Avengers

It’s nice every now and then to sit down and read a run of comics… I did it this week with New Avengers. Good old Bendis. Whenever I review a comic of his, I just lay into him and people are shocked by my attacks - it’s as if he’s attacked my family or something - but I just think he’s a very talented guy and he shouldn’t get so sloppy sometimes.
I did enjoy reading the Avengers stuff, but it’s so flawed…
First up, isn’t it funny how comics have changed. Back in the day, the new team would have been set up by the end of issue one. Not so much with Bendis, Wolvy doesn’t appear til issue 5 or so, Sentry’s in and out like a jack in the box…
Okay, let’s look at some fuck-ups…
- Daredevil - if you want him on the team, get him on the team! He’d be cool! But no, he teases us in the first arc, and then there’s the sham that is the Ronin storyline - c’mon, Ronin is a man, Echo does not look like a man!!! Listen, it’s a great idea to have DD on the team as Ronin (surely the original plan), so just do it…!
- The Sentry - what a dull character - I wish Marvel would stop trying to force him down our throats… And the early arc on him is so dull - plus why bring in all those other heroes? Plus Emma Frost? I mean, I’m all for Emma, but this is the Avengers. And then he just disappears for a few issues lol…
- Too many crossovers - If you read the Avengers run on its own, it’s so funny to see Spidey change his costume every other issue with no explanation, and the team changing (because of the events in another book, Civil War). Not good…
- The team: Okay, I’m with this here - JLA is composed of DC’s biggest icons, so Marvel’s Avengers should do the same. It’s great to see Wolvy and Spidey on board, and they so should bring Storm over to the Avengers (and pop Wanda with the X-Men) because Ororo is wasted at the moment in the X-books… But then I’m not sure about the new line-up of New Avengers - the street-level guys… C’mon, could these guys really take on Galactus?
- Spider-Woman - the character with the most convoluted origin ever, just got a whole lot more confusing. Whose side is she on, when did she become a Skrull, and does her Skrullness make it a total waste of money to have bought some of those issues? I was looking forward to her new series, but now I fear it…
- Crossover issues - soooo annoying and too lightweight. That Sentry issue - boy, that‘s 2 quid I‘ll never get back…
- Bendis’ writing - he’s good, I’m a fan, but sometimes it doesn’t work. The banter is great - Spidey and Luke Cage have some great one-liners - but sometimes you wonder if it’s appropriate for the Avengers. It kinda depowers them a bit, brings them down a level. Plus, c’mon, it took them 2 issues to take down the Wrecker? Please. These guys aren’t amateurs.
And then there’s another aspect of the writing - the Hand/Elektra and Hood arcs are in some places incomprehensible. I don’t know if the guy took too much on - but way too many time-jumps in the storytelling.
Plus the Collective storyline - not good, so confusing… What the hell did Xorn have to do with it. Mike Deodato’s confusing art didn’t help…
And finally, too many bloopers… Like one issue, Iron Man struggling to translate Japanese from some attacking Ninjas, and in a couple of issues’ time he mentions he has a universal translator in his suit… Which leads me to…
- And finally, didja get the Spider-Woman Skrull issue recently - the one with the flashbacks? Showing Spider-Woman after she first put her costume back on? Um, well I don’t know who edited this, but Wolverine is in the flashback issue - but he hadn’t actually joined the team at that point. Ouch… Surely between Bendis, the artist and the Editor, someone could have spotted this cock-up…
So all in all - well people think I hate Bendis. No way, I’m all for innovation, and I’d rather be challenged by a comic than read something bland… I just don’t understand why he fucks it up so badly sometimes…