The
New Avengers #22
Title: New Avengers Disassembled: Part 2
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Leinil Yu
Background: Four New Warriors went into battle with four powerful villains in Stamford, Connecticut in order to boost the ratings for their TV show. One of those villains, Nitro, ended the battle through his self-detonation ability and blew the New Warriors and a huge chunk of Stamford into oblivion. As a result of this incident, public outcry paved the way for a proposed “Superhuman Registration Law” on Capital Hill that would require all super-beings to register with the United States Government. Some heroes such as Iron Man are for this proposed law and see this as the way of the future, while others such as Captain America see it as an assault on civil liberties. When Captain America is called to hunt down his fellow heroes who are in defiance of the Registration Act, he chooses to go AWOL becoming a public enemy in the process. After a brief fight with SHIELD once more and a reunion with the Falcon, Captain America realizes that he must create an Anti-Registration force of superheroes if he is to combat this registration.
Plot:
It is the night before the Registration Act becomes law and Iron Man and Ms. Marvel are making a final attempt to win over Luke Cage and his wife Jessica Jones (well there’s the baby too but even though minors still must register under the Act, she is given an exception since we haven’t seen any superpowers from him yet). Iron Man explains to Luke Cage the benefits of the law and that the only safe choice is cooperation. “This is about breaking the law,” Iron Man argues but Luke Cage makes a comparison, “Slavery used to be a law.” Luke Cage sees the future law as a violation of civil liberties and he refuses to follow it, and while Iron Man and Ms. Marvel view this as an unfair comparison, Jessica Jones is in full support of her husband. Seeing that they are beaten Iron Man and Ms. Marvel leave the Cage household hoping that in the next day the newlyweds would come to their senses. If sense is what it really is, they do not.
The next day Luke says goodbye to his wife and their baby daughter. Jessica Jones and the baby will be in Canada until things calm down. In the meantime Luke Cage plans on staying in his home “and not bother no one.” As he is about to enter his home the neighborhood comes out to see what he will do and he tells them. “I’m going to go inside and sit in my home,” he says later adding, “we’re supposed to be able to that, right?” The neighborhood is in full agreement and Luke Cage enters his home.
The cloak strikes midnight and the
Registration Act becomes law, not even a moment passes before the Shield
Capekillers are at his door, requesting to have a word with him. Luke
Cage refuses their request for conversation and instead rams his way
through them, breaking his own door. The fight goes to the street and
Luke Cage puts up a good fight although helped by the neighborhood man
with a gun. The Capekillers heavily outnumber him however and he is
ultimately subdued. It looked as though Luke Cage would certainly be
arrested even with the interference of the entire neighborhood throwing
objects out their windows at SHIELD, but at that moment Captain America,
Falcon, and Daredevil show up. The four superheroes put up a fight and
escape in an armored SHIELD tank. Into the operable SHIELD
communication device within the tank, Luke Cage says, “The revolution is
coming.” Meanwhile at the USA/Canada border, Jessica Jones smiles as she
discovers on a lit TV that Luke Cage has escaped SHIELD.
Likes:
- This is the best argument for Anti-Registration movement ever. Luke Cage brings out some historical comparisons that appear very convincing, which Iron Man is even stunned by. We also see a new situation shown by Jessica Jones in which a person with powers has no intention of using their powers for the government or anyone else. I think it is an absolute must for any Civil War fan to read this issue for its dialogue, which is more significant than its plot significance. When a comic can wow with dialogue over plot significance you just know that you are holding onto gold.
- I have heard some complaints about the art but you won’t hear them from me. While the art in this issue is not right for your average Spider-man comic it perfectly captures the mood of this New Avengers issue. The dark and gritty art really fits in well with the theme of this story.
- A second self contained issue which flows wonderfully from last issue, just what we’ve been missing in this day and age of multi-part stories. And hold on a second…we got this from…BENDIS?! I think the star writer deserves some points here.
- Neither side of the Registration Act divide is vilified this issue. The Anti-Registration side is glorifully portrayed in this issue with an explanation from Luke Cage and a fight with the Power Man himself as well as Captain America, Daredevil, and Falcon in which they are clearly the heroes. At the same time however the Pro-Registration side is also shown well. The SHIELD Capekillers do not initiate an attack on Cage, Cage attacks them first and Iron Man and Ms. Marvel gave a solid try in attempting to register Luke and his family. Everyone’s the good guy, but the fight is on.
Dislikes:
- No Spider-man. I mean come on…one of the best New Avengers issues of all time and its got to be the only one that doesn’t have Spider-man at all? Speaking of which, we really have no indication at this point that Spider-man will be in New Avengers ever again but I’m holding onto my hope and continuing on the reviews…
Favorite Quote: Jessica Jones: “What about me Mr. Stark? Yeah I have powers too…and you know what? I don’t want to use them and I have no plan to use them.”
Rating: 5 out of 5. No Spider-man in this issue but I still can’t give it any less. Absolutely perfect. This is the second New Avengers issue to get a perfect score (the first one being in New Avengers #15). This series has nearly consistently been excellent but it is issues like this that really give New Avengers a good name.
Reviewed by: BtmxComedy
The
New Avengers #21
Title:
New Avengers Disassembled: Part 1
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Howard Chaykin
Background: The background for this issue is Civil War #1. Four New Warriors went into battle with four powerful villains in Stamford, Connecticut in order to boost the ratings for their TV show. One of those villains, Nitro, ended the battle through his self-detonation ability and blew the New Warriors and a huge chunk of Stamford into oblivion. As a result of this incident, public outcry paved the way for a proposed “Superhuman Registration Law” on Capital Hill that would require all super-beings to register with the United States Government. Some heroes such as Iron Man are for this proposed law and see this as the way of the future, while others such as Captain America see it as an assault on civil liberties. When Captain America is called to hunt down his fellow heroes who are in defiance of the Registration Act, he chooses to go AWOL becoming a public enemy in the process.
