snap judgments

So I’ve kind of been waiting for the actual issue to show up because, for any of you who actually got New Avengers #38, you were treated to a fantastic book that nearly lacked the Avengers entirely. But since Funnybook Babylon went at it for me on most points, I can kind of drag myself to the keyboard to find something new to say about this one-act Pinter play.

Let’s get business out of the way here: in this issue, Luke Cage confronts his wife for totally selling out by trying to save a baby from a hooded crazy person and his up-jumped villainous pals.  Jessica Jones tells it like it is (Hey, baby here guy.) while Luke Cage feels betrayed and vulnerable that his moral center was just tossed aside. Jarvis, watching this like some rerun of Young and the Restless on the kitchen TV while dong the dishes, provides the exposition necessary for the Mighty Avengers to amble on outside, throw some weight around and get totally confused by Cage’s Skrull name dropping as he skedaddles.

Oh, the New Avengers are there to give a far longer exposition needed about how they have a new clubhouse now.

THE END.

I’m a little confused about why this isn’t an annual. Or a backup story in an annual. Or a special with a reprint of the first issue of Alias or … something. Don’t get me wrong, it’s important that Jessica jumped ship and it’s important that Luke Cage sort himself out as to how this impact his steely resolve to fight The Man, but… after a few pages, the argument got really repetitive. You could have replaced a lot of word bubbles with “BABY, Moron!” and “MORALS, bitch!” and gotten the same point across. Maybe it’s because I’m a huge comics nerd and a girl with a need for romantic drama, but it’s pretty obvious where these two are coming from. This isn’t some multi-faceted debate, this is human dynamics at its essential. Jessica Jones wants to give her kid something better than Spider-Man stealing her when danger strikes and Luke Cage wants to stand proud in the face of a broken system with his family at his side. Okay. Both have their reasons and without declaring one the winner over the other, we’re just going to get the same standards back and forth with no give or take.

Yes, this is a lot like actual people, it’s REALLY REAL and how arguments go between married couples but… if I wanted to read that, I’d go pick up some black and white indy navel gazer and enjoy a book that has relationship dynamics at its core and fully fleshed out. It’s a little like having your drama cake and eating it too; I don’t think this issue did anything that a couple pages that further the main story couldn’t have gotten across. I’m not saying it was a waste of time or MOAR EXPLOSIONS AND KICKING PLS but especially with Secret Invasion on the horizon, this issue might have been spinning its wheels as Mighty Avengers catches up.

So all you need to know? Jessica’s taking refuge in Stark Tower, Luke Cage hates this, the New Avengers have a new base of operations and the Mighty Avengers look like morons when you let slip mention of Skrulls.