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Credits

• Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
• Artist: Mike Deodato, Jr.

Quick Summary

The Avengers, minus the Sentry, arrive in Detroit, where Luke Cage is instituting a policy to have the team affect change in troubled urban areas by showing a pronounced super hero presence. An emergency call from SHIELD’s Director Hill informs the team of the serious problem of the Collective in Canada, and, as the team heads north by quinjet, she briefs them on the enormity of the problem, including the apparent decimation of the Alpha Flight team and the fact that the entity responsible is approaching the United States.

Captain America attempts to contact the Sentry, only to learn from his wife that Robert is having ‘one of his bad days,’ and is thus unavailable. Despite Captain America’s heated demands, the Sentry remains cringing in bed. The team also puts into a call to Ms. Marvel, and Captain America tells Agent Hill he wants Agent Daisy Johnson on the case. Iron Man orders Spider Man to “team two,” and asks him to attempt to come up with a means of stopping the Collective without civilian casualties.

Iron Man approaches the Collective over Cleveland, and tries to reason with it as SHIELD and the Avengers watch. The Collective attempts to communicate calmly with Iron Man, and seems to say that its name is ‘Michael.’ Ms. Marvel arrives and attacks the Collective, who hits her with an energy beam before Iron Man can stop her. Ms. Marvel turns the energy back on the Collective, and there is an enormous explosion. When Ms. Marvel rises from the rubble, she appears to have absorbed the fiery Collective.

Commentary

New Avengers 17 is a serviceable, if fairly predictable and routine Avengers outing. There are absolutely no surprises, and having the (here) childlike Collective initially seem willing to speak to Iron Man before being brutally sideswiped by Ms. Marvel is textbook stuff, as is her mindless attack and apparent absorption of the Collective (or its powers) on the final page. In the same vein, having the Sentry in a near-vegetative state when the team really needs him is asking readers to really sustain an immense amount of disbelief.

All of the traditional hero-comic story elements found here should make this a rousing issue, but sadly, they do not. With New Avengers, Bendis continues to tell fairly traditional Marvel hero tales with a dry pseudo-sophistication that produces a largely bloodless result. Bendis’ approach to writing is conspicuously cerebral, yet oddly lacking in intelligence. Throughout his New Avengers, he continually takes cheap, irrational storytelling shortcuts that completely undermine the sophisticated tone he attempts to maintain.

One example is the manner in which most of the super criminals surrendered almost immediately during his first arc, “Breakout.” Another is Iron Man’s completely out-of-character argument as to why the world’s super heroes should bow completely to government pressure in the New Avengers: Illuminati special. Bendis introduced the ‘Illuminati’ only a few issues ago, and, sadly but predictably, the only thing he can imagine them doing is turning on one another and going to war. So much for a genuine elite, and for elite heroism.

In arc after arc, a valid set-up for the story is established, but everything goes on too long and the adventures fail to ignite. Bendis’ New Avengers simply isn’t any fun, and certainly lacks the originality, bang, and color Marvel has been presenting with the excellent ‘Son of M’ series and ‘Annihilation: Prologue.’ In fact, in 17 issues, Bendis hasn’t come up with one really fresh idea, nor has he executed those he has brought to the page with any energy. The current ‘Planet Hulk’ arc regurgitates a story type readers have seen for decades in film, television, and fiction of all kinds, but does so with verve, flair, and total enthusiasm.

The problem with New Avengers is that the book isn’t about Captain America, Iron Man, Cage, or Spider Woman or an Avengers team: it’s about Brian Michael Bendis. Other creators have placed their unmistakable stamp and imprint on titles and heroes: John Byrne’s Fantastic Four, West Coast Avengers, and She Hulk series come to mind. But regardless of how completely Byrne imprinted himself on those books and characters during his tenure, the characters still held center stage, and were presented accurately and with depth. A single issue of Byrne’s Fantastic Four or West Coast Avengers held more dynamic energy and verve than Bendis has shown on his entire New Avengers run.

This issue welcomes Mike Deadato Jr. back to the book as the regular artist after over a decade away, and while the artist’s style has certainly changed during that time, and not wholly for the better, his work here is certainly promising, especially the final page, in which Ms. Marvel finds herself apparently imbued with the Collective’s power.

Perhaps the most interesting part of this issue is the faux-letters page, in which Bendis tells his readership that he’s about to “dissemble” the New Avengers all over again once the current is completed. Longtime readers won’t know whether to laugh or cry, especially since Bendis’ awkward New Avengers lineup has utterly failed to coalesce as a viable team the book’s audience can believe in.