Avengers #8
Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Art by John Romita Jr
Well this wasn’t that bad at all. After a mind numbing first arc, and last issues failed attempts at really grabbing me, I was honestly amazed when I looked in my stack this week and saw that I hadn’t dropped the book yet. I even had a little talk with the owner of my comic shop about it, and how I think I’m just waiting the book out a little while to see if it picks up steam. I mean, I detested New Avengers before Civil War hit, but come the end of Secret Invasion I was reading those early issues in a different light and found myself liking them a lot more. I figured maybe Bendis is just starting slow with his overly decompressed style and before we know it we’re going to be waist deep in a can’t miss book. Maybe I’m just optimistic, but hey, at least my optimism is gleaming in Marvel’s direction for a change.
The first thing I feel that this book does right is the return of the Illuminati, as those stories have been some of my favorite Bendis Avenger-y stories to date. I like the premise, I like the characters involved, and I like the potential for universe shattering shenanigans. Like gathering up all the Infinity Gems and letting everyone store one for sake keeping and hoping it never blows up in their faces. I’ve been waiting somewhat impatiently for nearly four years, but finally I’m getting a little payoff as the ever resourceful Parker “The Hood” Robbins has somehow not only found out that they had the gems, but where they are. So far he’s got reality and power, which is enough to punch the Red Hulk (apparently) across the country, as Rulk claims to have been punched in Death Valley before winding up in New York. Sure, power isn’t everything, but it’s still an impressive little glove slap to the face.
Medusa’s arrival in the place of the late Black Bolt didn’t really register to me as a shocker at first, after all, I read Marvel’s cosmic stuff, and I have War of Kings, so it just slipped my mind that somehow Reed Richards wouldn’t know that one of his oldest friends had died. I wish we could have had more time on that particular moment, and I don’t fault Bendis for the one page reaction, and if anything I want to praise him for it. He handled the situation expertly in a few panels, and I felt the loss in the heart of both Reed and Medusa before they were interrupted with more pressing business. Character interaction has always been what Bendis does best, the little moments like these.
The interactions of the Illuminati as a whole were great, and if I have any complaint to make it’s the lack of Iron Man making some line to Namor about being an X-Man now, or even Xavier and Namor having some sort of exchange to get across the fact that they are on the same team. Sure, Namor had the X on his belt, but this is my fanboy whine of the rant, I like when little things like that get acknowledged, it gives me an excuse to geek out a little bit. Sue me.
I need to give John Romita Jr. a lot of credit for this issue, as his art looks so much better in this issue than the last few that I’m crossing my fingers and hoping it just keeps getting better. The details are great, but the faces are the real improvement. I’ve never had a problem with his art, and he’s always been a favorite of mine, but some of the characters in this book thus far (particularly the females) have been just horrific in the faces. This issue thankfully doesn’t have that problem, and I see shades of the Romita art that I always see in my mind when I picture his work starting to come through. Not to mention that few people do action as effectively as Romita does, I mean, the Hulk vs Hood fight is all art, no dialog, and it’s clear as day despite the sheer chaos being unleashed.
This is probably my favorite issue of the series thus far….though that just makes it a toss up between the first issue and this one, but it’s a good read! Bendis writing the Illuminati is great, and with everything beginning to unravel for the secret society of heroes it’s only adding to the intrigue of what will come next. Not to mention that the Hood is gathering up the gems, and next issues cover features the Gauntlet itself, so things could definitely go batshit crazy at any moment. I just hope that Bendis hasn’t bitten off more than he can chew, because I really want for this story to be good just like I want this book to be good. It’s a good team, it’s a great concept, and I just want to read it every month and enjoy it. Not groan about incoherent plots or bad art.
Overall?
8/10