Plot:
Steve Rogers is
sitting in a room trying to paint but his mind will not let him
concentrate. His thoughts drift to his new fugitive status and he begins
to feel as though he should have never been revived from that block of
ice back in early Avengers history; that he has no place in today’s
society. He thinks for a while on what it means to be a superhero and
that the public just does not understand it. For Steve Rogers the
independence of the superheroes from the government is what helps keep
America free. In his thoughts he sees the Winter Soldier Bucky (from
the pages of Captain America) and his original Avengers cast as well as
his most recent New Avengers team. His thoughts distract him so heavily
that he does not notice that SHIELD’s Capekillers unit has snuck up on
him. Steve is not in the slightest bit worried, he kicked SHIELD’s butt
on the SHIELD Hellicarrier (see Civil War #1) and he sees no challenge
in doing so again. Using his famous shield he quickly takes the
Capekillers out of action and is bothered by the face he sees under one
of the Capekiller’s masks, his old friend Dum Dum Dugan. Dugan conveys
to Steve that their long standing friendship can not deter him from
arresting the looked-up-to Captain America. However Dugan is physically
incapable of taking out Steve Rogers and he knows it. So for this
reason as well as for his genuine respect for Rogers he allows Steve
Rogers to call over the radio pretending to be him. Steve Rogers
reports over the radio that Captain America is dead, and thus he stalls
SHIELD enough to make his escape.
Some time later Captain America wakes up in his secret base, not knowing how he got there and completely disheveled by the Falcon’s presence there. At first Captain America is understandably suspicious of his former sidekick in the room but quickly realizes that the Falcon came to find him because he is ready to stand by his side again. Captain America tells him that he is set on fighting back this Act; the Falcon is still with him 100%. The two realize that they need additional recruits if they are to effectively fight the Registration.
On a roof near Avengers Tower Captain America and the Falcon spot Spider-man. They see Spider-man enter the tower, owned by the leading Pro-Registration superhero Iron Man, and realize that recruiting Spider-man is a lost cause. They move on.
Next they go to the office of Henry Pym (also known as Yellowjacket) not knowing that he is firmly on Iron Man’s side. The Captain and Pym discuss the matter and it does not take long for them to realize that they are polar oppisates on this issue. Steve, realizing it is a lost cause, begins to leave with the Falcon when suddenly Pym in his “giant man” mode puts his arm in the way of their escape. He has no intention of hurting the two vigilante heroes; only to stall them until the SHIELD Capekillers arrive. Captain America breaks Pym’s nose with his shield and the American war hero and his sidekick make their getaway. Director Hill shows up with some additional SHIELD agents in Pym’s office only to see an injured Pym and no rebels.
Likes:
- This issue is a necessary part of the Civil War story, how Captain America assembled his team. New Avengers is the perfect place for such a story and I’m glad Bendis saw that.
- The reference to the Captain America story arc “The Winter Soldier” was a nice homage as well as the reference to Captain America’s rescue from the ice block early in Avengers history.
Dislikes:
- This read like a Marvel Team-Up story and in all the wrong ways. Falcon’s introduction into this story is so random and absolutely uncoordinated; he literally pops out of nowhere. Captain America and the Falcon randomly find each other in a room together, seems to me like Bendis was just being lazy.
- I was not a fan of the art. The action scenes were nothing spectacular. Especially the first Captain America vs. the Capekillers scene; after a very similar situation in Civil War #1 this scene just came off as the severely inferior.
- Steve Rogers is drawing? The act is about to be passed that would make him a fugitive and his top priority is to lower his stress level through drawing? Did it really have to take a second SHIELD attack for Captain America to realize that his drawing pencil is not what he needs right now?
Favorite Quote: Falcon to Captain America: “Iron Man’s a sellout man. Always was.”
Rating: 3.5 out of 5. For all its faults it was still a fun read and although it was a fairly average issue it was also a fairly necessary issue. Mark Miller is behind the Civil War, so we can’t fault Bendis for not giving us the big bang. It was all right for what it was supposed to be, a Civil War side title. Next issue we get a new artist (as we will with every issue in this single story set arc)…thank god. I think a good artist could have really made this issue spectacular.
Reviewed by: BtmxComedy
The
New Avengers #20
Title:
The Collective: Part 5
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Penciler: Mike Deodata Jr.
Inker:
Joe Pimentel
Colorist:
Dave Stewart
Background: Some House of M related power arrives in Alaska and a powerful flaming man is the result. His name is Michael, as he tells Iron Man, and right now he is Genosha after killing all the members of Alpha Flight and doing some damage in Cleveland. Oh, and the combined research of Vision and Spider-man onboard the SHIELD Helicarrier nailed Michael as having all the powers of all the depowered mutants from House of M.
Plot:
Genosha: Eric
Lehnsherr is writing a piece. Is it a manifesto? A biography? A memoir?
Even if he does not know. All that seems irrelevant to him because his
life work is in shambles. He no longer has the ability to lead
mutantkind to glory because of the House of M event, which appeared to
have deleted the powers of hundreds of mutants including his own. What
he does not know however if that those powers were not deleted but
rather transferred to another being, a being which has decided to making
his presence known. Michael is outside, and all the powers he held
within him seem to be bursting out.
From the SHIELD Hellicarrier, Director Hill sees what is going on and it worries her enough to call the President of the United States and report to him. The President gives her permission to vaporize the entire island if necessary, Hill responds that she can not because the Avengers are already on the island.
The entire Avengers team includes the unofficial member Ms. Marvel, the publicly unofficial Wolverine and the Young Avengers Vision… and the rest of the team if you need reminding includes Captain America, Iron Man, Power Man, Spider-man, and Spider-woman. Iron Man is the first to understand that there is a transfer going on and not just an outburst and Wolverine quickly sniffs another being on the island. Not too far away the receipt of the powers, Eric, is getting an explanation, which is something us readers have been looking forward to this entire story arc. The voice of the powers tells Eric that Michael was just a vessel, that it is still his job to lead the mutants. Eric at first demands to know whom the voice is, but he has already guessed. The voice phases his Magneto costume upon him and Eric exclaims the name of the voice, which is responsible for all that has happened in this story arc, Xorn. Not too impressed? If you know who he is, you’re a little ahead of me.
