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by Nick Walden, CMRO Contributing Writer

The New Avengers

Issue #21

Written by Brian Michael Bendis, Art by Renato Guedes

Published: April 2012

Um hold on for a slight letdown people. I really liked how the last book was going but this one is suffering from a lesser bit of plot and drive to the action. But at least we have Storm showing why she is Avenger’s material! Oh wait. Bonk! Never mind she is out of action. Sigh. Maybe that was my biggest disappointment that started me off on the wrong foot. I wanted to see more Storm but she gets K.O.’d early.

What I do like is that the Avengers are getting taken out in smaller groups by Osborn who seems to be using his brain to use the proper chess moves with his minions to win. In this case the Vision is the Queen for the Avengers and he manages to get his behind off the board and avoid capture. We are missing a little more substance and punch leaving this as an action type issue. But as an action issue it does okay. Perhaps I am just suffering from high expectations.

For the art we have Renato Guedes stepping in and basically doing a 180 on the style. Guedes is more of a classic style a la Kirby. While his art is very solid and reminds me more of my 80′s intro into comics, it is a lot different so I am sure some fans will be turned off.

So I will put this book at a solid 7.5 out of 10 which is a little off the 8 from the last book. I still really like the series and after getting used to the art change I enjoyed it for what it was which is classical to me. I think Bendis has a solid idea of how he is going to get to the HAMMER war and it looks like we can reach it in a steady pace without cramming too much in at once.

by Nick Walden, CMRO Contributing Writer

The New Avengers

Issue #20

Written by Brian Michael Bendis, Art by Mike Deodato

Published: March 2012

Ding ding ding! Let’s get it on! Finally we are to the epic showdown of the New Avengers and Stormin Norman Osborn’s Dark Avengers. Things get a little hectic and a little messy at times but overall it is a pretty good brawl episode. You might want to pick this book up just to watch Luke Cage and Osborn go at it, with a close second being Iron Fist and Skaar going toe to toe.

The plot is a little less than hoped for overall. While we do get some closure on the HAMMER War crossover, it feels a little late and tired like an add-in. Also some of the Dark Avengers ended up not being as dark as I had hoped for. It used to be fun when you had wanna be bad guys getting thumped. But in this case we have a couple of Osborn’s handpicked evil doers who just fell a bit flat. I expected more from Ai Aepec for example. But there is a lot of action so it can be rather easy to gloss over a few of the low points and be happy with the big moments; there were quite a few of those!

The art was fairly spectacular. There is a ton going on with all of the action and there are just some truly fantastic scenes. Easily I rate this is one of the better drawn books start to finish I have seen in a month or two. Based on the way this book ended (with a nice twist at the end) the arc still seems fairly strong and so far has been the best of this still relatively new series. Overall this is a solid 8 out of 10 issue.

by Nick Walden, CMRO Contributing Writer

The New Avengers

Issue #17

Written by Brian Michael Bendis, Art by Mike Deodato Jr

Published: December 2011

Optimistic would be the best word to describe my reaction to reading this book. I loved the last issue so much and I was super excited for this one to come out. Boom! It was a punch right to my gut that Neal Adams is not doing the art and we have someone new on colors. The next thing that got me was they showed Daredevil and the Thing (two of my favorites) on the cover but they appeared nowhere in the issue. So where do we go from here?

After I got past my initial angst I quickly realized everything was going to be alright. This is actually a pretty good read. Bendis kept the story going with a lot of action and a focused plot is starting to develop. I enjoy some of the team banter and wise-cracking as there is not a serious soul among the current roster. By the same token it is rather humorous to watch a ‘team’ when everyone is a solo styled player. I found the lack of teamwork funny but in the long run I hope they shore that up a little more so it’s’ not just Wolverine flying around trying to kill everything.

Overall the art was good. There was a lot of action and the scenes were well drawn and inked. There were no notable ‘wow’ moments which made me miss Adams, but the team of Deodato and Conrad did a nice job. They really shine in regards to drawing the bodies in action. The scenes unfolded well and quickly. Overall this was a fun book to read and I recommend it. I love the plot and can’t wait to get to the next issue. Osborn is positively sinister as the main antagonist.

by Nick Walden, CMRO Contributing Writer

The New Avengers

Issue #16.1

Written by Brian Michael Bendis, Art by Neal Adams, Tom Palmer, & Paul Mounts

Published: October 2011

Wow. Just wow. This is by far one of the best books I have read in a while. To start, I am a big fan of the current Avengers line-up. The mix of a few previous Avengers along with the Thing, Spiderman, Wolverine, and the rest just has so many diverse and great personalities. So far Bendis has taken full advantage with his hero banter.

I was amazed with the artwork in this issue. Neal Adams is just incredible and some of his scenes are the best I have ever laid eyes on. The inks were done well providing a lot of contrast that made images stand out and ‘pop’ where needed. Action, stand-still, and during conversations were all wonderfully filled with rich detail for every character in the panel.

This plot line is great. I really enjoyed the way the story is going and making Norman Osborn into such a huge character. With his mental issues and genius it looks like this story can go so many ways. Bendis had everything flowing well and kept the entire team involved nicely. The action was fast paced and really I could not turn the pages fast enough. Now I am eagerly awaiting the next book and am a bit sadthat it will take another 30 days to get to the next chapter of this adventure.