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Avengers Re-Read: The 2010s - Part 2 3/3/2015 6:57:58 AM
This post originally appeared on www.thunderalleybcp.com.
The Avengers Re-Read continues its progress through the 2010s.
Fear Itself (Avengers vol. 4, #13-17 and New Avengers vol. 2, #14-16)
The Avengers attempted to help with the rebuilding of Asgard, just as the Red Skull (daughter edition) launched her “fear god” attack on the world. The team contended with large Nazi robots, while Red Hulk fought a fear god-possessed Thing, resulting in the destruction of Avengers Tower. Ms. Marvel, Spider-Woman, Protector and Hawkeye all wound up fighting the possessed (Green) Hulk in Rio. The heroes took a lot of punishment to save some locals, while Hawkeye (recently split from Mockingbird) and Spider-Woman took steps toward a romance. Steve Rogers went on a commando raid in Sweden with just Sharon Carter, Maria Hill and Victoria Hand as support. They fought some neo-Nazis and things weren’t going their way, until Daisy Johnson (a/k/a Quake) arrived to help out. The Avengers then joined the final assault on the fear-powered Red Skull.
Meanwhile, Mockingbird’s rapid recovery stunned the other New Avengers. Just in time, as tension over Victoria Hand, especially Spider-Man’s distrust, nearly split the team. The New Avengers plunged into the fight against the Red Skull’s Nazi robots. Meanwhile, Squirrel Girl ran a gauntlet through the embattled city in order to get to Luke and Jessica’s baby, to keep her safe. Daredevil came to the rescue, when the Nazi robots attacked Avengers Mansion, where Squirrel Girl and baby Danielle were sheltering. In the aftermath, Luke and Jessica finally convinced Daredevil to join the New Avengers.
This is a tough collection to get into. It’s inextricably tied to Fear Itself, which was one of Marvel’s least successful crossover events of the past few years. Compounding the problem was Brian Michael Bendis using the “talking heads give interviews to an unseen documentarian commenting on the action” device that was already over-used at that point. The result was to devote pages and pages to grids of talking heads, telling you about the action, instead of showing it. It was a curious choice that further enervated a tie-in to an unsuccessful story. Some of the character work was nice, but a lot of it got lost in the shuffle. This collection can best be remembered for the start of the Hawkeye/Spider-Woman pairing, which never made a lot of narrative sense, and for Daredevil’s long overdue induction. On the art front, John Romita, Jr., Chris Bachalo and Mike Deodato all contributed issues. All three artists struggled with ways to make the pages of talking head grids dynamic and none especially succeeded. Bachalo probably managed slightly better to add a bit of interest where he could, but grids of talking heads are not especially interesting. Each did some decent work with the action sequences slipped in between the interviews, but there wasn’t a lot of momentum. Ultimately, Fear Itself was as unmemorable as the event it supported and is relevant only for completists.
Avengers Volume 3 (Avengers vol. 3, #18-24 and 24.1)
In a saga that ran concurrently with a related story in sister title New Avengers, Norman Osborn returned to exact revenge. A renegade S.H.I.E.L.D. scientist, Carolina Washington, collected a variety of superhuman genetic samples from various crisis scenes, including the rubble of Avengers Tower. Dr. Washington defected to a new H.A.M.M.E.R. coalition headed by Osborn that united factions including A.I.M., Hydra and The Hand. With the tower down, all Avengers squads temporarily decamped to Avengers Mansion. While worrying about Osborn’s escape from prison, the Avengers solidified a new line-up: Captain America (once again Steve Rogers), Iron Man, Hawkeye, Spider-Woman, Protector, Red Hulk, Vision (whose revival Tony Stark made a pleasant surprise) and new recruit Storm (on the recommendation of then-husband Black Panther). Osborn crashed the Avengers’ press conference and made a variety of outlandish claims to paint the team in a bad light.
The Avengers split into duos to pursue leads on H.A.M.M.E.R. and ran afoul of powered agents created by Dr. Washington. H.A.M.M.E.R. captured most of the team, leaving only Vision free. As H.A.M.M.E.R. whipped up public sentiment against the Avengers, the U.S. Government began to entertain seriously some of Osborn’s claims. The U.S. military attempted to capture Osborn and Viper in an attempt to deliver Cap “for arrest,” while Quake and Vision each tracked their way to H.A.M.M.E.R. HQ. The Avengers fought their way out of captivity, only to discover that Osborn had become an Adaptoid, capable of absorbing and copying the powers of anyone he touched. The Avengers and the just arrived New Avengers overloaded Osborn with a raft of contradictory powers, bringing him down. Viper escaped with the genetic samples, ready to re-start Hydra. In an epilogue, Vision attempted to reconnect to the world after months out of commission. He was rather kind to She-Hulk, who’d ripped his body in half under Scarlet Witch’s control, then had an ugly confrontation with Magneto in search of his ex-wife.
