New Avengers #6 Review

Echoing back to Brian Michael Bendis’ Avengers #502, the cover reads “One of these Avengers will die!” and it’s kind of plays out, but, like Hawkeye’s demise in the aforementioned issue, I’m pretty sure it won’t be permanent.

New Avengers #6

So, the New Avengers have lent Wolverine their combine powers to face off against Agamotto.  They send him to the spiritual realm and it’s pretty clear from the start that Agamatto is quite a bit more powerful.  While the battle for the entire physical realm rages on, Victoria Hand notices that the sky is literally falling proving Agamotto is every bit the powerhouse he’s known to be.  Noticing what’s going on, Doctor Voodoo’s brother, Daniel, joins the fight.  To save his brother’s soul and the entire universe, Doctor Voodoo sacrifices himself by destroying the mystical beast with his own eye leaving the world without a Sorcerer Supreme (again) and the very item that bestows the fortunate magician that title.

Anyone who read my previous review knows how disappointed I was with the pacing and the general lack of action.  This one definitely gives us the payoff in the big mystical battle, but it almost seems a bit hollow.  To say it was no surprise that Doctor Voodoo was going to die by the end of this arc is a huge understatement.  Then again, it’s not exactly clear he is dead.  In a year’s time will he show back up with the Eye of Agamotto even more powerful than Doctor Strange at the height of his powers?  I think so, but I’m not too ready to bet the farm on it.

Again, most of my frustration with Bendis’ writing is the total lack of compression.  Instead of spending five issues getting to this moment, only to have a battle go on for about three quarters of the actual page count, creates a relatively messy conclusion.  Now, I appreciate the action, but why not spend two or three issues getting to this point and have a two part showdown with a being that is supposedly one of the most powerful mystic characters in the Marvel Universe?  I’m just saying that it took a long, drawn out time to get to a 16 page battle that didn’t lend enough panels to truly explore what was happening.  With little room to spend on the actual battle the issue missed an opportunity to put Wolverine in some seriously bad emotional duress while trying to defend the Earth.  If Agamotto was going to impersonate so many people from Wolverine’s past to pray on his emotions, you’d think there would be times where Wolverine might pull back from clawing the crap out of Jean Gray or Captain America.  It just lacked one of the greatest tools a writer can use for a battle.

This isn’t a completely wasted attempt for a conclusion to a storyline, though.  What we got for the battle wasn’t really bad at all.  It just missed the target on a couple ideas.  The speech Hellstrom gives to the gawkers outside Avengers Mansion about making this opportunity the Avengers gave them to live worth something was fairly inspired even if it came from a character who has some personality issues.  Immonen’s art, along with Wade Von Grawbadger’s inks and Laura Martin and Rain Beredo’s colors were great throughout the arc and was the best reason to look at this story that I can think of.  Overall, the whole story might end up being marginally better the the individual parts so if you’re waiting for the trade to come out, don’t let me stand in your way because you may be able to find something I missed.

For now, I’ll look forward to the next arc starting with issue #7.  I’ll spill a 40 in honor of Doctor Voodoo and raise a glass to wish better times ahead for this team of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

Tags: Avengers Comics & Avengers Comic Books Brian Michael Bendis New Avengers