The New Sorcerer Supreme arc comes to a close in this issue. In it, Brian Bendis does a good job tying it back to Dark Reign and introducing us to Brother Voodoo. Overall though, the whole story made Marvel's flagship title feel out of place.New Avengers was the main place to find information about Secret Invasion, so I was little disappointed that the series shied away from Dark Reign in this arc (until the last few pages). I imagine that new readers picking up this series are doing so to see where Dark Reign is going, not what Brother Voodoo is up to. Something else that disjoints this book is that the actual New Avengers have only a secondary role. Each member is given only one line of dialogue to make room for the sorcerers. In all fairness, they do shine, but I would have liked to have seen the team more.
This may not feel like a New Avengers book, but that doesn't keep it from being a good one. Bendis makes the wise decision to flesh out Brother Voodoo's character a little bit after just throwing him at us last issue. Voodoo comes across as a troubled soul who wants to do good with his life, but also wants to live his own life. In the span a few pages I went from hating the fact that Brother Voodoo is the new Sorcerer Supreme to accepting him in that role. I still don't understand why they gave him the Doctor title though.
After that little meet and greet, we're treated to an awesome battle in the street with Dormammu. These are the only pages we get to actually see the New Avengers and they make it count. The team works together masterfully and I cheered every time Ms. Marvel threw Dormammu down, Captain America hit him with the shield, and Luke Cage punched the crap out of him. That may have been fun, but the mystic men had the task of actually getting rid of the evil one. Their teamwork and spell casting was equally entertaining. Overall, it was a feel good stories for fans of heroes everywhere.
Fans of The Hood may be weeping as much as he was in the last few pages, however. Don't weep long though, because Loki makes another great guest appearance, further helping my theory that he will be the main player in Marvel's next event. Other than the appearance of Loki, another way Bendis ties this story back to Dark Reign is by having Clint Barton make another announcement on TV. The Avengers were worried that The Hood and Madame Masque would go free because of their ties to Osborn, so Barton decides to make their arrests as public as possible. I liked that strategy and imagine that it really pissed off Osborn.
Billy Tan's art is hit or miss in this issue. Brother Voodoo's panels are drawn well. He looks annoyed, confused, and proud all in the span of a few panels. Dormammu's wrath and vengeance is also depicted masterfully. Where Tan fails is his work on the New Avengers. Every single one of them looks fat and meaty.
This was a good conclusion to the New Sorcerer Supreme arc, but I'm still glad it ended. Overall, this story has stunted the progression of this team. Thankfully, the last few pages hint at a more direct tie-in to Dark Reign for the next few issues.
There's a "New" Avengers now? Do they call themselves the "New Avengers"? Does anyone ever asked them "Hey, what happened to the Old Avengers"?
ReplyDeleteAh, I shouldn't poke fun. I collected "West Coast Avengers" when I was a kid!
The New Avengers is the team that formed after the original was disbanded. Then they became the poster child for anti-Registration. They've remained the rebellious group of heroes from Civil War all the way to the present Dark Reign situation.
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