Publisher: Marvel
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Michael Lark
Cover: David Finch & Jason Keith
“Siege: The Cabal”: This is it folks! The beginning of the end for Norman Osborn who has been sittin’ on top of the world since the events of Secret Invasion catapulted him to top dog. He decommissioned S.H.I.E.L.D. and renamed it H.A.M.M.E.R., took over the Avengers, and kicked Tony Stark out and hunted him down as a fugitive. However, throughout various points of his Dark Reign we’ve seen him on the verge of losing it all together, but we know it’s going to get worse before it gets any better.
When the issue starts Norman is having an in depth conversation with his Green Goblin persona, who is convincing him that something needs to be done about Asgard now being on Earth. Convincing him that Asgard is posing a threat, and that if he is able to pull it off he will go down in the history books as one of the greatest men to have lived. So Norman calls a meeting of his Cabal minus Namor and Emma Frost (who have left him), and is awaiting the arrival of Dr. Doom. Upon his arrival he and Norman begin a war of words and will, when Norman calls out his secret weapon and orders him/her/it to attack! When Norman gets closer to Doom’s body he realizes it’s a Doombot, as thousands of robotic insects fly out and attack everyone in the room and swarm inside of Avengers Tower. A mass evacuation is ordered, and Sentry comes to Osborn’s aid; after saving him, Doom’s voice comes through one of the insects promising Norman the next time he lays his hands on Doom he and his son will regret it. Afterward, Loki and Norman are conspiring to find a way to allow an invasion of Asgard. So they come up with a plan for a very public incident to happen similar to the one that preceded the Superhuman Civil War that galvanized the masses. However we’ll just have to settle for the 6 page preview of Siege #1 to see how that plays out.
I like the set up so far, and Bendis wrote a fantastic meeting scene! The banter between Osborn and Doom was perfect, and reminded me of why I think Doom is one of the top bad guys in Marvel. It’s evident that Loki has a hidden agenda, but Bendis isn’t giving anything away on that, nor are we closer to finding out the identity of Norman’s secret weapon. Michael Lark’s pencils grew on me the first time I saw them, and I have to say that he does a damn good job in this issue as well.
So we have a lot to look forward to with Siege coming out in January, and maybe some questions will be answered: Will the original Avengers reunite to take Norman down? Who or what is Norman’s secret weapon? How hard is his fall going to be? Will Norman finally snap and let the Goblin take control?
You set us up for something great here, Marvel; don’t let us down!
Infinite Speech
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I thought this issue was kick ass!!
I love Osborn’s ‘Tonkin Gulf’ style of approach. This event is going to be good…
I thought this ish was pretty good too. The only thing that ticked me off was that they teased that they were going to reveal Osborns’ muscle but didn’t deliver.
I didn’t know the mystery muscle was being hyped in this issue i’m glad or i’d be a little ticked off myself. What I’ve noticed is that the Sentry is basically Norman’s lapdog now and seems totally focused on doing whatever he says. So is Norman’s mystery guy/girl/it also tough enough to take out Sentry if he ever turns?
@IS-I don’t know but an upcoming issue of Dark Avengers (#13 or 14 I think) is supposedly going to reveal his(Sentry) origin. Hopefully, we’ll all find out more about Bob.