The Gold Standard #50 featuring the New New Avengers

Columns, Top Story

One issue left, true believers, one issue left in volume one of New Avengers. But fear not, for Marvel, acting in the interests of promoting new number ones, and seperate volumes as opposed to big numbers, has relaunched it! Or they will in June!

But wait, New Avengers was created back in 2005 in the wake of Avengers Disassembled, with the whole premise of them being a new breed of Avenger. Sure, Steve and Tony were there to represent the old guard, but the rest of the team was filled out by Wolverine, Spider-Man, Luke Cage, Spider-Woman, and the Sentry. Sure, Ronin may have made the initial covers, but her presence was a joke and Bendis had no fraking clue what to do with Echo. The premise of the team was that they were, well, the Avengers. They lived in Avengers Tower and fought bad guys like Elektro, the Void, the Collective, the Super Adaptoid, all kinds of folk.

After Civil War the team, led by Luke Cage, became Luke, Iron Fist, Wolverine, Spider-Man (black costume!), Dr. Strange, Echo, Ronin (Clint Barton), and Spider-Woman. This team lived in a place owned by Danny Rand, and they were outlaws. These were the guys who wouldn’t sign the registration act and thus, if caught fighting super villains intent on taking over the world, would be potentially labeled as a higher threat than said villains. Tony was a little wacky then, I mean, he kinda sorta hit the dominos over that got Steve Rogers assassinated. The team spent most of their time fighting the Hood and his super powered evil mafia…..a fight that has yet to end.

Of course, Spider-Woman wound up being a damn dirty Skrull Queen and got head shoted by ‘Stormin’ Norman Osborn! So now the outlaw Avengers were REALLY outlaw Avengers since Norman was letting super villains be the good guys for a change. He was kind of a prick. Anyway, Clint took over this variation of the team which included Luke, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Mockingbird, Ms. Marvel, Spider-Woman (the real deal!), and of course, Bucky Cap. Not only was Bucky Cap on the team, but they lived in his (Steve’s) apartment! This was the variation of the team that featured the most imprisonments, as both Luke and Clint both spent time under Osborn’s control. Clint because he was cocky enough to think he could break in and kill Osborn…..he couldn’t, and Luke because he had a heart attack and they surrendered him to Osborn for medical help…….Osborn bugged his heart. And they fought the Hood some more, a lot more.

But alas, Asgard has fallen, the Hood seems to be depowered, and the New Avengers are no longer outlaws for the first time in several years. It’s a brand new day, and it’s time for a brand new number one that hits this June. Now I bet you’re thinking that I just did a wham bam recap and am calling it a day, right? Nah, I’m better than that. This is your preview to the new New Avengers.

Now let’s check out the roster before we go any further! Starting with the teasers Marvel released.

First up we’re going with the man who will, most obviously, be the leader of the team. Luke Cage. Cage joined the Avengers in the first arc of New Avengers and has been incredibly prominent in the Marvel Unvierse because of it….and Bendis’s man crush on him. That does not hurt. This book is going to quite easily fall into the category of “Luke’s book” despite him leading the Thunderbolts as well. Why? Well, that’s as simple as our next member.

Jessica Jones Cage. Jewel. Luke’s wife, and the mother of his child. Retired for years…..well, retired since before Bendis created her in Alias, she made her return in costume to help Mockingbird save Clint from Osborn. Her presence on the team means that this book will continue the fine job that Bendis has done writing super hero parents, with the added twist of Jess putting her suit back on. She’s one of the characters I’m most excited for coming out of this relaunch, as, well, her as Jewel as an Avenger is undiscovered territory.

Wolverine retains his position as…..Wolverine on the Avengers. I’ve never minded the way Bendis writes him, he’s kind of fun, actually, but I can’t see why he’s needed on both the New Avengers as well as the Prime group. Sure, it’s not really much more spread out than he is now, but….I’m looking too deep. Logan’s presence will let him play well off of various characters in the book as he has done for the last five years.

Spider-Man I would say makes more sense on this team than on the Prime roster, as this group definitely has a more street level feel to it. But yeah, like Wolverine, Spidey has grown on me in the role over the past five years, and I do like to see him on the team.

And then for our straight out of left field, what the hell are you kidding me choice…..Ben Grimm? The Thing? Is an Avenger? Bwah? This isn’t Ultimate, so like, he’s definitely still on the Fantastic Four, so maybe he commutes? It’s weird, the Fantastic Four are kind of like the sacred lambs of Marvel. The FF will always be Reed, Johnny, Ben, and Sue; and the concept of putting any of them elsewhere is just weird. More so than moving the X-Men around, since some of Beast’s best moments came as an Avenger. This is an inspired pick though, and I dig it.

