Why I Love... New Avengers!
Welcome to another edition of the Why I Love column, where I, Eric Ratcliffe, pick something I've read, played, listened to or watched to discuss with you, fair readers. This week we review the first volume of a series which has been talked about and had controversy surrounding it since the launch after Avengers Disassembled. I talk, of course, about Brian Michael Bendis' New Avengers!
New Avengers was a relaunch of a team that seemed to suffer from low sales and some lukewarm writing ever since Kurt Busiek left the Avengers. The Geoff Johns run is highly talked about as well as some of the weird things that Chuck Austen did. Then Bendis came on to the Avengers and shook the very foundation of the team.
Brian took the Scarlet Witch and followed up on themes from Bryne's West Coast Avengers, having Wanda really lose it once and for all and the Chaos Magic that she controls attacked the team, killing the Vision, Hawkeye and Scott Lang (Ant-Man), which results in the team disbanding...or so it seems.
With Thor disappearing after Disassembled (due to Ragnarock and leading to one of the best final issues I think I've ever read) and both Clint (Hawkeye) and Scott dead, Tony (Stark - Iron Man) and Steve (Rogers - Captain America) try to convince everyone that disbanding is the best thing they can possibly do. Though, as we find out in New Avengers #1, other forces were at work to really put our heroes together once again.
The Raft (a prison for super power criminals) wass broken into and attacked, leading Steve Rogers, Matt Murdock (Daredevil), Luke Cage, Jessica Drew (Spider-Woman), Peter Parker (Spider-Man), Tony Stark and a mysterious bearded man known as Bob to fight all the villains attempting to escape from the Raft. It leads to one of the more interesting fight scenes, which lasts, via flashbacks through the third issue.
The mystery of Robert Reynolds (Bob) aka the Sentry would only stay in New Avengers until the mid 20s when he moved into Mighty Avengers under Bendis. It also seemed like Matt Murdock and his alter ego Daredevil would play a bigger part in the book ,but instead led to someone else taking his place.
David Finch also was the first artist to tackle the book's art chores and was soon joined by Frank Cho, Steve McNiven and Olivier Coipel all in the first year and a half of the book. Finch of course left the book to do a year long run on the recently launched Moon Knight title and wasn't officially replaced by a full time artist until issue #27 with Gabriel Yu, but I am getting far ahead of myself.
The first arc had the team forming after realizing that there was more to this than just a breakout at the Raft. The team at that moment was made up of Captain America, Luke Cage, Iron Man, Spider-Man and Spider-Woman who were soon joined by Wolverine who was investigating on his own. This was our first full New Avengers roster as by the end of this story we were witness to Jessica Drew acting suspicious and working with mysterious parties as well as SHIELD seemingly not being fully together as it once seemed. There were more nefarious forces at work. (New Avengers #1-6)
The team, of course, had a bigger problem at that moment and that bigger problem was...the Sentry. No one remembered who he was or where he came from and what made matters worse was the wife that he thought he killed that got him locked in the Raft in the first place was alive and well.
Brian weaved an interesting story from what Paul Jenkins set up when he first introduced the Sentry in the first place, even bringing Paul into the book in a rather humorous way. It was obvious Steve and Tony wanted to help the conflicted man but as we all know by the end of Siege things really didn't work out that way. This arc, though, set up the Sentry for his placement on the team as well as the bigger Marvel U. It guest starred the Fantastic Four, the X-Men and introduced us to a mysterious group of the heaviest hitters in the Marvel U called the Illuminati. (New Avengers #7-10)
Next, Brian sent the team to Japan thanks to Matt Murdock who told Steve that he couldn't join the team but had someone who could. Our team met up with Ronin who was watching as Madam Hydra and the Hand went into an uneasy alliance with the Silver Samurai. It also gave us a little more insight into exactly who Jessica Drew worked for and why. Of course after an interesting scene between Logan and the Silver Samurai it was revealed that he was being held against his will and that once again SHIELD was corrupted from the inside. Ronin turned out to be Echo, who was last seen in Brian's Daredevil run and was the final technical member of this incarnation of the team...even if she was only in this arc. (New Avengers #11-13)
Next ,Brian gave us the back-story of Jessica Drew with beautiful Frank Cho artwork. It was revealed that she'd been a double agent working for Fury ever since we last saw her in Alias and the fact that she'd lost her powers. Hydra reached out to her and offered her her powers back as well as a few upgrades to work for them. In a really great scene we see Fury communicating with the team underground, saying that he'd be in touch and setting up a lot for the character's future. (New Avengers #14-15)
We also - via these 2 issues and the Annual - got the team's first real public outing as well as the wedding of Luke and Jessica Jones after she'd had the baby. It led to some of the best art in the series via Olivier Coipel, who I think really needs to do more Avengers work, especially after Siege. The man knows how to hit on all cylinders in story form. Brian uses every character incredibly well (with a very surprise appearance from Ms. Marvel) and starts what Fraction took and ran with in the relaunched Iron Man. (New Avengers Annual #1)
What I mean by that statement is that for the first 20 issues of New Avengers we are fully in Tony Stark's court. He's likable, easy to cheer for and just makes you want to listen to him. In the Annual he has one of the best moments of the 60 plus issues of the series when he uses all of his armors to fight the new Adaptoid. Sadly ,right after issue 21, Civil War hit and Tony became a one note villain who did some very stupid things.
