snap judgments

So here I am, back from a little self-imposed exile from home and computer (stupid non-disclosure agreement!) and to what do my wondrous eyes do appear by Avengers books from far and near!  I didn’t get a chance to hit up a comic shop while I was LA last week so when I came back to Home Sweet Shop back up in my hometown of Santa Barbara, there was a brand new New Avengers, as if it had waited until I was gone to sneak back up on the shelves.

No such luck, you little brat.

The thing is, I could go page by page on this issue and still come up short because … not much happened.  We catch our heroes facing down the Hood and Pals with their magical back up and it’s just as predicted, they’re using Doctor Strange for a holo-emitter.  Mind you, it could have been a really awesome illusion of Marvel’s heroes but in the end, poor Doctor Strange has become more of a utility belt than a cooperative member of the team.  Then again, you tell me if you can point to the guy in charge of the New Avengers? Anyhoo, we’re getting another reflective narrative from the Wrecker as Maria Hill interogates him for SHIELD (SPOILER: the bad guys lose!).  He tells her the fight goes down, the Hood and Doctor Strange square off and hoorah!  Doc calls the Hood on being in possession of a demon and how incredibly STUPID it is to throw powers about that you don’t understand or control, especially of the demon sort.  It’s like the guy’s Sorcerer Supreme or something!

Through a bit of awkward paneling, I finally figured out that Doctor Strange confronts the Hood, the Hood goes into demon form, fires a … magic bolt of energy which… Doctor Strange deflects and then the Hood disappears.  It’s awkwardly staged and I’m sure if we saw the script we could see where the panels were supposed to go but… yikes.  It even looks like the rest of the heroes and villains are stopping mid-fight to figure out the same sequence, but once it’s over, we’re treated to a bunch of quick cuts highlighting a particular hit, sound effect or exclamation.  One after the other after the other, it’s downright Adam Westian.

Not that there’s anything wrong with a good ‘SPAKK!’ or ‘FAKOOM!’; I rather like ingenius use of sound effects in my action sequences.  It just doesn’t fit what I’m assuming is the tone for a book like the New Avengers, Bendis’s less four-color of the two Avengers titles he writes.  I thought that New was more for intrigue and behind-the-lines action, heroes hunted and hunting criminals that the government can’t see, sending out Wolverine for ‘little talks’ with informants, that kind of shadowy feeling that Bendis can really put over in a book.  Cutting a gun barrel in half with a nicked katana with the SFX shot ‘SLICE!’ just doesn’t fit with the vibe set by previous issues.  Also, HOW THE HECK DOES HAWKEYE DO THAT?!

Anyhow, the crew is taken down sans Hood and Spider-Man leaves a friendly little note on the human flunky in the crowd for SHIELD and here we are.  Maria Hill can’t get any info out of the Wrecker (who keeps reminding us he took on Thor - WE GOT IT ALREADY!), so she shuffles him off to containment where the Hood busts him out and swears DARK VENGEANCE.

I can’t hate the issue because really, there’s no ‘there’ there, so to speak.   Plot moves forward in a timely fashion and Leinil Yu gets a little action in, but since SHIELD is no match for the mighty Hood, the whole mission of the New Avengers (put away Hood and/or Pals) is rendered moot.  Hey, who knows, maybe we’ll get to see the Hood beat the crap out of Echo and threaten to kill her family - OH WAIT.

All you need to know?  The Hood can’t possibly understand what he’s gotten himself into and the New Avengers have a guy that can cut through a gun barrel with a nicked katana.

Later today:  the Mighty Avengers ends!  No, really!  Honest!