- ISBN13: 9780785135609
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
The Invasion is over! But who are the New Avengers!? The first major roster change since the very first issue! See who the New Avengers are and what their place in the Dark Reign is! Collects New Avengers #48-50, and Secret Invasion Dark Reign…. More >>
New Avengers Vol. 10: Power
And if you thought Secret Invasion was finally done and over, get yourself another thought. NEW AVENGERS Vol. 10: POWER is flimsy with its offering, settling for merely reprinting issues #48-50. But before those issues comes the SECRET INVASION: DARK REIGN one-shot, and it features Norman Osborn extending an olive branch to Dr. Doom, Loki, Emma Frost, Namor the Sub-Mariner (looking a bit seedy here), and the Hood. And, sho nuff, before you can ominously say “Nothing good can come of this.” Doom and Namor, those two ousted monarchs, are off consolidating their own private alliance.
Then it’s on to the new reshuffling of the New Avengers roster. Lessee, Spidey and Logan are still around, and Luke Cage. And as we’ve learned in the aftermath of Secret Invasion, the real Bobbi Morse (a.k.a. Mockingbird and former agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.) is back from the dead and, in fact, was one of those abducted by the Skrulls. Clint Barton, ex-Hawkeye, now Ronin and still Bobbi’s hubbie, is obviously ecstatic. Also back is the real Spider-Woman (also Skrull abducted), and poor Jessica Drew simply has to get used to everyone directing the fishy eye at her (remember that it was her identity which the Skrull Queen had impersonated). Joining the Avengers is normally considered a solid boost in your superhero career, but perhaps not so much when it’s the underground, wanted-by-the law, skeezy version of the Avengers that you join. I’ve liked the idea of Jessica Drew joining the Avengers when that went down in NEW AVENGERS #1, and that hasn’t changed one bit.
Meanwhile, it makes total sense that the new Captain America would want to hook up with this particular team; Bucky means to honor Steve Rogers’ legacy, and the Avengers’ tradition is very much a part of that. And this scurvy crew of Avengers was very much Steve’s team. One immediate upside to Bucky being on board is that, in Bucky’s cloaked townhouse, the Avengers get an instant new headquarters, the accessing of which has Spidey initially repeating the mantra about spoons to himself.
For Steve Rogers’s team, there are other repercussions from all the Skrullapalooza. Luke Cage’s estranged wife, Jessica Jones, had decided to join her hubby in the big climactic Skrully brawl and so had given her child over to the Avengers’ longtime butler, Edwin Jarvis, for safekeeping. Except that Jarvis turned out to be a Skrull sleeper agent, and off he’d scampered with baby Danielle. One of the main pushes of this arc is the retrieval of the baby, and I love Susan Richards’ reaction when Jessica gives her the lowdown. The next few panels show the New Avengers and the Fantastic Four rattling the cages and rounding up the suspects. Except that they don’t get a whiff.
What’s left is a Luke Cage that’s pushed to the brink and having to make a very hard ethical choice. What would you do to get your infant child back? I’m not mad at Luke Cage.
Another fallout to Secret Invasion is the shutting down of S.H.I.E.L.D. and its self-righteous director Tony Stark getting his comeuppance. But something’s got to fill the void, and what we get is basically Big Brother’s even Bigger and Meaner Brother in the form of Norman Osborne and his sinister and newly introduced Dark Avengers. You’ll recall that Norman Osborn had risen even more in status, predominantly on the strength of that “heroic” one-shot kill of the Skrull Queen. So, yeah, it’s quite a banner day for rat-crazy supervillains posing as rehabilitated do-gooders. Somewhere, Lex Luthor is pointing and screaming “Copycat! Copycat!” Anyway, the New Avengers, seeing Osborn’s Avengers preening on camera, are pretty shocked and outraged. This kicks off the saga of Ronin’s getting royally cheesed at Norman Osborn. And my impression of the Sentry as an easily manipulated tool is reinforced.
It’s fairly obvious that Brian Michael Bendis is setting up a colossal New Avengers/Dark Avengers tussle, except that that’s gonna have to wait. Norman Osborn demonstrates media savvy and a canny feel for the public’s pulse. He’s very much unwilling to make beating up on Captain America his first act as top cop, no matter that it’s not Steve Rogers under the costume. However, no worries, the New Avengers still get to engage in a mega fighty fight.