This was an interesting story that incorporated many elements from Bendis’s tenure shepherding the Avengers franchise. The concept of Osborn creating a coalition of evil forces to overwhelm the Avengers was a clever idea that created a substantive challenge for the team. Seeing the heroes bounce back from their initial defeats was a classic Avengers progression that worked quite nicely. Having Vision back was great and long-time X-Men member Storm proved to be a strong (albeit short-lived) addition to the team. The plot did a nice job spotlighting the interactions of the character, both their personal connections and how this particular squad worked as a team. If there was a flaw to the story, it was the anti-establishment philosophical rhetoric that Osborn deployed against the Avengers and that some characters (including the government) regarded it seriously. It was an unnecessary adornment to what was otherwise a strong concept and original threat to the team.
Daniel Acuña handled most of this arc, with Renato Guedes stepping in for a couple issues. The duo have very similar aesthetics, providing a strong sense of visual continuity for the entire saga. Each artist used a soft, somewhat dreamlike approach, giving everything a lush, shadowy feel that fit the darker tones of the story. Acuña especially took an almost painterly approach to the pages, coming up with some striking spreads. Both artists’ character work could feel a bit posed at times, not especially dynamic, but the overall spell of the artwork succeeded in conveying mood and texture quite effectively. Brandon Peterson stepped in for the Vision story, turning in crisp, sharp lines that choreographed the action quite well. Overall, this was a strong volume with a compelling story. It’s definitely worth seeking out.
New Avengers Volume 3 (New Avengers vol. 2, #16.1 and 17-23)
The flip side of the concurrent Avengers arc saw the return of Norman Osborn as a major threat. H.A.M.M.E.R. loyalists helped Osborn escape during a prison transfer, right from under the noses of his New Avengers guards. The Thing especially blamed himself, while Osborn triumphantly joined his new H.A.M.M.E.R. coalition. The New Avengers came to Iron Man’s aid when H.A.M.M.E.R. attacked a Stark facility. Osborn then recruited a new Dark Avengers, including Skaar (Son of Hulk), The Gorgon, Barney Barton (Hawkeye’s brother), Superia, grotesque spider deity Ai Apaec and the Toxic Doxie, dressing them in Avengers uniforms. Some of the New Avengers continued to doubt the loyalties of Victoria Hand, who seemed to be in contact with H.A.M.M.E.R. agents.
Osborn drew the New Avengers into conflict with his Dark Avengers and used it to humiliate the heroes on TV and stir up public sentiment against them. When the tide turned in favor of the New Avengers, Osborn unleashed Ragnarok, the vicious Thor clone, on them. Jessica, ambivalent about the wisdom of her choices, took off with baby Danielle after the crowd of protestors accosted them in front of Avengers Mansion. The New Avengers resisted and escaped when the federal government seized the Mansion and tried to arrest them. Victoria Hand turned out to be on the Avengers’ side, engaged in a complex triple agent plot at the behest of Captain America. With Osborn and the Dark Avengers prepared to strike a decisive blow, Skaar revealed himself as a sleeper agent for Captain America. He weakened the Dark Avengers and helped Cap escape Osborn. The New Avengers arrived to deal with the Dark Avengers, then joined Cap to head after Osborn.
Much like its sister arc in Avengers, this was a strong concept with very good execution. Osborn’s villainous coalition and new Dark Avengers provided a serious challenge for the extended Avengers organization and provided lots of opportunity for drama and tension. Victoria Hand’s status was well played and added another layer of intrigue. Brian Michael Bendis had a firm grip on that character and really used her to maximum effect. Much like the Avengers arc, a bit too much space was given to Osborn’s anti-Avengers PR blitz and rhetoric, which were interesting neither as plot points nor philosophy. The story didn’t need that sheen, the concept was strong enough without it. Veteran Neal Adams did the “Osborn escapes” issue. While his style has become a bit more mannered in later years, he still produced solid, classic superhero art. Mike Deodato was back in the saddle for the remainder of the arc and did his usual strong, moody work, with some interesting page layouts, dramatic character work and dynamic action. This was a strong story that will be of interest to any New Avengers fan and is especially effective when read with the complementary arc from its sister title.
Avengers: A vs. X (Avengers vol. 4, #25-30)
As Captain America struggled with the realities of running the Avengers, Thor returned to give him a boost. The Avengers tracked down A.I.M., capturing a large number of their agents. The Kree Supreme Intelligence sent Protector a warning about the imminent arrival of the Phoenix force and tasked him with capturing and containing the Phoenix and handing it over to the Kree. Protector accompanied an Avengers squad containing Thor, Ms. Marvel, Beast, Captain Britain, Vision and Valkyrie to confront the Phoenix in space. The squad barely survived its first encounter with the Phoenix, but in a second managed to capture a small fraction of the Phoenix’s power. Protector blindsided his teammates and took them to the Kree home world to hand the Phoenix sample over to the Supreme Intelligence. Protector had second thoughts when he realized the Kree would allow the Phoenix to destroy Earth and fled with the sample. He ran into the Avengers squad, who reclaimed the sample and angrily exiled Protector from both the team and Earth.
