New Avengers # 38
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Michael Gaydos
Marvel Comics
The New Avengers, unregistered secret team, are broken up due to the threat that any one of them may be Skrull, but what can these heroes do to stop the coming invasion, Avengers or no Avengers?
Except instead of dealing with that we get a full issue dedicated to the fallout of Jessica Jones registering herself and her son against husband Luke Cage’s wishes. They have a big confrontation that’s really perfectly in character for both, but oh lord does it get a lot of room to breathe. That and the set up of a new headquarters are literally all that’s in this book. If you’re a longtime reader, or a former Alias reader, that’s very good indeed, but for a casual or new fan jumping on, this is terribly boring. The conflict over registration has been done to death and there’s certainly nothing new here. The issue of trust and taking action without a spouse’s consent is well presented, but again, without context, nothing special.
The art here is dealing entirely with talking heads, so that’s not exactly visually striking. For the most part, the subtle nuances necessary to make a book like this work are present; however, there are several panels throughout this issue where clarity and overly posing characters become a concern. This can’t have been the most fun to draw, so at least this is handled professionally, despite the few lapses.
Overall, if you’re following the series, this is a nice, quiet catch up issue, which you will enjoy insofar as you enjoy the characters of Luke Cage and Jessica Jones. Meanwhile, if you are a potential new fan jumping back in, you can follow this issue, but might find yourself rather bored. Wait for a new arc to jump on, but if you’re on board, read on and enjoy.