Well, the Avengers hear this whole thing and began to approach Magneto whom does not appear to be too excited about the gifts he’s received. To stop the Avengers Xorn summons some zombies. The Avengers are doing fairly well against the zombies and Iron Man summons the Sentry to do something about Magneto. Captain America removes the Sentry’s belt that contains metal (which is bad because Magneto can control metal like a magnet). Sentry tells Captain America that he can throw Magneto into the sun, Cap vetoes the Sentry’s suggestion saying that he wants him to remain on the island. The banter proves to be of no consequence because Magneto/Xorn are fully capable of knocking the Sentry back.
Meanwhile on the SHIELD Hellicarrier, Director Hill is talking to the President who urges her to vaporize the island fully knowing that the Avengers are still on it. Hill appears shocked by the request and after a slight hesitation, refutes the President’s request saying that there is already a plan in motion. The plan involves a SHIELD team that has landed on the island that includes Daisy Johnson (from the miniseries “Secret War”). Iron Man tells Ms. Marvel that when it is time, she needs to absorb the fallout energy. Meanwhile the Sentry holds Magneto, but is surprised to find that Magneto is begging him to kill him. Daisy Johnson now uses her power to start a small earthquake in Magneto’s brains which separates Xorn and Magneto. Iron Man captures the Xorn energy in a force field and the fallout is captured by Ms. Marvel, then the Sentry flies the force field enclosed Xorn energy into the sun.
Daisy
Johnson tells the Avengers that she wants her Avengers name to be Quake,
but is embarrassed to find out that Captain America has no plans of
recruiting her. The attention of the Avengers is next shifted to
Michael who has slight amnesia about the whole thing and is shocked to
find out that he is a mutant. Everyone is fairly understandable of his
situation except Wolverine who is always a pain anyway. SHIELD takes
Michael with them for now. Director Hill makes it to the ground to
inform an unconscious Magneto that he is under arrest for terrorist
crimes against humanity. While Director Hill and Iron Man began to form
a friendship, Magneto is taken aboard a helicopter. All seems to be
going well when suddenly the helicopter containing the unconscious
Magneto explodes mysteriously, later reports confirm that there were no
remains of Magneto in the explosion. The issue ends with Director Hill
reading the piece that Magneto was writing in the beginning of the
issue, knowing full well that the story of Eric Lehnsherr is not yet
over.
Likes:
- We see the beginnings of Civil War in this last pre Civil War story in the New Avengers. The superhero Registration Act is referenced and the tension between Iron Man and SHIELD is eliminated in this issue, paving the way for a solid union in the pages of the mega event Civil War.
- With the events of Civil War this issue may have displayed the final time that the Avengers as we have known them for nearly two years are working together. Almost certainly this may be the last issue in the foreseeable future that Captain America and Iron Man are working on the same team, and even classic Avengers fans can appreciate the significance of this.
Dislikes:
- Xorn? Who the heck is Xorn? I don’t know and I don’t care but he liked Magneto and now he is in the sun somewhere. What we also know about Xorn is that he is an X-men character, so what’s wrong with this picture? I’ll tell you what. Last year we got a major event called “House of M” something that was supposed to “tear the internet apart” according to the writer of that story who also happens to be the writer of this story, Brian Bendis. Supposedly this was supposed to effect the entire Marvel universe, but it became obvious by the end of House of M that this was just another X-men event. This made a large number of people annoyed at this event especially hardcore Spider-man fans whom had to buy that useless Spider-man: House of M miniseries. Bendis, however, promised that its not yet over and that House of M will still effect the Avengers in a big way and this story was supposed to be it. So what’d we get? An X-men energy villain controls some mutant and stampedes around until he transfers himself to the ultimate X-men villain, Magneto. Then the Avengers show up and save the day. Still hasn’t affected the Avengers in a big way and this was still an X-men thing. Its good that the new major event “Civil War” is here to make me completely forget about “House of M.”
- That zombie thing didn’t particularly impress me. I don’t even know if it made sense or not because I know nothing about Xorn. Some research I made recently has led me to the conclusion that not only I have no idea what this Xorn is about but also no one else does either. I suppose if one of the depowered mutants has the ability to summon zombies then it would make sense. Anyway, the point is that a zombie fight was just a completely unnecessary addition to this comic.
- Spider-man did nothing. Sentry, Iron Man, Ms. Marvel, and Daisy Johnson did everything. Two of those four are not even really on the Avengers. What’s wrong with this picture? This time I don’t think I even need to explain.
Favorite Quote: Vision then Wolverine: “My files on Xorn are incomplete” “Xorn’s files on Xorn are incomplete”
Rating: 3 out of 5. It really wasn’t that bad, but Bendis was setting up the ending to be something impressive. I guess he thought Xorn would do the trick, maybe on an X-site…not here.
Overall Arc Rating: 2.5 out of 5. This arc went started with a score of only a 0.5 and made its way up with the previous issue receiving the best score, 4. Overall the arc was fairly average but with a slight curve down. And yes, you don’t have to scroll through the pages, this has been the worst New Avengers story on record which I suppose only goes to highlight how good this series up to this point has been. A series of stand-alone Civil War related Avengers issues start next month, hopefully this will be a turn back up.
Reviewed by: BtmxComedy
The
New Avengers #19
Title:
The Collective: Part 4
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Penciler: Mike Deodata Jr.
Inker:
Joe Pimentel
Colorist:
Dave Stewart
Background: Some House of M related power arrives in Alaska and a powerful flaming man is the result. His name is Michael, as he tells Iron Man, and right now he is in space fighting the Sentry after killing all the members of Alpha Flight and doing some damage in Cleveland. Oh, and the combined research of Vision and Spider-man onboard the SHIELD Helicarrier nailed Michael as having all the powers of all the depowered mutants.
