New Avengers #10
Publisher: Marvel
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist(s): Mike Deodato & Howard Chaykin
Cover: Mike Deodato
Check out the cover to this issue and there you have the first team of Avengers gathered together by Nick Fury back in 1959 in secret by order of the President. All we know is that they are put together for a specific mission, and if you know anything about these particular characters, just know that whatever or whoever their target is will be on the receiving end of a beat down when it’s all over. Bendis then brings us back to the present where the New Avengers are in the middle of mopping up the bad guys, when Spidey alerts the team that one of their members is seriously wounded, and Superia shows them that she’s not just another pretty face.
Like in the previous issue, Howard Chaykin handles the artwork for the flash back scenes, and this time around we get to see a bit more. He does a fine job moving the story with Bendis’s script, however I don’t think anything else I say will be fair because of how I view his actual art style. Back in the present the action is kicked up a few notches as Deodato illustrates the battle, and again it’s just great from panel to panel. Though some were a little too dark in places for my tastes, it never came to the point where it hindered the visual storytelling throughout the book. Deodato was also able to show off Superia’s powers in this issue as she beat the hell out of Ms. Marvel and Wolverine, and then caused a huge explosion to take care of the rest of the team.
Again, Bendis serves up a huge dose of fun in this issue, and it will be interesting to see if and how these events he’s revealing from the past tie into the story running in the present. The dialog is spot on, and though I’m not a huge fan of the character that is possibly dying, the emotion from Dr. Strange and Spidey helped make that sequence seem important and urgent. There’s a bit of confusion on my part with the absence of Gabriel Jones in this issue, since he was with Dugan and Fury in the last one helping to hunt down the Nazis. Though he might turn up in the next issue, as that part of the story is fleshed out a bit more, I just found it odd he didn’t pop up in this one.
Now, there may be some people out there who roll their eyes at the retcon of this new/old Avengers team, but to them I’ll just say, have a seat and enjoy what Bendis is bringin’ to the already rich history of the Avengers. He’s put together a team of some of the most unlikely characters to work together, and it’ll be fun to see how he makes these personalities fit into the story. This is without a doubt the best of the Avengers books on the shelves right now!
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Infinite Speech
infinitespeech@comicattack.net
I dunno, for me, Bendis can usually do no wrong. I wondered about your comment about Chaykin…I guess you don’t like his style? Too old school for you? I loved Chaykin’s stuff in pretty much everything he has done…his American Flagg is one of the best independents every produced, in my opinion. Great cover too!
Along with The Scorpio Connection I did like some of his artwork in the American Flagg series. As time went on I just didn’t care for his style too much, though I will say that some of his work looks better depending on the colorist but it’s not something I get excited about anymore. His Blade series to me was sub par and I didn’t like what he did in Iron Fist just to name a couple. So at this point in my life his style just isn’t one that I’m partial too anymore (if that makes any sense) but I’ll still love a bit of his older work. The Scorpio Connection got me into Nick Fury and Chaykin was a big part of that.
I respect what he’s done which is why I think it’s just fair for me to just say that I’m just not a fan anymore instead of some guys who just bash an artist’s style in a review.
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