New Avengers #59-60 Reviews

New Avengers #59-60 reviewed AFTER Siege #1! What’s going on?

It’s a bit like the Captain America scandal, it all being revealed before Reborn #6 was even released. Bit of satire towards the industry, eh?

In all seriousness, it is my fault that these reviews are so late. No excuses.

NEW AVENGERS #59-60

WRITER: Brian Michael Bendis

ARTIST: Stuart Immonen.

INKS: Wade von Grawbadger

COLOURS: Dave McCaig

LETTERS: Albert Deschesne

PLOT:

Luke Cage wakes up in H.A.M.M.E.R.’s medical facility with Norman Osborn ready to make a deal. The location of the Avengers for the safety of his wife and child. The New Avengers are also making their plan to rescue Luke, the Avengers attacking Camp H.A.M.M.E.R. while an assortment of other heroes, Doctor Voodoo, Dr. Strange, Hellcat, The Thing, Daredevil, Iron Fist, Valkyrie and Misty Knight, attack the Helicarrier and free the former Power Man. Norman Osborn’s Dark forces immediately move to defend the Camp, unaware that’s what the Avengers want. The “Quickly Assembled” Avengers (as I will now call them) then attack the Helicarrier with only Victoria Hand and poorly trained agents to defend it. They may not be poorly trained, but they get the stuffing kicked out of them every other week, something’s up.

Luke is rescued, Taskmaster and Hawkeye argue, all is well.

Except for something attached to Luke Heart…which will be resolved…NOW.

In issue #60, Luke is ready to get back into his hero and family life. The resident Doctor, Stephen Strange, checks out Luke and finds a device on his heart. Nobody knows what it is, but Strange knows who to call…and it isn’t the Ghostbusters.

The Hood’s not happy with Osborn and Osborn’s not happy with the situation. Dayumm.

Hank Pym a.k.a. The Wasp is sent and shrinks down himself and Dr. Strange to remove the device inside Luke. Suddenly, the signal changes and Osborn knows where the Avengers are hiding. While, the signal turns into a countdown and they figure out the tracking device is a bomb. They get it of Luke and escape, just before Osborn arrives to see his second home blow up in front of his eyes. Nice.

The Hood organise a meet with his crew and shoots Jonas Harrow in front of them. Now the Crew are forced to do what Norman Osborn says as punishment, the first being to hunt down and kill the Avengers. Apart from Spider-Man, Osborn wants him alive…

LIKES:

-The art, Stuart Immonen is doing extremely well as the regular artist.

-The arc as a whole.

-Getting one ups on Norman Osborn

-The pure badassery of the Hood

DISLIKES:

-Was this arc a bit too long? Perhaps.

THOUGHTS:

After several issues, we come to the end of this arc before Siege. The Power Drainer arc, which was basically a battle of wits between Jonas Harrow/Norman Osborn/The New Avengers, with The Hood coming in later after regaining some superpowers. I can say that Norman Osborn was thoroughly beaten in this issue, though he nearly had them with the device on Luke’s heart. It eventually came down to the fact that the Avengers could call on people to help them and Osborn is basically isolated with only The Hood being on his side, somebody who was gone for half of the arc and Jonas Harrow being incompetent in places.

This arc has been one of the best in the sixty issues of New Avengers and a lot of the credit has to go to a consistent artist in Stuart Immonen. His art has given the book a much needed sense of continuity and helped the book flow well. The art is very stylised, you know it’s Immonen when you see it. Thanks go to McCaig and von Grawbadger too. Made this arc very pleasing to look at.

Another factor that made this arc great was that it could very well stand on its own. Despite being a part of Dark Reign, it doesn’t feel like a tie-in, like Dark Reign was shoved into the book. It feels very natural, which seeing as Bendis set up Dark Reign must have been very easy for him to do. All the same, it’s a welcome change to see an event actually making stories better, than hindering them.

FAVOURITE QUOTE:

“Weird, you have two men inside you.”

“Don’t say that again.”

Close second:

“Avengers! Follow me!”

“He didn’t say assemble.”

“You care?”

“I think I kinda do. Huh.”

OVERALL:

#59: 4.5 out of 5 webheads

#60: 4 out of 5 webheads.

Very good arc. Even better read all together.

Best arc of New Avengers so far? Debatable, but definitely up there.