So those are the five we know from the “I am a New Avenger” teasers, but obviously there are more. Currently, with the help of the covers for the first two issues, as well as Marko Djurdjevic’s painting of all things Avengers, I can bust out four more names!

Mockingbird can be seen on both the cover to #2 and the New Avengers section of Djurjevic’s spread. Double confirmation is confirmation in my eyes, so Bobbi and Clint are going to be on seperate teams while also sharing a duo book. I like this a great deal, as it means that while they still work together, they aren’t going to work together. I figure it will be a cool relationship point to play up, where they work just fine when it’s just the two of them, but put them on a team and both would rather work with other people. Functional dysfunction is why most couples don’t work together.

Ms. Marvel is on all three, which means I get to yell “YAY CAROL!” as she gets to hang around. Bendis writes a great Ms. Marvel, and I’ll be honest, after seeing some of the stuff from the end of her solo book, the interactions in New Avengers before the relaunch, and the Siege: Spider-Man one shot, my spider-sense is telling me that we might just see a trigger pulled on a potential relationship between the two, one that I can not wait to see. Plus, it’s nice to see Carol still on a team.

The Djurdjevic poster confirmed the next two character, the first being Stephen Strange, the former Dr. Strange. This just tells me that the book is going to have magical stuff going on, which could be kinda cool. The stuff with Dr. Voodoo was pretty cool, so if this keeps up that tone, Strange would make a great pick.

Danny “Iron Fist” Rand fills out the team, reappearing after the apparent cancellation of his book, which I figured would be relaunched after the Immortal Weapons mini….and remain disappointed that there seems to be no sign of such a thing happening. But Danny works. He’s Luke’s best friend, and he’s arguably the best fighter Marvel has to offer. His presence will net him some exposure, lead to some cool moments, and rectify that they yanked him uncermoniously from the book during the Dark Reign instances.

So those are your New Avengers! Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Spider-Man, Wolverine, The Thing, Mockingbird, Ms. Marvel, Strange, and Iron Fist. And apparently they’re going to be based out of Avengers Mansion!

Oh, and just to cover all the bases? Here are the solicits with a tiny bit of analysis.

NEW AVENGERS #1
Written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS
Pencils & Cover by STUART IMMONEN
Variant Cover by MARKO DJURDJEVIC
Variant Cover by STUART IMMONEN
Heroic Age Blank Variant also available
Find out who the New Avengers are, where they call home (gotta see it to believe it!), which Dark Avenger has joined their ranks, and just who the interdimensional demonic threat to our existence is! These heroes have gathered to take on the threats too dark, too dangerous, and too bizarre for any other team of heroes. The New Avengers are back!! And Bendis & Immonen are back with the Siege & Secret Invasion colorista Laura Martin!! You didn’t really think Marvel was going to cancel their number one ongoing title did you? Heck no!! Backup feature: Another brand new oral history of the Avengers chapter by Bendis!
32 PGS./Rated A …$3.99

Wait? A Dark Avenger? I didn’t cover that! How could I have missed something so….big? Well, allow me to quote another solicit to answer this.

“What mission could cause Maria Hill, Sharon Carter, and Victoria Hand, the three Avengers liasons, to join forces? ” – Age of Heroes #1

So three Avengers liasons, hm? Well, Sharon is obviously the Secret Avengers one, as she’s with Steve. Maria I see working with Tony, so she’s with Prime. That leaves Dark Avengers liason Victoria Hand for the New Avengers!

Critical thinking. Win.

NEW AVENGERS #2
Written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS
Pencils & Cover by STUART IMMONEN
Variant Cover by STUART IMMONEN
All new Marvel magic by Brian Michael Bendis and Stuart Immonen! The Avengers don’t even get a chance to move in to their new digs when a dimensional invasion tears right into the heart of the team. This is a story that wlll completely reinvent the rules of magic in the Marvel Universe and have long- lasting effects on a handful of your favorite Marvel characters. Plus: an Avenger disappears! Backup feature: Another brand new oral history of the Avengers chapter by Bendis!
32 PGS./Rated A …$3.99

The cover has Luke Cage holding the Eye of Agamotto. That tells me magic. Lots of magic. Magic means that’s how to bring in Stephen Strange.

On top of all of that, it’s Bendis and Immonen. How can you argue that team?

It all seems kinda win to me.

The Gold Standard

A lifelong reader and self proclaimed continuity guru, Grey is the Editor in Chief of Comics Nexus. Known for his love of Booster Gold, Spider-Girl (the real one), Stephanie Brown, and The Boys. Don't miss The Gold Standard.