1 Bourbon, 1 Scotch, 1 Book

The New Avengers #48

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Billy Tan

Wow, something almost kind of happened in an issue of New Avengers. Sit up and take notice, people!
So for the past two years or so, N.A. has been the book covering the underground heroes like Luke Cage, Iron Fist and Spider-Man who wouldn't register themselves as government-recognized superpeople. Superheroes who have to sneak around don't get to act very superhero-y that often, so for awhile this book was kind of an odd one. It's an extreme comparison, but what if Superman had to cover his tracks after every rescue? Once they found a Skrull impostor(a shape-shifting green alien, for n00bz) had replaced their old ninja buddy Elektra (as far as anyone can be buddies with an assassin), the road to the Secret Invasion crossover was paved... and then that started to meander around and refocus on a syndicate of B-List villains while Marvel brought a new meaning to the term "slow boil," taking forever to make sure everything was going to fall in line with the Skrulls' near-takeover of the planet.

Sausage party.

ANYWAY, now that that's over and the Wasp has been killed by... catharsis, apparently, and Hawkeye's dead crimefighter wife Mockingbird is alive again-- and I'm starting to think that the five years that Bendis has been writing Avengers was all leading up to him bringing back Mockingbird-- now that Secret Invasion's done, New Avengers can start heading in its own direction again. Namely, a bunch of normally solo characters teaming up to go looking for trouble. This time, in the aftermath of the aforementioned invasion, a Skrull refugee has kidnapped Luke Cage and Jessica Jones's baby. With the new Captain America and the old ("old" here meaning "no longer the Skrull Queen in disguise") Spider-Woman tagging along, the Avengers scour NYC for signs of the... I swear this nearly came out without me thinking about it... alien abductor. When that doesn't work, they consult the Fantastic Four-- in an amusing incidence of continuity, the Four are still sleeping in tents among the ruins of their penthouse. And when Reed Richards, the big brain who pretty much started and ended the Skrull War can't find him, Luke Cage makes a pretty drastic decision in the hopes of getting his daughter home safe.

I'll start with the art since I don't know shit about art so I'll be done quick. It'd be easier to admit that Leinil Yu needed a break if I'd enjoyed Secret Invasion more. But he still put his heart and soul into all eight issues and never broke under the pressure, something I can't say for DC's Final Crisis semi-artist of 5 issues, JG Jones (sorry dude, I say it because I love you). So while Yu's perfect balance of gritty and clean is missing, there's still some gritty and clean. Tan's Cap looks awesome, and I think Spider-Woman's emoting through her mask as well as she has since Bendis shoved her onto the main stage four years ago. But there are also panels where Luke and Jessica are so distressed over the abduction of their child that it's given them skin cancer. And it might be the colorist's fault but Wolverine looks like he's wearing dumpy yellow pajamas the whole time. Then again, he is. I'd give him a six out of ten. (Billy Tan, not Wolverine.)

Writing-wise, Bendis is Bendis. He knows how to build suspense from the exchange of snarky dialogue and pained expressions, but half the time he doesn't know where to go from there-- he pours the foundation and nails together the framework, but sometimes Ed Brubaker and Habitat for Humanity have to come in and finish the job. The scene with the Avengers regrouping at Captain America's place is kind of awkward-- then again, a lot of people and aliens did just die. I'll let that one slide. The scene with the disgruntled SHIELD agents and the panicked runaway Skrull is probably the best Bendis work I've read-- it's a genuinely surprising twist and the action looks suspiciously like a real comic book hero fight. Luke's decision at the end to make a deal with the new devil (Norman Osborn, former Green Goblin and current war hero) to find his daughter is a surprise, but a very unsurprising one. Osborn's the focal point of the next six months of storyline, so of course one of Bendis's favorite characters finds himself intertwined with him. But I'm interested, regardless, and that is more than I've been able to say about the Avengers since I pretty much figured out where Secret Invasion was going (re: right after it came out). So I'll call that an eight out of ten.
--Editor

Earth's Mightiest People Who Mostly Just Talk a Lot

from volume 1, issue 1, mid-October 2007

New Avengers #32-35

Written by Brian M. "Anyone Remember Jinx or Goldfish?" Bendis
Drawn by Leinil Francis “King of All Wolverine Artists, Forever” Yu

So. The Elektra who was running the Hand, the elite ninja clan of Marvel Japan, was actually a Skrull. For those of you who just fell off a truck full of turnips straight from Super Mario 2, a Skrull is a skuzzy green alien who can shapeshift. So Elektra was a Skrull. What does that matter? It means anyone could be a Skrull. It means the New, non-Initiative Avengers can’t even trust each other now. Hawkeye—really back from the dead, or is he a Skrull? Doc Strange—has he really had a change of heart about how involved he should be in the world—or is he a Skrull? Luke Cage—is he really black or is he a SKRULL?! Okay, obviously if I were one of these heroes I guess it’d seem a bit more ridiculous than it does to them right now. But still, they’re a good group and I hate to see them distrust each other. But I do have my doubts. I love Hawkeye. Alongside Cyclops he’s my favorite Marvel hero. But his method of returning from the dead is questionable at best. And Dr. Strange—if you’ll notice, he manages to beg off of having to use his talents as Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme to save the heroes’ asses a few times, when you’d think that keeping an airplane from crashing wouldn’t be beyond him… then again, it could be Bendis just doing a lame job of humanizing uber-powerful characters. You never know with that rascal. So yeah, in issues 32 and 34 we’re faced with that menacing question, leading to the “Secret Invasion” event they’re touting on Marvel.com for next year. Meanwhile, in issue 33 and 35, street-level villain The Hood starts gathering other second-rate supervillains like the Wizard and Madam Masque to form a new supervillain syndicate (NOT AT ALL what Luthor did in DC during Infinite Crisis, not one bit). So I’m subjected to a bunch of Mamet-esque bickering about “the take” and “you gotta problem, you come ta me” et cetera. I’m not totally against it, I’m just saying it’s amusing that Bendis has written himself into this corner with five or seven years of superhero comics, and now he realizes he misses his old noir stuff.
I love the team itself. Even Wolverine, whose secondary mutation seems to be appearing in every Marvel book at the same time. Seeing Luke Cage and Iron Fist together is great. Hell, seeing Luke Cage at all just warms the cockles of my heart. Yeah, I said cockles. Deal with it. I still like Spidey being on the team, despite whatever bullcrap the “One More Day” story is slinging his way. And I’m praying like hell that Hawkeye isn’t a Skrull. Which I guess is what Bendis wants me to do, and in that, he succeeds. All in all, I enjoy this book. I hate this whole post-Civil War Marvel world; heck, I’ve hated Marvel since the Scarlet Witch said “No more mutants,” which really meant “no more Grant Morrison playing in Bendis’s sandbox,” but this one book, along with the mysterious urban legend known only as Astonishing X-Men, keeps me from saying “screw it all, let the Ultimate line take over for good”. And I guess that’s an accomplishment.
That said, get to the effing Skrulls!!!

Rating: Three Vodka Collins.