Plot: Upon receiving the information on Michael, Iron Man demands the Spider-man and Vision get off the Helicarrier immediately. Spider-man understands the urgency as relating to the fact that SHIELD may find out about what happened in House of M, something that the New Avengers do not trust with SHIELD, however they are on a secure line, and he reminds Iron Man of this. Iron Man knows that the secure line is not secure against psychic agents whom are reading Spider-man’s every thought. Spider-man gets off the line, and SHIELD Director Hill immediately requests to know “What is the House of M?” Surrounded by armed SHIELD agents, she tells him that he is under arrest. Spider-man attempts to flee but a psychic agent induces him to sleep. They shut down the Vision and plan on extracting whatever they can from the two heroes.
Iron Man is in space and spots Michael. Michael comes charging straight towards Iron Man but Iron Man actually manages to deflect him back by deconstructing the primary energy fields he is using. However he does not know how much longer he can keep doing this, but luckily for him the Sentry is there.
Meanwhile Captain America, Spider-woman, Luke Cage, Ms. Marvel and Wolverine arrive at the SHIELD Helicarrier. Inside Peter Parker wakes up unmasked in a questioning room with SHIELD Director Hill who still demands to know about House of M. Outside Captain America demands to know where are Spider-man and the Vision from the surrounding SHIELD agents who refuse his request. Back inside Spider-man attempts to escape the restraints holding him down but surprisingly he does not have to because SHIELD Director Hill is simply letting him go without hearing the information she needs from his mouth. She explains that she had those psychic agents in the next room gathering all the information she needed without having to get it out of him verbally. Suddenly Luke Cage comes crashing through the wall with the rest of his team members. Captain America tells SHIELD Director Hill that what she did was unacceptable; she tells him that she was just about to say the same thing for him. Captain America threatens to tell the President of the United States, Hill dares him because she knows that the President is on her side. She tells him, “Here call him. He’s waiting to hear from me anyhow. Maybe he can take a minute away from drafting the Registration Act to take your call…”
SHIELD allows the Avengers, and even
Spider-man and Vision to leave with the Quinjet. Iron Man who is busy
fighting Michael in space with the Sentry resumes contact with the team
and Spider-man apologizes to Iron Man. Iron Man tells Spidey not worry
about it. Now that SHIELD has all the intelligence about House of M, or
at least all of which Spider-man and the Vision had, Iron Man brings
SHIELD into the fold and asks them for advice on the matter via a
communications line. SHIELD asks that Iron Man and the Sentry stop
engaging the Sentry because it is not doing any good except allowing
Michael to learn about how to better use his powers. SHIELD wants to
know where he is trying to go. Iron Man is hesitant, but when a SHIELD
agent proposes the hypothesis that Michael may lead them to Wanda
Maximoff, Iron Man grabs the Sentry and they leave Michael alone. With
no enemies to keep him back, Michael a.k.a. the Collective arrives at
his destination, Genosha.
Likes:
- We see the beginnings of Civil War in this last pre Civil War story in the New Avengers. The superhero Registration Act is referenced and the tension between Captain America and Director Agent Hill is shown and developed. Also the reactions of Captain America and Iron Man to SHIELD’s information grabbing from Spider-man and Vision are done completely in character and can be viewed in the context of their separate stances in Civil War. Both Captain America and Iron Man were opposed to allowing SHIELD to have the information, but the reaction the two heroes have after SHIELD already does so is very different. Captain America becomes angry and hostile to SHIELD Director Hill, while Iron Man simply accepts it and embraces it. This parallels the reactions of Iron Man and Captain America to the Superhuman Registration Act very well.
- The story is reaching a sort of climax with the cliffhanger, in that Michael has been heading to one place this entire story arc, and by the end of the issue he is there.
- The possibility that Michael may be leading the Avengers to the Scarlet Witch, if true, will make this reviewer very happy.
Dislikes:
- A nice size of the dialogue was reiterating details that the reader has already picked up throughout the story line. That was not a very big annoyance however.
Favorite Quote: SHIELD Agent: “What if he is taking us to Wanda Maximoff?”
Rating: 4 out of 5. This story arc is improving every issue. The Collective story line started out very slow but its been gradually picking up steam. With this issue I’m finally beginning to embrace this story arc, and if issue 20 can deliver a bang with an unexpected twist, the next issue may get a full five.
Reviewed by: BtmxComedy
The
New Avengers Annual #1
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Penciler: Olivier Coipel
Background: This Annual was published after New Avengers #18 and before New Avengers #19, square in the middle of “The Collective” story arc. However since the Collective is a pretty involved story line, this story must have taken place before that arc or after it. We know for a fact that this issue takes place after New Avengers #15 and The Pulse #14, because Ms. Marvel is already hanging out with the Avengers in this issue and Jessica Jones already had Luke Cage’s baby.
Plot: The Hydra agent that Spider-woman is always talking to, is choosing today to talk to another helpless woman, the Black Widow whom was burned in the first story arc of New Avengers. He has AIM technicians with him and offers her a chance to get back at the New Avengers; his offer is that the people from AIM can turn her into an Adaptoid.
Meanwhile in Avengers Tower a very tired and angry Jessica Jones brings her (and Luke Cage’s) baby to near the top of the tower where the New Avengers, Aunt May, Mary Jane, and Ms. Marvel are all relaxing. Mary Jane and Ms. Marvel fuss over the baby while Luke Cage and Jessica Jones have an important moment, where Jessica finally agrees to marry our very own Power Man. Luke Cage is stoked and announces the future marriage to the entire group.