The next five issues were direct aftermath from House of M and most of the art duties were handled by Mike Deodato and showed why he became a heavy hitting artist at Marvel jumping from New Avengers to Thunderbolts to Dark Avengers and now Secret Avengers. The story follows the energy from the collected mutant race returning to the planet and landing in a helpless man who causes some very good heroes to die.
Yes, my friends, another controversial moment in the book's history came when Bendis killed Alpha Flight mostly off page. It's a shocking moment for sure, but really worked in a context of the story, and in my opinion has an easy out if anyone ever wants to bring the team back. It also led to Maria Hill finally learning about House of M and has some of her earliest character work showing her as incredibly strong female character. Whom you may not agree with but you sure as hell have to agree with her results.
Also packed into these 5 issues were Luke Cage's first shot at leading the team by confronting some gang bangers in a rundown part of New York, [as well as] Peter's Scarlet Spider costume and Bob's first regression into the things that would lead to the Void gaining full control in the future. Oh, and Brian really needs to write Magneto as he nails him towards the ending of this very arc showing a clear understanding of the man. The Guardian aka Michael Pointer who was given the collected energy has lasted as a character to this day and seems to have very loose ties to the X-Men. (New Avengers #16 - #20)
The next 5 issues of the series had individual spotlights on a few members of the team who were trying to deal with the Civil War hitting. Civil War was an event that I myself as a fan was excited for and then was disappointed in the execution by Mark Millar who wrote almost everyone out of character, but I digress. Brian managed to write some great spotlight issues and delve into some solo character material that we weren't able to see for some time.
We started with Cap going underground and recruiting the Falcon to his cause, which also brought legendary creator Howard Chaykin back to Marvel Comics. The story and overall tone felt spot on with everything Brubaker had been doing with him in the solo book and showed a clear understanding of Steve as a leader, a human being and even an artist.
The next issue was Leinil Yu's first work with Bendis and was easily one of the strongest issues of the entire book ,and in this reviewer's opinion one of the best done-in-one issues of any comic of the last decade. We focus on Luke Cage who does not want to sign the Registration Act and who also makes some very valid points against said Act (This issue leads me to believe that Brian was completely anti-registration and only one of the issues of the arc was pro-registration...technically). Luke makes a stand in his neighborhood and really shows why he eventually became the focal point of the book for most of the rest of the series. The final speech he gives to SHIELD is really a highlight of the series.
Next issue was about Spider-Woman and how Civil War changed her. Sadly, just like the Luke Cage issue, once again Iron Man is basically a mustache twirling bad guy here and puts her in the worst position she could be in her life. Jess really showed to be one of Brian's favorite characters in the early stages of the book and here he shows her as a strong yet damaged female lead who had really run out of options.
Next issue was the weakest of the arc and had a spotlight on the Sentry who decided to run away from everyone in fear that he'd have to hurt heroes that opposed the Registration Act. The twist here being that Bob visits the moon and the Inhumans, but to be completely honest it's the weakest issue of the entire series.
The end of the arc had Tony Stark confronted by an employee who was not at all happy with what Tony was using his work for. It also had Maria Hill completely stepping up to the bat for the first time as a true hero of the Marvel U and gave early hints to the relaunched series and a Tony who wasn't completely the bad guy of the War but more a tragic figure. All in all, though, it was an interesting arc that gave us insights to each hero's thoughts and actions. (New Avengers #21 - #25)
New Avengers #26 was another solo issue, but didn't actually focus on a member of the current team. The issue had Clint Barton looking for Wanda Maximoff (Scarlet Witch)and answers to why he was alive again. It was yet again another controversial issue for some readers and showed a fractured directionless man who by the end of the issue doesn't really find exactly what he was looking for. But for a longtime fan of the character, Brian really had a strong grasp on the man and even shows a different side of Wanda whom I hope still gets to be the hero we all knew and loved one day.
New Avengers #27-#32 was the big payoff to exactly what was going on in SHIELD, bringing in 2 new team members and really showing exactly where things were about to head in the Marvel U. The team now made up of Spidey, Wolverine, Spider-Woman, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Doctor Strange and Clint Barton go in search of Echo who is being attacked by the Hand and their new leader Elektra.
