New Avengers #29 Review
The newest member of the Illuminati, Captain America, calls a meeting to figure out all this Avengers Vs. X-Men stuff.
New Avengers #29
Usually, these reviews of mine start with a summary of what happened in the issue before I launch into my thoughts. However, I opt not to do that this time because this issue comes off like a play. It’s in one location, with characters entering and exiting and a dialog-heavy script. Simply put, this issue brings the Illuminati back together to discuss the battle between the X-Men and the Avengers with each member feeling a different thing. Captain America is hopeful that Namor will come and speak to them about finding a peaceful resolution to this battle. Iron Man is aggressive, frustrated, and snarky. Professor X is saddened by what’s become of his dream. Doctor Strange mostly observes. Reed Richards is surprisingly for what the X-Men have accomplished. Finally, when Namor arrives after each character leaves Cap alone in the meeting room, the most volatile of the Phoenix Five is respectful to his former brother in arms.
I can already hear people reading this issue as soon as they pick it up and complaining about this issue of an Avengers series being used for nothing more than dialog. From time to time, that’s me, but in this instance, I believe this really works. Brian Michael Bendis gives us something much more subdued and real than the actual main story. I found myself very intrigued by each person’s point of view. On top of that, none of these lines feel forced. It’s wordy when necessary and holds back when it needs to be an effective moment. If you can get past the particularly dynamic Ron Garney cover, and the fact that this is an Avengers comic, and actually read into more than just the words or the expectations of those first two aspects, what you find is perhaps one of Bendis’ finest scripts in any of his Avengers comics over all these years.
There to capture all the nuances is Mike Deodato. He’s become one of my very favorite artists when it comes to having a character’s expression tell more than just what the up front dialog is saying. Nearly every panel in this comic’s present day scene reveals layers emotion and story that it really elevates this issue into something pretty darn special. However, that opening two-page spread in 1944… Wow. That was some beautiful work featuring Namor, Human Torch, Cap, and Bucky taking on the Red Skull and a bunch of Nazis with giant metal monstrosities. If nothing else, grab the comic off the rack and take a look at this spread. It’s truly amazing.
A COMIC BOOK BLOG RATING
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Great work from Bendis in what I believe may be his finest script in his long Avengers run. Deodato nails all the more subtle moments with his great expressions for the characters. | Some might not be able to get past the title and the cover. |
| Rating |
More Avengers @ acomicbookblog.com/tag/avengers
2 Comments
This was an enjoyable comic despite the fact that there were no battle scenes at all.
However, I did have a couple problems:
- Bendis snarky dialog – Its fine on Tony, but on everyone else it makes them seem like they’re imitating Spider-man
- Iron man armor – he has bleeding edge armor inside his body; he does not need to take his helmet off manually
This issue once again proves why I will be glad when Bendis leaves the Avengers books soon. Instead of the Illuminati working towards stopping the Phoenix 5, we get some petty and useless bickering from all the characters present and more blatant character assassination for the sake of plot.
First off, Reed Richards who should have been used from the get-go in AVX does nothing useful here but state some obvious truisms before leaving-Shouldn’t Reed have been working on something to help stop the Phoenix all this time?
Secondly, I find the idea that Stark and company somehow blaming Xavier for the what Cyclops and co. are currently doing just dumb all over as they’ve known Xavier for years for them to think this.
Overall, I wish that this issue had focused on these guys trying to stop the Phoenix instead of the soap opera dynamics which were so badly executed.