Both of the Mighty Avengers trades I read were kind of a mess: Bendis depending too much on the flashback-heavy storytelling that valiantly tries to bulk up paper-thin plots, everyone sounding pretty much the same (except for the hilarious machismo of Ares,) and the goofiest take on Dr. Doom since Star Jaws. Pretty art by Frank Cho in the first book, mind, and the second story’s jaunt into the Marvel Universe circa 1982 is handled very nicely, with Mark Bagley doing a more-than-passable John Byrne when drawing The Thing, yellowed pages, coloring dots, and text ads for period titles on the bottom of the page.
I know I’m not really the target audience for these titles, but it seems to be so much more about flash than story at this point. Bendis and Marvel’s concerted efforts to build to their events - Secret Invasion, Dark Reign - seems to take priority over making a superhero comic that’s fun to read on its own.
Browse Timeline
Comments ( 5 )
The Retroist commented on Oct 30 08 at 9:12 pmI am a lifelong Marvel reader and I am having a really difficult time finding enjoyment in either Avengers title. I kind of bought into the SI hype, but have been horribly disappointed so far.
The only book I have been enjoying almost every month has been “The Incredible Hercules” and “The Thunderbolts”.
NIK commented on Oct 31 08 at 2:25 amYep, I agree, I’ve been a Bendis fan (and still like his Ultimate Spidey) but this whole Secret Skrullvasion thing has just bored me silly, and I’ve finally used it as an excuse to drop both the Avengers titles. (The totally awful Dr. Doom writing in an earlier issue was the match that lit the spark though!)
Mike Walker commented on Oct 31 08 at 10:40 amYou were right. I owe you a coke
Kevin Church commented on Oct 31 08 at 1:15 pmWait. So, who is the target audience?
Likely those who want to read comics that tie in heavily to Marvel’s event books.