This arc also introduced new ongoing penciller of the series Leinil Yu who had already done at least 2 issues of the book. He brought the perfect artistic mix of paranoia and suspense that the series started to gear towards and packed plenty of action in each issue.
Adding a longtime Avenger like Clint back onto the team also helped show why this was still Cap's team and helped Cage and the others not go completely crazy when the Skrull was revealed. Brian nailed his sarcastic and smart aleck tendencies, and there is a scene between Clint and Peter while fighting some ninjas that shows a clear understanding of the character's nature that you can't help but smile at.
It also showed Luke as a strong leader, even if he was too worried about whom he could trust to really have his full attention of his own team.
New Avengers #33- #37 and the second annual brought in the new kingpin of crime, the Hood who became almost like an archenemy to the New Avengers. The way Brian sets up his takeover and gets people to listen to the Hood is interesting and feels a little like some of his crime work of the past. It also fed into the Venom bomb arc of Mighty Avengers that took place at the same time and ends with one of the most heartbreaking sequences you could possibly think of. It also sets up Doctor Strange for his later return in the series.
New Avengers #38 was a return to Bendis and Gaydos' Alias as Michael Gaydos joins up for the issue to tell the story of what happens after Jessica Jones switched sides and holed her and the baby up at Avengers tower. It's some of the most human feeling dialogue in the book and shows that both Luke and Jess are still very flawed characters with real problems. My only main concern with this issue is the same as it was when Brian wrote Mighty Avengers as well. The man doesn't understand Black Widow as an Avenger. He understands her as a character but not when with the Avengers at all. I just don't understand how you can nail her perfectly in Daredevil to just turn around and write her so wrong in the Avengers. [It] doesn't make sense to me.
New Avengers #39 gives us the perfect ending to this incarnation of the team and slides into what we could expect from Secret Invasion perfectly. Echo and Logan have a heart to heart that leads to her going off and almost getting replaced by Skrulls. She faces a new kind of Super Skrull that we see throughout the Invasion and gets an assist from Logan that is all illustrated beautifully by David Mack of Kabuki fame. There is also a great speech that Clint Barton makes to her towards the end of the issue that if nothing else shows Clint's thoughts of being an Avenger and Brian showing that he knows the source material.
Of course, this also set up the romance between Clint and Maya that was never explored or paid off on in the long run and is something that I would have liked to have seen more from. Obviously, bringing Mockingbird back to life kind of shot this relationship in the foot and had Echo disappear from the pages of the book, but it's something I hope we at least see talked about down the line.
New Avengers #40-#47 were 8 issues that were part of the actual Secret Invasion arc and helped feed into a lot that was finally paid off on. Like the Skrull queen being Jessica Drew since the start of the series and how the Skrulls took over the Savage Land and all the of the stuff we had questions about early on in the series. Also, we had Spider-Man teaming up with Ka-zar in the Savage Land, which can never be a bad thing. But I will also state that for the most part these issues all fed into Secret Invasion and were not entirely integral to the ongoing series.
New Avengers #48 - #50 take place right after the end of Secret Invasion and once again gives us a few new members and even a surprising new status quo for the team, and even a new team leader. Bucky Barnes joins up with the team and gives them a new headquarters. Also, Ms. Marvel jumps from the Mighty Avengers to the New and the Fantastic Four guest star to help get Jessica and Luke's baby back from the Skrull Jarvis that kidnapped her. Of course, things aren't as easy as they look and Luke has to agree to ask for help from Osborn to get her.
I really enjoyed how this set up Dark Avengers before the book was in full gear. Luke being his self and throwing down with Bullseye and Venom with Wrecker's crowbar, and just the pure disgust on the whole team's face when Osborn reveals his Avengers is pretty damn awesome. Sadly, in #50 we don't actually see the fight that everyone wanted to see between the two teams. The dissection of the New Avengers on who exactly each Dark Avenger is was a pretty funny moment. I would have loved to see Clint walk up to Ares and say what he did.
They set up the perfect con to take down the Dark Avengers but of course Norman isn't an idiot and sends the Hood and his gang instead. Every page during the fight is taken in the perspective from a different Avenger. From David Lopez to Michael Gaydos and Alex Maleev, each new artist meshes perfectly with the person that went before them and it hits perfectly. Of course, the best moment out of these 3 issues comes when Clint makes it obvious who should be in charge of this team by making a very awesome public statement against Norman Osborn, which leads to a very interesting confrontation down the line.
New Avengers #51- #54 had Dr. Strange returning to the book and the Eye of Agamotto needed a new person to wield it. Sure, this depowered Strange, but at the same time it opened up the question of who would wield the greatest magical weapon in the Marvel Universe and become the new Sorcerer Supreme. It was also [artist] Billy Tan's last few issues before leaving the book after only 7 issues. The highlight of this entire arc for me as a fan and a reader, though, was when Strange and Wiccan sit down for a chat, which I thought was really fun and these small character moments should happen more often.
