Ultimate Comics Avengers vol. 3: Blade vs. The Avengers

No, this was not an improvement.  Along with the previous volume, the story told here could’ve been done in half the space.  Just take out the pointless stuff about the new Daredevil, give Blade one good introduction scene, and set this up as the “initial strike” from the vampire population instead of the “final battle.”  There is the kernel of a good idea about Nerd Hulk finding his purpose after being turned into a vampire, but it doesn’t go anywhere fulfilling.  The rest of the volume is just more of Mark Millar having his characters tell us how cool and badass they are and failing to sell us on the threat of the vampire menace.  Though the year isn’t over, I’m planning on reserving a special spot on my “worst of” list for the man himself thanks to his painfully obvious and heavy-handed “Twilight” takedown — yes, he even takes the fun out of that — and the cringe-inducing moment when we find out who Nerd Hulk’s favorite writer is.  There are VERY few writers who can pull off something like what Millar tries there, and I’m willing to bet that most of them are smart enough not to try.

The reason the book itself won’t be on my “worst of” list is because it features art from Steve Dillon.  If you’ve been reading what I write here long enough, then you know that I think the man is truly one of the best in the business when it comes to conveying character expression and emotion in art.  He does the best with what he’s given here, even though his art has a thin, undefined look to it courtesy of Andy Lanning’s inks.  Having an inker involved may have saved time in producing this series, but Dillon and Lanning were clearly mismatched here.  On that note, if you want something involving vampires with better art from Dillon, then you’d be better off picking up a random volume of “Preacher” — though I’d recommend vol. 6 “Dixie Fried” which feature’s Cassidy’s hilarious/tragic encounter with a “goth” vampire — than wasting your time with this.