Although Tony Stark is very happy for Cage, he promised to meet the mayor of New York to discuss Avengers Tower at this particular time, and thus goes downstairs taking the Sentry and Captain America (in full costume) with him. The Mayor arrives to meet the three heroes and a crowd, which includes the press, is at the scene. The mayor is hesitant about having so much “superhero crap” for one city but is friendly enough, especially Captain America. While the Sentry is talking to the mayor, a woman with glowing eyes approaches the Sentry…
Meanwhile back upstairs Luke Cage is playing with his baby, Jessica Jones is on the phone, and Ms. Marvel, Mary Jane, and Spider-man are engaged in conversation. Suddenly they spot the Sentry falling from above (huh? You’ll see in a second). So Ms. Marvel, Spider-man, Luke Cage, Spider-woman, and Wolverine jump out to the scene. We see that Black Widow a.k.a. the Adaptoid from now on, can take the form of anyone that she touches, and has taken the form of the Sentry. Ms. Marvel whacks Sentry Adaptoid and she becomes Ms. Marvel Adaptoid. Spider-man, Spider-woman, Luke Cage, and Wolverine all jump her at once but they are repelled back. The Adaptoid has bigger fish to fry apparently, in the form of Captain America.
Captain America meanwhile is driving an automobile, trying to get the mayor out of harm’s way, but the Adaptoid is onto him. It looks as though he does not have a chance, but just in the nick of time the Sentry is back in action. The Sentry fights the Adaptoid in the air but it is not hard to see that he is completely not in control of the action, he gets his butt handed to him and is only saved by Spider-woman, Luke Cage, and Spider-man. Ms. Marvel goes into fighting the Adaptoid next, as Iron Man approaches the scene, this time in his armor.
Spider-man starts talking to Iron Man and gives him an idea on how to beat the Adaptoid. Iron Man gets it, and tells Spider-man to stall her. Spider-man jumps on the Adaptoid and actually survives kicking her around a few times before the attention is swerved to Captain America who lounges his shield at her. The Adaptoid focuses back on Cap, but is again diverted, this time by Spider-woman, who uses her sting on her. The Adaptoid grabs Spider-woman, however Wolverine and Ms. Marvel are there to save her from the Adaptoid, and Spider-man is there to save her from falling a few floors down because she is disoriented. Now Iron Man is back and is pummeling her with a large amount of Iron Man suits that he is controlling from far away. The difficulty of this battle for the Adaptoid, makes her lose some control and she begins seeing the Void because she has the Sentry’s powers. The Sentry tells her that he can make the Void go away if she tells him where Hydra is. Unfortunately for the Adaptoid, she does not even have a chance because the Hydra agent with the AIM workers are watching all this on a video screen and decide to pull the plug on the Adaptoid. The next second the Adaptoid explodes from within.
Iron Man demands to know all the information Spider-woman knows about the Black Widow/ Adaptoid but Spider-woman says she just not know anything. Iron Man yells a bit, and Spider-woman feels mistrusted (justifiably and with reason). Captain America tells her that Iron Man didn’t mean it, but they both know that he did.
Now comes the marriage
of Luke Cage and Jessica Jones. It’s a very memorable scene with a very
familiar looking priest (more on that in the Likes section). The priest
does his usual thing but before he pronounces them husband and wife,
Jessica Jones stops him. Luke Cage looks worried for a second, but its
really nothing to worry about, Jessica Jones just takes this opportunity
to tell him how much she loves him. When she finishes her speech, the
priest pronounces them husband and wife. We end with a wedding photo
with all the members of the New Avengers in their formal dress (Carol
Danvers is there too but she is practically on the team anyway)
Likes:
- I’ve been waiting a long time to find out what happened to that Black Widow chick, and I’m happy with how that unresolved plot line was treated. It became a good story, but not a five part story line and thank god because if it were I wouldn’t be able to take it.
- The interactions between the members of the New Avengers (and friends) was superbly done in this issue…well… with one exception…
- Spider-man used his brain and figured out how to beat her! Spider-man is beginning to take more of “the brain” role in the New Avengers, which is the role he should be playing.
- The priest is Stan Lee! Doesn’t impact the plot but that’s pretty cool.
- Luke Cage and Jessica Jones got married!
Dislikes:
- I don’t like the whole Mary Jane and Peter conversation in regards to Luke Cage’s baby. Let me give you a brief synopsis of what was said. Peter: “You want this baby? Mary Jane: “No I want to look at this baby and hand it back before it pukes on me.” Later Peter is cringing in horror as Mary Jane tries to pass the baby to him. Now you know…I’m over the fact that Baby May has been lost to us, but given that those events have still actually happened this interaction seems pretty disgusting to me. I would expect babies and having babies to be a sensitive subject between Peter and MJ. Even if the pain has healed, it would still not explain these kinds of remarks. It was supposed to be a warm cute joke but for a Spider-man fan aware of the Mary Jane pregnancy and how it ended it just came off as out of character and disgusting.
Favorite Quote: Jessica Jones: “You asked me to marry you, I’m saying yes”
Rating: 4.5 out of 5. I was pretty annoyed at the Dislike listed above, I’m not even going to lie. Normally I would choose to knock off a few points for this, but this issue was so well done otherwise that I had mercy and only took it down one half for the bad Mary Jane and Spider-man characterization involving the baby.
Reviewed by: BtmxComedy
The
New Avengers #18
Title:
The Collective: Part 3
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Penciler: Mike Deodata Jr.
Inker:
Joe Pimentel
Colorist:
Dave Stewart
Background: Some House of M related power arrives in Alaska and a powerful flaming man is the result. His name is Michael as he tells Iron Man and right now he is in Cleveland and may possibly destroy the place.
Plot: SHIELD approaches Agent Johnson like Captain America requested last issue, while Iron Man asks Vision who is currently on the Young Avengers for help via hologram. Iron Man’s real location is Cleveland and he is standing next to a very angry Michael, who could quite possibly be the most powerful creature in the world at the moment. Michael breaks open Tony Stark’s suit in an attempt to grab him but a souped up Ms. Marvel grabs Tony before Michael can. Ms. Marvel drops off Tony on a building and goes back to fight Michael, who grabs her within seconds. Simultaneously she experiences the elemental forces of water, fire, and ice and is powerless to stop Michael. Luckily for her though, the Sentry leaps into action and grabs Michael and takes him into space with him. Finally we get see whom could take whom, the Sentry or Michael. The two powerful forces take their battle in space.
