes them sick.  It seems as though Bendis couldn’t decide whether or not the drainer would render them unconscious, so instead he has opted for some awkward middle ground of heroes lying around, then standing up for one perfectly timed action before collapsing again.

Meanwhile, I want to make clear that I love Stuart Immonen’s art.  That said, I’m still not sure that it fits a comic like New Avengers. Immonen’s art makes the Avengers look like an Image superhero comic, not an ultra mainstream blockbuster. It feels oddly diminishing. I think Immonen does great work, but I don’t think this is the right title for him to be on.

Conclusion: A solid issue that suffers from a few irritants and some curious artwork.

Grade: C+

-Alex Evans