Avengers by Bendis vol. 2

Brian Michael Bendis’ first “Avengers” arc was a suitably epic story that got most of the classic team back together, plus imports from “New Avengers” like Spider-Man and Wolverine, and new additions like Noh-Varr/Captain Marvel, to stop the fracturing of time itself.  It had great art from John Romita Jr. that enhanced the old-school feel of the series and helped set it apart from Bendis’ other work with the team.  And yes, I realize that using the term “old school” when talking about Bendis’ “Avengers” work will likely irritate those who prefer the team before he got his hands on them.  As I’ve said before, though, I only started reading “Avengers” comics once he started writing them so I’ll admit my perspective on the team’s history is a bit skewed in the matter.  That being said, vol. 2 suffers from trying a bit too hard to top the scale and spectacle of the first.

Years ago, Tony Stark, Charles Xavier, Reed Richards, Stephen Strange, Namor and Black Bolt came together to form the “Illuminati,” a secret brain trust of the most prominent figures of their respective corners of the Marvel Universe with the goal of proactively averting catastrophes.  This included making sure the Infinity Gems remained separated and never came together to allow someone like Thanos to take control of all reality.  Though the location of these gems was supposed to be a secret to everyone but the Illuminati themselves, Parker Robbins (a.k.a. The Hood) has found out where Black Bolt’s gem is and now has his sights set on obtaining the entire set.  Standing in his way are all three Avengers teams and… the Red Hulk.

Though the threat of The Hood in control of the Infinity Gems is made out to be a really big deal, it ultimately comes down to an excuse for a lot of big fights.  Now Romita Jr. does that stuff REALLY well, but the idea of a cosmic-level threat isn’t sold very well here.  Even when The Watcher shows up, it feels more like a cheap attempt to add some gravitas to the story.  Regrettably, part of the problem is that the real conflict and interest comes from Steve Rogers and the rest of the Avengers finding out about the Illuminati and the verbal sparring that comes from that.  It’s not handled badly by any means, but it feels like that was the main story Bendis wanted to tell and having The Hood gain control of all reality is just a sideshow to it.  

Well, that and getting the Red Hulk on the team.  This is the first time I’ve read a story featuring the character and he just comes off as a more “normalized” version of the classic green incarnation.  Even though there’s a good idea behind his character — he’s the Hulk’s longtime foe General Ross, turned into what he hates most — it’s only invoked in the most direct, on-the-nose matter possible.

I do have to give Bendis credit for his use of Thanos in the story.  When I first heard that the character would be making an appearance here, my first thought was, “You’re undoing the end of ‘The Thanos Imperative’ for this!”  All I can say is that the man anticipated this and Thanos’ role turned out to be more of a welcome surprise than anything else.

So while the fighting and the talking bits are good by themselves, they don’t come together as well as they did in the first volume.  In the main story, that is.  This volume also features a Bryan Hitch-illustrated one-off where Spider-Woman is kidnapped by the Intelligencia and the team goes in to rescue her and finds a lead-in to what will likely be Bendis’ last major story with the team.  It’s an issue jam-packed with action that also tells a fairly complete story as well.  In all honesty, I would’ve liked to have had six stories like this than the one epic six-issue arc we got here.

Even though this volume is a mixed bag, the art, characterization, and setup for future stories is keeping me interested in seeing what happens next.  That would be a tie-in to the “Fear Itself” event where the collected edition also includes the “New Avengers” issues as well.  It sounds like two volumes in one, so we’ll see if that’s as good as it sounds.