On earth, Captain America, Luke Cage, and Wolverine go to check if Ms. Marvel is alright. She tells them about all the different powers that had hurt her. Captain America suddenly decides that he needs to find Tony, he assembles the Iron Man armor, holds on to it, and asks it to spot the avenger. Back in space, Michael has defeated the Sentry sending him deeper into space, while he himself turns back around and flies towards Earth.
Spider-man arrives at the SHIELD Helicarrier to try and figure out what Michael really is. He meets up with SHIELD Director Hill and for the moment also has Tony Stark “on Comm” Iron Man plans on going into space to figure out what happened with Michael and the Sentry but before that he would like to know what he’s been dealing with. Vision arrives on the SHIELD Helicarrier as well, and within him are all the old Avengers files. After a little bit of work they arrive at a suspect, Michael Pointer, who is a postal employee in the postal office that the huge orange “House of M flame” crashed into. They investigate further to see what his power source is, as it turns out his powers come from all the mutants whom have lost their power after House of M.
Likes:
- We finally get to see “the Collective” vs. the Sentry
- Spider-man actually has an important role in this issue
Dislikes:
- This story is really slow with no real change from last time in this issue. The reader has always known that Michael got his powers from all the ex mutants, it’s been clear from the beginning. Yet again we have another issue where Michael terrorizes the nation and the Avengers are scrambling to figure out what to do.
- With Civil War looming, not many people still care about some House of M unresolved plot points. Actually not many people even cared about House of M while it was actually going on. Note: A poll on the Crawlspace was made on this topic and the results are as follows. 33% of voters say its decent, 50% don’t care for the story, and 16% didn’t even read the story.
Favorite Quote: Ms. Marvel: “Bono’s pants are in there” (in reference to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland)
Rating: 3.5 out of 5. This is my least favorite New Avengers story arc but I got to admit that it is improving every issue. However with the pace of this arc, if next issue doesn’t have a good revelation that will change the nature of this story, this arc could be going to the ground.
Reviewed by: BtmxComedy
The
New Avengers #17
Title:
The Collective: Part 2
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Penciler: Mike Deodata Jr.
Inker:
Joe Pimentel
Colorist:
Dave Stewart
Background: Some House of M related power arrives in Alaska and a powerful flaming man is the result. He kills the entire Alpha Flight team and starts moving towards the continental United States.
Plot: The Quinjet lands in Detroit. The Avengers spread out. Soon the media arrives wondering what is going on. 62 CBS approaches Captain America for the details but he directs her towards Luke Cage who informs her that they just plan on standing around to scare criminal activity in the area as well as focus the media on the terrible conditions in these poor areas until someone with some political power will do something about it. As soon as Luke Cage finishes, Iron Man gets a call from director SHIELD Hill and the New Avengers cut their stay in Detroit short. In the Quinjet the New Avengers are briefed about the powerful terror that we have been seeing all of last issue. Meanwhile the powerful humanoid arrives in Cleveland.
On their way to Cleveland the New Avengers decide they need some back up. Iron Man calls Ms. Marvel while Captain America demands Agent Daisy Johnson as well as the Sentry, who is not with them on the Quinjet. The Sentry is having a bad day in his psychologically complicated life and may not be able to join them. However given the circumstances Captain America absolutely insists that the Sentry come. Spider-man is worried about attacking this creature however he will not have to because Iron Man is sending him with a team to the SHIELD Helicarrier to try to figure out the best way to beat this powerful humanoid.
Iron Man then flies down to try to communicate with the whirlwind of destruction. Surprisingly the humanoid stops and when Iron Man asks him for his name he says brokenly that his name is Michael. Before he can get any more information from him Ms. Marvel barges in and attacks. Michael strikes her back and Ms. Marvel it repelled to Toledo which, if you’re not familiar with Ohio, is a several hours drive away. Ms. Marvel gets up from the hit, and finds herself absorbed with a lot of energy.
Likes:
- New Avengers actually appear in this issue
- Spider-man is taking a semi-leadership role for a change
- Deodata is a great artist, and I’m glad to have his art on the New Avengers
Dislikes:
- The New Avengers visit
Detroit, but this is not the Detroit I recognize. I live fifteen
minutes outside of Detroit and I found this representation of Detroit
just a silly attempt to be politically correct. Detroit is one of the
most racially segregated cities in the United States, the poorer regions
being nearly completely inhabited by African Americans. I mean, the
black kid and the white kid walking together in the beginning was
alright, but then we get a school bus full of…white kids?? In Detroit?
You got to be kidding me. Then we got the racially diverse cast of
street thugs and the large crowd of people who stare at the New
Avengers, most of whom are again white. I didn’t feel like I was looking
at Detroit at all.
- Did anybody tell Ms. Marvel how powerful this guy is? I mean I know heroes regularly do these surprise attacks on villains but come on this guy killed Alpha Flight, surely he must be an exception. This didn’t really bother me too much though. I’m just putting it out there.
- I’m still not impressed by this villain. This issue he chats up with Iron Man and even gets pushed a little bit by Ms. Marvel. Plus I still don’t know what he wants but it’s related to House of M and frankly, I stopped caring about House of M a long time ago.
Favorite Quote: Wolverine: “Damn…is that Alpha Flight?”
Rating: 3 out of 5. I don’t find this issue amazing but its really not bad, especially coming after last issue, which was really a waste of time. Its Collective part 2 but as far as the story goes it might as well be Collective part 1 because the story gets its real introduction here.
Reviewed by: BtmxComedy
The
New Avengers #16
Title:
The Collective: Part 1
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Frank Cho
Colorist:
Jason Keith
Background: The New Avengers are officially announced to the public (sans Wolverine who did not want to be revealed). Oh and remember that big orange flame thing coming out of Earth at the end of House of M? Yeah that’s going to be important now.
