I finally got around to reading this one. I thought it was fantastic. This basically picks up right after the Skrull invasion. Tony Stark has been deposed, and Norman Osborne is the new 'golden-child'. He's set himself up as the savior of the world. His first order of business is to tear apart everything that Tony was connected to and rebuild it in his own image. He starts by dismantling SHIELD. He hires Victoria Hand as his Deputy Director and he's calling the new world peace keeping organization HAMMER. He hasn't figured out what that stands for yet. It's the first item on Victoria's 'to-do' list. Then he begins to rebuild the Avengers. The only ones that agree to work with him . . from the old group . . are Ares and Sentry. But here's the twist . . his group of Avengers consist of Captain Marvel, Sentry, Ms Marvel, Ares, Wolverine, Hawkeye and Spider-man. Oh yeah, and there's an Iron Man type character, but he's dressed in Captain America's colors. The problem is . . . they're not who you think they are. Well . . Ares and Sentry are. Ms Marvel is actually Moonstone. Spider-man is Mac, Venom. Norman's given him some kind of drug that helps him control the symbiote. He still has all of Spawn's powers . . black costume and all, but he looks like a normal human instead of a monster. Anyways, he recruits Daken to be Wolverine. and Noh-Varr . . Marvel Boy . . to become Captain Marvel. But the real surprise is that Hawkeye is actually Bullseye. And the man in the armor? It's Norman . . and he calls himself Iron Patriot. Also, it looks like there may be a battle lining up for them to partake in already. When Doom returns to Latveria, he finds that he has someone there already waiting for him . . . Morgana Le Fay. And she's more than a little pissed. So basically, this was the set-up issue. This is where everything comes together. It probably would've just been an average issue, except for the surprises. Well . . that, and the amazing artwork of Mike Deodato Jr. Every panel in this book looked incredible. It really was a beauty to behold. I'm a little concerned about Brian Bendis writing all of the Avengers books. Especially, simultaneously. But, I have to admit that I really liked the set-up of this title, and how it all came together this issue. He's on to something here. It'll be interesting to see how the 3 groups work all of this out. This was a great first issue.
I wasn't as enthusiastic about this comic as you were. It kind of seemed like all Brian Bendis has done is taken Warren Ellis' Thunderbolts and dressed them up in different costumes(Bullseye dressed as Hawkeye is sacrilege to me!). This comic book IS pretty much Ellis Thunderbolts(the core group is basically the same), except none of these characters seem interested in looking for redemption.
ReplyDeletePersonally, this comic didn't even feel like an "Avengers" comic book. None of these characters are even what I would consider traditional Avengers characters(I guess you could make a case for Moonstone or Ares). I'm filled with a lot more pessimism than you are when it comes to this series...
I agree with your points, but . . I kind of think that's the point of this series. Although Norman has dressed them up as Avengers, and given them that name . . you're right . . they're still the Thunderbolts. But I don't think Norman's goal is to create a new 'super-team'. I think it's just the opposite. I think he's going to use this team to undermine the Avengers, and thereby the rest of the super-hero community. I think they'll come across as heroes . . at first. But then, once they've gained support and trust . . then, I think all bets are gonna be off. I mean, why does he have Daken dressed up as Wolverine? "I'd like to hire you full-time . . . to tick off your dad, for starters." I think he's doing this to shove it in the face of the 'heroes' just because he can.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I guess you're right about Norman's goals here, although I can't imagine this comic having all that long a life span if all Norman wants to do is undermine the super-hero community. That is unless Bendis completely copies the early Kurt Busiek Thunderbolts model. You know, after performing good deeds, some of the more middle of the road characters(Noh-Varr, Daken, etc.)turn on Norman and become full-fledged heroes.
ReplyDeleteStill, the fact that there aren't any traditional "Avengers" characters here really bugs me. With Norman Osborn as the face of this team/comic, it just seems more like a Spider-Man comic than an Avengers comic...