Dark Avengers vol. 1: Assemble

It feels odd reading this volume now that “Siege” has brought the uber-plot that it was a part of to an end.  Fortunately there’s still lots of nasty fun to be had in seeing Norman Osborne manage the team of villains he’s assembled to be his Avengers.  One of the main reasons he’s done so is to cheese off the “real” Avengers by getting together a team full of their opposing numbers (such as getting Venom for the Spider-Man role and so on).  The other is to provide a super-powered team to serve the interests of his cabal, which sets up the main story of this volume as Dr. Doom is attacked by the evil witch Morgan Le Fey. 

Now it’d be an understatement to say that this is a team filled with strong personalities when you’ve got psychotics (Bullseye), alien carnivores (Venom), the mentally unbalanced (The Sentry), and a genuine god of war (Ares) on the roster.  While this proves to be a real headache for Osborne, his loss is our gain as their bickering and infighting makes for an entertaining read.  Though there’s no denying the sick thrill of seeing the bad guys have their day in the sun that the book is founded on, they’re still bad, bad people so it’s also fun to watch them suffer.  Writer Brian Michael Bendis also gets lots of good lines out of said bickering, and artist Mike Deodato gives the book an appropriately “dark” and gritty feel.  As is the case with most Marvel stuff these days, this is yet another book that will definitely appeal to those who follow its ongoing narrative and likely confuse the hell out of the people who don’t.