Plot: EARTH!!! (full page panel)
EARTH WITH HUGE ORANGE FLAME BEAM!! (another full page panel)
FLAME BEAM COMING TO ALASKA!!! (another full page extravaganza)
FLAME CRASHING INTO A POST OFFICE SOMEWHERE IN ALASKA!!!!!! (full pager)
EVERYTHING IS DESTORYED BY FLAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (two page spread)
FLAMING NUDE (not in the homosexual sense) MAN COMING OUT OF RUBBLE!!! (full page panel yet again)
FLAMING NUDE MAN HAS MOUTH WIDE OPEN!!! (full page delight)
Meanwhile on the Shield Helicarrier, SHIELD director Hill is giving Iron Man a fit because he didn’t tell SHIELD that the Avengers would publicly announce themselves before it happened. Agent Hill also wants to know about House of M and why the New Avengers and the X-men went to Genosha right before a ton of mutants lost their powers. Tony Stark has no comment and says goodbye to Agent Hill.
Suddenly…RED ALERT! SHIELD finds out that something crazy happened in Alaska. Agent Hill watches on her monitor as a SHIELD agent gets a good visual at the flaming man and is quickly destroyed by him. The flaming man is going at fantastic speeds crossing from Alaska and begins flying over Canada. Flying over Canada? Yep, dispatch Alpha Flight. One minute Alpha Flight is all ready to fight him the next…
THE ALPHA FLIGHT ARE ALL DEAD!!!! (one and a half page panel)
Agent Hill realizes that she has no choice, she must send out the Avengers!
AGENT HILL CURSING ABOUT HAVING TO CALL IN THE AVENGERS!!!!! (Full page
panel surprise)
Likes:
- BENDIS KILLED OFF ALPHA FLIGHT!!!! YES!!!!!!
Dislikes:
- Hmmm I think there may have
been like, I don’t know, maybe five or six full page panels that were
unnecessary. I mean I’ve heard of padding but this is ridiculous.
- No Spider-man at all this issue. Actually no Avengers either. Just Tony Stark with no costume talking to Agent Hill for a few pages over video feed.
- Practically no plot whatsoever. This was basically Bendis’s “get hyped for my new villain” issue, and you know what? I still don’t care.
Favorite Quote: There wasn’t really a nice selection of dialogue to even make that choice.
Rating: 0.5 out of 5. This frankly doesn’t even deserve a score at all but Alpha Flight getting killed off seemed important enough that I could spare this issue a half a web. What is really sad is that Marvel promoted this issue as the perfect jump-on point for new readers. If I were a new reader, I wouldn’t even make it to the counter with this comic. Heck, the only reason why I have it at all is because of this review. If you can, don’t buy this issue. Its pointless, has no Spider-man at all, and is generally a waste of your hard earned money. Now if you want to decorate your room with comic book pictures, then this comic is right for you.
Reviewed by: BtmxComedy
The
New Avengers #15
Title:
(none)
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Frank Cho
Colorist:
Jason Keith
Background: Last issue Spider-Woman revealed to her teammates that she is a double agent working for Hydra but is secretly reporting everything to Nick Fury. Also the media is beginning to notice that fancy Sentry watchtower on top of the Avengers mansion.
Plot: Ms. Marvel is blogging about how she supervised a prison transfer gone wrong and ended up fighting Klaw. The battle is easily won because Klaw is made of sound energy and Ms. Marvel absorbs energy. When the guards clean up after the fight, Ms. Marvel chats up with one of them and finds out that the Avengers are going to announce their lineup. Ms. Marvel who had no idea about this event, promptly flies to New York and is let into the Avengers tower by Jarvis.
Ms. Marvel gets acquainted with the New Avengers, but she’s really there to talk to Cap. She tells him how she feels like she’s not putting her 100% into being a superhero and she’s going to go out there and prove her worth. This goal she plans on doing independently and not with the Avengers. Meanwhile Wolverine expresses his refusal to be officially revealed to be on the Avengers to Iron Man. Iron Man allows him to pass if he so wishes.
The New Avengers all convene before the announcement. Spider-man is feeling uneasy because he knows he will be a liability to the team because of the press he gets. Iron Man and Captain America reassure him that they got everything under control. Twenty minutes later J. Jonah Jameson and Joe Robertson as well as Kat Farrell are let into the conference room where Captain America and Iron Man offer JJJ exclusive coverage if he lays off Spider-man. To this, JJJ agrees with a very touching handshake with Spider-man.
Next Captain America goes to the crowd gathered at the bottom of Avengers tower and begins his speech. The rest of the Avengers are waiting to be revealed while Aunt May, Mary Jane, a pregnant Jessica Jones, and Wolverine watch at the monitors. Captain America finishes his speech and Power Man, Spider-woman, Iron Man, Spider-man, and the Sentry all join him as the crowd cheers.
It all seems good except
when the next issue of the Daily Bugle comes out, JJJ had something to
say about the entire Avengers team. Antagonizing not only Spider-man
but also Power Man and Spider-woman and thus ridiculing the team. Iron
Man is furious but Spider-woman has no energy for more anger, she goes
out. At a pub she tells her Hydra contact the story she revealed to the
Avengers and the fact that Nick Fury has resurfaced.
Likes:
- Ms. Marvel is fun to have around. I wouldn’t have minded her joining the team but alas she did not. Oh well.
- The New Avengers are finally public setting us up for more “Avengery” stories in the future
- The interaction at the conference room with JJJ was almost breathtaking. It was very well done.
- I laughed when the above all fell apart and the entire New Avengers got bad press, it was the way it should be.
- Spider-woman is still complicated with her Hydra and Nick Fury business, and I’m not sick of it yet.
Dislikes:
- nothing really
Favorite Quote: Iron Man: “I can’t believe Jameson went right into my home, looked me right in the eye and told me we had a deal, and then went and did this. I can’t believe it
Spider-man: “See…I can”
Rating: 5 out of 5. Yep, it’s a perfect score. This is the best New Avengers issue yet. Great script, great art, and the Avengers unveiled. Not bad, not bad at all.
Reviewed by: BtmxComedy
The
New Avengers #14
Title: (none)
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Frank Cho
Colorist: Jason Keith
Background: Last issue Spider-Woman allowed Madame Hydra to escape from the Avengers Quinjet. Now Captain America is demanding to know whom she is working for.