Meanwhile, Red Hulk believed that the only way to win a war with the X-Men was to assassinate the Phoenix-possessed Cyclops. He attempted a secret mission, but was captured, branded by Cyclops and sent back to the Avengers. Professor X teamed with the Avengers to try to capture Rachel Summers, thus neutralizing the telepathic edge she gave the X-Men. The operation went poorly and Professor X temporarily withdrew from the conflict. In the aftermath of the conflict, Hawkeye and Spider-Woman stopped the villain Mister Negative from robbing the warehouse where the Red Skull’s robots had been deposited after Fear Itself.
This volume was somewhat disjointed. Bendis did some nice character work with the return of Thor and his effect on Captain America. The space-based adventure suffered from a significant chunk of its action occurring in another Avengers book, though Protector’s betrayal and remorse were well-handled. The Hulk and Rachel Summers vignettes occurred around the edges of the main A vs. X story and didn’t make a lot of sense unless you’d read the big event. The final installment was intended to show off the Hawkeye/Spider-Woman bond, but was weighed down by clichéd male/female relationship tropes, which were especially unkind to Spider-Woman and which did little to make the romance seem viable or compelling. Veteran artist Walter Simonson was aboard for the arc, bringing some consistency. His angular approach had become particularly stylized, if not mannered, with time and wasn’t always a smooth fit for the story, though it was fine overall. This volume only makes sense to read for fans who have already invested in Avengers vs. X-Men. Otherwise, it doesn’t really stand on its own.
New Avengers: A vs. X (New Avengers vol. 2, #24-30)
In the run-up to the conflict with the X-Men, Luke reunited with Jessica. He resisted her logic that trying to raise a baby in what was essentially a constant war zone was selfish and that they needed to step back from the Avengers for Danielle’s sake. Most of the following three issues took place hundreds of years earlier and saw the city of K’un-Lun locate and train a young, redheaded girl who became that era’s Iron Fist and who was essential in turning back an incursion by the Phoenix. With, of course, help from Leonardo Da Vinci. In the present, K’un-Lun, Iron Fist and Spider-Man worked together to prepare Hope Summers to face the challenge of the Phoenix. A nasty mind-bender of an issue saw Luke, Hawkeye and Spider-Woman attempt to escape captivity from the X-Men’s Utopia island, only to realize the entire thing was a psychological assault inflicted on the captured trio by the X-Men.
Captain America summoned the remnants of the Illuminati, hoping he might be able to reason with Sub-Mariner. An intense debate broke out, in which Mister Fantastic floated that the X-Men were on the right side of the Phoenix issue. After the others left, the Phoenix-possessed Sub-Mariner arrived for a brief truce with Cap, who proved unable to sway his old friend. Finally, the anti-mutant Purifiers attacked a transport holding the captured and de-Phoenix-ed Emma Frost, clashing with her New Avengers guards. In the aftermath, Luke decided to leave the Avengers for his family’s sake.
The Luke/Jessica drama was probably the most compelling part of this arc for long-time New Avengers fans. It built out of years of stories and made a lot of sense for the characters. It was the most successful part of this run. The deep background on the Phoenix/Iron Fist history was certainly interesting, but fans at the time of original publication had the legitimate complaint that it wasn’t really an Avengers story. No Avengers even appeared in the first two issues of the story, with Iron Fist and Spider-Man popping up later in the third. The story itself was interesting and compelling, but it was hard to fault fans expecting to see Avengers in New Avengers for being disappointed. The Illuminati issue contained no action, but did have some interesting character drama and Mister Fantastic provided an interesting “outsider” perspective on the conflict. The end of the arc was essentially a big fight issue, but it provided a compelling backdrop for Luke’s final decision. Deodato was on hand for art duties throughout, providing visual continuity and doing especially nice work in the Iron Fist/Phoenix scenes. As with its sister titles, this volume of New Avengers mostly makes sense only for those who have read Avengers vs. X-Men, though the Luke/Jessica drama at least provides some reason for long-time fans to check in.
Avengers Volume 5 (Avengers vol. 4, #31-34 and Annual #1 and New Avengers Annual #1)
In a crossover with the New Avengers Annual, the simmering Wonder Man subplot came to a head. Angry that the Avengers had re-started once more, Wonder Man formed the Revengers, composed of quasi-heroes with various ties to the Avengers. The Revengers ambushed Avengers Mansion and blindsided the New Avengers, leaving them in disarray. While the main Avengers responded to the attack on the mansion, the Revengers attacked Avengers Tower, then staged a media event where Wonder Man began to divulge Avengers secrets. The Avengers subdued the Revengers and Wonder Man showed signs of mental strain before apparently fading from existence.
