Blast! The “Dark Reign” logo has left the cover, meaning I’ll never get to use my “I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen reign” pun. Way to reign on my parade, Marvel. I had a whole list of puns, but now I’ll have to reign them in. I think I’ll listen to “Reigning Blood” by Slayer to vent my rage.
THE NEW AVENGERS #55
WRITER: Brian Michael Bendis
PENCILS: Stuart Immonen
INKS: Wade Von Grawbadger
COLORS: Dave Mccaig
The power drainer incapacitates and nauseates the powered Avengers, including Ronin (the narration acknowledges the strangeness of this), leaving Mockingbird to fight Chemistro alone. She beats him, but the Wrecking Crew appears and makes short work of her and her crippled teammates. Wrecker taunts Luke Cage, whose loss of power causes heart failure, until the real targets of this “display” arrive: the Dark Avengers.
Like many Brian Michael Bendis comics, you can read this one in a few minutes and it only marginally furthers the overall story arc. For some reason, though, it works well this time. We often obsess over the raw minutes of entertainment per dollar the book offers and in how densely writers cram their pages with plot, but I think New Avengers can attribute at least part of its success to how it offers snippets of fun that go down the hatch like silk. It’s a pricey snippet, sure, but these days I value comics that provide full compliments of art and a few central Marvel Universe advancements that I can finish during a ten-minute break. I once dropped New Avengers for the same reason I praise it now, so I don’t know if I’ve changed or if the series has finally recaptured the magic of its early years. It probably helps that Stuart Immonen uses the perfect art style for breezy pop entertainment.
“Yeah, that’s right … run like a bitch.”
4 out of 5. New Avengers is on fire.
CrazyChris
PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT!
So, is Bendis going to turn Mockingbird into his next “Spider Woman?” or will he remember this is a “team” book this time?
THANK THE LORD for Stuart Immonen… I finally get a break from Billy Tan. Better than Lenill Francis Yu.. the #%##% were you people thinking?!?!?
Hahaha, if they had these power drainers a while ago, they’d have made the SH.R.A. a LOT easier to pass….
Great review! Digging the Slayer reference.