New Avengers: Siege

2 Responses to “New Avengers: Siege”

1. Andrew L. Small says:

   October 24, 2010 at 10:19 pm

   Just an epic tale with fantastic action. I loved the Siege and all the tie-ins. This is really the only Marvel event where the tie-ins were all awesome.
   Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
2. H. Bala says:

   October 25, 2010 at 12:42 am

   But, first, a SPOILERS alert.

   Time’s come to draw the shades on Norman Osborn’s reign as head assclown of the Marvel universe. But not before a truly fed-up Clint Barton makes his intention of assassinating Osborn known to his teammates. I want to say that I do appreciate Bendis’s keeping it real with the characters. It makes sense that Spidey, Mr. “With Fantastic Power blah blah…” himself, would be the most vocal in terms of shooting down what Barton aims to do. But Barton gives in to his dark impulses and he sneaks out that very night in his Ronin guise. But, he’s sensible enough (barely) to wait until the huge terrible Sentry flies away before he goes a-skulking into Avengers Tower. Barton manages to acquit himself pretty well against various of the Dark Avengers – and what he does to Dark Wolverine makes me cringe – and he even makes it to his target before he gets dropped hard. What? You didn’t reflect Ronin was gonna make it, did you? This stuff is chronicled in THE LIST: NEW AVENGERS, a pretty excellent one-shot issue.

   Another excellent ‘un is NEW AVENGERS ANNUAL #3 and, partly, it’s because of artist Mike Mayhew. With the menfolk New Avengers away on their own solo adventures (because these dudes do have their own comic books, and Luke Cage is still in recovery), it’s up to the chicas to storm Osborn’s helicarrier and rescue Clint Barton. Besides Mike Mayhew’s awesome art, there are two more things to particularly relish: that this tale seems to indication Jessica Jones’ return to superheroing and that there’s a sequence here in which Osborn gets tricked silly.

   Then we come to the weakest bunch in this trade, issues #61-64 of the NEW AVENGERS series. I’ve come to accept reluctantly that Brian Michael Bendis is one of them writers who is magic with the small character moments but is fall-down-on-the-job when it comes to massive company crossover undertakings. Normally, I’d say he’s got a levelheaded handle on team books where the number of characters is more manageable, and I have (mostly) loved what he’s done with the NEW AVENGERS. But this run of four issues got me cranky.

   We get a two-issue arc which features the two Captain Americas taking on two Hood lackeys, one of whom is a mind manipulator. We also get Spidey and Spider-Woman taking on two additional Hood lackeys, one of whom is also a mind manipulator. Methinks that’s one mind manipulator too many (hell, it’s probably two mind manipulators too many). Aside from the terrific interplay between the Spiders, and that callback to Cap’s 1990s energy shield, and the simply cute reason why Luke Cage came back to the hurt that used to be Steve Rogers’ camouflaged hiding place, issues #61 & 62 smell very much like filler. And then there’s that continuity breach regarding how Steve Rogers first learns of Osborn’s dirty deeds in Asgard. In these pages, Steve is in his commando suit and already with his New Avengers when he sees the breaking news on television. But in the SIEGE mini-series, he’s in his Captain America costume and looks to be by himself in some shabby apartment. So what’s up with that, Bendis?

   Issues #63-64 constitute the SIEGE tie-in, and my result is mess, mess, mess… although Bendis does write in persons excellent personal moments with Clint and Bobbi and with Luke and Jessica. Additional than that, it’s chaos and confusion and falling rubble in Oklahoma, all of it very hard to follow, but I do get the sense that the Sentry is ruining it for everyone. There’s an irritating bit here in which Bendis informs us – by juxtaposing Clint and Bobbi’s frantic scrambling around with the Hood and Madame Masque’s equally frantic scrambling around – that the Hood is just like us folks, his jeopardy as real as anyone else’s. Except I’m fed up with Parker Robbins a.k.a. the Hood, fed up with Bendis’s incessant tries to cram this namby pamby crime boss down the reader’s throat. I gots neither sympathy nor tolerance for the Hood. There is also some surprisingly shaky stuff from artists Stuart Immonen and Mike McKone. I didn’t see that coming.

   To review so far, THE LIST: NEW AVENGERS and NEW AVENGERS ANNUAL #3 are enjoyable reads. The stuff in the middle of the trade, not so much. And then we arrive at NEW AVENGERS: FINALE, and it’s the coda and it is this side of friggin’ awesome. Bryan Hitch draws the thing and, like he permanently does, he infuses a sense of spectacle. The tale deals with the team once and for all taking down the Hood. Along the way, they also brace Madame Masque and her pretty damn powerful pops, Count Nefaria. After the years of flak – but probably only months in Marvel time – that these underground Avengers have had to suffer, it’s nice to see them go out on a high note and even indulge in several gratifying moments. Our guys exit this series, having seen Osborn and the Hood at last get what they got comin’. They even see their hero credentials fully reinstated. Luke Cage returns to his take charge ways, and I reveled over Ms. Marvel’s moment of sheer assownery of Count Nefaria. In a nice salute, the last few pages are two-paged spreads illustrated by past artists of this series. I thought the closing scene adequately sums up what these outcast heroes had been stubbornly fighting for all along. NEW AVENGERS: FINALE is a fine sendoff. And, now, as we merrily skip on over to the so-called Heroic Age, I am thinking to myself: how can Joe Quesada possibly bollocks that up?

   3 stars out of 5 for this. Or 3.5 stars. Hell, I dunno. There’s excellent stuff here, and terrible.
   Reader’s Rating: 4 / 5