Ever since Volume 2 of The New Avengers launched this past summer it has quietly surpassed Ultimate Spider-Man as the best Bendis book. The book has all you want from an Avengers title, the big action, entire sections of New York being destroyed in seconds and the cost of failure being extremely high. But what separates it from it's sister title, The Avengers, is the relationship between Luke Cage and Jessica Jones, it is this relationship that takes up the majority of this issue.
The Story
Jessica Jones was a superhero, in her mind she was not very good at the job. In the lasts few months her feet have been getting itchier by the second but her role as a new mother has been stopping her from donning the spandex again. Luke decides that it's time for them to have a real talk about it and takes her out to dinner, their first date despite being married.
Marvel Comics and their heroes have always been based in the real world, while they have extraordinary abilities their reaction to those abilities have always been ordinary; Peter Parker tries to make money of his, Johnny Storm uses his to get girls, Ben Grimm is always, at least in part, tormented by his appearance and the dangers they face and the ramifications of those dangers have always been portrayed as a very real thing. Luke Cage has unbreakable skin, she does not, the potential for her to die and her baby to grow up without her mother is treated with the respect that the idea deserves. But it is also her baby that makes her want to be a hero again, how can one teach their children to always do what's right when you stand on the sidelines and watch people suffer who you could help?
Their conversation is interrupted by an egg like ship crashing down on the streets of Manhattan, carrying Ms Marvel with it. Out of the egg comes Dr. Doom or, as revealed later, a Doombot. After a brief fight the bot is defeated, revealing information that Doom's position as Monarch in his country may be under threat, a plot that will feature heavily in a future arc no doubt.
Thoughts
A special mention must be given to Daniel Acuña's art. There are many artists who can draw a fantastic battle scene like the one between Luke, Jessica, Ms Marvel and the Doombot, not many can take two people sitting at a table talking look interesting. Bendis dialogue is, as ever, great, but that only gets you so far in a visual medium, the artist has to do the rest.
The Story
It all starts with Dr Strange visiting Daimon Hellstorm - another mystical dude. Dr Strange had come to help Daimon with a problem he had. It turns out that Daimon was not himself. Instead, he was possessed, by a demon of some sort I presume. Anyhow, the scene ends with Strange trying to fight him off.
The next scene involves the Avengers. It starts with an argument, that probably started in the Avengers #1. Anyhow, Luke Cage is pretty pissed that he now has to take orders from Capt America, who represents the government now. I really don't see the big problem though. Luke probably wanted to have his own freedom to do things.
To stop the arguing, Tony Stark appears and asks Luke if he still wants to be an Avenger. Obviously. Luke answers yes. Tony then asks him for a dollar. Essentially, Luke buys the Avengers Mansion for a dollar and is given the freedom to start they're own Avengers. He is given to freedom to choose anyone he wants on the team, save Iron Man, Thor, and Capt America.
Elsewhere, Dr Voodoo is trying to meditate and talk with his brother - Jericho, a ghost, at the same time. They are interrupted by Strange and Daimon, both possessed and looking for Dr Voodoo's eye of Agamotto. The events that took place are not certain, but Jericho kind of dies, and Dr Voodoo is last seen fighting his enemies.
Back at the Avengers Mansion, Luke and gang open the door to Victoria Hand, former secretary to Norman Osborn, who has a gun to Luke's baby. She states that she has a letter for them. The letter is from Captain America, recommending Victoria, and asking Luke to give her a second chance. After lots of fighting and arguing, Luke eventually agrees, seeing that Victoria is not a bad guy.
Ben Grimm aka the Thing, is later seen at the mansion, along with Spidey and some other new recruits. Ben is invited to join them and agrees to do so. Just then, the eye of Agamotto appears in Luke's hand. Dr Strange and Daimon appear shortly after stating that Voodoo is dead. Strange also calls himself the ruler of the new dimension, with Luke's help. The final scene looks a little like this.
The cover for New Avengers 59 is quite misleading. As can be seen below, the cover shows Spider-man and Spider-woman back to back, ready to face off the enemy.