Wonder Man popped up months later, remorseful and pleading an emotional breakdown. This, just as the Avengers received an emergency signal from the spot where Wasp had apparently died during Secret Invasion. Captain America, Thor, Iron Man and Giant-Man entered the Microverse, where they reunited with a very much alive Wasp. Wasp revealed that she’d instinctively shrunk down at the moment she’d been about to “explode” and found herself trapped in the Microverse since. She’d run afoul of the local warlord, who waylaid the heroes. In the real world, the other Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. gathered to protect the entry spot. Wonder Man arrived on the scene, in spite of the team’s mistrust, and followed the Founders into the Microverse. Back in the Microverse, the Founders line-up, reunited for the first time in years, pooled resources to strike back at the warlord. Wonder Man’s arrival gave them the opening they needed back to their dimension. Though the warlord briefly followed, the gathered Avengers made short work of him. This volume of Avengers ended with a welcome home party for Wasp, while Cap and Iron Man plotted the team’s future.
For a writer often accused of ignoring team history, Brian Michael Bendis couldn’t have picked a more classic approach to end his long run leading the Avengers franchise. Spotlighting the Founders and bringing Wasp back onto the board were a nice homage to the team’s long history. The classic rhythms were all there, the plot was a sturdy adventure that gave each character plenty of room to shine and there was a certain joy that suffused the whole story. Even when the plot took a dark turn or two, there was a feeling of hopefulness that was classic Avengers. It was almost like Bendis had decided to mostly put the toys back where he’d found them on his way out the door. The Revengers story, while an interesting idea, didn’t quite work. Mostly because Wonder Man’s motivations in opposing the return of the team never really made sense. Wonder Man’s ambivalence about the Avengers always centered on his own role with the team and whether or not he felt worthy to serve or was being drawn in another direction. The motivations for the other Revengers to join him felt even less convincing for the most part. Bendis basically deciding to call a Mulligan and chalk it up to an emotional breakdown in the final arc was for the best.
If the Revengers story didn’t quite work narratively, it featured some absolutely stunning Gabriele Dell’Otto art. He contrasted an almost hazy, dreamlike quality against the propulsive action of the story to strong effect and crafted some impressive visuals. The panel featuring a mid-air collision between Wonder Man and Ms. Marvel especially stood out. In the regular arc, Mike Mayhew (in the “regular world” sections) and Brandon Peterson (in the Microverse parts) split most of the art duties, each doing his usual strong, distinctive work. As a bonus, Terry & Rachel Dodson, Mike Deodato, Walter Simonson, Leinil Yu, Jim Cheung and Olivier Coipel all contributed to the finale, adding a bit of extra interest. Along with its sister arc in New Avengers, this was a strong finish for Bendis, a story any Avengers fan can enjoy that set up the next chapter in the franchise’s history quite effectively.
New Avengers Volume 5 (New Avengers vol. 2, #31-34)
Vicious attacks on several mystics led back to Doctor Strange and the New Avengers. Strange quickly realized that Victoria Hand had been possessed by an evil influence that jumped from person to person, sowing the kind of discord that brought the FBI and S.H.I.E.L.D. to the Avengers’ door. Nothing like threatening the team with legal sanction once more for the road. The culprit was Daniel Drumm, the disembodied spirit of Brother Voodoo’s deceased twin brother, blaming Strange and the New Avengers for his brother’s death. Victoria was killed in the mystical crossfire and the team nearly fell before Drumm’s attack. The rest of the Avengers joined the New Avengers and Drumm used them in a mystical duel against Strange. Strange prevailed in the end and the spirit of the Ancient One returned and bestowed the “Sorcerer Supreme” mantle on Strange once again. In the end, Luke and Jessica left the team to focus on their daughter.
At that point, Brian Michael Bendis had been shepherding the Avengers franchise for about nine years. His final New Avengers arc incorporated several elements of his tenure for a rousing story that put the spotlight on the diverse personalities of the cast. It was a nice way to finish off his run and spotlighted the best of his approach to Avengers. The gentle, bantering ending focused on Luke and Jessica’s stroll into the sunset was a fitting capper to this era.
The art side was jam-packed with different talents on each issue. The varying styles didn’t really mesh all that smoothly, but each was interesting in its own right. Michael Gaydos, Carlos Pacheco and Michael Avon Oeming all fielded full issues in their unique styles. Long-time Bendis collaborator Mike Deodato anchored the finale with his usual strong work, also making way for one-page contributions from a host of distinctive artists. Along with its sister arc in Avengers, this was a fitting and winning way for Bendis to bring his time on the franchise to a close, a great story that set the stage for the future.
