New Avengers #28 Review
Hawkeye, Luke Cage, and Spider-Woman of the New Avengers are captured and imprisoned by the X-Men! Is escape possible from the mutant stronghold?
New Avengers #28
Spider-Woman, Luke Cage, and Hawkeye are being held and awaiting tribunal for their attacks on the mutant race. Each one attempts to get something from their captives that their keepers believe will only aid in their futile attempts to escape. When Spider-Woman finally convinces Phoebe Cuckoo to give her a pen and paper to get her affairs in order before the expected execution, she is able to force her way out and free the other two. When they run into the Phoenix Five outside, they appear to barely escape only to discover this has been a simulation run by Danger as a form of torture until they can be given more permanent accommodations…
This is a relatively depressing issue from Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Deodato. Here are three Avengers who have been captured by the X-Men with, as it turns out, no hope of escape. In fact, you could say they are actually being tortured by the X-Men to deaden the desire to escape. To be honest, it’s not exactly putting the X-Men in the greatest of lights despite how much they are preaching a better world for all – human and mutant alike. That’s what’s been interesting about these tie-ins. For the most part, the Avengers books have supported their side (as to be expected) while the X-Men books haven’t exactly shown the Avengers at their best as they struggle in their battle against the Phoenix. While X-Men Legacy has shown how authoritative the Avengers can come across, this one is definitely heavily slanted toward the Avengers. That aside, this book is, as mentioned before, depressing for fans of the Avengers. They are horribly out-gunned and they aren’t much more than political prisoners without much hope for leniency. In fact, thanks to the twist at the end revealing this is all a simulation, this comes across almost like a Twilight Zone episode. I would have been disappointed to think that these Avengers would have been able to get away from multiple mutants, let alone at least three of the Phoenix Five. The twist makes for a different way to tell this story without having the Avengers come out on top. Despite the heavy feeling that things are about as low as they can be, it also makes for a pretty good issue. Maybe not quite on the level as the previous arc dealing with the Iron Fist/Phoenix connection, but a pretty well conceived idea for a story.
As far as art goes, what more can I say about the beautiful work Deodato does with every Avengers book he draws. I really loved his work on Dark Avengers because it was able to fit the tone of that book so well. He was still able to bring the higher action type of stuff that went on prior to the Avengers Vs. X-Men stuff, but this issue brings back his darker talents. This issue is filled with a weight that just sits on you. It’s not day glow and happy. It’s really where Deodato has excelled over these past few years when working with Bendis. It proves you can always count on a gorgeous book regardless the subject matter.
A COMIC BOOK BLOG RATING
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Great art. Pretty good story that has a good twist at the end that saves the book from having an overly unlikely conclusion. | Doesn’t really tell us when this happens or progresses the plot. Seems to just stand alone in the sea of AvX stuff. |
| Rating |
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2 Comments
Seriously, how many times has Spider-woman been imprisoned in a Bendis comic now? It’s getting a touch ridiculous.
…and he came so close to not giving in to his weird obsession with locking up SW:
bleedingcool.com/2012/07/07/to-kill-a-mockingbird-the-changing-new-avengers-28
Alas!