Unfortunately, the comic has not
hing out of the ordinary. There is no Spider-showdown, nor is there any highlight on Spider-man or Spider-woman.
Nevertheless, this is a good issue, for those who are following the New Avengers. The art is fantastic, while the story is nothing quite unexpected. Fortunately it is still entertaining.
For those who have not been following New Avengers, you can read my short summary on what has been happening with them in the past few issues ( New Avengers 55-58 summary)
In New Avengers 58, Luke cage was surrendered to Norman Osborn due to his ill condition. The only way to save him was to operate. Unfortunately, Luke cage has unbreakable skin. Only Norman had the power drainer that would drain Luke's powers so that the doctors could operate.
Back at the Avengers hideout, a plan is being devised to free him. With help from Luke's many friends, the Avengers plan to distract Norman's Dark Avengers, while his other friends, like the Thing, Daredevil, Dr Voodoo, Dr Strange and etc, free him. Dr Voodo and Dr Strange both use their magical powers to spy on Luke Cage to ensure that he has been treated.
Upon finding that he is recovering, they proceed with the plan. Fortunately nothing goes unexpectedly. Luke Cage is rescued and brought back to base safely. The only problem is that Norman already had a backup plan, should such an event take place.
The final panel shows Luke Cage's heart enlarged. Apparently, when operating on him, the surgeons inserted some type of tracker. (Assumption). It could very well be a bomb as well - unlikely though.
Read the next New Avengers 60 and 61 review
With the lack of good Amazing Spider-man stories of late, I have taken it upon myself to look for other good Spider-man involved stories with proper story line and art. With the release of New Avengers 59, sub-titled, Spider-showdown, later today. I thought it appropriate to let readers on this site get updated as to the latest developments in New Avengers.
Of late, Spider-man has been playing a more prominent role in the Avengers, as was planned by the Marvel team, as was already quoted here.
On Peter Parker's growth:
Bendis: "I also think that Spider-Man has become more and more comfortable with his role as an Avenger, and you'll see less and less of the nervous chatter and more of him as a voice of moral reason, being the man who exudes power and responsibility."
In New Avengers 55, we see that the Avengers are having some problems with the Hood, who is working for Osborn, and his gang. They have been on the run, using Capt America's (Bucky's) apartment to hide. In a desperate escape a battle, the Avengers left one of Tony Stark's broken power drainers behind. The crooks take it apart and study it, hoping to use it against the Avengers in their next meeting.
One important point to note in this issue is the disunity both in the Hood's gang and in the Avengers. Not everyone working under the Hood trusts him. Furthermore, he failed to appear at their meeting due to his powers being taken away. Even more people do not want to be working as puppets for Norman Osborn. A character called Dr Jonas Harrow rises to the occasion and explains his "plan."
Back at the Avengers, Captain America is extremely unimpressed with the condition the Avengers left his apartment in. Spider-man very much regrets revealing his secret identity to the team, and even more surprising is Ronin, who wants to kill Norman Osborn once and for all.One of the highlights of this comic, in my opinion, was watching Spider-man stand up and argue his case and views during a lengthy discussion among his team members. Just like Bendis said he would.
The issue ends with the team entering a booby trap set by the Hood's thugs. Chemistro, who originally found the power drainer left by the Avengers in the beginning succeeded in copying it and using it on the Avengers, leaving them powerless.
New Avengers 56 reveals that it was never intended for these Avengers to appear. Instead the ruckus that attracted the good guys was intended to attract Norman's Avengers. Remember, many of the Hood's thugs did not like being puppets for Osborn. Dr Harrow then takes the opportunity to hack into the Iron Patriot suit and negotiate terms with Norman. When Norman disagrees, he and all his surrounding Avengers lose their powers, looking up to see the Hood's former gang, now under Dr Harrow. Else where the the Hood, is seen on a mystical quest, with Loki, to regain his powers.
Thank God for pictures that paint a thousand words. In this case, the panel below is enough to explain what exactly the Hood's former gang really wants.
New Avengers 57 continues as Norman Osborn agrees to make the deal stated above. As can be predicted, his first assignment for the gang of B class villains is to watch Venom eat Spider-man. Just in the nick of time, Mockingbird, whom I forgot to mention was not affected by the power drainer, appears with backup to evacuate the Avengers.
