New Avengers #54

I read New Avengers #54 this past weekend, which is the culmination of a few plot lines, all in one issue. It was fun to see things start to get wrapped up as other stories are being spun out. Leaving things dangling is a real pet peeve of mine, so it's fun to see the writer (Brian Michael Bendis) actually wrap up a few things here.

The search for the next Sorcerer Supreme is concluded, and Jericho Drumm, aka Brother Voodoo (and his ghostly brother) has been chosen and accepted.

The deal between The Hood and the Dread Dormammu has also been played out, as the New Avengers alongside Brother Voodoo and Damien Hellstrom fought off The Hood, then Dormammu in the middle of New Orleans.

The fight was pretty cool, but I really am missing both Lenil Yu and Jimmy Chung on this book, as the art has gotten darker and more static since their departure.

So now the story of Brother Voodoo, sorcerer supreme begins. The war of words in the media between Ronin and Norman Osborn continues, and the fight between the New and Dark Avengers builds up a little more.

The team continues to lack a certain chemistry for me, though. It's not about the moments of levity or down time, but rather in the way they fight. I think they need to get a little more organized, and start using tactics a little more interesting than "dog pile the bad guy!" They need their own "Fastball Special", as it were. I mean, guys like Spider-Man and Luke Cage might not have tons of team work behind them, but Wolverine and Ms. Marvel should. Same for Ronin and Mockingbird.

Despite that small gripe, this series continues to be a must read for me, and is what I consider the flagship title for the Marvel Universe.

New Avengers: Illuminati #5, New look site

So I spent some time tweaking the look of the site last week. It's not as if it was a big change, but I like it, and I think now it looks a little more unique around here. If you read this over an rss feed, though, I doubt it'll matter much to you.


Moving right along, I just wanted to give a quick review of New Avengers: Illuminati #5, which came out last week, and continues to be a book I quite enjoy. Even if it does tend to be one of the more continuity-involved books in print, I know that this isn't really the title for new readers, and as I have been reading a lot of Bendis' Marvel stuff, this is right up my alley.

IGN has a preview of this issue up on their site, so if you're so inclined, you can go take a look at the first few pages and get a good grasp of the plot, to say nothing of the great art from CrossGen vet, Jimmy Cheung.

This issue is sort of a follow up on another of Bendis' books, New Avengers, answering the question "Did Spider-Woman give Iron Man the Skrull body?" and moves from there to see how Tony Stark is going to deal with it. It was a good read, with good art, and the plot twist was unexpected, but not unbelievable, which showed a good amount of planning by the writer. I also quite enjoy Namor, the Sub-Mariner in this book, as I think he is treated with respect by his peers, and in this setting we get to see more of both his honourable-warrior and his personal sides. This book also should signal the start of the next big event at Marvel, following up on "Civil War" and "World War Hulk" with "Secret Invasion: The Infiltration".