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What’s up people? I’m ready to spill my thoughts about four Siege books that came out a couple of weeks ago. These three Avengers titles will be coming to a close but New Avengers will be re-booted in June. Thor will be left alone but will get a new writer in Matt Fraction! OK, So enough nonsense, lets get to the reviews!
***Spoilers Ahead***
First up is…Avengers the Initiative #34 (Siege).
Publisher: Marvel
Writer: Christos Gage
Artist: Jorge Molina (cover by David Yardin)
This particular Siege tie-in was focused on what went down between The Hood and the heroes rebelling at Camp Hammond. The resistance is fighting tooth and nail but seem to be getting overwhelmed. Night Thrasher and Tigra are busy trying to disembowel The Hood, while Penance has chosen to help the resistance and not be one of Normans flunkies anymore. Really cool fight scene between both Captain America’s and Taskmaster in Asgard. The fight seems to be a stalemate with maybe a slight edge going to Cap and Iron Man but then we see Norman call upon The Sentry to go nuts. Great issue and really helping to set the stage for the final conflict.  4/5
Next up is…New Avengers #63 (Siege).
Publisher: Marvel
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Mike Mckone (cover by Stuart Immonen)
Wow, what a great action story Siege is turning out to be. Not a lot of mystery at this point but really great action and artwork too (although this issue for some reason didn’t have Stuart Immonen). The first page shows a huge splash of action with Captain America (Steve) slicing through Venom on his way to meet Taskmaster, Luke Cage manhandling three or four Hammer Agents, and the Warriors Three (plus Sif/ minus Volstagg) are jumping around for added action. We do get to see some interesting scenes from the day before all this went down between Luke and Jessica, and then later with Clint and Bobbi. Really cool insight as to how these relationships are being strained to their limits. There’s a kind of tease at the end that Mockingbird might be dead but if you’ve read any solicitations for upcoming comics you know it’s a bluff. Great stuff though, too bad Immonen wasn’t on interiors.  4/5
Thirdly I have…Mighty Avengers #35 (Siege).
Publisher: Marvel
Writer: Dan Slott
Artist: Khoi Pham
Another great Avengers issue right here. We see a couple of agents of GRAMPA (don’t ask) come to the mansion to tell Pym that their alliance is over due to his reluctance to play by the rules. He pretty much doesn’t give a crap but then they tell him about Asgard. Steve Rogers then calls to get Pym’s assistance, but Pym tells him that he can’t get there right away. Just when things seem to be OK, Ultron reveals that he has taken over the mansion and all its devices! Pym outsmarts Ultron and saves the agents. The only problem is that they’ve jumped through a door that leads to Underspace (the opposite of Overspace, or under the Macroverse). This is also where Pym states “Is the place where Thor sent my wife”. The last page shows a ghostly image of Janet Van Dyne.  4/5
Last but not least is…Thor #608 (Siege).
Publisher: Marvel
Writer: Kieron Gillen
Artist (s): Billy Tan & Batt, Rich Elson (cover by Mico Suayan)
This issue was another hit by Gillen for sure. I’m really going to miss his style when Fraction takes over. This issue was non-stop action going in all directions. First we see the battle between Ragnarok (The Thor clone) and Volstagg. These two battle like hated enemies until they both are bloody and battered. Next we see Tyr (the Asgardian God of War), cowardly retreat but then return to fight against The Hood. We also watch as Kelda tells Bill’s parents that he was killed but then avenged by Balder. Finally, all of the combatants are absolutely mystified at the might of The Sentry. He single-handedly smashes Asgard into bits right before their eyes!   4/5
What an awesome group of issues these were. I just hope the conclusion to Siege can live up to the standard for action that these previous issues have provided!
Billy Dunleavy
billy@comicattack.net