The other thing this arc did was depower the Hood by a lot after getting Dormammu sent back to his own dimension. Oh, and all the sequences with Doctor Strange had some fantastic Chris Bachalo artwork, which may be the best of the man's career. Also thanks to BND (Brand New Day) suddenly none of our characters know Peter's identity, so there has to be an awkward exchange where he reveals his identity to the team. So the dialogue between him and a few of the characters was a bit odd. Though there is a rather funny exchange between Jessica Jones and Peter that I really enjoyed that is a callback to Alias.
Steve coming to the Avengers in the first place is awesome and running parallel to the Hood trying to take down the other players for the mantle is an interesting read. Brother Voodoo becoming the new Sorcerer Supreme was also a really cool moment that I hope he becomes a member of the team in the relaunch.
New Avengers #55-#60 had new ongoing artist Stuart Immonen coming on to the title. This arc brings us up to speed, from Bobbi's new costume from Clint and her Reunion mini-series, to exactly who the Hood's gang was now trying to work for, we really had an interesting and dangerous set up. The Hood's gang is working under Jonas Harrow who gets into Osborn's armor after the gang lures him there. Of course, Osborn is double crossed as well and soon everyone is in pretty deep. Meanwhile, Loki is giving the Hood a new power upgrade, which should give him everything he wants.
An injured Luke takes the hit for his teammates and surrenders to Osborn who surprisingly gets him the help he needs. A rescue mission is devised and Jessica Jones pulls in everyone from the Thing to Patsy Walker and Doctor Voodoo. It's a fun moment as the New Avengers and their allies punk out Osborn and his people and manage to get a newly operated on Luke out of Osborn's hands. What the heroes didn't know, of course, was that Osborn left a bomb in our hero and it was going to go off unless they could take it out.
That brought in Hank Pym and Doctor Strange who get the bomb out and leave it somewhere very personal for Osborn. Oh, and the Hood solves his little insurgence problem by blowing Harrow's head right off.
Dark Reign: The List - Avengers and New Avengers Annual #3 deal with Clint going after Osborn and doing his best before getting himself captured and tortured a bit. They bring in someone to mess with his head, which gives us some very beautiful imagery and call backs all the way to West Coast Avengers #100. The girls of the Avengers head to Clint's rescue and the last page of the Annual has everyone's favorite Avenger returning with a very rousing speech, which leads to the next few issues and Siege.
New Avengers #61 - #63 take place during the battle of Siege and Asgard falling. Well, 61 and 62 take place right before the team heads to Oklahoma and are jumped on by some of the Hood's gang who are powered up by his gift from Loki. I really love Pete and Jessica working together to take down the guys who were coming after them, and the "Avengers Assemble" at the very end of issue 62 leading to the battle at Asgard.
There is some very deep and interesting character study between Clint and Bobbi when we flashback to the night before the battle to when they fight a woman known as the female Doctor Octopus. These two issues are handled by Mike McKone who is a very strong fill-in for Stuart Immonen. The Hood also makes a break for it, which leads us right into the New Avengers Finale.
In the Finale, the Avengers head for where they think the Hood will be and meet face to face with Count Nefaria, whom Clint doesn't remember for some odd reason. Bryan Hitch handles the art duties as well as redesigns Wolverine's costume for his return to the team (for most of the year, Logan was stuck on the island housing the mutant race known as Utopia). We get a great ending to the series and it's easy for anyone to stop with this issue (though the relaunch is strong as well so far).
Honestly, as I touched upon earlier, the book got stronger when Clint Barton joined up and the Hood was brought in to be the big bad for our Avengers to fight. It showed a clear direction for the title where the first 20 issues had their own.
64 issues, 3 annuals, a one-shot and a big finale issue all add up to a very interesting New Avengers run. It had its moments of controversy, but for every one of those moments you had plenty of action, adventure and even a little classic Avengers stuff shining through. And it isn't even over yet because as of the writing of this article the series has been relaunched with the Thing joining the team, and things were not looking like they were slowing down anytime soon for Bendis as he's now writing 2 Avengers books again! I highly recommend looking up the series if you can get it at a good price at a con. It's up there for me with Busiek's run.
Next time we hopefully will return to our regular edition of the column. If not, there will be another spotlight! See you next time!
Eric Ratcliffe is a young writer/pop culture journalist/interviewer currently working on pitching a project named the Hunter chronicles. When not reading his weekly stack Eric can be found watching DVDs, playing on his 360 (gamertag: Zack Hunter) or just surfing online trying to find a scoop or two. Brand new to the Comic Related family, Eric is a fun new voice. Eric shops at TJ's Collectibles. Visit them on the web at www.tjcollect.com!
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