Plot: Kat Farrell, Daily Bugle employee, receives a call from her mother in the rowdy offices of the Daily Bugle. Kat is desperate for a story, luckily for her mom got one. A story which can be seen right from the Daily Bugle building and it lying right on top of the Avengers tower: the Sentry’s watchtower. The Daily Bugle staff stares with fascination.
Meanwhile inside the Avengers tower, Steve (Captain America) wants to know whom Jessica (Spider-woman) is working for. Jessica is reluctant to say but after a little bit of pressure from Steve, Jessica begins her story.
THE STORY OF SPIDER-WOMAN: Spider-woman became an agent of Hydra at age 17 after getting her superpowers. At one point later, Nick Fury converted her from Hydra to SHIELD. Then Spider-woman’s powers ran out. Years later, Hydra offers to give her back her powers and to take her back; the catch being she would have to be a double agent working for Hydra. Spider-woman ran to Nick Fury again, and he encouraged her to play the double agent with Hydra, and report everything to SHIELD. So basically Jessica Drew was given her powers back by Hydra, and began working for both Hydra and SHIELD. Then Secret War happened and Nick Fury was no longer working for SHIELD. Thus the only person who knew she was a double agent working for SHIELD was no longer even working for the organization. As you can see Spider-woman is in the middle of a very big mess. Joining the New Avengers only complicated things for Jessica, but she could not say no because Hydra wouldn’t have it if she rejected the opportunity to spy on the Avengers.
Jessica finishes her story and Captain America, Power Man, Iron Man, Spider-man, Sentry, and Wolverine pause for thought. Luckily for Jessica, they all believe her story. Nick Fury then calls and communicates with the Avengers via hologram. Turns out that Spider-woman was also still spying for Nick Fury. Captain America wants to know where Nick Fury is located but Fury tells him that there are more important things right now. Avengers turn to the television screens; the Sentry’s watchtower is producing some media frenzy.
Likes:
- We finally find out what is up with Spider-woman
- The art is excellent as always
Dislikes:
- With the Spider-woman: Origins miniseries in print, this issue
just becomes pointless
Favorite Quote: Spider-Woman: “Can I just ask you to trust me?”
Rating: 3.5 out of 5. A very “whatever” issue of the Avengers, spending a whole issue on Spider-woman’s origin with a miniseries devoted to it printed at the same time is a bit redundant.
Reviewed by: BtmxComedy
The
New Avengers #13
Title: “Ronin” part 3
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Penciler: David Finch
Inker: Danny Miki
Colorist: Frank D’Armata
Background: New Avengers #1-6 gave us the story of how the New Avengers came together. New Avengers #7-10 gave us the story of the Sentry and his inner conflicts. Now we got an unidentified pal of Daredevil named Ronin, the Hand, and Hydra. You should probably read New Avengers #11 and #12 and we shall continue here…
Plot: Continued from last issue, the New Avengers are standing face to face with the Silver Samurai and a bunch of Hand men behind him. Silver Samurai is pissed because he was kidnapped by America and dumped in the Raft prison. Captain America tells him that they are trying to figure out what is going on. One of the head guys of the Hand pressures Silver Samurai to attack the New Avengers but instead Silver Samurai turns out and slashes away at the Hand. Iron Man quickly uses a concussion blast to beat off the rest of the Hand army.
The Silver Samurai thanks the Avengers for coming but Power Man decides to be an idiot and punches the Silver Samurai. Silver Samurai doesn’t go for it, and goes back to talking with Captain America. He tells Cap that he was kidnapped by SHIELD off his private plane and got picked up by members of the Hand after the prison riot. He says that the Hand, Hydra, and SHIELD are all rotten and corrupted and addresses Spider-Woman about it, but she conveys that she doesn’t know anything about it. Silver Samurai tells the Avengers that he will publicly tell his story, the New Avengers don’t object but Spider-Woman insists that they need to take in Madame Hydra.
Onboard the Quinjet the New Avengers and Ronin talk and have a good time. Spider-Woman however is focused on only one person, Madame Hydra. So when Madame Hydra gives the signal Spider-Woman is quick to open the emergency hatch, causing both Captain America and Madame Hydra to fall out of the plane. Spider-Woman flies down to the rescue and saves Captain America. When they are both back onboard the New Avengers wonder how Madame Hydra managed to escape but they quickly suspect and throw glances at Spider-Woman.
They land on Avengers Tower and Captain America and Iron Man talk to Ronin while Spider-Man is reunited with Mary Jane. Ronin intends on continuing his investigation in Japan and Cap and Iron Man offer him money but he declines. Both heroes have one more curiosity that they want fulfilled and that is to know who Ronin is behind the mask. Ronin unmasks and we find out that he is actually a she by the name of Maya Lopez (codename: Echo).
The
next morning while Jessica Drew is eating breakfast, Captain America
comes in and demands to know who is she working for.
Likes:
- A very good segway from the Ronin story arc to a story which will focus on Spider-Woman
- The entire Spider-Woman being a double agent plot line is very intriguing. The cliffhanger captures in essence the question that all the readers want to know. Who is she working for?
- The scene onboard the Quinjet before Madame Hydra is let out is very amusing, especially do to Spider-Man.
Dislikes:
- Ronin was probably the least necessary character in the Ronin
story arc. The story could have gotten on great just without her. The
only thing she was good for was her secret identity which kept the
readers guessing, but once I found out it was some random character from
Daredevil named Echo, I honestly couldn’t have cared less.
Favorite Quote: Spider-Man: “You know, guys, I couldn’t help but think during the entire thing that if the Sentry was there it would have been over in three minutes.”
Rating: 4.5 out of 5. It’s another great issue of the New Avengers.
Overall Arc Rating: 4 out of 5 webs. It’s a good story arc but not a classic or anything.
Reviewed by: BtmxComedy
Past Reviews
New Avengers # 1-12