The New Avengers #2
Reviewed by David O' Leary
THE NEW AVENGERS #2
Cover Date: September 2010
Story by: Brian Michael Bendis
Art by: Stuart Immonen & Wade Von Grawbadger
Colours by: Laura Martin & Matt Milla
Letters by: Chris Eliopoulos
Cover by: Stuart Immonen
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Reviewed By: David O' Leary
Book Summery: All new Marvel magic by Brian Michael Bendis and Stuart Immonen! The Avengers don't even get a chance to move in to their new digs when a dimensional invasion tears right into the heart of the team. This is a story that wlll completely reinvent the rules of magic in the Marvel Universe and have long- lasting effects on a handful of your favorite Marvel characters. Plus: an Avenger disappears! Backup feature: Another brand new oral history of the Avengers chapter by Bendis!
When it comes to magic in a story I have never been the biggest fan of the genre so last issue at the relaunch of the title I was left feeling a little ';meh' about the subject matter. As good as Bendis and Co. are usually I could not find myself totally enjoying the opening salvos of the new run. Now, don't get me wrong there is plenty of points in the story worth discussing but I'm afraid when it comes to magic I just find myself not feeling much anticipation for the book.
One thing immediately apparent from the opening two chapters is that Luke and Jessica need to have their own title. Bendis has hinted numerous times about the return of the Alias book and I feel that Jessica has reached a plateau of sorts as a supporting character. She was much more an appealing character when running solo on Alias and equally so when starring alongside Luke in The Pulse. The only thing I imagine holding up the return to that staus quo is the availability of Michael Gaydos on art.
The one saving grace of the story is the light hearted narrative that Bendis seamlessly infuses into the story with just a smidgen of comedy among those who deliver it well. The Wolverine and Spider-Man dynamic has always being a draw for me on this title and is no different at the moment.
I want to draw a comparison here between Bendis' take on magic in this title and that of Paul Cornell's take on Captain Britain. Cornell used magic a lot in the initial arc of the book after the Secret Invasion tie in. But I enjoyed the Captain Britain story. I don't know if it had something to do with my familiarity of the setting or was it something to do with the team characters being home grown but Bendis' take has not pulled me in entirely. I have not taken to Brother Voodoo as the new Sorcerer Supreme and equally have not taken to this new semi retired Doctor Strange. It just seems to me to be a variety of reasons to not currently follow with zest the current direction of the magic in the 616.
The text piece at the back of the book is an oral history of the origin of the Avengers and makes for informative reading for our benefit. Bendis is really putting a lot of effort into the new run you can easily say that you are getting enough content for the price tag.
Stuart Immonen has become a favourite of Bendis' to work with but he seems to me to be an above average guy but not on the level of some of Bendis' other collaborators. I haven't really taken to him a whole lot but I can always come to warm to a creator if exposed enough to his work.
Next issue, the end of the world. Probably not. I had long touted this as one of Marvel's top three books. But right now I cannot justify this statement and I just don't have the enjoyment that I did in the last volume. But I respect Bendis enough to stick around and see what's what over the next few months.
Rating the Issue
| Story Story: Overall 7.33 Concept - 7 out of 10 Plot - 7 out of 10 Dialogue - 8 out of 10 |
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Reviewer Bio
David has been with CR since June 2008 and started out as a reviewer and has expanded to do a couple of columns for the site also; starting with 28 Words Later with artist Declan Shalvey and later 5 Minutes With... where he talks with the industries best and brightest from Kubert to Moore.
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