THE NEW AVENGERS is still very much the linchpin of the Avengers universe, and it’s certainly the most popular Avengers title. Bendis again shows his knack for gritty street-level storytelling and he’s got a real good grasp on his cast of characters. As always, his dialogue is gold. There’s a character-establishing sequence in the big fighty fight in issue #50 which allows us a peek at what each Avenger is thinking in the midst of battle. As well, Bendis continues to write Spidey better and funnier than any other current writer out there. My favorite bit:
- Iron Fist, as the New Avengers gaze at the Dark Avengers’s debut on TV: “Whos the Wolverine they got?”
- Luke Cage, looking at Logan: “Anyone you know?”
- Logan: “It’s my kid.”
- The Avengers soak this in, and then Spidey: “You’ve had sex?”
Conversely, I hate that Bendis still persists in elevating the Hood as a major supervillain. I just don’t think Parker Robbins can pull it off.
THE NEW AVENGERS Vol. 10: POWER is a pretty good installment. Billy Tan is coming along fine as the regular artist. Alex Maleev does good things in SECRET INVASION: DARK REIGN, although, as mentioned, his Namor looks like some ordinary bum in a bar. Issue #50 features a gang of guest artists, and I’m digging the quick stints by David Aja, Michael Gaydos, and others. Greg Horn’s glossy turn is a bit jarring, though. Bendis does a good job of establishing the Dark Avengers as the New Avengers’ instant foil, and I’m liking the character arcs of Clint, Bobbi, and Jessica Drew. As ever, Luke and Jessica Jones’ relationship feels real and don’t be surprised when you actually get wrapped up in what happens to baby Danielle. And, really, who woulda thunk that a 1970s relic like Power Man would become such an engrossing, well-developed character? I’m still waiting to see how the team dynamics will shift with Cap, Ms. Marvel, Bobbi, and Jessica Drew hopping on board, and with Iron Fist (who’s got his own brand of busy going on in his own title) announcing his leave of absence.
But I’m still not liking that there aren’t more issues collected here. This particular eroding of the fans’ good will continues in New Avengers Vol. 11: Search for the Sorcerer Supreme, which only has 4 issues. And the story arc there isn’t even as good. Rating: 4 / 5
Finally things are starting to die down just a little bit, i mean with the Civil War, Death of Cap, and Secret Invasion is was getting kinda of too much and I was like how much more can the Avengers and the Marvel Community take!??. Being a fan of the Avengers series I must say Volume 10 was a great issue to tie up some loose ends from secret invasion and a good way to introduce Dark Avengers (Now which is a new team of Avengers ( former villains) run by Norman Osborn which i am planning to get the second it comes out and New Avengers Volume 11. Great Job Bendis!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rating: 5 / 5
Bendis’s treatment of New Avengers and all of the intertwined books (including Mighty Avengers, Secret Invasion, Illuminati, etc.) continues to be fresh and extremely enjoyable. His ensemble dialog can range from hilarious to powefully emotional, but is never gratuitous and always adds to the story and character development. The plotlines continue to bring cool new twists and developments without getting stale and repetetive.
As for the art, the various artists have different styles and definitely each effect the mood in different ways, yet somehow it they all fit in nicely with Bendis’s writing.
(One chapter is especially neat, with one or two pages written from the perspective of each of the Avengers, and drawn by the different artists currently handling those characters in other books)
Be warned that this particular book (Vol 10) is not a comprehensive story arc for new readers to jump in on, but is a worthy continuation of the afore-mentioned books. Interested readers should start with Avengers Disassembled and on to the intervening Bendis books of the past couple of years, as well as current parallel titles, to get the most out of this book. Rating: 5 / 5
Power, the 10th collected volume of New Avengers, finds the team going through some changes. In the aftermath of Secret Invasion, the team is re-formed, with none other than the new Captain America joining the ranks. In the meantime, we get a glimpse of Norman Osborne’s team of Dark Avengers, as the Dark Reign begins to take shape in these pages. Brian Michael Bendis easily remains the best superhero writer in Marvel’s stable today (with Ed Brubaker running up right behind) as he ties up some loose ends that have been around since the mid-point between House of M and Civil War, and there’s great artwork to behold from frequent collaborators Billy Tan and Alex Maleev. All in all, New Avengers: Power marks a new beginning for the team and the book as a whole, and is definitely more than worth your time. Rating: 4 / 5