Before leaving, we see Spider-man taking an opportunity to kick Norman Osborn, who was about to tail their ship, in a very 'well done,' short, but complete fight scene.
The Hood is later shown to have regained his powers, with the help of some stones of Norn.The Avengers, take Luke Cage, who still has not recovered, to the Night Nurse. Unfortunately, due to Luke Cage's unbreakable skin, she is unable to help him.
Norman and his avengers appear not long later threatening the real Avengers to surrender. At this point Ms. Marvel concludes that they need Norman's help since he is the one who now obtains the Power Drainer needed to break Luke's unbreakable skin.
Luke takes it upon himself to surrender while the others make a run for it.
In New Avengers 58, the Hood Returns, extremely dissatisfied that his crew is now serving Norman Osborn. He is of course even more furious with Dr Harrow.
Norman Osborn is forced to perform his duty as a world hero, to give medical attention to Luke Cage immediately.
With enough distraction, the Avengers manage to get back to base and bring the sad news to Jessica Jones.
All in all, the New Avengers story is going uphill in my opinion. I like the direction this comic is going. Better yet, we see loads of Spider-man in the picture. New Avenger's 59 is coming out later today along with a whole lot of other comics. I can assure you that I, personally will have more fun reviewing New Avengers 59 than ASM 613.
Dark Reign: The list Spider-man is the best Spider-man related comic I have read since Who was Ben Reilly? (Amazing Spider-Man 608,609,610) The story as we know involves Norman Osborn going through a checklist of things he wants done. As the cover page suggests, the last thing on his list is to kill Spider-man.
The art for this comic is spectacular. After reading comics with weird art like Amazing Spider-Man 611 and Amazing Spider-Man 612, this comic is like a pain killer. In the preview, we can see that Peter Parker is upset with himself for allowing Norman Osborn to rise to the power he currently holds. He, much like is American Son, is planning to take Norman down once and for all, through the press, again.
The story
The preview ends with Peter consulting with other "Frontline" staff, including Norah who managed to sneak into the Avengers Tower in American Son, on ways to expose Norman. Apparently, Norah had stolen some blueprints to the Avengers Tower during her last visit.
The next scene is most humorous as Norman is explaining to his secretary how he is going to kill Spider-man. He walks into the room and finds Spider-man sitting there, conviniently downloading some files into a pendrive.
Iron patriot grows furious and their reunion evolves into an ultimate showdown between the Iron Patriot and Spidey. Spider-man's humor during the fight never ceases to amaze me. After being hit by one of Iron Patriots beams, the public take it upon themselves to beat the friendly neighborhood Spider-man, as usual.
Elsewhere we see people all over New York watching the fight. Some rooting for Iron Patriot, while others, including Harry, supporting Spider-man. The fight ends with Spider-man barely making an escape in the crowd of civilians.
While searching the crowd, Norman spots Peter Parker who was sending the files in the pendrive to all his contacts, from the media. Norman, as the Iron Patriot tries to hurt Peter but is forced to stop when Peter explains that he is an American tax paying citizen. Make sure you read the panel below.
The story ends with Norah, absolutely mad at Peter for sending the files on the pendrive to Betty Brant, reporter of the DB, as well.
Following this, we see Ben Urich and Jessica Jones a couple of years ago ( Pre OMD), investigating an old murder by Norman Osborn, leading them to his office door. Upon reaching there however, they bump into the Green Goblin himself.
At this point the art changes, much to my liking, resembling the art during the JMS run.
This is essentially just an old story in which Luke Cage, boyfriend of the pregnant Jessica Jones, takes down Norman Osborn with Spider-man and exposing him as the Green Goblin. Ben Urich, now the owner of Frontline was the one who wrote the article exposing Norman Osborn for the Daily Bugle back then.
Personal thoughts - This comic was most enjoyable, and unexpected, even to the point of adding some old stories in with what I call 'good art.' Its interesting to read words like 'Daily Bugle' appearing, and 'Parker!' coming out from the mouth of the Goblin.
